I had business in Elk Rapids today, and decided to tack on a stroll around town. It was a great day to inspect the harbor, as all the boats were huddled right there where you could see them. I wonder why . . .
Then over to the other side of town, where the Elk River looked just about as stormy as the Bay. A century ago heavy industry filled the riverbanks: an iron furnace, charcoal kilns, a chemical plant, a sawmill, a flour mill, all of them built in the 1870s, all of them closed by 1915. But today there were water lilies, and one swan on patrol, so it was fairly picturesque.
The swans on the Bay near the Writing Studio and Bait Shop usually keep their distance, but Elk Rapids swans are bold. I was surprised when this one glided right up to the dock where I was standing. Dollars to donuts people have been feeding them picnic scraps.
It was spitting rain on the way home. Instead of pulling over to take pictures of wildflowers and butterflies I kept driving, thinking about how transitory the industrial era was up here. The plunderers poured in on the lakes and rivers, used up the lumber, and left as suddenly as they had come. The ebb and flow of commerce has left us in a backwater for quite some time now. That’s not altogether a bad thing—backwaters are often picturesque. The trouble is, you can end up relying on picnic scraps.
Ah well. We have invited quantities of people to Lemonade in the Park in the morning. Right now it is 59°F. and windy, with the promise of more rain, and a red Advisory! blinking in the weather widget. I am not optimistic about getting a lot of Public Input on the Recreation Plan. On the bright side . . . um, I haven’t thought of a bright side yet. Maybe in the morning.
Torch Lake Views 
katherine
August 22, 2009
Of lumbering: My Mom used to remember when she was a kid coming here from Detroit and there were mile after mile of stumps, no trees. It also used to take 14 hours to get up here from Detroit over two tracks and sandy trails. Maybe if it took that long we wouldn’t see the litter and trash we do here (or the jet skis!!)
Gerry
August 23, 2009
I was astonished at how bare the landscape was around your house back when it was built. It was compelling evidence of how thoroughly lumbering devastated the region. Happily, a picture of your house today shows that the land recovered over time.
centria
August 22, 2009
Oh beautiful swan pictures! I so wanted to get a picture of a swan down in Bellaire, but none ventured close. Love that first one especially. So you’ve been having rainy stormy days as well?
Gerry
August 23, 2009
Count your blessings. Swans can venture altogether too close. Yes indeed it has been stormy, with riptide warnings all along the Lake Michigan coastline. However, we are safe as long as we stay tucked away in the harbor. I just read Amy’s description of waiting for Hurricane Bill to make landfall in Nova Scotia and it gave me chills.
flandrumhill
August 23, 2009
Gerry, I haven’t seen a swan since I was in the toilet paper aisle at the grocery store. Do you have White Swan bathroom tissue in the US? I wondered if this beautiful swan was once an ugly duckling.
Gerry
August 23, 2009
That gave me my morning chuckle! I went mousing around for White Swan to see if it looked familiar, and it doesn’t. It seems like a good product, though–kind to septic systems, for example.
This beautiful Mute Swan was undoubtedly an ugly duckling, and I am here to tell you that it can have an ugly temper before it’s had its morning coffee. It is an “introduced” species and thrives in this area, where birders complain that it has “driven out” the native Trumpeter Swan. I like to watch them gliding by on the Bay. I didn’t much enjoy being buzzed by them when I kayaked around the point where they were hanging out. Apparently they decided I was too close, and I was of no mind to dispute them. Those birds are Very Large, and although mute, Very Loud as to the roar of their wings when they pass over your shoulder.