AN OCCASIONAL WEB PUBLICATION - Issue One, January 2006
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| I hope you enjoy the premier issue of what will be an occasional web newsletter of Books Leaving Footprints. I'd like to promise an issue every three months, but deadlines have never been my strong suit. However, if there is good interest, and the planets align, and the butterflies all flap their wings in unison, who knows... At any rate, here is ONE installment. The background is a venerable oak in Cartier Park, Ludington. Thanks for stopping by. -- Joan |
| special offer through January 31 Read more |
| 1) easy: What three National Scenic Trails make up the "Triple Crown" of hikes? Click for the answer (a popup window)
2): harder: Who was the first person to complete the Triple Crown in a year? Clue- it was in 2001 Click for the answer (a popup window) |
| Where do all those critters go? Read more |
| Cartier Park Pathway on schedule Read more |
| An anacrostic for word puzzle and outdoor lovers Read more |
| So, it's my newsletter, I get to state an opinion... Read more |
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DEVOTIONS FOR HIKERS NOW AVAILABLE
 Hikers, backpackers in particular, disdain carrying extra weight to the woods. Yet, Christians often like to spend a small portion of the day in a devotional thought. Carrying even a New Testament seems way too heavy for just a few days in the woods. And wouldn't it be nice to focus one's thoughts on the activity at hand, hiking, and how it relates to spiritual life? Here's the solution! This small booklet, containing ten short devotional thoughts which also include a Scripture and a prayer, weighs just 0.2 ounces! Fits in a shirt pocket, or any handy spot. This booklet will sell for $2.00, but through January 31, 2006, with any order of North Country Cache, you will receive a copy of Devotions for Hikers, if you so desire, free! Here is one of the ten offerings... for free: In His Steps I Peter 2:21 NIV Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. If you've snowshoed in deep, unbroken snow you know how much easier it is if someone walks ahead of you! The first person to compact the snow with his or her steps has a pretty difficult time of it. The person who follows behind can benefit from the "suffering" of that first person in line. Christ's suffering is on a completely different level from that of the first person to break a snow trail, yet there are parallels. Because of Jesus' suffering, taking our sin upon himself, we can approach the Father without fear of rejection. Because He walked the earthly path without sin, and we are assured that he was tempted in every way that we are, we can trust to follow him. We have a straight trail laid out for us, as long as we follow in Christ's footsteps. And this leader will never be snow-blinded, mis-guided, fooled by animal paths, or disoriented in storms. We can place our feet confidently in his steps, all the way through life. Father, sometimes I feel like I am walking lost in a blinding snow storm, with no sure leader to follow. Help me to focus on your son, Jesus, whom I know has walked this path before. I want to follow in His footsteps and come at last to your heavenly refuge. I know you have prepared a place for me even more wonderful than a cabin with a warm fire, cozy blankets, and a hot drink at the end of the snowy trail. Order it Here from Books Leaving Footprints Back to top |
WINTER - HIKING WITH NO BUGS
One of the best parts of winter hiking is... NO BUGS! But where do all those many-legged critters go? Do they hide out, move south, die off (then where do next year's crop come from)? The answer is... "YES" For the most part, insects and arachnids (bugs to most of us) lie low, literally. If you rummage around in the leaf litter under the snow, you will find plenty of evidence of their healthy existence. Bugs are cold-blooded, unable to regulate their body temperature, so when the temperature drops, so does their activity. They enter a stage similar to hibernation, called diapause. As I'm sure you've noticed if a winter day warms to about 45 degrees, myriad small flyers also appear. Some flies and mosquitoes like to find spaces between the walls of buildings in which to take an annual rest. Mosquitoes particularly like damp basements. Other mosquito species lay their eggs in the fall, then die. The eggs will over-winter and hatch the following spring. Aquatic insects may burrow into the mud for protection. And still others create galls on plants providing themselves with a snug home for the winter months. It seems bizarre, but some insects produce antifreeze proteins in their blood. These proteins bind to the surface of ice crystals as they begin to form. So, any ice remains as tiny crystals that can't harm tissues. These insects also increase their blood alcohol levels (Happy New Year all you tipsy bugs!) to lower the freezing point of their body fluids. This is the same principle used in car radiators. It's now common knowledge that monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles from North America to Mexico. Locusts, too, are migrators. So are some species of butterflies, moths, dragonflies, ants, termites, bees, wasps, and ladybugs. For years the migration of Monarchs was a great mystery. Entomologist Fred Urquhart, spent 40 years at the puzzle, devising a way to tag individual butterflies, and convincing hundreds of people to help him look for them. Finally, he zeroed in on Sierra Madre Mountains in central Mexico. In January of 1975, one of Urquhart's helpers was stunned to discover over 1,000 trees, covered entirely with a living carpet of drowsy butterflies. The mystery of the monarchs was solved. One winter bug that won't bother you, but may fascinate, is the "snow flea." This tiny insect helps decompose and recycle organic matter. On most winter days they are snuggled deep into the layer of matted leaves beneath the snow. But on warm days you may see shallow patches of snow sprinkled with "pepper." Look closely (pull out your handy magnifying glass) and you will see tiny insects which can hop. Thus their misnomer as fleas. They are actually springtails, an arthropod, Collembola (kol-LEM-bo-la). They have a unique catapult system to get around. Two "tails" on their back end are tucked up underneath their belly, held in place by tiny "hooks." When the springtail wants to move, it just releases the spring-loaded "tails," called furcula, which hit the snow and send it flying into the air, moving as much as 100 body lengths. But it is unable to control the height or direction of the leap, so its landing may be a happy one... or not! You can find snow fleas year round, but they are much easier to spot against a background of white snow. Read more at How Come? Read more in Winter Wondering: Where Have All the Bugs Gone? from National Geographic Suggested book Field Guide to Your Own Backyard by John Hanson Mitchell (on Amazon.com) Suggested book Broadsides from the Other Orders by Sue Hubbell (on Amazon.com) Back to top |
HIKE PATH EXTENSION COMING TO LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN IN 2006
Ludington's Cartier Park has become a popular spot for local walkers and bicyclists. In 2004 a paved loop of approximately one mile was completed with money from a grant of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The federal dollars are matched with city funding.
