12/09/09 SNOW ,DUST, AND A LUCKY DOG

ABOUT 16" OF SNOW BY NOON AND STILL FALLING
WHITE OUT
''TWILL SUFFICE"
HOW LUCKY CAN YOU GET?

Wednesday, 7:15 AM. 16 degrees, wind W, very strong, just now changing to NE. It is snowing, with almost white-out conditions. There is perhaps only 6” accumulation but considerable drifting, and according to the barometer it will probably continue for the rest of the day. If the counterclockwise low proceeds across the lakes we will get considerable snow on a nor’easter. It is a real howler out there and it makes no sense to be out in it yet. To utilize a quote from Shakespeare, "'tis not as wide as a church door nor as deep as a well, but 'twill suffice."Lucky was out for five minutes, came back covered with snow and is now ensconced in his easy chair in the library, in front of the fire (what a lucky dog).
We went to Duluth yesterday to do some Christmas shopping, spending most of our time at Barnes and Noble, where we bought a graphic adaptation (comic book?) by David Keller of Darwin’s Origin of Species. I hope twelve year old grandson Nick will be as pleased with it as I, as I am quite captivated by its ability to present a complex subject in an very interesting and understandable way.
I confess I don’t understand most religious objections to the theory of evolution, as there is more than enough room for God in Darwin’s or any other scientific exploration of life and the universe (the converse is probably true as well). Particularly, since there was little objection by religion to the somewhat earlier concept of “spontaneous generation” of life from pond scum and other such sources.
Which brings up the joke I remember from Sunday School about the little boy who, when introduced to the concept of “ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” replied, “Well, Reverend, I think there’s someone either comin’ or goin’ under my bed.”

12/08/09 "IF IT LOOKS LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE...."

A COLD AND RATHER SULLEN MORNING
A MATURE BALSAM FIR TREE

Tuesday, 8:15 AM. 16 degrees, wind W, calm. The channel is calm, the sky darkly overcast and the barometer predicts snow. I have three outside thermometers, on different corners of the house. They never agree and may differ by as much as three degrees. For consistency I always record temperatures from the same thermometer, but it points up the difficult of obtaining consistent data, even in an area as small as 1,000 square feet. The discrepancies may result from different manufactures of equipment, or from sun, wind or other microclimatic factors, but they are real and very difficult if not impossible to rectify. Multiply this one instance by hundreds or perhaps thousands (do we even know that?) of locations over 150 years and one can see that extrapolating accurate temperature data backward in time is a daunting task, to say the least.
There are a number of tall native evergreen species that exist in the wild in the Northland, and with some familiarity one is able to identify them from afar. One species easy to spot (pictured) is the balsam fir, Abies balsamea. It is very narrowly pyramidal, and the top of the tree looks like the perfect Christmas tree for your family room, and the most expensive trees on the lot are often exactly that, the tops of tall balsam firs. Balsam firs on the Christmas tree lot are usually characterized as "double needle" or "single needle" firs. The "double needle" is indeed that, and the double ranked needles are a factor of the amount of sunlight the branches receive. That is why the tops of large trees, which receive the greatest amount of sunlight, are so desirable. Of course open field grown trees may receive enough light to become "double needle" trees as well, and one would prefer I think to harvest the later rather than the former.

12/07/09 PARTY ON, MARY!!

HISTORIC KNIGHT HOUSE


A WELCOMING ENTRANCE



Monday, 9:00 AM. 20 degrees, wind WNW, calm. The channel is calm, the sky overcast. We got 2” of new snow last night, and the barometer predicts more.
Bayfield is a party town at Christmas, and much of the gaiety is thanks to everybody’s neighbor, Mary Rice. Philanthropist, entrepreneur, and artist, Mary is responsible for many if not most of the good things that have been done in the community over the years. The party was held in Mary’s home, the historic Knight House, pictured above.
Her “trim a tree” party is much anticipated by friends and neighbors, and last night’s event was great fun. Mary provided the venue, the tree and ornaments and the libations, and everyone brought a dish to share. After the tree was trimmed and everyone well fed and watered, we all gathered as close to the piano as possible and sang Christmas carols. The evening ended with deserts and a really exceptional eggnog. Not to be outdone, even by herself, next Sunday will be her annual OOF (to be explained later) party for the community’s senior citizens. Party on, Mary!!

