6/03/08: FLOWERING CRABAPPLES

Wednesday, 7:45 AM. 43 degrees, wind ENE, calm at present. The channel is bumpy. The barometer is down, predicting rain. The sky is overcast.
It is a dark day, but brightened by many blooming plants. The flowering crabapple trees are blooming profusely here now. One of my favorites is the smallish, spreading, white flowered Sergent’s crabapple. Another great crabapple is the pink crabapple in the Carlson’s yard to our east, it is probably a ‘Dolgo’ but I am not sure. The crabapples, of the same genus as edible apples, Malus, is extremely variable, with great genetic plasticity, and there has been hybridization of these ornamentals for hundreds of years. There are a few North American species, and many European and Asian species, all interbred so that the origin of most trees can be considered truly horticultural. One of the best places in Wisconsin to see flowering crabapples is Whitnall Park in Milwaukee County, they usually are at their peak there in mid-May. When selecting crabapples, check on their resistance to pests and diseases, particularly to fire-blight and apple scab. There is no longer any reason to grow problem prone crabapples, there are many resistant varieties now available.

6/03/08 VIBURNUMS AND LILACS

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 45 degrees, wind NE, calm to light, the channel is slightly crawling. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy weather. The skies are mostly overcast with high, thin clouds.
The Tree Board meeting went well. We were cleared by the Public Works guys to use an old jeep-mounted water tank that was once fire equipment. We watered all of the new trees in the City Marina Park, and will water all of our newly planted trees on a weekly basis if we do not get at least an inch of rain. This is a must for new trees at least for their first year.
We are trying to educate everyone not to mow our daffodils until about two weeks after they quit blooming and the leaves loosen from the bulb. If they are not given that much time to photosynthesize nutrition for the bulb they will weaken over time, stop blooming and eventually die. Too many people are caught up in the neatness of lawn mowing, anxious to have everything uniform all the time, and not willing to stop and think. So what else is new?
There are still trees and shrubs left to bloom. Viburnums and lilacs are blooming now, to be followed in a day or two by mountain ash and later tree lilacs and buckeyes. Some tulips are still blooming, and dwarf Iris and bleeding heart have begun. The primroses have been beautiful this year.
The poplars are shedding their fluffy seeds, which drift about like diminutive parachutes on the morning breeze.

6/02/08 INVASIVES

Monday, 7:30 AM. 52 degrees, wind NE, light with stronger gusts. The channel is smooth to wrinkled. The barometer predicts sunny skies, presently blue. We had a W wind come through with some rain yesterday at dinner time, it blew enough I would not have wanted to be on the lake.
The humming birds are having their little aerial battles over rights to the feeder, the contents of which they have diminished by half.
What many call a “red maple” because it has red leaves all year long is an old fashioned cultivar of the Norway maple, Acer platanoides, those around Bayfield probably the variety ‘Crimson King”. These are mostly selections of the even older ‘Schwedler’ cultivar. Many people like them as accent trees particularly around old homes. All Norway maples and their cultivars should be used sparingly, as they seed heavily and are quite invasive in woodlands. They are a major invasive in New York City’s Central Park, for instance.
A lone wolf has taken a calf out on Soper Road, near the Larsen Sugar Bush. The carcass was only partially eaten, and the DNR folks say if it had been an attack by a pack it would all have been eaten. One bite to the spine is all it takes for a wolf to kill a calf.
There is a Tree Board meeting this afternoon, and plenty of work to do until then.

6/01/08 HORNETS AND DISHWASHERS

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 53 degrees, wind W, calm at present. The channel is wrinkled. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are that at present. It is a quiet morning except for birdsong.
Solomon’s seal and Canada mayflower are about to bloom in the woods. I picked up a baldfaced hornet’s nest a couple of years ago and Joan has had it as decoration in the bedroom (after frost they are empty of live insects and none will hatch from it) and I have heard that wasps and hornets are very territorial and will stay away from the nests of others. I put it on the porch to hopefully discourage wasps and hornets from the area, but I don’t know if the territoriality is inter-specific. I will keep you posted.
I have a bit of household engineering info to pass on…I spent the better part of Saturday with my head under the sink and in the dishwasher, and can attest that olive pits (twenty one in this instance) will over time plug a dishwasher drain. Be careful, it’s a jungle out there!
Crabapple trees are in bloom throughout town, and in the orchards where they are used as pollinators, and their cheerful, colorful blooms really announce the beginning of summer for me.

5/31/08 WILD CHERRIES

Saturday, 7:15 AM. 49 degrees, wind E, light to moderate. The barometer predicts sun, skies are blue with high black rain clouds on the eastern horizon. We may get a shower. We got another quarter inch of rain yesterday and the two rain barrels are full. I haven’t turned on the outside water spigots as yet and hopefully won't have to for a while.
The wild cherries... pin, choke and black, are all in bloom, and woods edges and old fields are white with them. The cherry illustrated is choke cherry, Prunus virginiana. Apple trees have begun to bloom, I don’t know about the domestic cherries. Juneberries are about finished blooming.
I participated in a work crew for the Conservancy yesterday afternoon, led by Grandon Harris, who is a great volunteer. We placed railroad ties and gravel on the Iron Bridge trail, which leads up the ravine north of town, starting across the street from the library on Third and Washington. A good project.
We went to Cornucopia to the Village Inn (one of my favorite places) for fish fry last night, the first time in a while. It was excellent, the ride out and back very nice.

5/30/08 JACKPINE

Friday, 8:00 AM. 45 degrees, wind ENE, presently calm. The barometer predicts rain, which we received one-half inch of last night. Skies are overcast, and fog obscures the Island. We need a good rain, so I hope it continues.
It was a quiet walk with only a few rain drops, and no one else out, except the omnipresent Roxie, who has acquired a whiffle ball the size of a soft ball from somewhere.
The pines are ready to shed their pollen, the male cones of the Jackpine, Pinus banksiana, on the south side of the house, about ready to burst. I am very fond of the tough, picturesque Jackpine, native to our Wisconsin barrens. Ours has a very oriental appearance, caused by many of its terminal buds being killed by borers each year. The borer is a landscaping ally, producing an appearance I would be hard pressed to obtain with artful pruning. I planted this tree seven years ago, as a seedling.
I have a number of landscaping jobs to do, it will be a full day.

5/28/08 A SIMPLY GREAT GARDEN

Thursday, 7:00 AM. 47 degrees, wind W, calm. The barometer predicts rain, and skies are blue with some haze. The channel is slightly wrinkled.
All the indoor plants are now outside, including the lemon tree, the croton, and the Agave.
Today’s photo is of one of the very few remaining home gardens that I see in Bayfield these days. Mike and Sharon Bonney do a great job with vegetables, fruit trees and berries as well as flowers. It is a productive and eye-catching garden. It takes years to develop a good vegetable garden soil, and theirs is a nice dark, friable loam, and virtually weed free by dint of patience and hard work. We have a number of grand, professionally maintained formal gardens in Bayfield, but I don’t think they can compare to this pleasant, productive, much loved and cared for garden.

