I’m back too, David, at least for a time. How about this by way of contrast? I would be scared to death to be on one of those little boats in this channel where the big ferry boats sail. Guess who has the right of way here? Yet it would seem that the little boat is trying to cross the path of the ferry first, I wonder who won this version of “chicken”?
The medicinal uses of cattails include poultices made from the split and bruised roots that can be applied to cuts, wounds, burns, stings, and bruises. The ash of the burned cattail leaves can be used as an antiseptic or styptic for wounds. A small drop of a honey-like excretion, often found near the base of the plant, can be used as an antiseptic for small wounds and toothaches.
The utility of this cattail is limited only by your imagination. The dried stalks can be used for hand drills and arrow shafts. The seed heads and dried leaves can be used as tinder. The seed head fluff can be used for pillow and bedding stuffing or as a down-like insulation in clothing. The leaves can be used for construction of shelters or for woven seats and backs of chairs, which has been a traditional use for hundreds of years.
They can be woven into baskets, hats, mats, and beds. The dried seed heads attached to their stalks can be dipped into melted animal fat or oil and used as torches.
The cattailís every part has uses. Itís easy to harvest, very tasty, and highly nutritious. It was a major staple for the American Indians, who found it in such great supply, they didnít need to cultivate it. The settlers missed out when they ignored this great food and destroyed its habitats, instead of cultivating it.
The shoot provide beta carotene, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin C. When the male flowers ripen, just before the summer solstice, they produce considerable quantities of golden pollen. People pay outrageous prices in health stores for tiny capsules of the bee pollenóa source of minerals, enzymes, protein, and energy. Cattail pollen beats the commercial variety in flavor, energy content, freshness, nutrition, and price. To collect the pollen in its short season, wait for a few calm days, so your harvest isn’t scattered by wind. Bend the flower heads into a large paper bag and shake it gently. Keep the bagís opening as narrow as possible, so the pollen won’t blow away. Sift out the trash, and use the pollen as golden flour in baking breads, muffins, pancakes, or waffles. It doesn’t rise, and it’s time-consuming to collect in quantity, so I generally mix it with at least three times as much whole-grain flour. You can also eat the pollen raw, sprinkled on yogurt, fruit shakes, oatmeal, and salads. The cattail is the all in all product for great nutrition or for medicinal needs.
Do you know how baseball spectator’s stay cool in the summer? By all the fans there. Ouch. I’ve been a lifelong fan of the Chicago White Sox through feast and famine. I started following them in 1958 and was rewarded the next year with a World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers which they lost four games to two. I loved the era with Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox. Then there was the exploding scoreboard every time the White Sox hit a homerun at home. Fireworks all over the place. I also enjoyed Nancy Faust the organist. Then there was the years with Frank Thomas, the Big Hurt. I was just made in 1993 with the baseball strike because that year the White Sox led by 18 games. Because of collective greed they lost a chance to play in the World Series. But in 2005 they won the World Series against the Houston Astros in 4 games. In fact that postseason they tied the New York Yankees with the best postseason record at 11 and 1. Now the White Sox are rebuilding and it’s been a long season. But Baseball fans stick with the same team no matter what. Go go White Sox!
There it is, the old gas pump at the Big Bass Lake store. It’s not fancy like the one at Na-Tah-Ka is but just as functional. But inside that store a customer got first class service from Otto Bartlett. My grandmother, Barbara Noreika, always spoke highly of Otto. She may have grumbled about the prices Otto charged but, at that time, the nearest full grocery store was at Baldwin or Scottville. Convenience usually won out. There was a lot of snow to be shoveled out for customers but Otto saw to that too. The customer always came first.
Before it was Tiny Tim or loon Island it was known as Grandma’s Hat Island and it had wondrous sand beaches around it. Look how much room it really has from how it looks now. Can you make out why it looks like a hat? You had a perfect view of this Island from the Big Bass Lake store.
