Postcards from the Lake: Fabulous Fungi

Those autumn visits to the lake always bring something new in the nature line.

This past month it was the arrival of the fungi.

When they come, they come in force. It was a regular cavalcade of toadstools!

In one of my favorites, "Peter Pan," I remember (in the original Mary Martin television version) all the lost boys, lifting up the "mushroom caps" and jumping in, landing in their world of the Lost Boys, Neverland.

All I can say is that there must be a lot of lost boys here!

No, I'm not cooking any of these up. I will leave that to better foragers than I.

In fact, when I posted this one on Facebook, someone showed a link to remind me that these were the hallucinogenic "magic mushrooms."

I think I'll give that one a pass!

But whether you look at them from the top...

...or from down below...

...In color....

...or in black and white...

I have to say, they delight, enchant and intrigue me.

And I will miss them when they're gone. Till next year.

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BIg Birds, Part Two

This time my favorite heron gets to spread his wings!

A recent visit to the Ditch brought a lovely sight -- Harry, and in a relatively close spot in the pond.

What fascinates me here is how his wings look in the different positions of flight -- take-off...

 Picking up steam...

Leveling off...

Got to work it!

We need a little lift here.

Ah, now we can soar!

And get ready to land, farther up the pond.

I'll miss this fellow, come winter.

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Road Trip: The Four Seasons

A long time ago, I saw a painting in the art section of the New York Times that intrigued me. It was done by a Renaissance artist who incorporated flowers, fruits and vegetables into the features of his portraits. For example, berries might form eyes, oranges could be cheeks. It fascinated me.

The artist's name was -- I would learn later -- Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Arcimboldo was a court painter for Maximillian II of the Hapsburg Empire.

To celebrate Maxmillian's reign, Arcimboldo created a series of four paintings called The Four Seasons. He used botanical forms to represent the season;s cycles, symbolizing the peace and prosperity of Maximillian's reign.

Imagine my utter surprise and delight to walk into the Flint Institute of Arts and even before I saw a single painting or paper gown, I saw life-sized renditions of four of Arcimboldo's works -- The Four Seasons.

This oversized (and I do mean oversized -- well over two stories tall) installation was in a couryard of the FIA and we passed it upon entering. I knew it would require more time spent.

The artist who created these is Philip Haas. He first created four smaller versions as prototypes, using fiberglass. These each stood about two feet tall, give or take an inch or two.

If Haas' name is familiar to you, you might be a film buff. His movie "Angels and Insects" was perhaps the best known of his four features. This particular installation was put together with the same care the director used in his movie, manipulating elements to achieve maximum impact.

The portrait busts themselves stand 15 feet tall. Rick is no shortie and he was dwarfed by this one.

In the paintings, Arcimboldo uses botanical forms appropriate to each season for the clothing and features of the "characters."

Haas does the same, using the paintings as inspiration and filling in what might not have been provided in a two-dimensional piece.

Each piece was made of hundreds of individual sections with molds made for each.

They are cast in fiberglass that is injected with pigment and added to a supporting steel infrastructure.

When assembled for exhibition, the figures required cranes, riggers and experts in sculpture installation. (How they got a crane into this area, I'll never know!)

I say "hat's off!" to Philip Haas. The exhibit was well worth a visit -- just for the awe factor. (Michigan readers, the exhibit is still at Flint Institute of Arts.)

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Postcards from the Lake: Autumn Roadtrip

I went north on a Tuesday, expecting Rick on Friday night after riding up. The weather was pretty bad -- a couple of good long walks but they were brisk ones and all had been damp with the rain. So on Thursday, I decided to do a little road trip.

Actually, I had a spot in mind -- Stonehenge Fiber Mill which makes the beautiful 100 percent wool, Shepherd's Wool. Their color palette is unbelievable! Imagine arriving and this is the first thing I see!

The woman who owns the mill tells me that this goose (the tall one) is 32 years old and when his mate for life died, he was so bereft, they found a new friend for him.

These two pal around constantly!

I loved the interesting shape of his head. At first I thought it a tumor but she said no, that was just his species.

For the volume of wool this place turns out, it isn't very big. The whole deal is within two small buildings plus the shop.

The owner invited me to look around so first I went into the spinning area. Machines are staffed by people who feed the fiber to the machine which spins it.

The I went into the carding section! Boy -- what a lot of fleece.

There's a huge sink for cleaning too.

By the time I got there I was reasonably close to another old haunt, also called Stonehedge (but not connected).

When it was previously owned I did a number of photography cards of the gardens that they bought and sold in the store. I had to take a good look at the gardens that day, too.

It's still as picturesque as always, with pretty out-buildings.

There was some lovely lawn ornamentation...

...and a charming pond.

But of course, you know I had to try to capture a photo of the butterflies! I managed one somewhat decent one.

I was in a small shop on the way back to the lake when the phone rang. It was Rick, who had been battling strong headwinds. Although he'd hoped to ride the whole way to the lake over two days, he asked to be picked up. So I bid farewell to gardens and hit the road again. I was sorry he had to cut his ride short, but I was also happy to see him! (And it was a good thing for him, too, because the next day was cold, windy and very wet!)

Fall. It's really here.

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