In a delightful stroke of action in favor of walkers the City Council of Ludington responded positively to concerned citizens who walk throughout this block of property with their dogs. In 2004 an ordinance was created which banned dogs from the cemetery. The undeveloped property belonging to the cemetery, but east of the gravesites is used regularly for walking. The city took quick action in response to public complaints, and in October of that year added wording to the city ordinances which provides for leashed dogs to be permitted in the section which is not developed for gravesites. Interestingly enough, there are at least three graves scattered in this undeveloped section, with headstones, which a curious hiker may find. Many volunteer pathways are interlaced through the park, and one can wander for a couple of hours without retracing many steps.
Go to Mason County Trails Back to top |
IT'S PUZZLING
| My favorite kind of word puzzle is the anacrostic, sometimes called a double-crostic. But I can never find enough of them. Puzzle books usually contain only a few, if any. So I decided to make one. If they are fun to solve, they must be fun to create, right! Yes, they are, once you get a handle on the mechanics so the job isn't too tedious. (I know there is software to do this, but THAT's no fun!)
Each puzzle has a set of clues which you try to answer. The letters from those answers go into a grid of numbered squares. The letters in the grid will eventually spell out a quotation. When you get some letters in the grid you can guess at the rest of those words and work back to some of the tougher clues. When the puzzle is complete the grid will contain a quotation and the first letter of each clue is an acrostic for the author of the quote, and the title of the work in which it appeared. Anacrostics can be challenging or easy. This one is fairly tough. But I've chosen a quote beloved by outdoor enthusiasts for this puzzle, and some portions will probably be familiar, thus helping the solver a little. Download it here as a pdf file and try your luck. Back to top |
OPINION
| Wisp (1)... Wisp(2)... Wisp(3)... supposedly this air freshener will squirt some agreeable odor of your choice into the air for 1000 or more shots of chemical pleasure. I haven't tried it. Where else but in America would the public be willing to buy something to make the air smell good that has to be controlled by a microchip?
I think that's why we hikers get no respect. We just don't use enough microchips. We may concede a macrochip or two if we pull the old jackknife out of a pocket for a quiet evening of whittling. But microchips? Not usually. OK, ok, so handheld GPS units are popular, and most of us wear a watch, but we just don't command enough technology to get the attention of corporate sponsors, lawmakers, and often our children. Although the Outdoor Industry Association reported over $12 Billion in sales of outdoor recreation products for 2004, hikers are at least perceived as folks who shun expensive equipment. Our low-tech profile seems to imply that our activity of choice is one that should be taken for granted. For sure, walking is one of the earliest skills we master; almost everyone does it, and we don't remember when we couldn't do it. So who cares about it... anyone can walk anywhere, right? Well, sort of... Walkers are allowed most anywhere that the public is invited. But those of us who choose this form of recreation or relaxation know that there are various qualities of walking experiences. Sharing the shoulder of a road with the thistles, broken glass, and near proximity of vehicles is not a high-quality experience. Safe urban paved trails are better, sharing them with other users (most of these on wheels) is expected. Unpaved pathways are better yet. The softness of a natural surface beneath the feet is pleasant, and the lower noise level is detectable. Best of all are trails preserved only for hiking. I know this goes against the grain of the currently popular multi-use concept. And I'm not advocating for ALL trails to be single use. But hikers want and deserve some special places where their expectations for quiet, solitude, and freedom from disturbance by higher-tech users are met. I'll take my wisps as the whisper of the branches in a light breeze, with the scent of pine for the air freshener, if you please. Sans microchips. Back to top Click here to add your email to the newsletter notification list (a popup window) Your email will not be used for any other purpose. |