5/28/08 PIN CHERRIES IN BLOOM

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 47 degrees, up from 38 at 7:30 AM. Wind NE, calm. The barometer predicts sunny skies, currently hazy. The channel is wrinkled.
More and more trees and shrubs are in leaf and bloom; red elderberry on the side of the house, a native pin cherry, Prunus pennsylvanica, down the road; both very attractive wild plants. Natives seldom are fooled by the weather.
Motel Mike says he has seen later springs; about fifteen years ago he says there was not a tree in leaf on Memorial Day. Erick says his peas are just coming up, and Mike B. is going to plant his today.
The baskets are back outside, and will stay there now until fall. Have to get the herb garden planted, and water ten newly planted red buckeyes, city trees, and mow lawns today or tomorrow.

5/27/08 TWO THOUSAND AND FROZE TO DEATH

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 37 degrees, wind NE, calm to light. The channel is “wrinkled.” The barometer predicts sunny skies, it is a crisp, clear beautiful morning in mid- April.
It got down to 32 degrees last night, and I had to schlep all the plants in again, ahead of rain, wind and frost, and out again into the sunshine this morning.
Mike at Seagull Bay Motel says they had a full weekend, despite the weather. He has fishermen who come up early and leave their boats during the week and return each weekend, but all left with their boats yesterday. Mike says it was a good early fishing season (my boat is still in the barn) and he is happy to have the boats out of the way, and no more fish guts. The way this spring has been he was lucky he didn’t have to plow snow around them.
Marilyn, neighbor to the east, gave me a number of dwarf lilacs from their property in Eau Clair, and planting them will be one project for the day. Our wrens are busy building their nest on the porch, twittering constantly.
In the context of current weather conditions hereabouts, I must mention a historical event, the explosion of Krakatoa Volcano in Indonesia in 1883, the ash from which, circulating in the stratosphere around the earth, caused "global cooling," and subsequently that year became known in vernacular history as Eighteen-Hundred and Froze To Death. Has anyone heard a loud "boom" lately?

5/26/08 MEMORIAL DAY 2008

Monday, Memorial Day, 7:30 AM. 44 degrees, wind E, calm. The barometer predicts rain, and fog obscures the Island.
There were some warblers flitting about this morning and I identified a few, but the light is not conducive to the activity this morning. I have new found respect for the birders who are actually adept at finding and ID-ing warblers.
The photo posted is of the Red Cliff Reservation Veterans Park, a memorial to the fallen heroes of our nation, and in particular, those of Red Cliff and the Town of Russell area. This morning it is a quiet place of homespun beauty, overlooking Basswood Island and Buffalo Bay. Nothing fancy, just the work of ordinary people. I have walked the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. early in the morning, and have sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after dawn, without another soul in sight, contemplating our history, and I find this unassuming place at least as compelling. After all, it is the little people of our country communities and city neighborhoods who have most truly kept the faith in freedom and democracy alive through all our years and all our struggles, they are our Great Warriors, who didn’t run away from the fight.

5/25/08 JUNEBERRY BLOSSOMS

Sunday, 7:45 AM. 60 degrees, wind S, calm. The channel is like glass. The barometer is down, predicting rain, skies are overcast. We got a trace amount of rain last night, and things are damp.
It is another quiet morning, the walk uneventful except for someone’s dog howling inside the garage he obviously objected to being kept in. Loud, long, mournful hound sounds.
I got all the hanging baskets planted yesterday and put them in the garage with the door open to harden them off. They will be spectacular. I have put indoor plants out and back in a couple of times. The lemon tree is desperate to be outside.
The pretty native Juneberry tree in the garden, probably Amelanchier laevis (there a number of natives that hybridize), is in bloom, as is the PJM Korean Rhododendron in the front yard. The Juneberry is a volunteer, it's mother lives in the woods across the street.
I saw my first bear of the season yesterday, a big black blob (try saying that three times real fast) on an abandoned driveway just west of the Reservation on Hwy. 13. By the time I stopped and backed up, he was gone. You never know when or where they will show up, bears have their own agendas.

5/24/08 AWSOME MORNING

Saturday, 7:00 AM. 38 degrees, wind SW, calm. The channel is calm. The barometer is down, predicting rain, but skies are blue. The wind, such as it is, has shifted, the barometer has dropped, and a big storm system is moving in slowly from the southwest. We need the rain, but it should be a nice day, and to quote an early rising neighbor, it is an “awesome” morning.
We got our annuals yesterday at Hauser’s and my weekend task is to make up our hanging baskets and pots. I put them in the garage last night to harden them off, and may put them back there for a day or so after I make them up. I bought a large bag of commercial potting mix, which I have found pays, as it has the proper drainage and nutrient qualities for good baskets. I usually put up eight baskets but may do a couple more. I try to have a little variety, but the conditions are windy and rather tough and I rely mainly on ivy leaved geraniums, along with a fuchsia and a petunia basket or two, all mixed with a few trailing things, etc. I find baskets the perfect accent for a domestic landscape, even if they are a lot of work, as they add color and interest wherever one needs it.
The humidity is still low, and one can see for sixty miles or so including the iron ranges, which appear as distant mountains, which they are, even if worn to relative nubbins over the last umpty-ump million years.

5/23/08 MYSTERY SOLVED

Friday, 7:30 AM. 40 degrees, wind E, light. The channel is slightly wrinkled, the barometer is down, predicting mostly sunny skies, which currently are darkly cloudy.
I talked with my buddy and award-winning naturalist Andy Larsen regarding the warbler migration, and he says the birds that were here in great numbers a few days ago have obviously moved on, and any that nest here have dispersed into their nesting territories and are not that obvious. He says they migrate on a barometric pressure high, and stop and rest whey they run into a low. When the low lifts thy all leave en mass, at night, and consequently just disappear from our sight. He will right a few paragraphs of more complete information which I will post at an appropriate juncture.
Lichens are another fascinating subject that we can explore at some point, but for now please note the photo of lichens on a red oak tree in the woods at about 12th and Manypenny avenue.

5/22/08 SMELLY STUFF

Thursday, 7:30 AM. 39 degrees, wind E, light to calm, channel smooth. The barometer is up, predicting sunny skies. At present skies are partly cloudy. An east wind will keep us cooler than normal as long as it persists.
Forget-me-nots and marsh marigolds are blooming in the ditches, and violets and pussytoes in the lawns. The oaks are finally leafing out. The Amelanchiers (Juneberries) are ready to bloom, the first of our more ornamental trees to do so.
There has been commercial spraying for dandelions on some properties and on the park down the road, and the noxious smell of 2,4-D permeates the air. I prefer to live with the dandelions, which, if we used them in salads and to make wine would be considered, as they are in Europe, a valuable plant (they were brought here by settlers because they were considered a pretty and useful reminder of home). Spraying lawns for these “weeds” also kills the violets, hawkweed, pussytoes, ajuga and a lot of other pretty and interesting plants. Some of the most attractive lawns I have ever seen have contained all these plants and one of the most beautiful was full of creeping Charlie, its tiny flowers creating a fine blue mist over a large tree studded expanse. Grass and “weeds” can coexist if sensibly managed, to the benefit of both esthetics and the environment. More on this subject at some future time.

