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!

3/30/08

Sunday, 8:30 AM. 20 degrees, wind ENE, calm to moderate. Barometer down, predicting precipitation. Skies overcast and we have a winter storm warning in effect. The Blog has been down. No church today as the heat is out.
Yesterday I made a few casts at the mouth of the Sioux to celebrate the opening of the early stream fishing season. There were rumors of fish but I saw none, it is early. Lucky almost went crazy when two ice fishermen decided to walk their tent across the ice a ways. It was a sight to see, four feet under the big square tent, shuffling and bobbing along the ice near the mouth of the river. Lucky probably thought it was a very large bear.
The sap didn’t run much yesterday, it did not get cold enough Saturday night. That may been the case today, although it at least got below freezing last night.
I didn’t think snow shoes would be needed anymore and just put on rubber knee boots and suffered for it, punching through the snow over my knees every second or third step. I tipped over once and it was like falling out of a boat and having to swim to shore .Jim’s snowmobile was still able to navigate, thankfully, and we managed to collect about 20 gallons of sap. Andy is busy boiling down sap and the syrup produced thus far is excellent.
Without Jim and Mike and the snowmobile we two old guys would be dead in the water (or in the snow to be more precise). Which reminds me of something I heard the other day, “Inside every old person is a young person…wondering what the hell happened.”

3/29/08

Saturday, 7:30 AM. 18 degrees, wind NE, calm. Barometer predicts partly cloudy skies, which are mostly blue presently. We are supposed to get bad weather today and tomorrow but at present there are no such indications.
There was a late run of about 20 gallons of sap yesterday and enough old guys and young guys to haul it in. Andy will cook today, and I will go out again in late afternoon.
Roxy the black lab was not around all week but appeared with a tennis ball in her teeth this morning. She was evidently on spring break with her family, although I didn’t notice any sun tan so I don’t know where she has been but we can assume she took a ball along. I played kick ball with her for a mile and she about wore me out, but I am now ready to try out for the soccer team (right!). Lucky has no interest in such puppy foolishness.

3/28/08

Friday, 8:00 AM. 10 degrees, wind E, calm. Barometer down, predicting partly cloudy skies. Skies currently mostly blue with scattered high clouds and haze.
No sap run yesterday, and probably none today. We have to have some warmer weather! About 40 or 50 gallons of sap has been boiled down so far.
It is obvious now that the aspens are blooming in earnest. The daffodils are up an inch or two where the snow has melted. The approaches to the ice road are getting rotten and the ice road will probably close soon, even if the main channel still has several feet of ice.

3/27/08

Thursday, 8:00 AM. 17 degrees, wind NE, calm. Barometer predicts precipitation. Skies partly overcast but clearing.
If it warms up to the mid-thirties or so by noon there will be plenty of work at the sugar bush.
Daffodils and crocus are poking up where the snow has melted. Each day brings another harbinger of spring, e.g., I shed the winter boots, which weigh 2 lbs. Each, for my sneakers this morning, and I felt like I was flying over the roads. Can’t walk the woods trail yet with them, though.

3/26/08

Wednesday, 9:00 AM. 24 degrees, wind E, slight, barometer down, predicting precipitation. Skies overcast with some light snow falling, and the sun trying to peek through.
Yesterday was a decent sap run, finally. We collected 30 gallons and with 10 from earlier that’s enough sap to boil down to a gallon of syrup. It was a lot of work collecting, and I for one needed snowshoes or I continually broke through to my knees and beyond. A lighter person could get by without, but not me. The great disadvantage of snow shoes is that they are not very maneuverable, and if one falls over in the deep snow it is tough to assume an upright position. I am not going to the sugar bush today, Andy has a family coming out to help and I have errands to do. I will be available tomorrow and Friday afternoons if needed. This is not a one person project.

