Five-Star afternoon on Paw Paw Lake

Michigan inland lakes are glowingly described by Realtors as “all-sports lakes”.   But on July and August afternoons the choppy waves criss-crossed by racing ski boats makes them fit for little else until sundown – or even later if a Sheriff’s patrol is absent.  The intrepid kayaker risks being swamped, fishing is folly, and swimmers are banished to shallow coves.  Only the broad platforms of pontoon boaters can cruise with some comfort unless they too are equipped to pull guests on wake boards or tubes.  Perhaps our lakes should be called “motorsports unlimited lakes”.

Jet skies at sunset on Paw Paw Lake

Jet skies at sunset on Paw Paw Lake

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Sailing Stars

To be fair, the year is more than two months long.  A more balanced use of Paw Paw Lake begins in September, and the Paw Paw Lake Yacht Club recently sailed its fleet of five Star class sailboats. There is more fishing from small boats.  Even the remaining ski boats have slowed – perhaps to enjoy the changing season.

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Flies you see and stings you flee

Late summer – the nightly serenade of the cicadas and the daytime buzzing of cicada-killer wasps. A vocal cricket has taken up residence in the studio, and a new colony of yellow jacket warriors has an underground bunker beneath a struggling grape vine.  I found these nasty defenders – or rather they found me – armed only with a string trimmer with shorts and a T for “body armor”.  As I scurried away from multiple stingers I left a hat, sunglasses, then the trimmer in my wake.  Must have looked like (a large clumsy) Peter Rabbit leaving the McGregar garden.   The tall weeds in this row will have to stand undisturbed till cold weather comes.

A relatively unusual fly found its way to our deck yesterday.  According to Buggide.net (http://bugguide.net/bgimage/recent/28001) this is a Peacock fly, Callopistromyia annulipes,  about 10 mm in length.  It comes from a family of flies known as the “Picture-winged flies” .  Besides displaying its wings in the peacock mode it can rotate and fold them on its back, looking more like a regular fly but far less interesting.

 

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Peacock fly on the deck rail

Peacock fly on the deck rail