If I want to walk down to North Creek of Wampum Lake, I’m not worried about sitting on a spider or walking into a snake.
Ever since leaving Chicago to live in Lansing, I have finally found peace of mind. I love the city, but it feels suffocating to me at times, especially riding public transit with cramped spaces. Thankfully Lansing has many places for me to hike, like Brownell Woods, Lansing Woods, Forest Preserve, North Creek Meadow, Sweet Woods, and Thornton-Lansing Road Nature Preserve. When I lived down south, I didn’t feel as comfortable hiking through dense woodlands. We had alligators, multiple species of rattlesnakes, deadly spiders, panthers, and black bears just to name a few. Going off trails could result in an unexpected confrontation with a dangerous snake or spider. Even wild boars were a fear whenever I went hiking during mating season or whenever mothers with young boars were wandering in areas near trails. But once I moved to Lansing, I was excited to learn that my only concern while hiking the wooded trails were lyme disease carrying ticks. As long as lyme disease is treated early on, it’s often curable, so this is much better than fearing a snake bite miles away from civilization while hiking through the swamp. If I want to walk down to North Creek of Wampum Lake, I’m not worried about sitting on a spider or walking into a snake. And I’m surely not worried about an alligator or crocodile jumping out of the water to eat me if I get too close to the shore. Recently I decided to visit a different kind of location in Lansing because I had a few hours to kill while my furnace was being installed. The weather in September is mild and in the 60s during the day, so I spent a few hours touring the Historic Ford Hangar with my husband. He’s a car fanatic and has always wanted to see it, despite having issues last year due to unexpected cold snaps.