3/25/08

Tuesday, 9:00 AM. 32 degrees, the barometer is down, predicting precipitation. Wind E, light with gusts to moderate. It snowed an inch or two during the night and the skies are mostly cloudy. The wind had been out of the W, and since a low is coming in, I think high pressure to the E is flowing into the low pressure to the west, shifting the wind.
The woods walk was pristine with the new snow, which always tells some tale. Rabbit tracks crossed the trail, with a few drops of red blood in the new snow here and there. I visually followed the tracks backwards to see what might have happened, and sure enough, there were clumps of fur on the remnants of an old chicken wire fence which the rabbit had tried to squeeze through, causing some bleeding. I saw nothing to indicate the rabbit was being pursued by anything, so it was evidently just a bunny blunder in the woods. No need to shovel, it is melting.
I have given up fighting with the squirrels at the bird feeder, at least for now. I put a large plant saucer filled with seed on the deck for them and they seemed to have learned to eat out of it rather than jump up to the bird feeder. We will see.

3/24/08

Monday, 8:30 AM. 10 degrees, wind S, very light to calm. Barometer predicts precipitation. Skies blue with some haze on the E horizon.
Clear and cold last night. If it warm up as predicted we should have some sap to haul by late afternoon. Sap flow in maples is not related to the normal transportation of water in trunk and stem which occurs in the xylem tissues of the tree when in leaf; nor does it occur because of root pressure forcing sap upward. According to the latest theory, it occurs because of the freeze-thaw cycle, which causes a decrease in pressure in the xylem tissues when gasses expand, which in turn draws water from surrounding cells and eventually from the root system and the soil (if unfrozen). Ice-compressed gases in the tissues force sap out of the stem as they expand in the sun and warmth. The sugar in maple sap is evidently stored in the xylem itself, rather than elsewhere. Another good source of technical information on maple syrup production is Ohio State U. Extension Bulletin #856. But, no mater how it is explained, it all comes down to cold nights and warm sunny days to produce sap flow in maple trees, and one must simply wait for that to happen.

3/23/08 - Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday, 8:30 AM. 13 degrees, wind NE, brisk. Barometer is up, predicting mostly sunny weather. It is snowing and we have several inches of new snow. There is a white-out across the channel. This is the earliest Easter since 1913, and we will not see another this early for over a hundred years, so I guess we shouldn’t expect daffodils and Forsythia to be blooming as yet. Joan and I helped decorate Christ Church for Easter yesterday afternoon, and inside at least it looks quite spring-like, with Easter lilies and white and yellow daisies. I did not see the Easter Bunny’s tracks in the snow this morning, he evidently is sleeping in a bit.
No sap flow yesterday and certainly none today. Maybe next week.

3/22/08

Saturday, 9:30 AM. 20 degrees, wind E, calm, barometer predicts sunny skies. Skies partly cloudy with some haze. The moon was full last night, and set just about daybreak. It was almost as light as day most of the night.
There was no sap run yesterday, and probably will be none today. Next week, predicted to be in the mid-thirties, should produce a good run and lots of work. To quote John Burroughs, 1886, “A sap run is the sweet goodbye of winter.” And Robert Boyle, 1663, “There is in some parts of New England a kind of tree whose juice…doth congeal into a sweet and saccharine substance.” Both quotes are from the excellent maple sugar web site of the College of St. Benedict/Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN.

3/21/08

Friday, 8:30 AM. 20 degrees, wind E, moderate and at times brisk. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are currently mostly cloudy with very high, wispy white clouds.
If the sun shines brightly and temperatures rise into the mid-thirties it will be a good afternoon sap run. If not, not much. I will go out to the sugar bush after lunch to see.
Last night’s spring equinox celebration was a great success, if a bit chilly, as dinner was eaten around a very large camp fire, in the middle of a snow drift, with log benches and lawn chairs surrounding it and a reflective tarp to trap and radiate the heat. There were a dozen people, and as always here, the potluck dishes, pies and breads were wonderfully good.
It used to be rumored in these parts that these events ended with everyone dancing naked around the fire, like ancient Druids. I can attest to the fact that is not likely to happen now, as most (but not all) of the current partiers are too old to do such dancing, and probably not very interested in seeing each other naked. These rumors may be derived from the fact that there is still considerable use of the sauna, which requires at least semi-nudity and much coming and going. However, having left early, Joan and I do not really know what may have transpired in the wee hours in the moonlight.
Driving home the moon was spectacular, a frosty wraith rising through the bare trees on the tops of the hills. We saw no other spring equinox fires, nor any unclothed celebrants.