5/21/08 THE LONG, LONG SPRING

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 40 degrees, wind W, light to moderate. The channel is blue, alternating from glassy to slightly wrinkled as the west wind plays about upon its surface. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, now magnificently blue.
The warblers must be staying low to the ground in the cool and breezy mornings. I saw lots of white throated and other sparrows and small birds, but no flittering warblers. But, as I have said, I am not that great a birder.
This slow, cool spring has been wonderful for bulbs, the daffodils and tulips lasting for weeks, and I am guessing the perennials will be great as well once the really get started, so in many respects this has been a particularly nice spring. One just has to dress as though it is April instead of almost June.

5/20/08 TOO MUCH MULCH

Tuesday, 7:00 AM. 43 degrees, wind SW, moderate with stronger gusts. The channel is “bumpy.” The barometer is up, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are now blue with some white clouds moving fast from the west.
I glimpsed a few warblers this morning but won’t venture any identification. It looks like we have a wren setting up housekeeping in our back porch birdhouse. It seems like a nice day but probably will be rough on the lake.
I am putting wood chip mulch on various garden areas and around trees and shrubs. It is locally chipped from trimmed trees and I am not worried about insect pests or diseases. I have more than I can use and have told neighbors to help themselves. Mulch is beneficial in keeping weeds under control and conserving moisture, but can’t be applied too heavily (2”-3” is about right). Keep mulch away from tree trunks, and remember that wood chips will deplete soil nitrogen in decomposition, so it is necessary to add some extra nitrogen fertilizer to mulched areas to compensate (I still like to use Milorganite when it is available). One of the greatest benefits of mulch is that it helps keep mowers and string trimmers away from tender tree trunk bark. In my experience, more damage is done to home, street and park trees by "mower blight" than almost anything else.

5/19/08 JUST FIDDLIN' AROUND

Monday, 7:45 AM. 38 degrees, wind W, calm, the channel is flat, the barometer down, predicting partly cloudy skies, and they are that at present.
It got pretty chilly last night, but is warming up. There was a lot of birdsong on our walk, mostly birds I recognized, but I saw no warblers. Maybe too cold, or perhaps some have continued on north. I am not that good a birder and the warblers are too quick and secretive for me to catch many of them and I salute those who can. Plants, except for leaves and branches blowing in the wind, keep more still and don’t move around much except by means of seed distribution.
The woodland ferns are mostly in the “fiddle head” stage, the leaves still tightly folded. When they open fully I will recognize at least some of them. Fern fiddle heads are considered by many a cooked delicacy, but I have never tried them. I don’t know of any that would be poisonous.
Today I need to mow laws and then begin to draw a garden plan, and have a Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Bureau meeting at 5:00 PM. It’s a busy time.

5/18/08 BLUSTERY BIRDING

Sunday, 7:45 AM. 37 degrees, wind variable, first west then east, moderate to blustery. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are now mostly cloudy with patches of blue. The channel is wrinkled but will get choppy I am sure.
I walked slowly through the woods and wooded roadsides looking for warblers this morning, but it was cold, dark and windy and all I got for my efforts was fresh air (good) and a stiff neck (not so good) from looking up into the trees. I am a better back yard birder than walking birder, and shall take my coffee and binoculars to the front deck.

5/17/08 WILLOW, WEEP FOR ME

Saturday, 8:00 AM. 48 degrees, wind ENE, light to moderate. The channel is wrinkled. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are presently mostly clear. There is little humidity and one can see Ashland, and the Gogebic and Penoke ranges to the southeast and south.
There is big weeping willow on 9th Street, and the male flowers (catkins) are in full bloom (anthesis). It is as beautiful as any flower imaginable, but one must look closely. The stamens are composed of chartreuse filaments topped by golden pollen bearing anthers.
I met park naturalist Niel Hauk birding along Wilson Ave. this morning, he says there are lots of warblers. Next walk I take my binoculars along.
Yesterday’s event went off without a hitch. Most of the questions were about trees this year. Today I have to catch up with a lot of yard work, and time is awastin’.

5/16/08 BAYFIELD IS IN BLOOM

Friday, 6:45 AM. 45 degrees, wind NW, calm. The channel is glassy. Skies are blue with some haze, but the barometer predicts rain.
Today is the Bayfield in Bloom kickoff, beginning with the Arbor Day tree planting at East Dock Park at 9:00 AM. The Mayor will read his proclamation, the State regional Urban Forester will give proper planting instructions, and the Bayfield 4th grade class will help plant and water the tree. The Tree Board will be there and other citizens as well.
The 14 exhibitors will be all set up in the Pavilion by 10:00, and the Garden Talk WPR radio show, hosted by Larry Meillor, will start broadcasting state wide at 11:00. Don Kissinger, State Regional Urban Forester, Jason Fischbach, the County Agent, and I will field questions on trees, gardening and landscaping. It is always an interesting and fun time. The city and environs look good for this first event of the Bayfield in Bloom season.

5/15/08 A BEAR LOG

Thursday, 8:00 AM. 46 degrees, up from 40 at 7:00 AM. Wind SSE, calm. Channel calm. The skies are blue and hazy. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies. It is a nice day.
We walked through the woods this morning and saw a long-fallen spruce log that has been mostly shredded by a bear looking for grubs. The trees are at long-last beginning to leaf out, the poplar leaves are about the size of my thumb, a very light lime green.
This morning I will stake out city trees for planting along Hwy.13 (6th.St.) through town, ten red buckeyes, cultivars of the Ohio buckeye, about the size of flowering crabapple trees at maturity. They bear large bright red panicles of flowers, and will be a very impressive entry to downtown.
This afternoon we will set up the pavilion for the Bayfield in Bloom activities tomorrow. Tonight Joan and I will have a real treat, dinner in Ashland with friends of our youth, Dave and Mariette Novak, whom we haven’t seen in at least forty years. They are here to participate in the Ashland Birding and Nature Festival, Mariette having just published a new birding book.

