Some Autumn Photos from Western Michigan

Please go take a look at these photos from autumn last year in western Michigan. That is my old stomping ground as I have lived there several different times in my life. :-) There are parts of the U.S. where autumn is far beyond what most people can imagine for glorious color. Michigan is one of them, at least many years.

I put a small story about my Gramma in the comments, if you are interested. Please also leave the blogger some friendly feedback, if you feel so inclined. :-)

Fall 2023 Michigan

Photo property of Plants Amaze Me.

Springtime Walk In the Dowagiac Woods, Michigan

Dutchman's Breeches
Photo property of Plants Amaze Me.

Another great post from "Plants Amaze Me" of her adventures in the Michigan woods. These pictures make me just a little homesick for Michigan in the spring. Especially this dry year in Texas. (But, to be clear, I do not miss the winters up there!) :-) These photos are from the end of April, so they are past this point, but I still wanted to share.

Dowagiac Woods Nature Sanctuary

Enjoy! And leave her a kind message maybe.

Apple Crisp - Gramma Hoover's Recipes

Here is another recipe from my Gramma Hoover, but this one was a loose card inside her write-in cook book. You can see how simply some recipes were written out by her. 

Hope Knight was a sweet lady that Gramma worked with at the Rural Bible Mission in western Michigan. RBM had a similar format to Child Evangelism, but the ministry was much smaller. Their missionaries went out and did release time classes for children from public schools and chapel services for children in Christian schools during the school year. During the summer vacation (holiday), they did Vacation Bible Schools for various churches who invited them in. Gramma and Hope Knight both worked at the headquarters where materials were written, printed, and sent out as well as the missionaries' newsletters. I believe Hope was an artist who helped create visual materials. Gramma worked in the printing press room and mail room.

Editorial Notes are in brackets.

Apple Crisp

Slice 6 peeled apples into baking pan. [EN: you'll have to judge the size needed. It looks like maybe 8x8 or 9x9 inches, or a 2 qt. casserole dish, possibly. I would use sweet apples since there's not sugar added to them.]

In bowl work together:

1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. oatmeal

1/2 stick margarine [EN: or butter]

1/3 C. sugar

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. nutmeg [EN: ground]

[EN: Spread the crumb mixture evenly on the top of the apples.]

Bake at 450F for 35 minutes.

A Walk In the Winter Woods In Michigan

Photo property of Plants Amaze Me.

Here is one last glimpse of real winter for you before we move on to primarily spring posts. :-) I lived a good deal of my youth and young adult years in Michigan. Although I'm happy to live in Texas now where we have less winter, these pictures are still beautiful and nostalgic to me. The winter woods have a beauty and a feel all their own. I hope you enjoy the photos, and leave "Plants Amaze Me" a nice comment too if you like. :-)

Two Walks On A Snowy Day

And just because...here's a poem by Robert Frost (such an appropriate name to go with this poem). :-)

Stopping By Woods on A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

A Walk Through the Michigan Woods In November

painting by Childe Hassam

Another great walk through the woods in Michigan, this time in November of this year when the colors were gorgeous. [I used a painting illustration because I couldn't share any of her photos. :-) ]

Fall Color at Ottawa County Parks November 2020

Visiting the Michigan Woods In Spring

Trillium photo property of "Plants Amaze Me."

Michigan is my home state and it is the state my mother considered her home state in the U.S, although she was born in Tanzania, East Africa. Western Michigan, where we lived at various times, is a beautiful place. This blog offers some occasional walks in the woods there. Enjoy!

Aman Park in Ottawa County, Michigan - May 7 2019

Dowagiac Woods April 8 2019

Another Ramble through the Michigan Woods

Photo property of Plants Amaze Me.

I posted a link to this page some weeks back explaining that I lived part of my youth in this area - Western Michigan. Here is another ramble in the Michigan woods from a year ago around this time. I enjoy these photos so much.

A Fun Find On the First Day of November 2018

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:

How great thou art! How great thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:

How great thou art! How great thou art!

Carl G. Boberg [Translated by Henry K. Hine]

Beautiful Michigan Woodlands

Psalm 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

Photo property of Plants Amaze Me

This is a page I enjoy visiting from time to time because the person who does it lives in the area where I was born and lived for a number of years of my life. She is in Western Michigan. This is the kind of landscape I sometimes enjoyed in my youth. :-) Please go over and enjoy the woodland ramble.

Plants Amaze Me - Ross Coastal Plain Marsh

Illustrated Poem - Winter Morning by Ogden Nash

Winter Morning

Winter is the king of showmen,
Turning tree stumps into snow men,
And houses into birthday cakes,
And spreading sugar over lakes.

Smooth and clean and frosty white,
The world looks good enough to bite.
That's the season to be young
Catching snowflakes on your tongue.

Snow is snowy when it's snowing

I'm sorry it's slushy when it's going.

by Ogden Nash

-------------------
Top two photos: Michigan in the 1960s. Taken by one of my grandparents.
Bottom two photos: Tennessee in the first ten years of 2000. Taken by me.

Michigan Memories - Winter Roads

These photos were taken by my grandparents in the '60s and '70s. I have memories of roads like these! While they are very beautiful to look at, it is not always great to travel on roads in these conditions. :-) All of these photos were taken around Gull Lake, Michigan.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know. 
His house is in the village though; 
He will not see me stopping here 
To watch his woods fill up with snow. 

My little horse must think it queer 
To stop without a farmhouse near 
Between the woods and frozen lake 
The darkest evening of the year. 

He gives his harness bells a shake 
To ask if there is some mistake. 
The only other sound’s the sweep 
Of easy wind and downy flake. 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 
But I have promises to keep, 
And miles to go before I sleep, 
And miles to go before I sleep.

- by Robert Frost