3/19/08

8:30 AM, 27 degrees, barometer predicts precipitation. Wind E, calm. Skies clear with some haze on the E horizon. The dawn was orange-golden, suffusing the woods across the street with a soft rosy-pink glow. The roads should melt and the sap run today.
Yesterday there was no sap run, so only minor camp duties to perform. I went to the sugar bush for a bit in the late afternoon but there wasn’t really anything much to do.
I have to go to Grandview today and will miss the sap run, I hope they can handle it. On a good day an average tapped tree will produce 4 liters of sap, so that figures out to about 75 gallons of sap to lug to the sugar shack. A good tree may produce as much as 40 gallons of sap a season ( about a gallon of maple syrup). Hopefully Jim will be there with his snow mobile to haul sap buckets from the furthest stand of trees, about a quarter of a mile away.
Later: I got back by mid-afternoon and went out to the sugar bush. The sap was all hauled (lucky me) and Andy was beginning to cook. It takes hours, depending on the stoking of the fire, etc. to boil sap to syrup. Andy’s evaporator holds maybe fifteen gallons of sap. The sap moves through the separator from one end to the other by specific gravity, the less dense new sap flowing as it is heated to the more dense opposite end of the evaporator through a series of several baffles. The sap is heated to boiling, 219 degrees in the case of the current run of sap with about 2percent sugar concentration, and care must be taken not to overheat the sap and give it a burnt taste in which case it will be ruined. Once the process is started it has to be continually monitored. A hygrometer may also be used to determine the optimal sugar concentration, and I will have to watch closely to see how that is done, but the old timers and the Indians determined when syrup was ready by intuition. As the season goes on I will present technical information on syrup production and sap flow a little at a time. I cannot go to the sugar bush on Thursday, but will spend most of Friday there.
On the way back, coming down Cemetery Hill on Washington Ave., I could see east all the way across the Island and the open water to Michigan and the Gogebic Range and southeast to the Penoke Range, the high hills which are the worn down mountains of the Laurentian Shield, and a source of iron ore and its attendant wealth up to the 1960’s, when the deep mines were abandoned and replaced by the open taconite pits of Minnesota northwest of Duluth. Who knows, the deep mines may become economical again in the future and the good times roll once more in “The Three H’s, Hayward, Hurley and Hell.” I don’t know, maybe the tourists are a better lot to live with than the miners, maybe not.

3/18/08

8:15 AM, 25 degrees, wind SSE, calm. Barometer predicts precipitation. It is snowing lightly, very fine flakes, and I just shoveled 3” of wet snow from driveway, walks and decks.
It is an extremely picturesque morning, the trees adorned with several inches of fresh snow, which, if disturbed by a gust of wind or by its own weight cascades down in great puffs of white, sometimes causing a chain reaction which goes on laterally as well as downward. It is a good day to keep one’s hood up if in the woods, or the wet stuff will find its way down the back of your neck. There is currently a white out, which obscures the island and most else. Any ice fishermen venturing out will need a compass or their GPS.
Andy predicts that with such a low pressure weather system the sap will flow well if the temperature is above freezing. If he is right I will help haul sap this afternoon.

3/17/08

Monday, 7:30 AM. 18 degrees, barometer predicts precipitation. Wind NE, calm. Skies overcast. It is cold and damp and feels like snow.
This doesn’t look like a day during which the sap will run, but there are a lot more trees to tap so I will go and help Andy with that this morning. It was a busy social weekend, spending Friday and Saturday evenings with Andy and Judy, and Sunday evening at Eric and Nancy’s with neighbors Don and Heidi. Lots of hunting and fishing tales and jokes, and of course it was Palm Sunday with its activities thrown into the mix. And, today is St. Patrick’s Day, and we will have to raise a glass to our Irish friends, some still with us, some long gone (an extra glass to them).
We have heard rumors of bears, another sign of spring, so will have to consider taking the garbage can of sun flower seeds off the deck and putting them in the shed. Several years ago we had a rather exciting visit and probably should not encourage another.

