A Continuing, Monthly Journal
of People and Places
Along Bay County, Michigan's Rail Trail System

Enhance your health, stretch your mind, embrace your community; hit the Trail. 

by Dave Goss
5-15-08

Dear friends,

It's a grand day in Bay City! The air is clear and clean, the sun is shining on green grass, and I'm glad to be here. It was colder than anticipated last night, in fact it was 30 degrees in the Houghton Lake area. I checked on my tomato plants first thing this morning and they were fine.

We have planted only tomatoes in our vegetable garden. We will can them in the fall and make salsa and stewed tomatoes from them. I bought several plastic utility buckets from Home Depot, (the big orange ones,) and planted zucchini and cucumbers in them. I find that it is much easier to maintain the plants this way. Constant weeding is not necessary, and I keep the plants near our back porch, and away from marauding rabbits and squirrels.

It Takes a Keen Eye Searching for the Illusive Morel Mushroom

Morel Mushroom

Yesterday, my two sons and me, jumped into our little Volkswagen Golf, and headed to the National Forest near Glennie, in our annual search for morel mushrooms. It was drizzly and gray much of the day. A perfect day for mushrooming.

If you have never searched for morel mushrooms, perhaps I can give you a few clues as to what to look for and what to be careful of:

How to identify Morel Mushrooms

1. Look at the cap of the mushroom. It should be attached to the stem, (cap and stem all in one piece.) If you cut one in half, lengthwise, it will be hollow.

2. On most morel mushrooms the cap is longer than the stem.

3. The cap is full of ridges and pits.

How to identify False Morel Mushrooms

1. The stem of the false morel (Verpa,) is not hollow, but is filled with a cotton-like fiber.

2. The stem is connected only at the very top of the mushroom, forming a hood around the stem.

3. The stem will normally be longer than the cap.

If you have any doubts after inspecting the mushrooms, don't eat them!

We arrived at our usual mushroom-hunting site, near Reid Lake, around 9:30 in the morning. We soon became aware that we had forgotten the mosquito repellent. The skeeters were hungry and swarmed to any skin that was exposed.

Luke found the first mushroom about a half mile from the trail head. Morels are masterful at the art of camouflage. Derick found the next.

Morel mushrooms, if you can find them at a market, will sell for around $20.00 a pound. One of the reasons for the high price is fact that they are not easily found in the woods. Look for rotting logs, and look around the trunks of ash trees.

We hunted mushrooms until 2:00 pm. We ended up with around 4 to 5 pounds of mushrooms.

The day's bounty of morels.

We typically hunt for morel mushrooms around Mother's Day. If you pick the right time to go mushrooming, I understand that morel mushrooms can be found practicly anywhere in wooded areas in Michigan.

“Quotes”

The following several quotes were written by Helen Keller. The quotes in themselves are quite insightful. Considering that she was both totally blind and totally deaf from birth, you must agree that she possessed an incredible intellect. She was truly a remarkable human being.

Life is a daring adventure
or nothing. Security does not
exist in nature, nor do the
children of men as a whole
experience it. Avoiding danger
is no safer in the long run
than exposure.  - Helen Keller

Self-pity is our worst enemy
and if we yield to it, we can
never do anything good in the world.  - Helen Keller

Discovering the Tobico Trail

I don't recall the exact date that we discovered the Tobico Trail. But, I can say that it was in the mid, to late 70's that we first began to hike the trail as a family. The Rail Trail as we know it, of course did not exist then.

There was a locked gate and a small parking area on Kilarney Beach Road. Many people did not bother to get the key to the gate from the State Park Office, and simply walked around the gate.

Our youngest son, Luke, (now 30 years old,) was just beginning to walk when we first began hiking there. He would run ahead, then run back, then run ahead again. By the time we had gone a third of the way around the 3.5 mile trail, Luke would be on my shoulders and our other two kids would be slowing down and simply observing nature. During years with ample rain, blueberries are plentiful in mid to late July. The earthen trail was a perfect place to take our kids to vent some of their energy and to spur an interest in other living things.

In the early to mid-eighties, my oldest son, Derick, and my daughter, Marcy and me, ran the trail to train for the St. Patrick's Day run. It was much easier on the knee joints, to run on the cushioned soil, than to run on concrete or asphalt.

When our kids were yet young, we would often hike the trail with Mike Davis, a friend I have known since kindergarten, and his two sons; Aaron and Neil. Our kids have of course grown up since then. I have included some photos taken along the Tobico Trail over the years.

Top left and right, the Goss kids.
Bottom left, the Goss kids with Aaron and Niel Davis in approximately 1983.
Bottom right, Luke with son Quentin in 2001.

Saturday- May 3rd
Rail Trail Clean-up Day

We dressed for cool, windy weather and arrived at the Civic Center in Vet's Park around 8:50 on an overcast day. Since we were first to sign the register, we were given the immediate area to police and clean up. We picked up trash along the River Walk, from the boardwalk that crosses to the middle grounds, to Midland Street. I was quite surprised that there was very little trash to pick up. The wind was blowing briskly from south to north, so most of the lighter trash; papers and plastic bags etc., ended up on the norther-most areas.

It was quite a surprise to find that the bulk of the trash that we retrieved was in the form of plastic water bottles. I would have expected something different. People that care for their health enough to drink bottled water, I expected, would not be the people that would litter. My mistake. Maybe it's time to put a ten cent deposit on plastic water bottles.

