Red Sumac

Smooth Sumac

Smooth Sumac © 2008

Sumacs are famous for their red foliage and fruits throughout much of autumn.  The fruits remain over winter and even throughout the following spring, providing much needed winter food for birds. It’s not that the birds are particularly fond of the berries (the berries are really drupes as they have a pit, not a seed), but that it is one of the few available foods. Moose and deer, however, are more than happy to chomp on the foliage and fruits, and often crop the bushes quite close to the ground.

I think the sumac is at its most attractive when the fruits are bright red, and the red berries are surrounded by foliage that is just turning from greens to blue/purples to reds.

Milkweed Fluff

Milkweed in Autumn

Milkweed in Autumn © 2008

The Common Milkweed, a native plant in Wisconsin, has rough textured pods that contain thousands of seeds attached to strands of silky down. As the pods split in autumn, the seeds open like tiny parachutes and travel on wind currents to a new site to seed.

This silky stuff has been used creatively throughout the years. Settlers in the 1700s and early 1800s used the fluff to fill their pillows and mattresses. In the 1860s, thread from the down was made into socks and purses. During World War II, schoolchildren collected milkweed pods and the pods were sent to central processing locations. The down was used to fill life preservers and to line the uniforms of the United States Air Force. Milkweed down is extremely bouyant and a few pounds of this spinnery stuff can keep a 150 pound person afloat in water.

Seth Peterson Cottage, Part II

Seth Peterson Cottage Exterior

Seth Peterson Cottage Exterior © 2008

Another set of photos from the cottage that was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s last commissions.  Located on a cliff overlooking Mirror Lake in central Wisconsin, the building fell into near ruin. A private conservancy group negotiated with the state of Wisconsin to rehab the site.

Frank Lloyd Wright Tile

Frank Lloyd Wright Tile © 2008

Wright affixed his signature red tile to his designs when completed. The Seth Peterson Cottage was built after Wright’s death and supervised by one of his associates. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation agreed to the use of this plaque with an orange tile, not the red tile used by the architect himself.

Main Room and Central Fireplace

Main Room and Central Fireplace © 2008

The inside is typical FLW. It is available for nightly rental, though there are no reservations available until December of 2009. I think it would be a pretty fine place to reserve for a night. Think of the photographs you could set up.

Obscurity

Fence and Fog

Fence, Fog © 2008

Life is a brief, small, and transitory phenomenon in an obscure corner, not at all the sort of thing that one would make a fuss about if one were not personally concerned. ~~   Bertrand Russell

Driving at Dawn

I had a busy Saturday planned. I had an assignment to do some travel writing at a destination about 2 hours north of my home. The festival started at 8 a.m. with a tour of a National Wildlife Refuge, then a 10 o’clock workshop on nature photography by the Refuge Artist in Residence, and an afternoon trip to a cranberry bog. Plus a chicken dinner and the unveiling of this year’s edition of Whooper Brew after the bog trip.

(Hint: I went to the Crane Fest held in Necedah, Wisconsin, and I’ll share some stories and a few photos on the cranberries, the beer, and the whooping cranes in a later post.)

I haven’t been sleeping well for some unknown reason, and so when the alarm rang at 5:30 this morning I was none too excited. I managed to drag myself out of bed after getting maybe 2 hours of sleep, and I was rather grumbly as I got in the car. It was foggy and gray, and I was relieved I didn’t have to do the driving.

Wisconsin Countryside at Dawn

Wisconsin Countryside at Dawn © 2008

And then I blinked open my eyes as the skies lightened. Wow! I woke up pretty darn fast.

Wisconsin Farm at Dawn

Wisconsin Farm at Dawn © 2008

I fumbled around in the back seat until found my camera. Needless to say, we didn’t make it to the festival at the appointed time.

And Finally, A Rearview Mirror Sunrise

And Finally, A Rear View Mirror Sunrise © 2008

Finally, after we pulled over to the side of the road for the fifth time for just “one more photo,” the sun actually appeared, and the dawn was over – so we could get on with our drive.