The UP but not my alma mater, U of Pennsylvania

 Today is my 4th day in Marquette, Michigan. I am visiting my brother, Conway,  and his wife, Jo.  I have never been here and I am enjoying the weather. It's just about the same temperature as Seattle but 60% humidity!

The Megan Abbott book I just failed to finish, "Beware the Woman", takes place in the UP. She writes: "The Upper Peninsula has some of the same extremes that Los Angeles does, she says, because it is so beautiful and the ends of the Earth.  You feel like you're in this sort of liminal space between civilization and everything else."

Conway and me with Bowie the dog (waiting patiently for the ball to be thrown) in background 

Jo (Oana which is Joanna in Romania)

 They have a big house, full of art, lots of land, and 3 big dogs.  I have walked the dogs but not the oldest one who is a mutt and not a pure  breed like the other two. 

 Since I don't have use of a car except for when I took theirs while they were at work one day I have done some bicycle riding on Jo's bike that she's only ridden once or twice, not having grown up (in Romania) to ride a bike. Marquette has some good bike paths but Conway is outside of the city. I bicycled to two bird preserves, used my new binoculars and saw a Goldfinch.

Beehive charcoal kiln, used 1874-1907

The Tocsin or Fire Bell has been part of a community since ancient times, warning the inhabitants of danger. The old fire bell was cast in bronze by the Henry McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland in 1882. 

A cute hut in Chocolay Bayou Nature Preserve