5/14/08 RETURN OF THE HUMMERS

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 39 degrees, wind NW, calm. The channel is wrinkled. The barometer predicts partly cloudy skies, presently blue with some high thin white clouds and more cloud cover on the eastern horizon.
The big news is that the hummingbirds are back, we saw two yesterday at the feeder and one is there right now. They are as predictable as the legendary swallows of Capistrano, but no saint’s day seems to be involved. Our hummers are the ruby throated, although there are occasional reports of the western rufous hummer. Our birds may have wintered anywhere from southern Florida to Central America or the Yucatan. If they cross the Gulf they may fly 500 miles non-stop, and are incredibly fast. I don’t think anyone knows when they left for the north breeding grounds or how long it took them to get here. People say they send scouts ahead which report back to the main flock, which makes sense to me, but I have no idea whether that is true or not. At any rate there are always a few birds in advance of the main body of birds.I am trying to get a few camera shots of them at the feeder but they are not very cooperative.
We finally got another thistle seed bag and the goldfinches and chickadees are elated.
Today I will stake out trees for the playground at the lake front for Arbor Day tree planting.

5/13/08 PASQUE FLOWERS AND BIRCH BLOSSOMS

Tuesday, 7:30 AM. 40 degrees, wind E, calm. The channel is smooth, the skies overcast. The barometer predicts rain.
Depending upon the weather, I will devote the day to an office botanical project, and/or stake out trees for planting on city streets, in my role as volunteer forester. I also must select a spot to plant an Arbor Day tree for Friday’s annual Bayfield in Bloom kickoff, which includes the Garden Talk radio show emanating from the Bayfield Pavilion. Daffodils will be in full bloom for this event, one big plus from this late spring. The Pasque flowers are in bloom, as are the birch trees, which are just about ready to shed their pollen.

5/12/08 BIRDS AND BLOOMS

Monday, 7:30 AM. 33 degrees, wind SSE, calm. The channel is calm. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are currently mostly blue with some wispy white clouds. We were awakened at 5:30 AM by the fluttering and bumping of our territorial robin, who has now opened a second front in his war against rivals, attacking the patio door to the bedroom from the front deck as well as the bedroom window. He attacks one or the other, then retires to contemplate his actions, sitting on the ridge pole of the front yard swing. He is obviously highly frustrated but I am bereft of any counsel to give him, as I have at times attacked equally imaginary threats with equal vigor and frustration. Psychologist, psychologize thyself!
I made the hummingbird feeder solution last night, and hung the feeder out this morning. One and one-half cups of sugar to one quart of water, don’t cut back on the sugar or they won’t drink it; bring to a boil and let cool. We should see one of the advance scouts any day now.
There is a striking male rose breasted grosbeak at the feeder, the first I have seen in a long while, resplendent with his black wings and head, and white breast splashed with red just below the chin. Wow! What a fancy character! And, just now, an equally handsome evening grosbeak!

5/11/08 MOTHERS DAY

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 35 degrees, wind WNW, calm to moderate. The barometer is down, predicting rain. We got only a trace of rain last night, but it filled the two rain barrels nonetheless.
A Pasque flower, Anemone patens, is blooming in the front yard, right on schedule; it is almost a bitter morning, just cold and windy enough to make me wish I had worn my gloves on our walk. It may be a late spring, but we still have enough blossoms for Mothers Day.

5/10/08 MAYBE IT'S SPRING

Saturday, 8:45 AM. 40 degrees, wind S, calm. The channel is like glass. The barometer predicts rain, skies are hazy.
The trip to Madison for the Urban Forestry Council meeting was pleasant, and reminiscent of trips to Atlanta or somewhere south in February or March. By the time we got to Minocqua the poplars were pretty well leafed out; by Wausau oaks were leafing out as well, and wild plums and Juneberries were in bloom. Madison was beautiful, with flowering crabapples, magnolias, tulips, Viburnums all in bloom. We are still pretty far behind up here, but will catch up soon.
Went to Hauser's on J to buy some pansies, they were busy, busy, busy.

5/08/08 CUTE BUT DEADLY

Thursday, 8:00 AM. 39 degrees, wind ENE, light to variable. The channel is wrinkled. The barometer predicts sunny skies, which are currently clear with some haze. It is a gorgeous morning, and there was a happy contingent of dogs and walkers out.
I had promised Andy I would plant some wildflowers (Liatris bulbs) for him so I drove out to his place yesterday afternoon. A porcupine scampered up a tree as we drove in. They have their place in nature’s scheme of things of course, but they are extremely damaging (to pine trees in particular), and are absolutely deadly to dogs, which are not smart enough to realize the danger. A dog with a mouthful of quills is in great peril, and even if they survive the experience, are likely to repeat it if given the opportunity. Lucky stayed in the truck.

5/07/08 BEARS AND BLOOMS

7:30 AM, 39 degrees, wind WNW, light. The barometer is down, predicting rain. Skies are overcast, the channel wrinkled.
The bear took down our feeders off the back porch last night, he must have waited until after midnight when we went to bed, as we would have heard him otherwise. I am beginning to think Lucky is a friend of the bear. This incident is proof positive that if fate is tempted long enough it will bite. The male downy woodpecker is very upset that his breakfast is missing. If I put the small feeders back up they will have to be taken in every night. It is time to put up the hummingbird feeders anyway, as the birds always arrive by May 15th.
The Forsythia are blooming at last, desperate to do their thing. Ours are not much this year as I had to cut them back severely last summer, and they bloom on old wood.

5/06/08 SUGAR MAPLE BLOSSOMS

Tuesday, 7:30 AM. 36 degrees, wind E, calm. The channel is like glass. The barometer predicts rain, the skies are mostly filled with puffy clouds, and the sun is peeking through.
A sugar maple tree on 11th and Manypenny is in full bloom, the first I’ve seen this spring. Again, the round clusters of greenish yellow flowers, about the size of a quarter, are not spectacular, but have a subtle beauty all their own.
I forgot I had a garbage can partly filled with deer corn sitting on the side of the garage, and our neighborhood bear got into it last night, dented it all up, and ate part of the contents. Bears have a cast iron stomach. Jane across the street says it is a good sized bear, that can reach at least eight feet, the height of their bird feeder that it took down.

5/05/08 QUIET WOODS

Monday, 7:00 AM. 29 degrees, wind NW, calm to light. The channel is wrinkled. The first two ferries of the day are leaving La Pointe. The barometer is up, predicting sunny skies, which are currently blue with some haze.
Once again it was a very quiet walk, meeting nothing and nobody. Maybe I am getting up earlier than most. Garbage was strewn around between Wilson and Manypenny on 8th street, so our local bruin must have been busy again last night.
I took the woods walk for the first time in a while, it having been pretty wet. All seems well and there is an air of expectancy about things, which are just waiting for some warm weather. I just put some fancy chocolate in my coffee, and it sure tastes good (I am always happy to hear that something that used to be considered bad for me is now considered beneficial).

5/04/08 RED MAPLE BLOSSOMS

Sunday, 9:00 AM. It is 36 degrees, the wind E, light. The barometer is down, predicting partly sunny skies. The skies presently are partly cloudy, the channel is calm. It is a very quiet morning, we met neither car nor person or dog, only the birds and squirrels are active. Red maples are in full bloom, and although not spectacular, close up they are very pretty in blossom.