Betty and I discussed the fact that southern states, such as Georgia, do not have a bottle bill. The result as you may know is an abundance of trash in the ditches and roadsides of the rural areas. Here in Michigan, since we have passed the bottle bill, we have greatly improved the trash problem. But, maybe we need to go little further with the law and include the ever-abundant plastic water bottle.

Cathy Washabaugh

Cathy Washabaugh was the greeter in the park. She offered fruit snacks, bottled water, and cookies to participants in the Rail Trail Clean Up. Cathy is one of the major spark plugs in our Rail Trail and River Walk programs, and the Bay Area Community Foundation. She stated that there were around 20 people that showed up to clean up our trail system. If you have any questions concerning the Bay County Riverwalk/Railtrail, contact the Bay Area Community Foundation at (989) 893-GIFT.

Little Leaguers

Meet Quinten Goss. Quinten is eight years old, he's our grandson, and he plays baseball for the Saint Stan's Little League team.

This is his first attempt at playing in a team sport. He is having a difficult time with the “team” concept. He is bright, and single-minded. He is accustomed to some fierce sibling rivalry and readily defends himself. He has not yet learned the limits of his personal control over his environment. When it comes to making decisions, he is stubborn to a fault. He has vast stores of energy and whenever he decides what he is going to do, he does it with great enthusiasm. He is a wonderful little man, full of questions; many with answers he has yet to discover. A fertile and enthusiastic mind, just waiting to be sculpted. That is precisely what the Little League system does for our young children. They take all of the intensity of youth and direct it into the development of cooperation toward a common goal.

Over the past several weeks, we have observed the Saint Stan's Little League team of young boys and girls as they struggled and lost their first three games.

The weather was very close to freezing during St. Stan's first game. The young players showed a lot of heart, playing in shivering temperatures. There were many strike-outs and missed catches. The wind was brisk and biting. Many of the players on both teams had a hard time concentrating on the game, while standing and shivering in the outfield. I watched Quinten's disappointment when he was called out on strikes. His coach; Glen Rose, prompted him to swing at the ball.

On Saturday, the 10^th of May, St. Stan's played a morning game. It was a beautiful sun-shiny day. Many of the grandkids were already there. Our son, Luke (who is also Quintin's dad,) would be the home plate umpire.

Luke

When the first batter from St. Stan's stepped up to the plate, they had yet to win their first game. The hitting and the fielding had in the past been poor. The young boys and girls on the team had been beaten badly several times and team confidence was very low.

Maybe it was the beautiful weather, that changed things that morning. or maybe it was the supportive crowd of St. St. Stan's fans that had shown up. Whatever it was, the mood was different for this game. There was a feeling of optimism in the crowd as the fans began yelling encouragement to the young players; calling each one by name and letting them know that they were being supported.

The response was remarkable. The team as a whole began to play better. They started hitting the ball. The fielding improved. You could sense that something was different. The whole team seemed to be upbeat and enthusiastic.

Quinten came to bat in the last inning and watched as his second strike was called.

“Full count,” his dad yelled out from behind the plate.

“Swing the bat,” his coach yelled. “You need to swing the bat!”

The next pitch was outside. Quinten took his base.

The smile on his face was contagious. He had made it to first base for the first time. We were all proud.

They won the game. The kids were jubilant.

The next game they soared. They won the game by a large margin. They played with the confidence that comes from knowing you can get the job done.

I wouldn't be able to finish this story without telling you about Quinten's last at-bat for that game. Everyone figured the game was over and most of the crowd had left, when the ump announced that there was time to play one more inning.

Quinten came to the plate with shouts of encouragement.

“Just relax and have a good time. Hit the ball,” Yelled coach Rose.

The count was 2 and 1, when the pitcher threw the ball across the plate.

Quinten made a solid hit on the ball that sent it over the head of the short stop. Quinten had his first base hit. He was just full of himself. He slid into second base when the catcher lost the ball. He jumped up and down on second base, then stole third base; sliding in on a close call. He ended up being driven into home by the next batter. It wouldn't have been any better if they had just won the World Series. We were very proud.

Quinten at bat

I love watching these little men and women as they grow and learn. I cannot say enough good things about the Little League system and what it does for young lives.

Team

Good Things From the Galley

I tried this recipe just recently, while on vacation at Betty's parents house in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Betty's mom is a wonderful cook in the southern tradition. She made this for us while we were there. I hope you love it as much as we did.

Broccoli Corn Bread

Ingredients
1 bag frozen Broccoli cuts
1 cup chopped onions
1 stick butter, melted
4 eggs, well beaten
6 oz. cottage cheese
8 oz. Jalapeño Cheese Whiz
1- 12 oz. can niblet corn
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

Method
Boil frozen broccoli cuts for 3 minutes, drain.
Pour broccoli into large bowl. Add Cheese Whiz, stir well.
Add all other ingredients except corn muffin mix.
Add the muffin mix last. Blend all ingredients well.
Bake in 13”x 9” pan at 375 degrees fir 30 minutes.

Broccoli Corn Bread is great with hot soup, or as the vegetable course for any meal.

Thanks to Wilma Knight of Fort Walton Beach for the recipe.

See you next month. Happy trails.

If you have any comments, or ideas for Life Along the Trail, please contact me at: boggdweller@yahoo.com.