148: Lake Erie thaw

Posted: February 18, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: 365 Life in the Bogs Challenge, Adventures in Life, beer, Earth, food, friends, home, Local Tourists, nature, Photography, pond, reviews, Walking, water, weather, winter | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

(A view of Cleveland and Lake Erie from Lakewood Park.  Lakewood, Ohio.)

We went north yesterday.  An hour north, to be almost exact.  For the past few years friends have been inviting us to attend the Ogrefest at The Brew Kettle in Strongsville, Ohio.  We usually decline because of the hour-long drive.  The Ogrefest is, after all, a chance to sample a variety of good beers and who wants to drive all that way to get home after a few hours of sampling beers?  Bad idea.  Really bad idea.

For those that don’t know, I used to brew beer (at home).  M does it now, when he feels like it (which hasn’t been too often lately but we’ve both been vacationing from beer).  We enjoy sampling beers at places that brew their own, especially hoppy beers such as IPA’s.  So that was one reason to go.  Getting together with friends was another reason to go.  And…  I have a pair of Shrek ears.  Where else could one wear a pair of Shrek ears that would be more appropriate than an Ogrefest??

(Accurate depiction of what your eyes look like the morning after.  Shrek ear in the background.)

So we did a little planning this year and decided to go.  We had enough points at a certain hotel franchise for a free night and there happened to be one of those hotels close to the Brew Kettle.  We parked the car, checked in at our hotel, and took a cab to the Brew Kettle where we had a great time with our friends.  Thank you, friends!

As a result of the Shrek ears, I met a guy who said he couldn’t resist coming over to talk to me.  If I’m ever single again (hope not!), I now know how to pick up men. Wear Shrek ears.  One of the Brew Kettle folks said he should give me a vest to wear and call me Ms. Ogrefest.  I thought that was hilarious.  I’ve never been a Ms. (or Miss or Mrs.) anything other than as the wife of M.

(The Beer Engine in Lakewood.)

We’re out of practice when it comes to that sort of evening out.  I was feeling a little rough around the edges this morning.  The plan was to go further north to Cleveland to do a little shopping at the West Side Market and then make our way south and do some more shopping along the way at places we usually visit about twice a year (Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods being two of those places).  Because we were fairly close to Lakewood, I also wanted to stop by a store there to look at Vibram FiveFingers.  I like the pair I bought last summer and want another pair that I can wear on the treadmill and to just walk around in when I go out and don’t care that I’m wearing shoes that look like Shrek feet.

We decided to skip the West Side Market but we did go to Lakewood.  I bought a new pair of Vibram FiveFingers (the women’s Sprint, if you want to know).  While we were in Lakewood we decided to check out the Buckeye Beer Engine.  Not necessarily for the beer (although a little hair of the dog didn’t hurt).  Some of our friends keep recommending the place, and their menu looks good.   The food was excellent.  I especially like their blue cheese slaw.  I may try to duplicate that at home.  It was one of the best versions of coleslaw I’ve ever tasted.

(Lakewood Park, Lake Erie in the distance.)

The city of Lakewood, Ohio is located along the shore of Lake Erie.  It was such a beautiful day and we were so close to the lake that we had to go have a look.  It’s amazing what a difference a few weeks and some warmer temperatures can make!

(Walking towards the lake.)

I don’t know how far out the thaw goes, but it looks like it’s pretty far out there.  There is still a lot of ice near the shore, the opposite of what we’re seeing here with our pond (the edges are thawing first).

(Lake Erie.)

There were a lot of people out and about.  Lots of parents with their children playing in the playground.  We even saw a cameraman filming for one of the local news channels.  Probably getting footage of people out and about on this beautiful day in February.  It was nearly 60 degrees (F).

(Ice near the shore.)

We walked around out there for about a half hour.  It was quite windy but even so, much warmer than we expect it to be this time of year.

(Cleveland skyline in the distance.)

There is an excellent view of the Cleveland skyline from Lakewood Park.  Lakewood is about 10 miles from downtown Cleveland, and appears to be a nice community with plenty of shops and restaurants.  I could see myself living there.  But I bet it gets pretty brutal there when it’s cold and the wind is whipping off the lake.

(Cleveland skyline.)

It was a fun little excursion.  And now that I’ve had my vacation from my vacation from alcohol, it’s time to go back on my vacation from alcohol.  (Confused yet?)

At home

Things changed a bit at home overnight.

(Yesterday’s view of the pond.)

(Today’s view of the pond.)

I skipped the early rising and yoga practice this morning.  I just couldn’t do it.  There are some people who sleep better after imbibing.  I am not one of them.  It tends to keep me up most of the night, almost as if I had a big shot of caffeine to go with it (which I did not).