5/03/08 STORMY WEATHER

8:00 AM. 30 degrees, wind NW, moderate with strong gusts. The skies are overcast, with some snow flurries. The barometer is down, predicting precipitation. The channel is rough. We have gotten 2.5 inches of rain in the past 24 hours.
Every roadside ditch in town has become a mountain freshet, and the sound of rushing water permeates the air. The storm seems to be over, and the birds are ravenous at the feeders, with two dozen purple finches fluttering about at present.

5/02/08

Friday, 7:00 AM. 34 degrees, wind E, moderate; the channel is “bumpy.” The barometer is down, predicting rain, which we have had about an inch of this week so far.
This is a slow spring, most buds and blooms late or on hold. Sure glad I got the yard and gardens cleaned up while the weather cooperated.
Joan says the feeder was visited by a flock of evening grosbeaks yesterday afternoon, but I missed them.

5/01/08 SCAT

7:00 AM. 30 degrees, wind S, calm. The channel is smooth.
8:00 AM. 37 degrees, wind E, light. The barometer is down, predicting rain. The sky is overcast, and the channel waters look “wrinkled.”
A bear got into the next door neighbors’ garbage last night and left a large, seed-studded calling card, which environmentalists euphemistically call “scat.” I don’t know why ”scat” is any more acceptable than the Anglo-Saxon four-letter word, but I will adopt the convention. Anyway, I guess the bird feeders will have to come down or be brought in at night. Lucky never barked. No treat for him this morning.
It looks like it will be a rainy day and we have saved up some errands for an Ashland trip; I am tired of painting anyway.

4/30/08

7:00 AM. 30 degrees, wind S, calm. The channel is smooth. The barometer predicts rain, and the skies are mostly blue with some haze.
The robin keeps attacking the bedroom window, waking us up this morning. I am certain it is attacking its reflection. I have been trying to get a photo of this activity but he ( I assume it is a male, as males are generally stupider than the female of any given species) is very camera shy.
We did get an impromptu church yard cleanup accomplished yesterday ahead of the anticipated bad weather. But the daffodils are beginning to bloom, and we saw our first sailboat of the season out in the channel yesterday evening.

4/29/08 FATAL ATTRACTIONS

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 32 degrees, wind E, calm to light, barometer down, predicting rain. Skies partly cloudy with a light haze. It is a beautiful if cool morning, good for outdoor activity.
We have a robin driving itself and us nuts. It seems to have a fatal attraction, either trying to rest on a too-narrow window ledge outside our bedroom, or it is in attack mode against its reflection . It flies against the window, and falls back, repeatedly. This has been going on for days. I would put up a board for it to nest on but it is very specific as to where it wants to do its thing. Some instinct, either aggressive or reproductive, has been triggered. I guess in either case it could be called territorial, and it is not likely to be easily turned off. I have hot been successful in scaring it away. When we lived in Nebraska we had a gazing ball in the garden that a robin took to fighting its reflection in, attacking the ball endlessly until it fell exhausted, then starting all over again. After days of watching this display I finally threw a towel over the reflecting ball and the robin left.
Anyway, I hope the bird has the good sense to be motivated to do something more productive with this nice day!

4/28/08

Monday, 8:00 AM. 25 degrees, wind ENE, light. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are currently partly covered with dark snow clouds. Mike from the Seagull Bay Motel related that many and large fish were caught by some customers way out in the Islands on Saturday, but at great hazard to life, limb and boat.
I had a tamer Sunday, planting the church’s Rhododendron, and in the afternoon attending a class on grafting at Hidden Valley Organic Farm, just west of town, conducted by owner Tom Galazen. He was an excellent teacher, and there were eight or ten attentive students; some folks with old orchards, a couple of young state employees, and several young wood-be orchardists. There are a lot of people hereabouts who basically live off the land, which can be a really hardscrabble existence, but very rewarding for the patient and unassuming. Tom covered a number of standard orchard grafts. It was good review for me, and with Tom providing the rootstock, I grafted two scions of an old apple tree out on Hwy K I have been watching for several years. I will pot them up and decide what to do with them later.

4/27/08 A NORTHLAND SPRING MORNING

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 24 degrees, wind NNE, calm to blustery. The barometer predicts sunny skies, which are presently partly cloudy. It was almost a blizzard yesterday, but with only a slight accumulation of dust-fine snow. we experienced a hard freeze last night, the bird bath froze over and the daffodils are drooping, but all will recover. I am planting a PJM Rhododendron at church for Rogation Sunday. It is tough, and will like it here.

4/26/04 STORMY WEATHER

Saturday, 8:00 AM. 29 degrees, wind south, with strong gusts, the barometer predicts precipitation. It is snowing lightly, but with no accumulation as yet.
I put on the black wool Stormy Kromer cap, icon of Northland haberdashery, this morning, retrofitting myself for our walk. We were to have a church yard clean up today, but I doubt that will happen. But this too shall pass, as our priest is wont to say, and a few warm days and Bayfield will be awash in yellow daffodils.
The birds had been predicting this weather for days, as they have been ravenous. Insects must be in short supply, and lots of fuel is needed for the impending mating season.

4/25/08

Friday, 8:00 AM,38 degrees, wind NNE, calm to blustery. The barometer predicts rain. Skies are overcast, and the channel waters calm. We are awaiting the predicted stormy weather, but have learned to look out the window as the Lake creates its own weather systems.
We went to Cornucopia, twenty miles west on Hwy 13, last evening to attend a Chamber of Commerce event at Ehlers General Store. It has been a fixture of Cornucopia for a hundred years and is now under new management. It is an “everything” store, from hardware to food and clothing, who’s motto used to be, “if we don’t have it, you don’t need it.” It is well worth a visit; nostalgia abounds but also modernity.
Purple finches are at the feeder, the males looking like they have been dipped head first in strawberry jam.

4/24/08 LIFE IS A BALL

Thursday, 8:00 AM. 45 degrees, wind E, calm. The barometer predicts rain. Skies are rapidly becoming overcast, presaging the predicted major storm.
Tragedy strikes every community, small as well as large. The body of a missing local woman, well known and respected in the community, was pulled from the icy waters of the channel yesterday, and our thoughts and prayers are with the grieving family.
It was in the 70’s late yesterday afternoon and we put the top down on the old convertible and took a country ride. The spring peeper frogs were chorusing in every wetland, and birdsong was everywhere.
The woodpeckers are establishing and defending their nesting territories, and at least one and maybe more (hard to tell them apart) male downy woodpeckers are drumming on metal stop signs to amplify their calls, thereby announcing that they are the biggest, baddest downies in the woods. If one learns from another, as I suspect is the case, it leads to a sort of drumming arms race, each now ramming its little beak against unrelenting metal instead of more giving wood, with none being superior long over another and all with headaches I am sure. The species would probably be better off without such advances in technology, but who am I to criticize.

