A day at the south pier

Friday Jim and I went to the South Pier because Jim had a hankering to fish for perch and crappie. We arrived bright and early because the weather forecast was for temperatures in the seventies, bright sunshine and a possibility of thunderstorms in the late afternoon. We no sooner get set up and ready to fish when what is looming on the horizon but a very large black sky complete with lightening and thunder. So we pack up all our gear and head back to the car. We wait out the storm which blew through rather quickly and then we unload all the gear again and head off to get set up.


Storm blowing in over Presque Isle State Park


I decided at this point that instead of fishing I would abandon Jim at the pier and follow the multi-use trail that goes next to the road heading towards the Bayfront Highway. Kai needed a good long walk and I had brought my camera so I could also take the opportunity to take pictures of the budding spring.

Jim fishing happily during my absence



Budding tree





Pine cones that have fallen in the grass



There were so many trees in bud and other plants struggling up through last years growth to reach the sun that I took many interesting photos.

Another budding tree


Walking out along the length of the pier later I was able to photograph the buoys waiting to be put in the water for the summer boaters, the lighthouse at the end of the north pier and other sights of interest that I did not know were out there since I had never walked along that pier before. Kai had a good time because he got to exercise until he was tired.

A sunken ship? I am not sure, it is located in a partially walled off area behind the south pier






Lighthouse at the end of the north pier


Bouys waiting for summer


A friendly red winged blackbird came to visit
It was a long day, Jim never did manage to catch any fish but had plenty of evidence of visitors due to the disappearence of many minnows. Just being out in the sunshine and warm weather was great after the long cold and very snowy winter. I hope we do something similar in the near future.

Dog Walks and the Great Outdoors

We have been having some wonderful spring like weather lately and I have had a major case of cabin fever so it seemed like a great time to take a walk. We decided to walk to the ball park so the dogs could have a nice run as well as a walk. When consulted about the idea Rommel and Kai had no objections so we headed out.

Running past where I live is Four Mile Creek. It is a rather small creek at this point but it is typical of creeks in the area with a slate bottom and deep in a gully. The slate bottom causes many levels in the floor of the creek so there are lots of areas of ripples, small water falls and white water. I do not have a digital camera that will take time exposure yet so I am not able to blur the water movement so that it is shown in the picture. It is a great special effect that is easy to do with a tripod or stable position for the camera and a timer on the camera to create timed exposure. I did take some pictures of the creek no special effects.

Part of Four Mile Creek



I had to take the pictures from a bit of a distance because the banks were really not very stable because of the heavy rain a day or so before. I did not want to risk getting too close.

Four Mile Creek

Kai and Rommel had a wonderful time walking to the park and then once we were there they ran and chased each other all over the place. Finally when they had slowed down a little bit I decided to take the opportunity to take some picture of Kai in a stacked stand. After eliciting the unwilling assistance of Jim to pose Kai I did manage to get a few pictures. They are not the best poses because Jim had a very short crash course in how to stack a German Shepherd Dog about three seconds before I took the first picture. Even though we never did get the front and the rear stacked at the same time the pictures aren't too bad. We will just have to keep on practicing and see if we can do better.

Rommel hides under bench at ball park waiting for Kai to come running past

Kai in a stack while Rommel hangs out practicing his stand also

Now that the spring weather is here to stay (please let it be here to stay) I am hoping that walks can become more frequent for everyone. I know Kai and Rommel have no objection and with my scooter I am definately able to take off on a long walk with minimal difficulty.

Till next time.