As Scarlett O’Hara was fond of saying, tomorrow is another day…

134: Lake Erie in winter

Posted: February 3, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: 365 Life in the Bogs Challenge, Adventures in Life, Earth, Firsts, hiking, home, Local Tourists, nature, Photography, Quotes, snow, Spirit, travel, Walking, water, weather, winter | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

(Ice dune.  Lake Erie.  Erie, Pennsylvania.)

One of the things we haven’t done while living relatively close to Lake Erie is go up and have a good look at the lake during the depths of winter.  Although it would have been closer for us to see the bits of Lake Erie in Ohio near Cleveland, we decided to see it while we were in Erie, Pennsylvania.  We were, after all, already there.  The hotel where we spent Sunday night wasn’t far from the lake at all.

(On the road.  Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania.)

We drove out to Presque Isle State Park the entrance to which was, I think, less than a mile from the hotel.  The parts of the world we could see that morning were icy, and the trees were covered with hoar frost.

(Frosted.)

Presque Isle is a 3200 acre sandy peninsula that juts out on Lake Erie.  The peninsula/park creates a bay (Presque Isle Bay) on the east side where, in the winter, you might find some folks ice fishing.  We did.

(Ice fishing shelter.)

There were several shelters out on the ice.  The one pictured above had someone huddled inside when we arrived.  Although I didn’t walk out to check, I am sure it was bitterly cold out there on the ice.

(Approaching the beach and Lake Erie on the west side of Presque Isle.)

We drove to a beach on the west side which was near the Presque Isle Lighthouse since I wanted to see the beach, the lake, and the lighthouse.

And now we get to one of my favorite photos from the trip.  M was, as usual, way ahead of me and already on the beach while I was taking photos of benches and the lighthouse.  As I walked up the hill and passed the bench you see in the photo above, I looked out to see M in the distance…

… standing out in the great expanse of white and blue, the whole scene looking amazingly stark and almost surreal.  It took my breath away.  I have never seen anything like it.  (Click on the photo to see the slightly larger version.  You’ll see a little more detail that way.  The same is true of all the pics.)

(Ice dunes.)

I walked up and joined him in looking out over the mostly frozen lake.  There was, I think, a channel out a ways that was not frozen (or not quite frozen) as it was dark blue in color and stood out from the rest of the whites and light blues.

(A jumble of ice.)

The line of dark blue in the photo above is the channel I mentioned.  It wasn’t until after we left our vantage point and the beach that we saw the signs warning us not to stand or walk on the ice dunes.  Ice dunes are formed in shallow water when the waves combine with the ice and snow.  They form in layers and are built up by wave spray while there are still waves to spray.  As you can see from the photo captioned Ice dunes, they look like waves formed in the opposite direction of the waves you would see on the lake when it isn’t frozen.  The ice dunes are important in that they help prevent beach erosion during the winter months.

They are also not meant to be walked upon.  They can be riddled with thin spots, caves, and air pockets, weaknesses in the ice where you could fall through the dune and into the freezing water below.  For the sake of the photos I took, it’s good I didn’t know that at the time.  For the sake of my life/health, I should not have been standing there.

I’ll bring you a few lighthouse photos tomorrow.  It’s time to move on to today’s outdoor fun.

The calm after the storm

It is clear and sunny in the Bogs today.  Don’t let that fool you.  It is also bitterly cold.  Make sure you bundle up when you go out there.

Here is 30 seconds of yesterday’s wind, sleet, and snow.  The video isn’t nearly as impressive as the real thing.  Notice the way the snow is blowing (sideways and sometimes even upwards).

But you get the idea (and if you experienced it, you don’t need the video).

Here is what it looked like this morning:

(Today’s view of the pond.)

The blue of the sky was incredible.

(Sunshine!)

The trek was, well, a trek.  There are so many layers out there that walking, for some reason I can’t explain, feels labored and difficult.  Every now and then I would stay on top of the layers and it was easy.  But mostly I would sink in through the layers of snow, sleet, ice, sleet, ice, and snow, and each step out of it felt like it required more effort than usual.

(Drip.)

I didn’t wander far from the house.  Just far enough to feed the birds and watch the icicles melting in the sunlight.  I tried to capture the glitter of the snow in the sunlight, but that kind of beauty is beyond my camera.  All of the colors of the rainbow were represented, shining brilliantly on the surface of the snow/ice mixture.  I wish I could show it to you.

Come when the rains
Have glazed the snow and clothed the trees with ice,
While the slant sun of February pours
Into the bowers a flood of light. Approach!
The encrusted surface shall upbear thy steps
And the broad arching portals of the grove
Welcome thy entering.

~ William Cullen Bryant, A Winter Piece

(Welcome!)