4/23/08

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 37 degrees, wind SE, calm. The barometer is up, predicting sunny skies, which are partly overcast at present. The weather forecast is for a nice day today with rain and possibly snow for the rest of the week, but the low hasn’t shown up on my barometer as yet.
The yard and gardens are in pretty good shape, but I have to get the two rain barrels in place and clean the garage in anticipation of the storm. I am out of firewood and have to scrounge some up. A few daffodils are blooming on the south side of the house, harbingers of great things to come throughout town. Walked with neighbor Erick and dog Morgan this morning, Roxy is AWOL, perhaps grounded.

4/22/08

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 37 degrees, wind NNE, strong, with stronger gusts. The barometer is down, predicting partly sunny skies. Skies are overcast, and it rained, with thunder, most of the night, but with less than one-half inch accumulation.
The yard and garden cleanup is proceeding well, with only a couple of hours work left after it dries up.
I have been noting how really attractive the plain old tag alders,
Alnus rugosa, are in flower, the long pendulous yellow catkins covering an entire shrub or small tree. I even brought a branch in to add to the pussy willow, poplar and forsythia already in a vase on the table. We so often ignore the common beauty right in front of our eyes, thinking only the exotic worthy of our attention, How mistaken that attitude is.

4/21/08

Monday, 33 degrees, wind E, calm. The barometer is down, predicting rain. The skies are partly cloudy with some haze. It is a pleasant morning but will turn rainy by tonight, so I will continue with yard and garden work.
Down at the beach there is an interesting if somewhat gruesome thing which I have seen there once before and am trying to figure out. A piece of deer hide perhaps 2’ square with shreds of meat attached is hanging up in an alder bush, about 6’ off the ground. It has obviously been placed there by something…eagle, bear, or large cat? Last year, about the same place, but while there was still snow on the ground, there was a front leg of a deer, similarly placed, in about the same location. At that time I looked for tracks and saw none that were distinct enough to identify. These items were obviously placed where they were to keep other animals from them, so I assume that they were placed by a large bird, but if so, why not higher up, in a tree? A bear would probably have buried them, and the branches are not stout enough to hold a large cat. So I assume this was done by an eagle, unless…these things were cast up out of the surf by a strong wind and carried a hundred feet or so across the sand, to be lodged in the brush? But why then would they be deer remains, and not other flotsam? I still opt for the eagle.

4/20/08 FOGGY MORNING

7:30 AM. 32 degrees, wind ENE, calm. The barometer is down, predicting partly sunny skies. It is a foggy, cold spring morning.
Our walk was quiet and quick, but we did notice the red maples are beginning to bloom, and about time. This is an event unnoticed by many, and although the flowers are small, in aggregate they can be quite impressive. In New York where we lived they bloomed in late February, quite a variation.
Lucky and I went to the Sioux River yesterday in the late afternoon in the rain to see if there were any fish and almost froze to death. A lady game warden walked out to see if we had a license and if we were still alive, and both facts were confirmed. She said there were few fish being caught anywhere on her beat. I think she is a more reliable source of information than other fishermen. The 10mm Glock on her hip gave her an appropriate amount of authority. Sure hope it warms up.

4/19/08 SPRING RAIN

Saturday, 7:00 AM. 35 degrees, wind ENE, very light. The barometer predicts rain. It is raining moderately at present, and it looks like it will be a wet day.
The weather forecast has predicted rain for Monday but my barometer has been down for days. The barometer on your wall is like the compass in your pocket…it is best to believe it.
We have canceled the spring cleanup of the church grounds, making phone calls to groggy parishioners. We have too few of them to risk loosing them to flu or rheumatism on Sunday. The dog and the birds, being sensible creatures, are all sleeping in.
The rain will hasten the daffodils, and the tulips, poppies and Iris are all growing vigorously now. And, this is the kind of rain that will bring the spawning trout and salmon up the rivers. Decisions, decisions!

4/18/08

Friday, 8:00 AM. 38 degrees, wind E, calm. Barometer down, predicting rain. Skies overcast. We are due for spring rains next week but it looks like they might start sooner. Looking across the channel, ice is still visible on the Island shore. the ice flows also do blow around out there and it is not uncommon to see ice flows much later that this. Several years ago a large block of ice floated into Pikes Bay from the south channel on the 4th of July.
Anyway, the yard work is progressing, and at this point I am not too stiff and sore, maybe the maple sugaring did get me into shape somewhat, although I have always said that the only way to get in shape for gardening is more gardening. Lucky didn't think much of raking instead of going for a walk, and spent his time laying in wait for chipmunks to exit their rock wall burrows.
Andy and Judy came to town last evening for Joan's famous venison stew, and I assume everyone had a good time but I can't say for sure as I fell asleep right after dinner.

4/17/08

Thursday, 7:30 AM. 39 degrees, wind NW, light. The barometer is up, predicting sunny weather. Skies are blue with some haze.
It is a fine morning, quiet except for birdsong. The folks are beginning to rake lawns and garden beds, sometimes around remaining mounds of ice and snow. The desire to rake winter away for good is obvious.
I have an 8:30 AM Bayfield in Bloom committee meeting to wrap things up for the big event on May 16, only a month away. Our daffodils in the parks, boulevards and yards are in bud now, and in a week or ten days the whole community will be splashed with yellow. The Camber of Commerce has been the driving force behind the daffodil effort, and has provided tens of thousands for the city. Daffodils are pedestrian plants perhaps, but are colorful, fragrant and dependable, tough and deer-proof. They may not be the latest thing, but are a huge success.
Most of today I will devote to getting the gardens in shape and eventually the lawns. There is still a mountain of snow in the herb garden, off the north deck.
We have had a female redpoll at the feeder for several days, a pretty little bird that is quite tame.
I keep thinking that if we get out early enough for our morning walk we will see bears in Bayfield. It is that time.

4/16/08 AH, SPRING

Wednesday, 7:45 AM. 45 degrees, wind NE, calm. The barometer is down, predicting precipitation. Skies partly cloudy and hazy. This is truly a spring morning, the snow mostly gone in the city, crocus blooming and daffodils about to. The melting snow has uncovered untold opportunities for yard work.
We went to the beach yesterday before dinner and made a few casts at the mouth of the Sioux River. I had no strikes but saw one nice fish caught about 150 yards out, by three guys in a small boat fishing amongst the ice flows. It must have been a keeper since they hit it on the head a few times, I don’t know if it was a steelhead, which have to be 26” minimum length, which is a pretty good sized fish. Anyway I will try my luck there at odd times and maybe get lucky. I do not have the patience to be a really good fisherman, and like to spend an hour or so at most at it. At some point I will go up to the Big Rock on the Sioux and fish for steelhead, after a good warm rain.