12/06/09 "NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING..."

THE RISING SUN BURNS OFF THE "LAKE SMOKE"
ENTERING THE WOODS WALK
THE QUIET WOODS

Sunday, 8:30 AM. 19 degrees, up from 16 degrees earlier. Wind W, calm. The channel is dimpled, and earlier was obscured by “lake smoke.” The sky is partly cloudy, alternating snow clouds with patches of blue, blue sky. About 1” of fluffy snow fell earlier, which has started again, but the barometer predicts sunshine.
It is a quiet, quiet morning, Lucky and I meeting not a soul, human or animal on our walk, which took us through the woods this morning. There was not a fresh track, and in the spirit of the upcoming yuletide season,“nothing was stirring, not even a mouse.”

12/05/09 FLAGS AND FLOWERS

AN EARLY WINTER MORNING
FLAGS OF OUR HISTORY
IDENTIFYING ASH TREES IN WINTER
PERSISTENT, DEFORMED MALE ASH FLOWERS

Saturday, 8:30 AM. 16 degrees, wind W, light. The channel is crawling slightly, the sky is mostly overcast but clearing, and the barometer predicts mostly sunny skies.
The city Christmas tree is up, surrounded by the flags of many of the nations most important to its history and culture (the US flag is out of the view):Great Britain, Red Cliff-Ojibwe, Canada, France, Norway and Finland. I think I have got them all right.
We have discussed ash trees and the emerald ash borer at some length previously, and another way ash trees can be identified at a considerable distance in the wild in the winter is by the persistent deformed male flowers of many trees (ash trees are dioecious, bearing male and female flowers on separate trees. The term is from the Greek, meaning “two houses”). The deformity is caused by the ash flower gall mite, and apparently does little damage to the tree itself, but of course decreases the pollination of nearby female ash trees, so there are probably fewer of the also characteristic winter seed clusters on nearby female trees.

12/04/09 OLD MAN WINTER PAYS A VISIT

LAKE SMOKE AND SNOW
THE CITY CREW HAS BEEN OUT
WAY TO GO, NEIGHBOR!
MOTHER NATURE'S CHRISTMAS DECORATION

Thursday, 8:30 AM. 16 degrees, wind WNW, calm. The channel is obscured by lake smoke, and it is snowing lightly. The barometer predicts precipitation and we have 2” of snow on the ground.
The city plows and sanders are out for the first time this season, and I have scraped the drive and decks and filled the bird feeders. Old Man Winter has arrived about on schedule, and unannounced. He will lurk about and pounce on us from time to time until he settles in for good by Christmas, and then won’t be leaving for many months.

12/03/09 PORTENTS OF THINGS TO COME

CHRISTMAS IS COMING
OLY OLSEN, THE BARBER OF BAYFIELD
ANY FURTHER NORTH AND YOU'LL GET YOUR FEET WET

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 20 degrees, wind W, very light. The channel is crawling slightly, the sky is partly overcast with dark clouds and the barometer predicts sunshine. There is a very light dusting of snow on roads and rooftops. It is the coldest morning so far this season, a portent of things to come.
I guess I am not too early with Christmas decorations, as the Bonney's, on the corner of 8th and Mannypenny, have their crèche up. It looks really nice, unless the poor Holy Family is sitting in three feet of snow.
Thinking of the upcoming holidays, I went to Oly’s Barbershop yesterday afternoon and got a haircut. Here’s Oly, AKA Kenneth Olsen, outside of Wisconsin’s Northernmost Barbershop two blocks down Old Military Street from our house.

12/02/09 'TIS THE SEASON TO BE DECORATING

THE HOLIDAY DECORATING BEGINS
THE CRITICS(LUCKY:I ONLY WORK FOR FOOD)
SNOWBERRIES
SYMPHICARPOS ALBA

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 30 degrees, wind NNW, light. The channel is dimpled, the sky overcast but the barometer predicts sunshine.
Lucky, Joan and I trimmed the Colarado blue spruce tree in the front yard yesterday afternoon and I am pleased with the result. No lights, just glass ornaments and a big red bow.
The snowberry bushes (Smphoricarpos alba) are growing on the corner of Fourth and Manypenny. Snowberry is a northern North American species, found on gravely banks and other calcareous waste places. Preferring partial shade, they are a good naturalizing shrub, planted especially for their attractive white berries, which are good wildlife food. A decoction of the roots was used pretty extensively by Native Americans as a wash for skin ailments.