3/16/08

9:00 AM. 21 degrees, barometer predicts sunny skies. Wind NE, calm at ground level. Skies mostly cloudy, clouds high and moving in from the NE.
On our walk this morning I noticed a quaking aspen, Populous tremuloides, beginning to flower, on 9th and Rittenhouse. It is a bit early, but it is in a sunny location along the road. The breaking flower buds, male and female on different trees, look much like pussy willow buds, as they are in the willow family (salicaceae). Having read Thoreau again this winter I have become much more observant or perhaps it is that being yet another spring older, I have slowed my pace enough to accommodate better observation. Whatever. There are now 24 trees tapped at the Larsen's sugarbush, with some of them running already.

3/15/08

Saturday, 8:30 AM. 17 degrees, barometer up, predicting fair weather. Wind NE, light to moderate. Skies overcast.
Andy and Judy Larsen were our guests last night, and we all got up early for a good breakfast, as they are on their way to camp to get things organized to start tapping trees for maple sugarin’. As I understand things it takes cold nights, below freezing, and a sunny, warming day to produce a good sap run. I will go out and help tap trees this afternoon, and we will see what the week brings.
Exactly how and why maple sap flows while the trees are still dormant remains one of the unsolved mysteries of nature. Lots of theories, little proof. We will discuss it as the season’s experience unfolds, but we probably won’t come up with much new information as it has been investigated for over a hundred years by far better minds than we are likely to assemble around the camp fire.
I do believe there must be something addictive either in the product or the process of maple sugarin’, and Andy is certainly hooked, as he was up sitting in the dark at 5:30 AM looking out the window, waiting for it to get light, which it did not do until almost 7:00 AM, and then it was only gray and murky out. We were all cursing daylight saving time by the time breakfast was over.
Walking with Lucky this morning a crow flew over with a large twig in its beak, evidently to serve in nest building . Another sign that spring is just around the corner.

3/14/08

Friday, 8:30 AM. 28 degrees, barometer predicts partly cloudy weather. Wind W, light to moderate. Skies with variable clouds and a bit of blue. Earlier, the eastern skies were filled with truly ominous looking storm clouds but they are fewer now.
Yesterday was a good melting day, and I cleared some of the parking space needed for guests and will finish that this morning. The old snow is sometimes crusty, sometimes mushy and generally a mess to shovel.
I made the error of taking the woods walk this morning and about every third step I sunk over my boots, and in one spot I sunk way over my knees and had trouble extricating myself from the goo. The thought occurred to me that if it suddenly got colder I might be frozen in and not have gotten out for a month. Maybe someone would have come along and thrown a cable around me and winched me out like a fallen log, but maybe not.
It occurs to me that this might be a challenging maple sugar season if things don’t either freeze up or melt in earnest. Of course none of this bothered Lucky, since although he is a tad chubby for a Springer he still is light enough to mostly stay on top of the snow. Snowshoes may have helped but I doubt it. Think spring!

3/13/08

Thursday, 8:15 AM. 27 degrees, barometer predicts precipitation. Wind E, calm. Skies overcast, fog envelops the Island.
Surprise!! 3.5” of heavy, wet, March snow fell last night. Not the usual, fluffy lake effect stuff. I was thankful we didn’t get a foot and a half like our daughter in Columbus, Ohio got last weekend. Anyway, it’s all taken care of.
I received a little gift last night for some services rendered to the Bayfield Regional Conservancy. It is a magnetic bumper sticker, which reads:
“Dear Lord, help me to be the person my dog thinks I am.”
Very appropriate in these scandalous times, I must say. I have a busy day ahead, with a noon meeting and then getting the house in shape for guests Andy and Judy Larsen who will be staying a few nights while the get their camp in shape for maple sugarin’. There are lots of fun times ahead!