This was a light fog over Big Bass Lake but I recall several times when thick fog blanketed the lake and I used to like to row at those times. As long as I could see the shoreline I could make it from our pier to our wooded beach with nary a problem. If I had tried to head over to the Big Bass Lake store across the middle of the lake that might have been a problem even though the Haunted Island and Big Island are close enough together that the shadows of each island should have been visible enough to do just that.
On our boys club trips to the lake we often woke to fogs upon the lake but not very thick. Morning swims were common on those trips to get the sleep out of their eyes in a most refreshing way. After 30 minutes or so in the water chores were started to get ready for breakfast such as wood gathering, fire starting, and the cooks getting ready for whatever was on the menu for that day. Our Hoffman Estates kids were probably the earliest risers of any boys club I ever took to Big Bass Lake as they squeezed out every moment of every day for their activities and work.
Fog also kept low over our wooded beach making mornings rather errie. But by the time breakfast was down the hatch the majority of those fogs had lifted and the kids were ready to tackle the rest of the day. Even so on some hikes we encountered thick fogs as well so fogs were often an essential part of almost every trip up to our property.
I fondly remember walking the shoreline of Big Bass Lake coming back from our mailbox. It was a preferable walk over that of taking our driveway which was always in the heat of he sun. The shaded pathway along the lake was far better. Of course you had to watch where you were going as tree roots embedded in the ground was always a problem.
Of course this was before the Public Landing was put in as that property was then owned by Frank Benish. Our property ran along that line all the way to our pier and beyond. Every now and then I would hear a frog leaping into the lake from a lily pad. Just past our pier was too difficult to walk along the lake so you went up a hill and followed your own trail overlooking the lake past a lot of our old outbuildings.
Once clear of them it was just you and the forest until it opened into a field just south of Al Matson’s cottage. From that point forward Noreika Road followed the lake for about a quarter of a mile before it disappeared into our forest. All in all it was a good hike to take every now and then to be close to the lake itself. I always looked at it as a hike to gather one’s thoughts for the day.
The cottage you see in the distance is the Reynolds homestead before we sold it and moved to Arizona. Darlene and I had lived here for almost thirty years and our property begins at the fence line. This access road drifts around our land and to two other cottages before it ends in a dead end circular drive. It is located northeast of Scottville, Michigan, but its precise location will remain a secret because, unlike Dave Norris’s former family property, this one is still ours and I don’t want a lot of people searching for where we live.
Darlene and I livef here with our two huskies, Frick and Frack. I had to put up a fence due to the intrusion of snowmobilers on our land and four wheel vehicles which sometimes took the shortcut around our land by going through it. The fenced in area contains Darlene’s beloved vegetable and flower garden. Just behind our cottage is our modest orchard with both apple and cherry trees and a long vine of grapes.
Our home haf a wonderful kitchen for Darlene to cook her marvelous home made pies plus a large dining area and living room complete with a fireplace, a necessity in Michigan. The upstairs consists of a loft bedroom for the two of us. Each of us have our own den for our private work.
My good friend Ben lives just a half mile past us and the two of us have taken many a canoe trip on the area rivers. Since the state of Michigan does not plow our road in the winter it made sense to purchase two snowmobiles which we use for our vehicle of choice throughout most of the winter. Since Dave has shown you his former property, I thought an apt Christmas gift to all of you would be to learn a little about our digs. Merry Chistmas!
Each section of Big Bass Lake has its own charm and dignity. On this lake there are many places where you can only see a certain portion of the lake and only an aerial view provides you with a vision of everything the lake has to offer. Unlike most lakes, this lake has many sections to it where vision of the other parts of the lake are concealed.
From our dock on the southwest portion of the lake, I could observe no part of the north side of the lake. With five islands on this lake, it is difficult to observe one part of the lake from another.
The northern section of the lake is almost a lake unto itself. The only portal south leads into the narrows. However, could this northeast side of the lake be where the Old Homestead Resort once stood? Or where the Dinty Moore Resort was? I think Grant’s Resort is on the northwest side of the lake.
It is said that the north side of the lake is the deepest of any section of Big Bass Lake. For those that dwell on this side of the lake feel free to add in your own thoughts by way of a comment.
Big Bass Lake & Beyond 