Sunday, March 01, 2009

3/01/09 MUSIC AND LATE WINTER MADNESS







Sunday, 8:00 AM. 0 degrees, wind W, brisk at times. The sky is blue with some haze, and the barometer predicts partly cloudy weather.
The wind was biting at times this morning, but it redeemed itself by bestirring numerous wind chimes on porches and decks along our way, which tinkled, clanged and clunked, providing us with quite a concert, particularly when mixed with the songs of chickadees. As far as I can tell, dogs have no appreciation for music or other esthetic concerns. But, that is O.K., as I have known musicians and artists who have no appreciation whatever for the concerns of dogdom, so it all evens out, I guess.
Yesterday was Manypenny Madness, our little Bayfield carnival, so-named because most of the silliness centers on Mannypenny Avenue. There were a lot of things going on at the Rec Center and the restaurants and shops, but the main events were the Run on Water, a walk-run-ski-slip-slide from Bayfield to Madeline Island and back, and a large number of hardy souls did so; then there was the Polar Bear Plunge, with many nutty people in various stages of costume and undress jumping into a big hole in the ice off of Reiten Park. No thanks.
Small northern towns have to do something at this time of year to let off stream and stimulate business, and this seemed to do the trick. Morty’s Tavern and the bar at the Inn were quite crowded afterward.