What a fall color tour it has been, close to home in the UP. With so much great colors close to home, we stayed around with a few forays out a few miles. The color change seemed to keep going on much longer than usual. There has been some wind and a bit of rain this fall, but the colors prevailed.
With the presidential campaign in full-on drive, with the Republican John McCain negatively muck-raking (and not finding much) on Democrat Barack Obama, I had some time and did some volunteering at the Houghton Democratic headquarters. McCain has pulled his campaign out of Michigan for weeks now due to polls showing he has lost the state - you would never know it here in the Copper Country. Calls I've made to the older residents in the area show that conservative republican voters are alive and well in the UP.
Lynn with our 2 dogs, Gabe and Dixie, on an autumn walk.
Looking through a fiery maple to the firmament
On the 19th, a sunny Sunday morning, Lynn and I headed into Marquette for a presentation by the Will Steger Foundation on the effects of global warming in the polar regions.The presentation was sponsored by the Superior Watershed Alliance, which I've worked with a bit, learning how to test and sample for water quality of streams. SWA is a sponsor of the Will Steger Foundation. Another organization that I'm a member of is Earthkeepers and I was invited to attend a mid afternoon roundtable with Will Steger where participants would get to know him and talk with him. Lynn dropped me off at the meeting site and I was the 3rd person there. Will talked to our little group of 10 people for close to an hour about his upbringing and 64 year-old life, then he took questions and finally the meeting broke down to informality with simple talk. I had a chance then to talk to Steger about places we had in common and his life now in a houseboat on the Mississippi River.
Lynn was waiting for me in her car and we went looking for a dinner-to-go, as she wanted to have a picnic in a pile of leves at Presque Isle Park looking out on Lake Superior. The food, from Vango's was good and Greek; the large leaf windrow, formed from the wind blowing them to waist-high was soft and warm. After the picnic we drove over to Upfront and Company where the Superior Watershed Partnership meeting was being held. It went on for a long time. I was mentioned by Carl Lindquist and asked to stand as a member of the Partnership who had experience living in the arctic. One of Steger's expedition partners, who was Norwegian talked after Will's slide show on his findings on the impact of global warming. Students talked about the Energy Action Coalition, organizing that is taking place on campuses to influence the start of green industry and awareness of the need for society to change to save our planet and its biological diversity. After a panel discussion by all of the speakers, the evening was over, and we headed out of Marquette and arrived back home at a bit past 11:00.
Lynn was waiting for me in her car and we went looking for a dinner-to-go, as she wanted to have a picnic in a pile of leves at Presque Isle Park looking out on Lake Superior. The food, from Vango's was good and Greek; the large leaf windrow, formed from the wind blowing them to waist-high was soft and warm. After the picnic we drove over to Upfront and Company where the Superior Watershed Partnership meeting was being held. It went on for a long time. I was mentioned by Carl Lindquist and asked to stand as a member of the Partnership who had experience living in the arctic. One of Steger's expedition partners, who was Norwegian talked after Will's slide show on his findings on the impact of global warming. Students talked about the Energy Action Coalition, organizing that is taking place on campuses to influence the start of green industry and awareness of the need for society to change to save our planet and its biological diversity. After a panel discussion by all of the speakers, the evening was over, and we headed out of Marquette and arrived back home at a bit past 11:00.
Lynn relaxing during our Presque Isle picnic.
Will Steger in Marquette
Will Steger in Marquette
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