October ushers in the time for change, but this year we are
not seeing much change in our area. After returning from a
color tour up north a week ago, where all the trees displayed
brilliant colors, our tree displays are disappointing.
Many trees in our area are a muted orange, brown or bare with
only a few areas of bright color. As you travel M-25 from Port
Austin to Caseville, there is some good color but on M-53 around
Filion the color is lackluster. The dead ash trees around Grindstone
are blighting the effects of any color there.
I
recently met with a tree expert and asked him: “What
is happening to our trees this year?”
He
told me: “There are just too many diseases infecting
them and many views regarding the cause of the aliments.
One consensus is contaminates are in the air, coming
off the water,
introduced by foreign ships.”
As you research, the list of tree and shrub diseases is long
and complex. Maple trees around my home all seem to be infected
with some kind of fungus, perhaps leaf spot disease. Instead
of displaying their usual brilliant yellow, all their leaves
are shriveled, with black spots.
Fall’s
change also affects animal habits. As crops leave the fields
and fruit trees shed, deer dart
out
of wooded areas
feasting on the bounty, making driving an obstacle
course.
Not
only do cars hit deer — the deer often run into cars
resulting in major damage. Squirrels, raccoons and everyone’s
favorite, skunks (Pepe La Pew) litter the roads
this time of year as they gather food for the long
winter.
These
critters also become a hazard as cars swerve to
avoid hitting them.
Every
fall for many years, we take a color tour with our friends
Gordon and Catherine Miller. After
checking
out
the UP, we
headed for the bridge where the girls always
want to stop and take pictures. We spotted a freighter
heading
toward
the Mac
and decided to try to beat it to the bridge’s center.
As usual, workers were painting and had equipment in our way,
but we managed to get some cool pictures as we and the freighter
met near mid-span. We managed to get a photo of the ship heading
under the main span and another as it came out the other side — all
the while dodging barricades, traffic and driving
over the big MAC!
Our
next encounter as we traveled the top of the Lower Peninsula
occurred in Levering. As
we rounded
a sharp
curve on County
Road 81 near the Wilderness State Park entry,
we passed what looked like a giant pumpkin
patch. We all decided
we had
to check it out. It was a family farm dating
from
1937 called “The
Pumpkin Barn.” There was a display of hundreds of bright,
orange pumpkins everywhere of all sizes and gourds of all colors
plus some squash mixed in. Alongside the barn was a pen with
turkeys, ducks and geese, and parked in the yard was a blazing
red 1950s Ford pick-up truck loaded with pumpkins. Inside the
barn was a selection of apples and hot apple cider. We learned
that although the “Barn” was located
in the middle of nowhere, thousands of travelers
stop
each year
on the
way to the tunnel of trees, which was where
we were headed.
The tunnel runs for 20 miles along M-119 through a variety
of trees that form a canopy overhead. Cross Village, a very
busy tourist stop (we saw five busloads), is along the route
and is busy year-round. As you travel through the tunnel, breaks
in the trees provide beautiful views of Lake Michigan. The
trip is tough on the driver, however, because the road is narrow
and winds around narrow curves where you often meet traffic.
When we exited the tunnel we arrived in Harbor Springs where
we stopped for ice cream at Bob-In-Again. Homemade root beer
and frozen pumpkin flavored custard were choices we made in
the great 1950s atmosphere themed restaurant. We continued
our trip along M-131 to Cadillac, then took M-55 across to
Manistee where we stopped overnight. The next day we traveled
M-55 to US-10 east to Clare for a quick stop, then over to
Bay City and on to Bad Axe. Colors along M-131, M-55 and US-10
were peaked and better than we expected.
As I see it, you better get out and enjoy this fall weather
because we all know it will soon change.