3/12/08

3/12/08: Wednesday, 8:30 AM. 22 degrees, barometer predicts partly cloudy skies. Wind ENE, calm. Skies high overcast at present. It was a red-rosy dawn.
There were subtle signs of spring along Hwy 2 yesterday; a few deer out “grazing” on south-facing hillsides, although I could see nothing green as yet. There was evidence of skunks becoming active. The aspen trees, Populus tremuloides, are beginning to have a hint of green haze about them, an aura if you will, when viewed from a distance. Not leafing out, just branches and buds becoming faintly green. The paper birch, Betula papyrifera, young branches are distinctly reddish, distinguishing them readily from the aspen. Willow tree branches are becoming yellow. Most interesting to me are the willows shrubs, in the low places, which have a brilliant red-orange coloration now. I think what I saw was Bebb willow, Salix bebbiana, but I am not sure. Anyway, they are absolutely stunning in the early spring landscape.
When the lake is viewed from the Duluth bluffs now it is all blue water from the still-frozen harbor as far as the eye can see to the east. The Coast Guard ice breaker was at work in the harbor and shipping season will soon begin.
A very pretty sight indeed was a huge ore boat in the shipyards, its newly painted hull fire-engine red, and its pilot house and such olive green with white accents. I didn’t catch the name, but it’s home port is Wilmington. Someone in the shipping industry has real pride in what they do and it is good to see.
The buds of the red maple on Manypenny Ave. are heavily swollen now.

3/11/08

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 24 degrees, wind S, calm. Barometer down, predicting precipitation. Skies overcast, sun trying to peek through.
It is much warmer today but rather dreary without the sun. It reminds us of Ohio River Valley winters. We are off to Duluth today and will have an opportunity to observe things along the way.

3/10/08

9:00 AM. 0 degrees, Wind E, calm. Barometer down, predicting partly cloudy skies. Skies clear, deep blue, a slight haze on the eastern horizon.
We are victims of daylight saving time this morning, everything running late. It will take a few days to get adjusted. There are plenty of accumulated animal tracks in the woods now, deer, rabbits, squirrels, mice, etc. indicating increased activity.
The pussy willow at the beach is hardly more advanced in its buds than it was ten days ago, and after a thorough search along the roadside, I see another half dozen or so of them, but none budding out at all.

3/09/08

Sunday, 8:20 AM CDT; 5 degrees, wind ENE, calm. Barometer predicts sunny skies, which are presently clear with scattered, high thin white and gray clouds and some haze on the eastern horizon which somewhat dims the rising sun.
“Spring ahead, fall behind,” I’ve finally got it straight, late in life. But it doesn’t make it any easier, and Daylight Saving Time arrived even earlier this year. Joan and I don’t like it, but it doesn’t seem to bother Lucky who has his own internal clock independent of any human foolishness. The atomic clock does make it easier and less likely to forget, as long as someone adjusts it somewhere up on Cloud Nine or wherever it occurs.
We heard a news anchorwoman say last night, “It will be nice to have more daylight.” Someone should tell her that there is the same amount of daylight, set by the sun, whether there is daylight savings time or not.
Some years ago a visiting Russian scientist told us that one of the time zones (I believe nine time zones in Russia) during WWII went on daylight saving time with the rest of the country, but some apparatchik forgot to turn the clock back in the fall, then the next spring the zone’s clocks were set ahead again, and then there were two hours of daylight savings time. It happened again the next year and everyone got so confused they just left it that way, winter and summer. The birch trees didn’t complain and neither did the residents of the gulags. As the old saying goes, “It isn’t nice to fool Mother Nature.” Go to bed early tonight.

3/08/08

Saturday, 8:00 AM. –7degrees, wind E, calm. Barometer predicts precipitation. Skies blue, some haze on the eastern horizon.
I was almost dressed too warm this morning, and after walking a bit didn’t need my scarf.
Lucky and I were accompanied this morning by two canine “homies,” Morgan and Roxy, neighborhood dogs rather constantly about. Morgan is an immensely furry, friendly male dog, impervious to all weather and always looking in my pocket for a treat. Roxy is a young female black lab who’s primary interest in life is retrieving…sticks, balls, branches, logs…anything she can manage to drag to someone who will give the object a toss. Roxy has been known to come to a door or window with a stick in her mouth, asking to play. If someone should teach her to ring the doorbell (please don’t!) I am sure she would do that too. The only problem with Roxy is that she is relentless, and will put the stick at one’s feet, between one’s feet, anything to get it picked up and thrown. I have seen her entice carpenters and other tradesmen to abandon their work, reverting to boy-plays-with-dog behavior, thereby vastly increasing the cost of local construction. She is captivated by children, and there are several families around that probably would have to own a dog, except that they have Roxy.
The tale is told that last summer she followed a man with a tennis ball through town, to the ferry dock and onto the ferry to Madeline Island, and got a free ride, both directions, since she had to be returned to Bayfield. I imagine that had someone been able to throw the ball from La Pointe to Bayfield she would have swam back, but the trouble with that scenario is that she would of course have retrieved it back to La Pointe.
The pussy willow, which I have given the scientific name Salix obscura, is now fully in bloom on the dinning room table.