12/01/09 WHERE'S THE DATA?

THE SUN RISES LOWER AND LOWER ON THE HORIZON
AN EPHEMERAL SNOWFALL

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 29 degrees, wind W, light. The channel is glassy, the sky partly cloudy, and the barometer predicts rain, of which there is .3” in the gage from sometime since I looked at it last.
We experienced our first real snowfall yesterday afternoon (at least that I actually observed) it coated a pine tree in the back yard with large fluffy flakes but in an hour or less there was no evidence left of the occurrence. It seems that weather related information is terribly hard to hold onto these days, as evidenced by the scandalous “dumping” of irreplaceable data by the prestigious Climate Center of the University of East Anglia in England (the name sounds rather like that of a community college, eh what?), evidently destroying much of the basic evidence cited for “climate change” over the last 150 years.
Really! Are scientists just as susceptible to the common human frailties of greed, deceit, self-aggrandizement and political ambitions as us ordinary humans? If you haven’t by now answered “you bet,” I have a bridge in Brooklyn you may be interested in purchasing.
This scandal will result in significant economic, political and social reverberations, but the real tragedy in this and similar (they are not that rare) instances of scientific skullduggery is the damage it does to science itself, which is the very basis for modern civilization and most importantly for the future of our own country. There is only one way to save ourselves, and science itself, from scientists, and that is to constantly use our own powers of observation and logic to judge for ourselves the theories and evidence presented to us as scientific fact. None of us can be knowledgeable in all things, but all of us can cultivate a healthy skepticism to combat the rogues among us. One red flag to watch for: if you ask a simple question about a subject and are told it is too complicated to explain and that you must “read the book,” it is probably unsubstantiated theory or pure nonsense. Another: if scientific data or theory is presented as “consensus,” it is probably false, because science is based on incontrovertible truth, not general agreement. Yet another: if a proof cannot be replicated, it cannot be accepted as valid science. Finally and most importantly, follow the money.
Yesterday’s ephemeral snowfall really happened, as evidenced by the accompanying photo, the original of which remains, unenhanced, in my computer.

11/30/09 IT'S HARD TO SLOW AN OLD DOG DOWN

FIRST FERRY OF THE DAY
LUCKY'S BEEN LIMPING

Monday, 8:30 AM. 35 degrees, wind W, light. The channel is crawling, and the sky is almost clear. It is a lovely morning, but the barometer predicts rain.
The regular gun deer season is now over, with mixed results. Those who got their buck obviously are inclined to consider it a good season, those who were unsuccessful will rank it poor. The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but it is obvious that something unusual is going on. I talked with buddy Paul last night, who hunted in the southern Chequamegon National Forest with a large group, and they saw no deer. I have my opinions but I will let the dust settle a bit before I say anything more.
Of more immediate personal concern, Lucky has had a bout of arthritis or something and has been almost incapacitated, not being able to use his right hind leg and in obvious pain. Three half aspirins, given at intervals, at least got him around the block this morning. He gets shots for Lime's disease so it shouldn’t be that. He is do for a vet’s visit soon anyway. He is getting on in years and should no longer overdo things, but it’s hard to slow an old dog down.

11/29/09 PERSISTENCE

DOWN IN THE PINEY WOODS
PERSISTENCE EXEMPLIFIED

5:30 AM. 34 degrees, wind calm at present. It is overcast, no moon or stars to be seen and the barometer predicts rain. A piece of toast and a cup of coffee and I will be at the sugar bush before even a hint of daylight, then walk as quietly as I can and see if any deer are feeding under the old apple trees. Then I will go down to the pine plantation and sit until it is time to go home for lunch and a nap.
Noon: nothing doing this morning but I will still go out to my stand in the orchard country and stay until dark on this last day of the regular gun deer season. Perhaps persistence will pay.

11/28/09 STILL TIME!