4/15/08 HANGING IT UP

Tuesday,7:45 AM. 35 degrees, wind E, calm. The barometer is down, predicting mostly sunny skies. The sky is partly cloudy now. The water is running in the ditches all around the city. Much of the lowland in the country is soggy but there is still plenty of snow in the woods.
We made the last sap run yesterday and pulled all the spiles even though the sap will run for a while yet. I think everyone is tired, including the dogs, and it is time to “hang it up.” Andy feels we have produced the best syrup in many years, which he judges as a commercial “Grade A Amber.” 475 gallons of laboriously collected sap produced 11.5 gallons of syrup, averaging 1 gallon of syrup to 46 gallons of sap. I am going to guess that at least a cord of dry mixed firewood was used to boil the sap down to syrup (a cord is a pile of wood 4’ high, 4’ deep and 8’ long). The time involved was more than a month from set-up to clean up. I will guess that Andy and Judy put at least 300 hours into the effort, plus at least 200 hours by others, for a minimum of 500 hours of labor and probably much more.
Anyone can see that this is not a profit making venture but a labor of love, and whatever maple syrup sells for in the store it is not enough to justify the work. However, used judiciously, a quart or two of syrup will last until next year, and the memories of days spent with friends old and new in the sugar bush will last a lifetime.

4/14/08 IT'S BAAAACK!

Monday, 7:00 AM. 17 degrees, wind SSE, calm. Barometer down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are now clear. It is a beautiful January morning in mid-April, and there is skim ice half way across the channel. It is supposed to be warm this week so I don’t think they will have to reactivate the wind sled. I went to bed early, tuckered out from traipsing around on snow shoes at the sugar bush, so of course awoke way before dawn. No one else, not even Roxy, was up and out for our walk, so we had the sunrise virtually to ourselves. The first ferry is coming across from La Pointe just now, and it is actually breaking ice, now half way to Bayfield.
There was a sap run yesterday but I arrived after it was picked up. My timing was suspect, so I will go out today right after lunch. I think this will be the last pick up from the far grove today, as Jim and Mike are getting ready to go back to their regular jobs. The spiles will have to be pulled and the buckets brought back and washed. I think Andy will continue to collect from trees near the shack for a few more days and then will cook off what sap remains and shut things down for the year. There will undoubtedly be sap run conditions after this week but I think everyone will have had enough and have other things to do. Paul and Joanne are leaving this morning, the crew is getting smaller and smaller.

4/13/08 TEACHER

Sunday, 8:30 AM, temperature 25, wind NNE, moderate. The barometer predicts sunny skies, which are presently mostly cloudy. The snow is rapidly evaporating from roads and driveways but there is plenty of it everywhere else.

The sap did not run yesterday but will today and probably most of the coming week. The two couples who managed to get to the Old Rittenhouse Inn for the Maple Sugaring weekend did make it out to the sugar bush and down to the sugar shack, but I did not meet them because they were out in the woods somewhere with Andy on a nature hike.
Andy is a wonderful naturalist and at heart a teacher, and opportunities to teach willing learners make him really come alive. His is truly the Socratic method, the teacher at one end of the log and the student at the other, and not just figuratively. No matter how much even us old guys think we know we always learn more from our friend Andy when we are out in nature, and as I like to say, "Andy is a naturalist who is out standing in his field."

4/12/08. BLIZZARD.

Saturday, 8:00 AM. 21 degrees, wind NE, heavy with stronger gusts. Barometer up, predicting sunny skies, currently overcast. The blizzard pretty well shut things down, with heavy drifting but only 8”-10” of snow in the city (18” at the sugar bush). It was heavy, wet and sticky, a real job to get rid of. I called Andy at the sugar bush, and asked if they had all survived. He said no, they were all dead. I asked him if they were in heaven and he said no, Saint Peter wouldn’t let them in until they went back and took a shower somewhere. They did make it in to the Rittenhouse last night for dinner with the two couples who had arrived for the maple sugar weekend, Paul’s dual-wheel four wheel drive truck got them in and back. The two couples are due out this morning for their maple sugaring experience, but they will have a tough time getting back to the sugar shack. I may get out there myself, although the sap may not run today.
There is a chipping sparrow and a song sparrow at the feeder, also very pretty rosy finches along with a lot of other birds, and robins are eating frozen crabapples, I am sure they would prefer worms.
There are a lot of ice flows blowing around out there. One ferry just went across to La Pointe. Wayne, the Coast Guard officer next door says the radar can’t tell ice flows from land so if visibility is bad it makes for poor navigation. Even with GPS radar is needed in bad weather, because GPS doesn’t recognize anything but the boat’s map position, not obstacles to navigation.

4/11/08

Friday, 7:30 AM. 27 degrees, wind NE, violent. Barometer down, predicting snow. We are having a blizzard. It is hard to tell how much snow has fallen because it is blown and plastered everywhere, but trees are heavy laden. This is a major storm and will last a while from the looks of it. Porch furniture is overturned, bird feeders are askew and birds are rooting around in the snow for seeds, wondering why they didn’t stay south a while longer.
The sap ran well yesterday, Andy says an advancing low helps the sap run. Anyway, another 45 gallons was collected and Andy and Paul were cooking like crazy.
This is supposed to be the big maple syrup weekend, sponsored by The Old Rittenhouse Inn, starting with a free community event at the Historic Society Museum tonight with tales of maple sugaring and many different maple deserts and apple cider. I hope it doesn’t have to be canceled. Also, the sugar bush is to be the site of a Rittenhouse camp breakfast for their guests at the sugar shack. It may take four wheel drives and snow shoes to get cooks and guests there. It will also give guests an opportunity to help with sugaring as a rustic experience for, I am afraid, the truly hungry and brave.
We all (Joan and I, Andy and Judy, Paul and Joanne and all four dogs) had dinner at camp, the main course being elk from Paul’s Colorado hunting trip last fall. Appetites were whetted, very appropriately, by a bottle of Yukon Jack fire water. By dark it was starting to snow and Myron called, suggesting vehicles be parked at the end of the lane over night, nearer the plowed roads. Well, snowed in is snowed in, welcome to spring in the North Woods.

4/10/08

Thursday, 8:00 AM. 27 degrees, wind NE, moderate with stronger gusts.
Barometer down, predicting partly cloudy skies, currently mostly blue. A big storm is predicted for tonight and tomorrow with up to 18 inches of snow. It might be good for the lake but bad for my back, so all things considered I hope it is just media alarmism.
Paul, Joanne and dogs arrived last evening and we all had a fine time, they left before breakfast for the sugar bush to help Andy cook, and I will go out later this afternoon to help collect. It was a good run yesterday, 45 gallons of sap, but will probably be less today.
There are lots of reports of bears but I have not seen any. The commercial fishing boats are going out again from Bayfield and I assume Red Cliff now that most of the ice is gone.