3/07/08

Friday, 8:00 AM. –10 degrees, wind NW, light. Barometer predicts sunny skies. Skies clear at present except for a few puffy white clouds on the east horizon. It was –17 at first light. It really wasn’t too bad walking this morning, as long as ears, mouth and nose were covered. I find almost any temperature O.K. for walking as long as dressed properly and with a scarf about the nose and mouth to warm the air before it is breathed in.
How cold was it? So cold that I saw what appeared to be a very large red squirrel in a tree, but on closer inspection saw it was a gray squirrel in red flannel underwear! How cold was it? So cold that when an ice fisherman augered a hole in the ice it froze over so fast his auger got frozen in before he could pull it out. How cold was it? So cold that when Lucky barked it froze, and it couldn’t be heard until I brought it in the house and thawed it out. O.K., enough of that.
Actually, it seems warmer this morning than last, since it is much less humid. It certainly didn’t bother lucky, and I have to say, it is a very pretty day.

3/06/08

Thursday, 8:30 AM. 0 degrees,Wind NE, very light. Barometer down, predicting partly cloudy skies. Skies foggy but becoming blue.
A half hour ago everything was enveloped in a frosty fog, but the prospects of the day are now improving.
A light covering of snow fell last night, and the atmosphere was so damp that a frosty crust clung to, one might even say exuded from, everything. White pines were encrusted with hoarfrost, as though their very pores had breathed out moist air and it had congealed on their needles. The sun looked like it was shedding not rays of light but frosty fog. The dog’s breath congealed in frost around his muzzle. Had I a beard it would have been well frosted. I wanted to cry out, “Enough already!” Give me spring!” and I almost cursed the pussy willow for its perfidy.
Hot coffee with cream and sugar vastly improves my mood at present, and I perceive the beauty of the morning emerging from under its frosty blanket. Time for a hot breakfast!

3/05/08

Wednesday, 8:30 AM. Temp 15 degrees, wind E, calm. Barometer down, predicting sow. The skies are covered with high clouds, the sun obscured. A half-inch of light snow fell last night, making everything pretty again but treacherous under foot. I neglected to put my Yak Traks on, so had to walk on eggs. Made it O.K. back to the drive way, whereupon I took a tumble. I was none the worse for wear except for embarrassment. Lucky had no trouble, proving once-again that four legs are superior to two for locomotion, and that the superior intelligence supposedly accompanying upright posture does little good if unused.
A large flock (24) of crows seems to be taking up residence in the big white pines on the corner of 9th and Old Military Road, and a large one greeted me on the back porch.
Good friend and noted naturalist Andy Larsen emailed me with his opinion that the pussy willow I mentioned several days ago is probably the native Salix discolor, rather than the non-native Salix caprea, and on further examination I believe he is correct.
Now I will have to lay in wait to catch him in error and even the score.

