10/22/09 "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT"

STORM TOSSED FERRY
A FINE PARTY
HORSE CHESTNUT TREE
HORSE CHESTNUT LEAF
HORSE CHESTNUT FRUITS AND NUTS

Thursday, 8 :00 AM. 35 degrees, wind NE, light to moderate. The channel is crawling, the sky clearing. We got another 1” of rain last night. The barometer predicts partly cloudy skies.
We had a real “Nor’easter” yesterday and a bumpy ferry ride to Lotta’s restaurant on the Island in the evening. The occasion was an appreciation party for Apple Fest volunteers, courtesy of the Chamber and Lotta’s. The food was outstanding, as was the company. We took the 5:30 ferry over and the 7:30 back so there was just enough time to enjoy it all. Coming back in the dark it was hard to judge where we were on the black, storm tossed waters, and there were occasional exclamations of “I think we are approaching Ashland,” or “That’s Washburn off the port bow,” but we got to port Bayfield O.K. and I don’t think anyone got seasick.
There is an old horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) between 8th and 9th streets that is colorful now and shedding its hard little nuts. This is an old-world tree, but there are a number of Aesculus species, in the family Sapindaceae, that are native to North America, including the well-known Ohio buckeye. They all have palmately compound leaves, large attractive flowers, and produce the hard nuts that little boys formerly used (before they were put in jail for such things) as superlative slingshot ammunition. I use an herbal compound of horse chestnut to strengthen my legs before gardening in the spring, or during hunting season (could have used some to gain my sea legs on the ferry). The common name horse chestnut is derived from the fact that in former times draft horses were fed them to increase their pulling power.