Unfortunately, Michigan has its very own oil spill.  Apparently, a pipeline that carries oil from Indiana to Ontario malfunctioned and pumped 840,000 gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek, which runs directly into the Kalamazoo river – a prominent river in the southern portion of the state – and local residents now not only get to witness the after effects of such an environmental disaster, but also get to smell the pungent odor on a daily basis.

The leak originated south of Marshall, Michigan, but has started to make its way towards the Kalamazoo area.  Officials have assured the public that they will be able to contain the spill within Morrow Lake, a dam pond east of Kalamazoo, but we all know how that can go.  I’m hoping for the best, but trying to prepare for the worst, because if the spill cannot be contained in such a location, there is the possibility it could reach Lake Michigan; that gives me chills just thinking about it.

Obama has already pledged a swift response to the spill, and local legislators are speaking out against Enbridge, the company responsible for the pipeline.  I’m holding my breath, though, and hoping that this spill is contained and cleaned up in a timely manner.  If history is any indication, though, I have fears that this will take much longer than anticipated to get under control, and who knows what longing affects it will have on the local wildlife population.

Right now, heavy rain is inhibiting the clean up duties, as well as a lack of trained personnel to help with wildlife clean up and rehabilitation.  I’ve already read and heard stories of people who were willing to help, but who have been turned away because they don’t have the proper training.

The river in question is only about 25 miles south of my hometown, and though I haven’t seen the devastation first hand, we will be in the area for a wedding this weekend.  There is a part of me that really doesn’t want to see, and to say I feel pretty damn helpless is an understatement.

Let’s all hope that everyone works together, and gets this thing cleaned up as soon as possible with as little environmental impact as possible.

It’s all just very depressing.  It literally makes me sick to my stomach.

Update: After working through my helpless feeling, and after thinking to myself “How can I help?”, considering there is no way I’m trying to pick up a ornery goose covered in oil, I did manage to find a few ways that us simple and untrained people can help:

If you want to volunteer your time to help animals in need or oil cleanup, try one of the following options:

— Call the official assistance number, 1-800-306-6837.

— Call Pam Decuypere with the Circle D Wildlife Refuge, 269-778-9181 or 269-365-5349.

— Visit the Circle D location at 13500 East U Ave. in Vicksburg. Bring donations of money, buckets, vegetable oil, dish soap and rags.

— Call Matt Davis at 967-3321 or e-mail him at biggfoot18@aol.com.

— Join the Facebook Group Kalamazoo River Oil Spill.

— Drop off items such as non-fitted sheets and soft towels, cardboard boxes, small white boards, duck tape and firewood at Crossroads Church and Ministries, 717 N. Old 27, Marshall.

We are going to do our part and drop off some much needed supplies at the church listed, which is close to my wife’s work.  If they need duct tape and cardboard boxes, I am more than willing to oblige.

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For many, visiting a battlefield is a passive experience – a means to visit the battlefield and to maybe read a few plaques and such along the way.  For me, though, it’s much different.

As I stood in front of Spangler’s Woods, and stared across the field where Pickett’s Charge took place, I could hear the crunch of earth beneath my feet.  I could see the smoke covering the field – a product of the morning’s intense artillery blasts from both sides.  I could feel the weight of my rifle, and the adrenaline and terror shooting through my veins with each step.  I could hear and see the muskets being fired near the copse of trees, and could sense the presence of men firing from near The Angle.

On Little Round Top, as I looked out toward Devil’s Den past the monument to the 16th Michigan, I could almost see the Texans and Alabamans making their way towards the summit.  I could feel the heat and humidity, and hear the sharpshooter’s bullets piercing the air as they passed within range.  I could feel the pressure mounting as I began to run low on ammunition, and could feel the immediate despair when I knew the position might not be able to be held.

In the Soldiers National Cemetery, standing near the Soldiers National Monument, I could faintly hear the words:  “Four score and seven years ago………….we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow this ground……that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, for the people, by the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

It was an amazing experience – a life changing experience.

Visiting the Gettysburg battlefield was better than any of my expectations.  Being able to walk and stand on the ground where such an important battle in our nation’s history took place – and, even more importantly, stand in the area where Lincoln delivered his immortal words – in order to set a people free – was incredible.

The entire town has an amazing feel to it, and definitely was witness to a pivotal moment in the survival of our nation as we know it today.  If the Gettysburg battle had not turned out the way that it did, our country could be much different – much, much different.

I am a different person after being able to stand on such hallowed ground – and I am very grateful to all of those men – Confederate and Union – who fought and who gave their lives in order to define and shape a country into what it is today.

Standing on such hallowed ground helps us to not forget – and may we never do so.

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I really can’t call it jet lag, because we traveled by car, but I still definitely feel a bit of vacation lag at the moment.  There is just something about riding in a car for 11 hours or more – it really starts to wear on ya.

Last week my wife, Abby, some of the wife’s family, and myself took a weeks vacation to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  All of you who read this blog know about my fascination with the Civil War, and after my trip to Shiloh a few years ago, I knew I had to visit Gettysburg as well – and it didn’t disappoint.

We visited the battlefield, took in the town a little, visited Washington, D.C. and just had a great time.  We stayed in a private campground near Gettysburg, and we loved spending the time outdoors, although the sweltering heat and humidity did make it a challenge at times.

We had an incredible week, and once I get things back in order around the homestead, you can be sure that you’ll see a few posts about our experiences in Washington, Virginia, Maryland, and most important of all, a little town in Pennsylvania.

It was incredible.

Hopefully, while I was gone, you took in Matt’s post about his first fishing experience in Hawaii.  It sounds like it was one heck of an experience.

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With the new day breaking, I walked the bank of the Pere Marquette, looking for my first honey hole of the morning.  It was beautiful – the sun’s rays bouncing off the banks, bringing new life to the early spring forage – but, as I walked along, something on the trail ahead caught my eye.