3/04/08

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 0 degrees, up from –3 at 7:30 AM. Wind SE, presently calm. Barometer down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are blue except for some haze over the Island.
As lucky and I left the house this morning we were greeted by the characteristic three-note whistle of the male cardinal, which I take to be a territorial call, and if it is indeed such, that is yet another sign of spring.
Another hint of spring is that I am beginning to put away the winter’s accumulation of books, mainly natural history tomes, which like fallen leaves are cluttering the coffee table, the end table and various other repositories around my usual seat. The library shelves stand gap-toothed, waiting to welcome back these winter stragglers.
First to go back is a volume of Alexander Pope’s 18th Century poetry, which I had scoured to find a quote from one of his poems which has been a mantra of mine for forty and more years; “Nature, in whose variety we see, though all things differ, all agree.” That phrase is more-or-less accurately adapted from his poem “Windsor Woods.”
That line is carved into the fireplace mantle in the old library at the Boerner Botanical Gardens in Milwaukee, and has affected me more over the years than any number of college ecology courses with all their measurements and statistics. The pen it seems is not only mightier than the sword, but perhaps mightier than the slide rule as well.
No birds at the feeder as yet, but this is only my first cup of coffee.

3/03/08

8:15 AM. 3 degrees, wind W, light to breezy. Barometer predicts sunny skies, which are partly cloudy at present. It is a pleasant day, but a bit chilly . Glad to still have the flannel lined blue jeans on today. This is the first year I have worn them and I will not be without them again. They are a lot more convenient than longjohns and more comfortable in the house. I remember my grandfather putting on his red flannels sometime in November and removing them the first of May. No wonder he spent a lot of time outdoors!
Howard’s presentation on Ojibwa traditional maple sugaring was well received by about 80 people, and quite entertaining. Except for the use of some traditional elements such as wooden spiles and birch bark buckets the original methods are not much different from what most non-Indians would do, even today. One obvious difference seems to be the use of kettles to boil the sap rather than an expensive evaporation stove, but the end result is the same. The amount of work, firewood, etc. is about the same also. One main difference is that traditional Ojibway use was based on granulated sugar, rather than syrup, the latter being only good for pancakes, and maybe ice cream, the former being used in all sorts of food preparation, including pemmican. Sugar is also much easier to store and transport than syrup.
It is getting light a bit earlier every day, with first light around 6:00 AM. Soon I will have to start going to bed before midnight, as I usually wake up with the light.
I searched in vain through previous journals and didn’t find any previous reference to the blooming of pussy willows, so I don’t presently have any former benchmarks of the event.

3/02/08

Sunday, 8:30 AM. 20 degrees, wind SSE, calm. Barometer predicts precipitation. Rain and snow were predicted by the media but have not arrived as yet.
I found a pussy willow in bloom at the Sioux River beach yesterday and went into the snow above my knees collecting a few branches in the interest of scientific investigation, those now residing in a vase on the dining table.
The pussy willow, Salix caprea, is native to northern Europe and Asia, and is present here as an escape from cultivation. I don’t know if it hybridizes with native species or not, probably not since it flowers so early. But willows, over 300 species worldwide, are daunting to pin down, and I don’t pretend to be at all expert at it. Anyway, the blossoms were a sure and welcome sign of spring, their flowering obviously triggered by day length rather than just warm temperatures, as we have had very few such days. Temperature does have an affect on their blossoming, however, as the remaining unopened buds are now beginning to open in the warmth of the house.

3/01/08

Saturday, 8:30 AM. 0 degrees, barometer up, predicting sunny skies. Wind ENE, calm. Skies clear. It is a bright, sunny morning, but colder than predicted. Cold enough for Lucky to do a three-legged hop at times, alternately keeping a foot off the cold pavement.
The woods walk was delightful, sparkling new snow dappled with shadows. One birch tree along the trail has shed its tiny seeds on the new snow, the catkins usually dropping their seeds from September through March.
I met Howard and his grand dog Rosie coming out of the woods, as they were coming in from the opposite direction. Rosie is a large Labrador who fancies herself an alpha female, and Lucky discretely kept his distance. Howard’s talk on Ojibwa maple sugaring tomorrow promises to be very interesting.
It was cold enough this morning to pull the earflaps down on my Stormy Kromer cap, a Northwoods favorite. It has an interesting history, which I will relate at some better time.
We didn’t get to the Bayfield/Town of Russell Recycle Center last Saturday, so must go this morning. It, like the post office, is one of the more reliable places to meet acquaintances and get the latest gossipy news, so it is something of a small town social setting, much like the corner tavern of my long-ago Milwaukee youth, but without the smell of tobacco smoke and stale beer.