THIS OLD HOUSE
BLOOM FARM, ESTABLISHED 1898
TUNDRA SWANS ON CHEQUAMEGON BAY
Saturday, 2:00 PM. 40 degrees, wind W, calm. The channel is calm, the sky partly cloudy and the barometer predicts more of the same. It has been a beautiful day, and I have been home for lunch and will be going back out to the sugar bush shortly. This morning at first light I flushed a deer by the old house and its apple trees, right where Mike shot his buck. I did not see it but it crashed away from me through the brush. I will go back and sit there until dark. Eric came over before noon as I drove into the driveway. He got an eight point buck the other day, out in the barrens. I am beginning to feel like the odd man out. But, I still have this evening and tomorrow to hunt.
There are at least a hundred tundra swans on the Bay in Ashland.

11/27/09 NICE, BUT NO ANTLERS

A SLEEP-IN MORNING
HAPPY THANKSGIVNG

8:00 AM. 28 degrees, wind WNW, very light. The channel has mixed glassy areas with patterns of ripples. The sky is mostly cloudy and the barometer predicts the same.
This has been a sleep in morning, as we had fiends Dot and Grandon Harris over for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday evening and there is a lot of kitchen cleanup to do. We roasted one of the geese I shot last month, with all the trimmings, and it was an interesting meal. Dot baked a pumpkin pie, and there is a very large piece left for me to have for breakfast. Don and Grandon are retired from teaching and missionary work in Indian Country out west and we have a lot of mutual interests. Grandon is a fine photographer and brought his MacBook loaded with photos. We are all grandparents without children and grandchildren for the holiday, so of course we become a mutual admiration society when together.
Not having brought home any venison from the woods, I collected instead the materials for a swag that Joan wanted to make; hemlock branches, milkweed pods, pearly everlasting and mountain ash berries. Pretty, but no antlers.

11/26/09 WAY TO GO, MIKE!

MY TREE STAND
VIEW TO THE SOUTHEAST
VIEW TO THE EAST
VIEW TO THE NORTH
VIEW TO THE WEST
VIEW TO THE SOUTH

Noon. Well, we had our weather change, it was 32 degrees at 6:00 AM and the temperature has not risen since. I was on the deer stand before daylight and stayed there until 9:30 AM. The wind picked up and blew from the north-northwest all morning. Again there was no movement of deer, no fresh tracks and the apples and corn I put down yesterday afternoon were untouched. I talked with hunters who have been on the old buffalo farm to my north and they have seen nothing. I heard two shots about 8:30 AM, over the ridge to the west, otherwise everything very quiet again.
When I got home about 10:00 AM to help Joan with Thanksgiving dinner preparations, she informed me that Mike had called about 8:00 AM. He got a 12 point buck, shot it on the Larsen sugar bush, by the old farmhouse and apple trees I hunted at the other evening. He shot it just before closing yesterday, couldn’t find it, didn’t sleep all night and went out and found it this morning, about a hundred yards from where he shot it. He was so excited he called again at 9:00 AM to see if I had gotten home yet so he could tell his tale again. He deserves to have gotten the big buck, as he has been seeing it since before the season opened. I called him when I got home but his wife informed me that he and neighbor Jim had just left for the bar at the Village Inn in Cornucopia to do a little celebrating and I am sure some tale-telling. Way to go, Mike. You’re keeping my spirits up!

11/25/09 WHERE ARE WE, SEATTLE?

MORE RAIN AND FOG


NO SNOW

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 42 degrees, wind W, light. The channel is obscured by fog, it is raining lightly, and the barometer predicts more of the same.
Where are we, Seattle? I half expected to meet up with Sasquatch in the woods yesterday evening. Needless to say I am disgusted, and have vowed not to go out again until there is relief from this miasmatic weather. It is supposed to snow late today but I see no evidence of change at present.
Note to daughter Greta in Columbus, Ohio: reading my blog is not a substitute for calling your parents.

11/24/09 DON'T (BOTHER TO) SIT UNDER THE APPLE TREE

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 41 degrees, wind SW, calm. The channel is calm, the sky overcast and the barometer predicts rain.
Thinking changing locations might change my luck, late yesterday I went out to the Larsen’s sugar bush, where there are many old apple trees, with apples still on them (the countryside is full of these beautiful old trees, replete with apples; I have seldom seen apples on the trees this late, it was a heavy crop). Deer love apples so I sat and waited. No deer, and what is more, no coyotes howling at sunset. I haven’t heard a coyote in three days. The weather pattern of unseasonably warm and very humid weather persists. I didn’t sit under the apple trees this morning, but stayed in bed.