Tag Archives: Paw Paw Lake

New tracks, new snow, new year

Paw Paw Lake in Fall

Paw Paw Lake in Fall

There’s been no shortage of snow, drifting and cold on the Bluecircle this winter, meaning the cross country skis regularly have a fresh path ahead.   The daily route goes east along one boundary, then downhill to the marsh and back west to the Conservancy.   Last week an unseen hawk left wingprints on takeoff from the dry lake-effect snow, and a red fox skirted the perimeter as he made his way towards the marsh.  There are few footprints on the coldest days; even the deer have taken cover.

The season’s quiet is broken at times by Sophie, an adolescent German Shepard who is the farm’s newest resident.  When she happily bounds through drifts her chest and shoulders leave oval craters in the snow that nearly hide the fact that legs and paws carried her forward.  Sophie would like more rabbits to come dance with her in the snow.  Based on the speed at which she removes stuffing and squeakers from her stuffed toys , this would not end well for the bunnies.IMG_1059

Icy clouds over Coloma

Icy clouds over Coloma

This Bluecircle chronicle lagged behind events in 2013 and left the end of Summer and passage of Autumn behind.  A renovation adding writing space to the not-so-big house overlooking the lake was designed and begun, and the work of forsaking city life for retirement was advanced.   Boxes of books, antiques, clothes and the remaining   garden tools made their way to the garage where some were destined to be discarded, but more made their way to the truck.   Things, images and words forgotten in the past were rediscovered, and sorted anew.   After Autumn’s seasonal changes that demand preparations and rituals of passage for the new year the relative quiet and peace of  long winter nights and ski trails is  welcome.

The frosty vine bending test

When Winter strips limbs bare and shivering the woods could pass for dead. A white blanket shrouds even the moss and blades of grass that never quite fade to grey or blacken like the piles of leaves. How then to judge the condition of fledgling grape vines first weakened by transplantation, then by drought and finally by a Kamakazie (divine wind) attack of beetles? With the last drifts gone from the Bluecircle it’s time to take stock.

A few Pinot Gris vines, like the tulip poplars felled by high winds in August, have snapped at the ground and need no further inspection. Here and there there are empty spots in the rows where the uncertainty of survival has prevailed. In contrast, precocious buds emerge in a favored row or two to inspire confidence. The practical approach turns out to be simply bending each vine in turn. Most flex in their early Spring vitality and have survived the test of year 1. Sadly, some are brittle and can only yield memories.

Melting ice on Paw Paw Lake

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Gulls are gathering on Paw Paw Lake to witness the passing of Winter. By afternoon there is open water on the north shore of Paw Paw Lake. The shade of the hills on the south shore shelters ice now too thin for walking. Each cold, clear March night with little wind allows refreezing, but darker cracks that reach to the south will soon free the lake for another year.
I suppose the gulls have fishing in mind and wait impatiently for more open water. They do not remain here in large numbers, possibly because seawalls bind the shoreline almost everywhere. The small areas of remaining beach soon will be scoured by ski boat wakes and there are calmer, friendlier waters nearby.

For 100 years most lakefront visitors and many property owners on the lake have hailed from Chicago.  Like the gulls they are shorebirds that nest elsewhere.  The change of seasons and Spring Break brings the first of these visitors who are essential to the lakeside economy.  Soon they will fly across the waters on skis, tubes and pontoons.  Until then the cold waters of Paw Paw will bask in the sun and slowly warm to the task of entertaining company.IMG_0940

Twisting in the sun, rain and wind

After what feels like weeks of rainy days the leaves have fallen on the Bluecircle.   This brings to a close the farm’s second year, and the image of withered sunflower leaves against the autumn sky is a fitting close to the year.   It was a difficult Summer – only the late summer weeds thrived.

Paw Paw lake levels were significantly low for most of the Summer but treatment to eradicate invasive milfoil was very effective.   Water quality is better everywhere in the lake, possibly  because water circulation in shallow areas was not impeded by dense weed banks.  With falling temperatures it’s time to put away the summer tools and water toys.

A year ago tractor barn construction was in full swing.  A more ambitious reconstruction and expansion of studio and gallery space is now nearing completion on the southwest corner of the Bluecircle where it meets the Woodland Conservancy.  This project went by the filename “garage 12” because its design evolved, through a dozen iterations, from a simple 3-car garage.  Last week was devoted to grading and leveling the old orchard property line to complete the union between farm and studio land.  We hope to seed this area, weather permitting, and get a few bird-friendly shrubs started at the boundary between the nature conservancy and mowed areas.

The Godfather of Fair View

Downtown Chicago 1906 near Abraham's hotel.

In 1922 Sebastian Smith sold his remaining farm and orchard land to Abraham F. Botto and his wife Katherine, both of Chicago.  Based on 1890 census data Abraham was born Antonio Botto, and at that time was a Chicago saloon keeper.  A vignette of him is found in Best’s Insurance Reports 1902: “Botto, Abraham F, is one of three heirs of a wealthy Italian, who left property valued at several hundred thousand dollars.  He formerly ran a saloon at 331 W Madison street but has retired from active business and is now engaged in looking after his property.  He lives in the second story of a frame building on W.  Madison street over a cigar store in property owned by himself and also owns the La Fayette Hotel at the corner of Madison and Des Plaines.  He is estimated worth $50,000 clear.”  In October 1903 he married Katherine Schomer, who was then 37.  Nineteen years later they would be credited with developing Smith’s Landing and adjacent land into a plat of 145 lots in Section 14 of Watervliet Township, and naming it Fair View.  The plat was bordered to the south by  an unnamed  bay at the natural outlet of Paw Paw Lake, and to the north by what is now Bluecirclefarm.  Unfortunately Mr. Botto did not survive to sign the dedication of the Plat, filed June 23, 1922 and signed by Katie Botto (widow) as proprietor.  He has been credited with designating nearly 800 feet of beachfront as “Sunset Park”.    A small portion of this park remains open to the public as a Watervliet Twp. park.

1922 Plat of Fair View, Paw Paw Lake

The nine-cornered farm begins

In late October 2010 deep old furrows and groups of bush-hogged stumps bore no relationship to the irregular outlines of the property that was to become the farm.  A survey showed that nine corner posts would be needed for property lines created by multiple adjacent plats and subsequent divisions of ownership.  The northwest corner was defined by an old oak tree, another was a bend in an otherwise straight boundary on the north.  Because the southwest corner was at the crest of a small hill new markers would be needed to define the south and west boundaries, and at some points the “rediscovered” property line was closer to decades-old summer cottages than we, or their owners, expected.  When  the last leaves had fallen in the wooded area to the west dense underbrush was no longer a barrier and a few posts were driven to identify the boundary of the adjacent Woodland Conservancy.   Lake-effect snow is abundant at Paw Paw lake, and as it blew off Lake Michigan and buried the stubble and stumps it was time to begin planning the Bluecircle farm.