4/09/08

Wednesday,8:30 AM, 27 degrees, wind NW, calm to light. Barometer up, predicting partly sunny skies, which are currently overcast. A major storm is predicted for Friday and Saturday, and we will keep our fingers crossed that it will miss us, as we are tired of this winter that just won’t go away.
The trip to Wausau was uneventful except for heavy fog along Hwy 2 going. It should always be anticipated that Hwy 2 from Ashland to Hayward may be very foggy as it is along the lake shore. Lucky was overjoyed to see us when we picked him up from the kennel, of course steak tidbits may have influenced his behavior.
Red maples are in bloom in the Wisconsin River bottoms around Wausau, and poplars are in flower, otherwise things still look pretty wintry.
Saw juncos at the feeder this morning for the first time in a long while. A few of the gold finches are really yellow now. No daffodils are blooming yet, but an Amaryllis on the windowsill is, the first one, and very late this year.
Paul and Joanne and their two dogs arrive from Three Lakes this evening to stay with us through the weekend and help with maple sugaring. It will be good to have their company.

4/07/08

Monday, 9:00 AM. 30 degrees, wind E, calm. Barometer predicts precipitation. It has rained some over the past 24 hours, and is presently very foggy. But, we dodged the bullet… northern Minnesota got up to 24” of snow.
I asked neighbor Sherman, a ferryboat captain, about the ice breakup yesterday, and he was running the boat I was watching. He said he thought the ice mostly blew out the open south channel after the ferry cut a path through it. He said it was quite windy out there and it did go out awfully fast. I also conferred with neighbor Erick who has lived here most of his life, and he says when the ice is “candled” with vertical holes from melting it can disintegrate very rapidly. So I am theorizing that it was a combination of those three factors, cutting a channel, strong wind and rotten ice, which caused the sudden disappearance of the ice yesterday morning. At any rate it was an awesome thing to experience. No blog tomorrow, we are going to Wausau to attend a regional forestry meeting. Lucky gets to stay at Blue Ribbon Kennel in Ashland.

4/06/08

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 30 degrees, wind ENE, moderate to gusty. Barometer down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are at presently mostly overcast.
The ferry made its first run through the ice this morning and it went fairly quickly it seemed, but then it proceeded very slowly into the harbor at La Point where the ice must have been quite thick.
In the few moments I watched the ferry with the glasses a very large area of open water appeared in the channel from the south almost all the way to Bayfield, several miles long and as wide at its widest. I would not have believed this if I hadn’t witnessed it myself. I can’t say “saw it,” because it was ice one moment and the next moment open water. Telling about something like this is akin to reporting a UFO sighting, people are likely to think you are nuts.
4:00 PM: looking at one of the ice flows from the window I saw an ice fishing tent upon it. I watched it for quite a while until it floated behind a large pine tree that obstructed my view. I saw no one waving frantically so I assume it was left on the ice yesterday and now is floating towards Ashland. They cost hundreds of dollars but are not worth risking a life for, obviously. Last week two guys had to be rescued from the water off Roy’s Point after they went through the ice with their 4 wheelers. Several weeks ago two snomobilers were pulled out near Stockton Island. It happens every year…snow mobiles, pickups, ATV’s, but I haven’t heard of any deaths in the Bay Area this year as yet.

4/05/08

7:00 AM. 29 degrees, wind WNW, calm. The barometer is up, predicting mostly sunny weather. Skies are mostly blue.
Robins are in the yard this morning, and have been around everywhere for several days. Crocus are blooming on the south side of the house, yellow, white and blue.
The sap run was light yesterday, only about 15 gallons. Andy bottled 5 quarts of syrup yesterday from the previously collected sap, and has plenty to cook off today. A winter storm watch is in effect for the area tonight through Monday morning, and we will see how that affects the sap run. I think we could all use a little break, as we probably have two more weeks of sap run left.
The Bayfield Regional Conservancy annual pancake breakfast this morning is being held at the Mt. Ashwabay recreation area and I am going there now to flip pancakes. Ruth Oppedahl, BRC executive director, is having a trail named after her; it is a surprise, and a welcome recognition of her tireless efforts for the community and the environment.

4/04/08

Friday, 8:30 AM. 38 degrees, wind NW, calm. Barometer predicts partly cloudy skies, which are currently blue with some haze.
Yesterday’s sap flow was only about 20 gallons, evidently because it did not get cold enough the previous night. That’s all right, as Andy still has about 60 gallons of sap to boil down today anyway. Today may also be a light run.
Joan made soup and a cake and we went out to the Larsen’s in the evening and had a good dinner and conversation by kerosene lamp light with Andy and Judy and talked a lot about our respective experiences in New York where we all lived in the ’70 ‘s (but we did not know Andy and Judy back then). The sunset fit the conversation, as it was a stratification of colored clouds…blue, cherry, green, peach…which looked for all the world like Italian Spumoni ice cream on a blue-sky plate. Maybe we should have made pizza.

4/03/08

Thursday, 7:45 AM. 27 degrees, wind SE, calm. The barometer is down, predicting precipitation. Skies are blue with considerable haze on the E horizon. It was a soft, pink dawn, the Island emerging out of the fog and haze, its blue-gray mass distinct between the white ice and the lightening sky.
The sap run was full-scale yesterday afternoon, most of the tree buckets full to the brim, three or four filling a five gallon bucket. We collected at least 75 gallons of sap, Mike and Jim collecting and hauling from the east grove, with the snowmobile, and I collecting closer to the sugar shack. Snowshoes are still necessary, at least for myself. It is hard work, even for Lucky, who often broke through the crust and almost disappeared. I didn’t have to rescue him, but he was tuckered out last night.
Andy said he started cooking before 5:00 AM and didn’t quit until 5:00 PM. A long day emptying buckets, stirring, stoking the stoves and bottling, but we are at last getting some real production. Today should be a repeat of yesterday.

4/02/08

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 22 degrees, wind W, light. Barometer predicts sunny skies, now blue with some haze.
The woods were pristine yesterday afternoon, the sap flowed well and 47 gallons were collected. I did fine on snow shoes in 7” of new snow on top of two feet of slush. I did the rounds of the tapped trees, securing the taps by tapping them in with a hammer, as many had become loose. Andy, the syrup master, cooked and cooked. Jim and Mike collected sap by snowmobile. Today should be a large run.

3/31/08

Monday, 24 degrees, wind ENE, light. Barometer up, predicting partly sunny skies, which currently are overcast but clearing. We were hit with a spring blizzard last night, about 5” of heavy wet snow, now removed from the driveway. I see a cloud of white moving across the channel. Putting the glasses on it I see it is the wind sled, so the ice road is closed. Viva spring!

4/01/08

Tuesday, 8:30 AM. 24 degrees, wind ENE, light. Barometer up, predicting partly sunny skies. Skies are currently overcast but clearing. We were hit with an “April Fool” spring blizzard last night, leaving about 5” of wet sticky snow, now shoveled from the driveway. I see a cloud of white moving across the channel, and putting the glasses on it I see it is the wind sled, so the ice road is closed. Viva spring!