Tuesday, July 13, 2021

We are back at home recouping from a ten-day road trip circumnavigation of Lake Michigan. Started by going back to Okemos for a wedding where Molly was a co-maid of honor. The bride and Molly have been friends since high school. They both were on the swim team and water polo teams for Okemos High School, and the MSU club water polo team. There was a strong water polo presence at the wedding. At the reception when the bouquet was thrown, in true water polo fashion, a long arm snagged the bouquet out of midair and immediately passed it to another polo player. All in one smooth motion.

The reception was held in an old barn, in a very rural area southwest of Lansing. While waiting for the wedding party to arrive we were informed there was a nearby tornado touchdown. And we were in the tornado’s path. When I say old barn, I mean old as in a building no longer used as a barn. This wasn’t some Amish built building standing since the Civil War. The beams were more like glued together 2 X 6s. The bar had just opened so we closed the barn doors and pretended there was nothing wrong. Meanwhile, the wedding party bus had to pull over and shelter in a convenience store gas station. Probably the only time the gas station had fourteen people in formal wear, wandering around checking out the overpriced snacks and cooler drinks. When the wedding party finally arrived at the reception, we formed a double line and covered them with umbrellas so they could walk in without getting soaked.

In the barn, hoping for the best. At least the bar was open.

We spent three whirlwind days in Okemos. Meeting with friends from different facets of our life up there. Interacting with people we haven’t seen for some time. Being feted way more than we deserved. A great time, invigorating but exhausting at the same time.

From Okemos we headed up through the Lower Peninsula to Marquette, stopping around Grayling to look for Kirtland’s warblers. I think Lise and I both started floating as we crossed the Mackinaw Bridge. For six days we stayed in Joanna’s cabin on Sand River near Marquette. The cabin is one of my personal happy places and served as our operational base for Upper Peninsula exploration.

Our UP time was pretty much go, go, go, without a lot of down time. We only had one day dedicated to just playing on Sand River. Not that I minded the other activities. The UP is loaded with great places, and we really like Marquette, but time at the cabin and on the river is special.

Lise on Sand River.

Afternoon float down Sand River.

A bog near the cabin and river.

Pitcher plants at the bog. Ya gotta love carnivorous plants.

Frosted whiteface at the bog.

Crimson-ringed whiteface at the bog.

Aurora damselfly at the bog.

Amber-winged damselfly at the bog.

Blue-headed vireo nest with babies in the McCormick Wilderness.

We then headed back to West Lafayette coming down the west side of Lake Michigan, including a stop in Milwaukee to drop off some stuff for my brother. Now we’re back and sliding into the regular routine.

An interesting thing happened on the trip. We started the trip as fully vaccinated mask wearers. If we went in a crowded place, we put masks on. As the trip went on, we gradually used them less and less. By the end of the trip our masks pretty much disappeared. We carried them but did not use them unless requested. We got more and more confident as we went on.

There seemed to be a general sense of relief and a strong desire for a return to normalcy with everyone we interacted with. It was like we were all coming out of a shell. We’re not done with COVID yet, and we will not be until more people get vaccinated. Both in the U.S. and worldwide. Here in the U.S., the Delta variant is running amok, mostly among non-vaccinated people. The majority of people dying from COVID right now are nonvaccinated. I guess decreasing the number of nonvaccinated people is one way to increase the percentage of vaccinated people in the population. If natural selection works, the Delta variant should help to clean out the shallow end of the gene pool. Give us a few less tRump voters too.  Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess.