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Friday, February 28, 2014

THE WILLOWS HAROLD SPRING (SORT OF)


HUGE OLD BLACK WILLOW SOUTH OF BAYFIELD, SHOWING SIGNS OF SPRING


DITTO SOUTH OF WASHBURN BUT "NOT SO MUCH"
WEEPING WILLOW ON N. 2ND ST. IN  BAYFIELD
Friday, 8:30 AM,  -7 degrees F, wind westerly, calm to very light.  The sky has a high overcast.  The humidity has dropped to 56% and the barometer is more or less steady at 30.14".  It is a cold, gray morning, but at least the temperature did not drop to -20 F as predicted.
   Northlanders who heat with Propane are having a hard time paying their bills, as even those with large tanks filled when summer prices were low are now facing refills at way over $5 per gallon.  And for those so inclined, this weekend is Bayfield's annual Winterfest, replete with the obligatory "polar plunge" through a hole in the lake ice, for the adventuresome. Not I.
   When the snow is waist deep in the woods and the thermometer has bottomed out, when I am finally really sick and tired of winter in the Northland, it is time to look for signs of spring, the first of which are the willow trees, whose young branchlets begin to turn visibly colorful right about now.
   Even the massive old black willows cannot resist the warmth of the returning sun, and are beginning to assume an orange halo.  But the most obvious indicator of the inevitability of spring is the weeping willow, Salix babylonica, of European origin and much escaped from cultivation.  And of course the catkins of the wild pussy willows, Salix discolor, will soon be blooming down at the beech ( I'll see if I can find one that isn't  impossible to get to in all this snow).

Thursday, February 27, 2014

SLOW DOWN!



SLIPPERY, SNOW PACKED ROADS


Thursday,  7:30 AM.  -12 degrees F, wind W, calm to gusty.  The sky is overcast and it is foggy, but itseems to be clearing.  The humidity is 74% and the barometer is up, currently at 30.19".
   The extreme cold has rendered many roads, including Hwy, 13, snow covered and slippery.  Blowing and drifting snow becomes packed down by vehicles and next to impossible for plows to scrape down to the roadbed.  The conditions were bad on Hwy, 13 between Bayfield and Washburn yesterday, and not only was the road slippery, but visibility was poor as well. The only practical response to these conditions is to slow down, and hope everyone else does the same.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

BAYFIELD TRAFFIC HELICOPTER REPORT

HWY, I,  BAYFIELD  TO MADELINE ISLAND

DOGLEG AT BAYFIELD SHORELINE

ICE ROAD GRIDLOCK
Wednesday,  8:30 AM.  -7 degrees F, wind SW, moderate with stronger gusts.  The sky has a high overcast, the humidity is down to 66% and the barometer is down to 29.91".
   A week ago, the five Great Lakes were 88% frozen over, but with recent warmer weather the ice has retreated to 62%, according to an article in the Duluth News Tribune.  Satellite images show Lakes Superior and Huron mostly frozen over, with Michigan about 70% open and lakes Erie and Ontario pretty much open. Superior has gone from 84% ice to 75.5% in the last two weeks.  The melting has made the work easier for the Coast Guard's nine ice breakers that work to keep essential shipping lanes open on all but the two largest lakes and the Sioux Locks on the St. Mary's River, which close down for a period in the winter.  A soon-to-arrive polar vortex is expected to re-freeze much of the open water.
   But what about the Ice Road? It seems pretty solid at this point and is carrying constant traffic. I thought Almanac readers would be interested in seeing the extent of the road and the traffic it carries, so I hitched a ride with the Bayfield Traffic Helicopter and took a few photos (just kidding...the photos were take from Catholic Hill, on North 1st St.).
   As you can see, it is a straight shot, something less than three miles, between the Bayfield docks and the Madeline Island landing, except for a dogleg just before the Bayfield exit ramp, there, I assume, to avoid a weak spot in the ice. There must also have been a miscalculation as to the route earlier, as the Christmas tree markers are nowhere near the actual plowed road.  I guess that's OK this winter, because the plowed road has high banks and it would be very difficult not to stay on it, and the deep snow makes it very unlikely anyone would try to follow the unplowed line of trees, although a truck did go partially through the ice earlier doing just that (see the 1/19/2014 post).
   And of course one should never underestimate the mischief that can be caused by mixing alcohol with lake ice.

Monday, February 24, 2014

WINTER MUSINGS: VOLTAIRE

TURNER ROAD

THE SIGN SAYS IT ALL
VOLTAIRE


Tuesday, 12:30 AM.  -5 degrees F, wind WNW, moderate and stronger.  The sky is now clear, the humidity is 68% and the barometer continues to rise, now at 30.26"
   Snow and cold we have had enough of!  Stop! Halt! No Mas!  The sign says it all.
   The unrest and revolutions around the world, arguably the worst in the least democratic countries, those countries where the government has been given or has seized virtually absolute power, have occasioned me to consider that when today's materialistic, man-centered societies have assigned God-like powers to the State,  those governments, after all made of men, are bound fail and be eventually challenged by the masses of their citizens.
   It was the 18th Century French philosopher and champion of liberty Voltaire who said, "If there were no God it would have been necessary to invent Him."
   It has long been debated exactly what he meant by those words, but it is far less debatable that what he alluded to has actually happened, since as faith in God has declined, so faith in an all-powerful State has taken its place, as governments made up of mortals have been assigned the God-like powers of omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence.  And all such states, whether  utopian, or monarchy, or theocracy,  or Nazi, or fascist, or communist, have failed or, having once failed and been resurrected, will certainly fail again.
   American style democracy, and to an extent some constitutional monarchies, which are based on faith in a Supreme Being and freedom (We believe these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights...) and equal  skepticism in the righteousness of men  (viz. the Bill of Rights, limited and divided government, the rule of law and not of men) has out-lived all the "isms" and will continue to do so as long as we put our faith in God and not in corruptible men.
   Those rights which have been given to mankind by a just God cannot be taken away by kings or emperors or tyrants or oligarchs or committees or parliaments unless by force, in which case free men have a God-given right and duty to reclaim them in like manner if need be.

DUMBER THAN DUMB

THEN WHY NOT COCAINE AND OPIUM?
WISCONSIN DITCH HEMP


Monday,  8:30 AM.  5 degrees F, wind W, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is lightly overcast.  The humidity is 70% and the barometer is trending up, currently at 30.26".  It looks like it will be a cold but pretty nice winter day.
   Hawaii thinks it can pay off its debt by exporting commercially grown marijuana, and Colorado and some other states see taxing legalized pot as a revenue bonanza.  If that is true, then why not cocaine and opium?  Bad ideas all.
   I have watched the debate over marijuana use and its legalization over the years.  It is an illegal drug that has been used pretty openly for decades.  It was around when I was in college in the late '50s and early 60's.  Tramping through the farm fields and woods pheasant hunting back then I would come across Cannabis sativa plants growing twelve feet high,  artifacts of the days when hemp was grown in Wisconsin to make rope and cloth (rope hemp has a relatively low amount of THC, the pscho-reactive compound in Cannabis sativa). There were always jokes about "smoking rope"when I was a kid.  And in the late '60's when I was the Assistant Director at the Milwaukee Mitchell Park Conservatory (the "Domes") I answered one druggy reporter's snide question, "What kind of high can you get from eating or smoking all the plants growing in Milwaukee parks?" My answer; "Lots of different highs and other reactions, most probably including death." Ingesting unknown or unfamiliar plants is nothing to take lightly.
   I never tried pot, even though it was around and used by a few of my acquaintances at the University, because I saw the results of their using it.  They came to class stoned, made spectacles of themselves and eventually dropped out.  There are few things  dumber than stoners thinking they are  smart.  Add to my own early experiences the fact that pot is obviously a gateway drug to worse things, and I am very much against its legalization, regardless of the libertarian argument.  A society replete with stoners and worse is not a pretty sight and highly unlikely to achieve greatness, or even solve its everyday problems.  The same can be said about alcohol abuse, but alcohol in wine and beer has been around as a food preservation method since the beginnings of civilization, and we don't need to add to its spinoff problems.
   I am something of a herbal junkie, so can understand the desire to use natural plant products to improve human health and performance.  I might even go so far as to legalize the growing of drug related plants in one's own backyard, and their use in an unrefined state for personal consumption. And probably well regulated medical use as well.
   However the legalization of recreational drugs such as  Cannabis, or any other addictive, deleterious drug, is a bad idea in general.  And government using recreational drugs of any kind as a general revenue source, and encouraging their production and use  is totally counterproductive, and dumber than dumb.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

WELL EDUCATED SNOW

WHERE'S THE HOUSE?

2013 AMERICAN BIRKEBEINER RACE

Sunday,  10:00 AM.  8 degrees F, wind WNW, very blustery.  The sun is shining on the fresh snow and it is all beautiful to look at.  The humidity is down to 69% and the barometer has spiked to 30.10"
   The ice Caves reopened yesterday, the last snow storm making snow shoes or cross country skies necessary and high westerly winds make for dangerous cold.
   In Hayward, an hour to the south, the annual Birkebeiner cross country ski race was held yesterday.   The "Birky," as it is known locally is a traditional Nordic race originally meant to commemorate a heroic Norwegian exploit.  It attracted an estimated 40,00 skiers and spectators from around the world.  Don't know where we put them all.
  Did you know our Bayfield snow is very well educated?  It has attained a PHD degree.  Piled Higher and Deeper.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

UP TO ONE'S WAIST IN SNOW


THERE'S A GARDEN UNDER THERE SOMEWHERE
Saturday, 9:00 AM.  7 degrees F, wind westerly, moderate with strong gusts.  The sky is overcast with the sun again struggling to shine through.  The humidity is 80% and the barometer is trending up, now at 29.82".
   We have been clobbered with between 12" and 18" of snow in the last several days and everyone is running out of places to put it.  Our big hope now is that it will be a normal spring and not be still snowing in May as it did last year.  Last March was open and mild and then we were dumped on in April and May.  There is concern in the orchards that the winter pruning won't get done.  At present they are only able to prune the tops of the trees, walking on snow shoes.  A misstep and the pruner is up to his waist in snow.

Friday, February 21, 2014

STUCK IN THIS BLIZZARD WITH A JIMMY CARTER


SHOULD HAVE FLOWN SOUTH

FULL UP

THAT'S NOT JIMMY CARTER DRIVING


Friday, 9:00 AM.  16 degrees F, wind W, moderate with strong gusts.  The sky is overcast and it is snowing, but the sun is making a feeble attempt at shining through the wintry mess.  The humidity is up, to 89%, and the barometer is trending down, now at 29.13".  We have gotten perhaps 8"-10" of new snow so far.  Neighbor Jon Nelson just stopped by to sweep out my driveway, for which I am extremely grateful.  It is hard to find places to push it, though.
   By ten o'clock yesterday evening we were in a raging blizzard, an all-too-familiar whiteout, and whatever snow cover we lost in the last few days of thaw has recovered with a vengeance.  Pretty, though!
   The severe weather, with winds up to 40 MPH, has led the National Park Service to temporarily close the Ice Caves.  It is feared the high winds may break up the ice pack along the shore and make access to the caves treacherous.  Meanwhile, Robert Krumenaker, the  Apostle Islands National Lake Shore  Superintendent, has gone on the radio to tell us the caves may not be open in future winters because of global warming.  I wonder if Bob ever goes outside.  Or even looks out the window.
   But not pretty at all is the face of revolutions around the world and the administration's by now familiar meek response to them. We gave little or no encouragement  or even advice to the incipient democratic revolutions, now failed, in Iran, Egypt, and Syria.  And now the blood of patriots is being spilled in the streets of Kiev and Caracas while we stand by as though helpless. The young of the world want to be free, and we are complicit in their enslavement and deaths by "leading from behind."
   As soon as the Olympics in Sochi are through we will see Putin's envoys in the Ukraine; let's just hope they don't arrive by tank, as they did so often during the cold war (think Hungary, 1956, and the youngsters throwing stones at the Russian tanks).  The Czar is angry and looking for revenge; maybe we should have let him win the hockey games (I'm surprised President Obama didn't try to arrange it).   Putin will again threaten to cut off Russian gas and let Europe freeze if he is opposed.  We should crank up our oil and natural gas production so we can supply Europe if he does.  It's all a chess game, and Putin is winning.
   Cuban forces are already reported in Venezuela, and if we don't counter that move we will soon see Iranian missiles in the Gulf of Mexico.  Doesn't anyone in Washington remember the Cuban Missile Crisis?  The Russians won't be back, but Iran will step right up.  And our feckless leaders have declared the Monroe Doctrine dead just when we need it most.
   We also need an Andrew Jackson or a Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office, and we are stuck in this global blizzard with a Jimmy Carter.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

CONNECTING WITH YOUR INNER TEENAGER

NOT VERY RISKY AS YET

WHY THE SPEED LIMIT?
Thursday, 9:30 AM.  31 degrees F, wind NE, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is now mostly clear, the sun is shining strong, with some clouds retreating in the east and pushing in from the NW.  The humidity is 76% and the barometer is mostly steady, now at 29.64".  Things look pretty benign at the moment, but we are evidently in the path of a big storm that is due to arrive later in the day.
   The ice road evidently is thick enough that the several days of warm weather is not affecting it.  The really vulnerable areas are near the shorelines, usually the first to become unsafe.  The Ice Road has a posted speed limit (it is legally a continuation of County Hwy. I ) of 15 MPH.  That limit is not only a safety consideration.  Higher speeds, particularly by heavier vehicles, undulate the ice, creating a wave action which can cause cracks in the ice and weaken it.  So you can't just go out there and go fast and spin around and have fun.  If you want to connect with your inner teenager,  go to Ashland and get on the ice race track.  I've seen vehicles doing that at odd times.  Don't know if its legal, though.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

DRIVEN OUT OF BUSINESS

Wednesday,  9:00 AM.  22 degrees F, wind SW, light to moderate with stronger gusts.  The sky is cloudless, the humidity is 79% and the barometer is trending up, now at 29.64".  We seem to be finally getting our "January thaw." Yesterday snow was sliding off roofs and plopping in huge clumps on walks and driveways.  One is advised to watch for avalanches cascading down from steep metal roofs.  There may be good work here for St. Bernard rescue dogs.
   I have had several Almanac readers inquire by email as to why I had to spend some time inconvenienced in Duluth.  I try not to let my posts get personal unless they relate to my main topics of interest; gardening, horticulture, the environment, local issues,  and relevant politics.  I guess the following comments fit pretty well within the last two parameters.
    I am pretty much O.K. but am on light duty after several days in hospital. Not to get specific, let me just say that  the specialist  whom I go to in Ashland for an old problem is in the process of retiring and was unavailable. The Ashland hospital folks were very caring but minimally capable in this instance, so we had to drive an hour and a half on icy roads to Duluth where I was seen by a specialist and put on bed rest for several days and nights. 
  I am at home now and have to take it easy for a week.  This type of incident is  a real downside to living up here in the Northland and, unfortunately, Obamacare is aggravating this issue; I knew it was going to force my independent specialist (who has offices in several far-flung communities which he serves) out of business the last time I saw him take my manilla file down from its niche on the wall of his office.  This doctor is not going to try to computerize his thirty and more years of patient information as required by the new law, and no other doctor is likely to buy his business if they are required to do the same.  
   The only alternatives for most independent "country doctors" who serve so much of the nation is to retire, or if possible to be absorbed by a far-flung hospital empire, whose bean counters will squeeze every ounce of flexibility out of the operations in the hinterlands and the public will be faced with higher and higher prices, less and less service, and more and more hundred mile runs for in-hospital care and emergency treatment.    
   Meanwhile, the politicians in Washington who have immediate access to Walter Reed and other top hospitals do not understand the problems they have created and could not care less about the rest of us who do not fit within the parameters of their collectivist schemes.
   As the President said, "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Period."  He should have added a qualifier: "If we haven't driven him out of business."

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

CHEERING MY MORNING; THE FIRST SPRING NURSERY CATALOG

HAUSER'S SPRING PERENNIAL CATALOG
Tuesday, 9:30 AM.  14 degrees F, wind NW, very light,  The sun is powering its way through the clouds and it is a pleasant morning, after some more light snow last night.  The humidity is 91% and the barometer is 29. 21".
   Amidst all the snow and cold, a sure sign of spring!  The first nursery catalog of the year, from local Hauser's Superior View Farms.  A Bayfield tradition for well over a century, and located just outside of town on Hwy. J, Hauser's has a wonderful full line of field dug perennials.  Gardeners come from hundreds of miles for their spring sale.
   Hope springs eternal, or perhaps spring hopes eternally;  anyway, it certainly cheered my morning.

Monday, February 17, 2014

PRESIDENTS' DAY


A N EARLY US FLAG

OLD GLORY, THE WISCONSIN FLAG AND THE POW/MIA FLAG


REMEMBER THE ALAMO

GARDEN FLAG

CONSTRUCTION FLAG

TAKE A GUESS FLAGS
WAR OF 1812 FLAG


Monday, President's Day, 4:00 PM.  24degrees F, wind calm, It is snowing moderately from cloudy and overcast skies, after depositing 4"-5 of snow yesterday and today.  We had an unscheduled trip to Duluth which necessitated several nights stay but we are back home, In spite of bad roads, offering a Presidents' Day post of flag photos I have taken over the years

Friday, February 14, 2014

OK, OK, I'LL TURN THE WATER ON!

THAWING OUT A WATER LINE

FROZEN FOUNTAIN IN FOUNTAIN GARDEN PARK



MEANWHILE, IN  A NORTH CAROLINA NEIGHBORHOOD...
Friday, 9:00 AM.  5 degrees F, wind NE, very light with a few stronger gusts.  It is overcast and the snow has stopped after depositing several more inches of the white stuff.  The humidity is down to 81% and the barometer is up, to 29.93".
   I reported two days ago on a water main break on Sixth Street, and that the City has asked residents to turn on a faucet to let a trickle of water run to help prevent water  lines from freezing. I was a bit skeptical of this, since our water bills are unconscionably high, but yesterday I spotted the City rig above, on Ninth Street, and stopped to talk to the worker.  The conversation went something like this:
   "Whatcha doin'?"  "Thawin' out a water service, got lots of 'em to do."  "How do you do it?" "Hook a welding machine to the line and let the current run through it."  "But the water lines must be eight feed deep?""Yup."  "And they're still freezing up?"  "Yup.""I'll go turn on my water.""That'd be smart."
   Meanwhile, Almanac reader Douglas P.  from North Carolina sends a photo from his front yard.  He says he's "staying home." Until spring, Doug?
 

Thursday, February 13, 2014

BAYFIELD'S INFRASTRUCTURE TAKES A HIT IN THE EXTREME COLD


WATER MAIN BREAK ON 6TH ST.
ALMANAC  READERS AT THE ICE CAVES


Thursday, 8:30 AM.  17 degrees F, wind variable from the south, light to moderate.  The sky is overcast, with freezing fog,  and it is snowing, becoming heavy as I write.  I shoveled several inches of snow this morning and it looks like there will be much more.  The humidity is 91% and the barometer has fallen to 29.60".  I and fellow Tree Board member Grandin were going to hike out to the Ice Caves today but that doesn't look like a good idea at present.
   The arctic winter is taking its toll on Bayfield infrastructure, as water mains break and sewers freeze in the extreme cold.  A water main break occurred on 6th St. yesterday, and the City has requested residents to leave a faucet running, a stream about the thickness of a pencil, to keep water moving in water mains and sewer pipes to prevent freezing.  A lot of repair and construction has been done to Bayfield sewer and water lines in recent years but a lot of the city's infrastructure remains ancient and subject to failure.  All this while Lake Superior may actually freeze over for the first time in decades.
   The Ice Caves remain a tourist magnet.  Blog reader Pat W. and family came up from Madison two weekends ago.  They braved hazardous roads and  extreme cold.  The temperature on their hike was two degrees below zero and the wind was a steady 35 miles per hour and they had never been so cold, but all ended well and they were glad they did it.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

TAKE THIS CHAINSAW SAFETY QUIZ

THE PROPERLY EQUIPPED WOODSMAN

WHAT CHAINSAW SAFETY ERRORS  ARE BEING MADE HERE?
Wednesday,  8:30 AM.  14 degrees F, wind SW, calm to very light.  The sky is mostly overcast and it is snowing lightly, large fluffy flakes parachuting gently down.  The humidity is up to 83% and the barometer is trending down, now at 30.13".
   I have gone to considerable lengths to be sure that I have all the proper safety equipment when operating my chain saw, as evidenced in the top photo.  I have offered several posts on chainsaw safety, and now offer the following safety quiz.
   The chainsaw operator in the second photo has made some safety errors.  Take the chainsaw safety quiz to see if you can find them. Eight is a perfect score; six...call the EMTs; four... call the morgue.
   Does the chainsaw operator have: helmet ( 2); face shield ( 2); ear protection ( 1); gloves (1 ); boots (2 ); chaps ( 3);  the operating manual ( 1); Obamacare (0 ).
 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

"POPPLE"

ANOTHER ASPEN IN WINTER...

BIG TOOTH ASPEN (POPULUS GRANDINDENTATA)


A GROVE OF TREMBLING ASPEN (POPULUS TREMULOIDES)
BIG -TOTHED ASPEN

TREMBLING ASPEN
PAPER BIRCH


Tuesday,  9:00 AM.  -8 degrees, wind SSW, light.  The sky is clear, the humidity 77%, and the barometer high and steady at 30.47".  We have gotten so used to the cold that well bellow zero in sunshine and no wind is almost balmy.
   In Sunday's post I talked about the similarities between the white bark of paper birch and the often white bark of trembling aspen, which can be confusing, especially in the winter.  On the way to Duluth yesterday I was constantly reminded of another aspen which has a more gray, often yellowish or greenish bark when young, the large-toothed aspen, Populus grandindentanta.  It pretty much occupies the same range and habitat as the trembling aspen and birch in Wisconsin, and they all often grow together.  Big-toothed aspen is not as easily confused with paper birch.  Both the aspens have leaves with flattened petioles, which allow the leaves to move constantly in the wind.  The trembling aspen is the most widely distributed tree species in North America, from northern Canada to Mexico, and coast to coast.  The big-toothed aspen is native to southeastern Canada and the northeastern U.S.  The latter is more often found on drier sites than the former.
   In the Northland, Ptremuloides and P. grandindentata are often lumped together under the general common name of "popple."  The two species of poplar make up a huge percentage of the woody biomass harvested for paper and particle board production (with birch and other species included in the mix).

