First I must make note that no big changes are in store for me as I had indicated a couple weeks ago. There will always be next time.
Last weekend we drove to Holland, MI to stay with my parents. It was nice just to get out of here for a bit. Between the warming temperatures, no new snow, and work I really needed a break. Holland proved to be a decent one! We really did not do incredibly much. The time change
on Saturday night kind of threw everything off. We did get to go to the beach Saturday morning though! Wait, did I just say the beach? In March? Why yes I did! We drove out to see the ice caves that formed on the lake. I always thought the ice caves in Petoskey were big. The caves on Lake Michigan outside of the bay are HUGE. Look at the people. They are tiny! The largest of the ice caves probably come close to as tall as the breakwall lights that lead you into Lake Makatawa. I will have to check my spelling but I am fairly certain that is correct. The beach was completely barren less the few people brave enough to work their way out onto the ice. It was one of the colder and windier days in Holland while we did this...so I understand completely. I did not dress appropriately. ;) I had a hooded sweatshirt and no gloves. It was cold. :P The walk along the 
beach was the worst. It was a long walk...tough to do on sand...and the wind was blowing so hard that it honestly felt like my skin was going to snap. But we survived and got to take a couple more pictures out on the ice. We headed back to the apartment shortly after.I do need to bring up a local restaurant down in Holland called Bravo. From what I can tell, the owner is Greek. On their menu there is a Greek influence...and the last time I was there it was more of a breakfast/lunch type place. This time...they had taken the back part of the restaurant and turned it into a lounge. The had a great band playing and the atmosphere was nice. It started off a bit stiff but as people started showing up it slowly became a bit more lively. We did not stay for an incredibly long time...it was starting to get a bit crowded. Nice place though. If you are ever in the Holland area check it out during the evening. (Or in the AM for a five egg omelet.) That was last weekend in a nutshell.
I went out into the swamp (as I mentioned in my last post) on Wednesday evening. My buddy from high school was trying to collect moss for a poison dart frog tank where he works. So we tromped through some snow and found the bog that he wanted to get the moss from. The first part was the hardest part because the snow was so deep and I kept sinking through. The bog
had a nice layer of ice over the top. I would say in the range of 4-5 inches. (picture to the right) Pretty impressive for a swamp I guess. I must note that the water that splashed up out of there...was nearly the worst thing I have ever smelled. We ended up finding the moss he was looking for and progressed further into the woods. He wanted to take me a spot that he found some kind of minnow. He has bred them and everything so far. From what I understand they have adapted to needing nearly no water to live. Pretty impressive. So we got back to the mud minnow spot and he broke through the ice accidentally...up to his knee. ;) It gave him a good start to uncovering the water hole though. It was a flowing creek that apparently has no name...but was actually flowing at a decent rate for how cold it has been. The picture below is where he went in and then tore the ice 
away. He dug around in there looking for signs of life for a bit and then we took off. It was starting to get late and I had to work in the AM.Being that I need to get the day going today...I am going to wrap up my AM post and will finish up with a PM post later this evening. Stay tuned!
-Derek
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