WTF?

A beer can.  And another beer can.  I hate trash!

It amazes me as to how little respect some people have for their natural resources.   Apparently, since they don’t take their mom with them everywhere they go, they don’t know enough to pick up after themselves.  And with their lack of respect for such a pristine stretch of river, I can only imagine what their home or vehicle looks like.  It has gotten to the point that I have started to carry a plastic bag in my backpack, just for such an occasion.  But, honestly, some of the things I’ve seen wouldn’t even fit in my backpack; there was that much trash.

It sickens me.

I truly do not understand not picking up after yourself, whether it be on a pristine waterway such as the Pere Marquette, your favorite local fishing lake, or your favorite hunting spot.  Just pick up after yourself!

I always have trash in my backpack, whether it’s picked up while walking the trail or it’s my own from the day’s packed lunch and/or snack.  And my tackle box was a mess for quite some time, because of some leftover fishing line that I had put inside it; I didn’t want it to get caught up on some unsuspecting waterfowl, or person for that matter (If you don’t think it can happen, check this out).

So, please, if you’re one of them, try picking up after yourself.

And, even if you don’t leave your trash lying around, do your favorite outdoor place a favor and pick up what you can while you’re there.

Sometimes we just have to be other people’s parents.

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For those of you that regularly follow Simply Outdoors’  blog you know that I recently relocated to Hawaii. It has been a hectic and crazy summer to say the least, but I did finally get to experience my first “island edition” outdoor excursion recently. Words and pictures probably won’t give the experience its due justice, but here it goes anyways.

The day trip was planned to consist of a hike and some fishing. No big deal, right? I’ve been on plenty of hikes and logged hundreds of hours with a rod and reel in my hand. Not quite! This was a fishing experience like I’ve never had before. We started our journey by hiking  3 miles along the coast to our fishing spot. Along the way we did some “whipping” which is the term used  for casting or whipping your lure out off the edge of the coast and retrieving it at a fairly high rate of speed. You usually won’t hook into any giants by any means, but you can catch some wahanui like I did. I managed to land two on our hike into the spot. One got thrown back and the smaller one was taken as bait for our next fishing tactic. Wahanui reminded me of a largemouth bass in looks, but with a little different colorization. There were several other hookups along the way; however,  it is tough to not only hook a fish, but bring it up the edge of the cliffs without losing it.

After taking in all the scenery and enjoying some fishing on the way in, we finally arrived at the spot. I was in awe. With the beautiful view of Mauna Loa behind us and the vast Pacific Ocean in front of us, this place was surreal. It was cool to realize that this was truly a rare place on this earth. Where else can you hike across 3 miles of hardened lava and still enjoy such beauty all around you? And, to top it all off, the weather was absolutely gorgeous.

Well, now that we had arrived, I was in for the treat of learning about “sliding”. Sliding is where you take a bigger pole and cast the line out with nothing but a lead weight on it. You let the weight get snagged on the bottom and then you slide additional small lines with your bait on them down the line. When a fish is hooked it will basically break off the line that has the lead weight and allow you to fight and bring in the fish without the hassle of the weight too. It is also best to attach a bell to your rod to notify you of any strikes. It was a completely new concept for me, but made sense for dealing with the conditions of the surf and the depth that you are trying to get down too. We set our sliders up with some white eel and the small wahanui. After setting up the sliders, I jumped right back into whipping and managed to snatch a nenue, which looks like a giant bluegill. We added this to one of the slider setups as an additional meal for a larger gamefish. I did not manage to take a pic of the nenue, but just imagine a bluegill on steroids.

After several hours of whipping and several false alarms from the slider rod we finally got some action on one of the sliders. The bell started going crazy and then all of a sudden stopped. The line and the rod seemed to be greatly relaxed so we decided to check it out and see what was going on. After reeling the setup in we were stunned to see that the nenue (which was not tiny) had been bitten completely in half and the piece of white eel was gone. To top it off, the steel leaders that were used to slide the bait down had been mangled and twisted together as if they were pieces of yarn! After seeing the evidence of power we knew that whatever had decided to grab our bait was no small fish. It was definitely exciting!

During the afternoon, while hanging around our spot, I did manage to land several of these guys. Apparently they are equivalent to a sucker fish or carp. So, why did I even mention the catch? Ah, glad you asked. These little guys make quite an interesting sound which I was unaware of. So, after catching the first one and trying to remove the hook from him, I first noticed that the little guy had an amazing set of teeth. His mouth was very small, but the teeth quickly caught my attention. Secondly, I was abruptly introduced to the loud chattering sound these guys make. I will be perfectly honest here. Between the teeth and the chattering sound, I was a little intimated by this 10-12 inch fish. It was quite the experience for me!

As our fishing time was coming to a close we decided to take a little swim on this tiny remote black sand beach. After spend most of the morning and afternoon in the hot sun, it was a great way to cool off. Of course as soon as we decided to take a dip the cloud cover did roll in, but it was a great way to re-energize for the 3 mile hike back out.

We did manage one other spectacular tidbit on our hike out. We managed to discover a natural spring that was merely feet from the ocean. It was down in a large crack in the hardened lava and was completely shut out from the saltwater. It was epic! It was the highlight of the day and allowed us to take a dip in the cool water and rinse off all of the saltwater from swimming earlier. Just as a sidenote, I will not divulge any information pertaining to the location of the spring!

Well, I can honestly say that I was truly impressed with my first island adventure. Thanks to Paul McCarty (a former Michigander) and his son Kaikoa for taking me on this amazing trip. It was a long day, but worth every ounce of energy. I thoroughly enjoyed every second. Who knows whats in store next? I can’t wait!

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