Monday, March 9, 2020

Busy times in the Schools’ household since my last post.  We hosted visits from our friends Lisa and Lindsay and from Molly. We did a trip to St. Louis where we visited with Stefan and Kasey and got to play with the ever-adorable Ava. We did a trip to Pokagon State Park for Lise to do a presentation. Then there’s the usual household and general living stuff. And the ant wars. An update from the front lines later.

Lisa and Lindsay at West Lafayette’s own Triple XXX diner.

Lindsay showing us how it’s done at the Knickerbocker, Indiana’s oldest bar.

Molly and me at Triple XXX.

Molly at the Knickerbocker.

St. Louis is always a fun place to visit. First and foremost, we get to see and play with Ava. Then there’s places like Gringo Jones. I don’t think there’s too many places north of the Rio Grande  where you can still buy an Elvis on black velvet.

Lise reading to Ava..

The dogs inhabiting Gringo Jones.

The King still lives and is for sale at Gringo Jones.

Having moved back to Indiana after eighteen years in Michigan we decided to reacquaint ourselves with the state. Most people blasting through Indiana on the interstate think the state is nothing more than flat cornfields. For the most part they are correct, but there are some hidden nonagricultural gems such as the 25 State Parks managed by the Indiana DNR. So, we took on the challenge of visiting visit all 25 Indiana State Parks as a way to get back into the state.

First up was a visit to McCormick’s Creek on our way to St. Louis. Not exactly the most direct route from West Lafayette to St. Louis, but it’s in the general direction of south. Lise was the Naturalist at McCormick’s Creek when I first met her thirty some odd years ago. McCormick’s Creek is about 1900 acres and is Indiana’s first State Park, dedicated in 1916. The park has some nice mature forests, limestone and karst features, and its namesake McCormick’s Creek running through it.

Welcome to McCormick’s Creek State Park.

The shadow of the fire tower taken from the fire tower.

McCormick’s Creek falls.

The day after getting back from St. Louis, we headed up to Pokagon State Park, in the far northeast corner of Indiana. Lise worked at Pokagon as a seasonal naturalist before getting her full-time gig at McCormick’s Creek. We did this trip because she was doing a presentation for the Great Lakes Park Training Institute conference at the park inn.

Pokagon was dedicated in 1925, is a bit over 1,200 acres, and has a number of glacial features. Unfortunately, the weather was nasty, so we didn’t get to enjoy the park very much. Right after Lise’s presentation we headed south to beat a snowstorm. I got in a quick walk to Lake Londiaw, a kettle or ice block lake, and Hell’s Point, a glacial kame.

Welcome to Pokagon State Park.

One of numerous ephemeral wetlands at Pokagon.

A frozen over Lake Londiaw.

And last but not least this go around is Prophetstown State Park. Getting to Prophetstown this year will not be a challenge. Since it’s only a couple miles from us we have already been there a couple times this ear. This is Indiana’s newest State Park, dedicated in 2004. It’s near the site of a multi-tribe village Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet assembled in Tecumseh’s attempt to unite the Indiana tribes against European encroachment. It’s also near the pivotal Battle of Tippecanoe site.

Welcome to Prophetstown State Park.

A stream at Prophitstown.

Coyote tracks in the snow at Prophetstown.

Oh yeah, and then there’s ant wars. Which aren’t going well right now. Our kitchen is the front in this nasty little war. For the past couple weeks, little brown ants have found their way into the kitchen. I’ve tried going sniper and watch them until I find where they’re coming in and out. I’ll seal that little crevice and they seem to die back. Then a small crumb of something sweet gets left on the counter and it looks like the Normandy Invasion. We’ve tried commercial ant traps which the ants dutifully ignore. The idea is that they take the poisonous bait in the trap back to the colony to share with their buddies. The ants in the colony eat the poison and eventually the colony dies.

Great idea, but it doesn’t seem to work. Since the ant traps haven’t done the job we’re going to have to ring in some heavier ordinance. Tomorrow we bring in the boric acid. There are all kinds of recipes on the internet for sure kill and bait with boric acid. So, stay tuned.