Monday, February 10, 2014

THE NEW PUMP

FARM WELL PUMP; FROZEN IN TIME

ALL GONE WITH THE WINDS OF TIME
Monday,  8:00 AM.  -6 degrees, wind SSW, light.  The sky is lightly overcast but clearing, with some light fog over the channel.  There are some high, fish scale clouds but I think it will be a nice day for our trip to Duluth.  The humidity is 79% and the barometer is way up, at 30.47".
   Seen from the road a hundred yards away the upright object standing in the open field might be momentarily mistaken  for a human figure, perhaps a smallish man, or a boy.  But it stands still, far more still than a living thing, even a deer, can stand.  It stands within a circle of weeds and grasses that have been left by the mower, which has gone around it.
   Straining to see the object in the shadows of the setting sun, focusing and refocusing one's eyes, it becomes a familiar object of memory...a cast iron farm pump, replete with handle.  Iron wheels emerge from the snow on each side of it, wheels to which a shaft was once attached to harness the power of a windmill.
   But it makes no sense; this piece of long ago technology is standing alone in an empty field. Where is the house with the laughing children and their loving mother?  Where is the barn, with the horse, and a cow and heifer?  Where is the chicken coop with the laying hens and the rooster to greet tomorrow's dawn?
   They are all gone to dust, and to distant, dusty memories, the few that may remain within an old, old man or woman, perhaps a grandchild of the farmer who bought the pump from Sears or Montgomery Ward.  But the cast iron pump endures.
   Amazingly, no one has taken it for scrap iron over the years, or cannibalized its parts.  Perhaps its nuts and bolts, frozen tight with  rust,  have rendered it too difficult to dismantle.  How deep were the pipes driven into the sandy soil to reach the water table?  Knowing the fall of the nearby river, I would guess something over one hundred feet.
  " This is an old fashioned winter," we are all saying, even if we don't really know what that means.  But if the winter a century ago was like our present winter, it was brutal.  The snow piled along the paths between the house, the barn, the pump  and the outhouse must have been higher than the heads of the children which ran down them.  It must have been a cold walk to the school house, and a frigid wagon ride or walk to town.
   If the wood pile had not begun the winter almost as high and as long as the house there would have been little left by now. And it must have been a constant worry that the pump, not draining properly in the bitter cold of night, would freeze up and it would be almost impossible to thaw out and draw water for the animals.
   A century ago the Great War was raging across Europe, and the farmer and his wife were glad that they were here, and their children were here, and they were not in the midst of all the madness.  And it was no colder here than the far off place they had left, and there would be no soldiers coming on the morrow to take away the cow and the horse for the army.
   And there were potatoes and apples and carrots and cabbages and salted pork enough to last until spring, and enough milk each day for the children. And the kitchen with its cast iron cook stove was warm, even if the water froze solid in the bedroom wash basin over night.
   And the new pump was a marvelous thing.
 

Sunday, February 9, 2014

IF IT HAS WHITE BARK IT'S A BIRCH TREE..WELL,"IT AIN'T NECESSARILY SO..."

QUAKING ASPEN...

... WHITE BARK, BUT NOTE THE GNARLED, GRAY YOUNG TWIGS

PAPER BIRCH...

...WHITE BARK, AND  NOTE THE STRAIGHT, REDDISH YOUNG TWIGS...

...ALSO DORMANT  CATKINS...
....AND CHARACTERISTIC, BUT NOT ALWAYS PRESENT, EXFOLIATING PAPERY BARK



QUAKING ASPEN GROVE; BARK WHITE IN THE WINTER SUN


MIXED PAPER BIRCH AND ASPEN,  REDISH YOUNG BIRCH TWIGS STAND OUT
Sunday, 9:00 AM.  4 degrees F, wind N, light to moderate.  The sky is mostly overcast, with some fog over the channel and Madeline Island. The humidity is 74% and the barometer more-or-less steady, at 30.29".  We are just on the eastern edge of a polar air mass, which has temperatures in northern Minnesota in the -20's again. They can keep it.
   Paper birch, Betula papyrifera, is easy to pick out in the winter landscape because of its white bark!  Well, as the old song says, "It Ain't Necessarily So..."
   I have often been confused as to whether a grove of white-barked trees was paper birch or quaking aspen, Populous tremuloides, especially when viewed from a moving vehicle, or at a distance.  Particularly in bright winter sunlight, with white snow on the ground, trembling aspen can look just as white as paper birch.  And both species have characteristic black markings on the trunk, particularly under branch crotches.  As for the exfoliating bark of paper birch, it is not always present or not very obvious.  To add to the confusion, both may inhabit the same terrain, and often grow mixed together.  So, I have come to rely on other cues for more dependable winter identification, at least if I can't view the trees close up.
   I look to the young branches at the top of the trees.  The birch branches are straight and reddish in color, the trembling aspen are gray or grayish green and gnarled, or crooked.  Once one gets the hang of it it is pretty easy to see the difference, even at a distance and even if the trees are growing mixed together.  Closer up, the birch trees have pendulous dormant winter catkins that can be quite obvious. Birch trees often shed seed during the winter, and the minute, triangular, wafer-like seeds  may be found on the snow beneath the trees.
   Of course, paper birch are so-called because of their exfoliating, papery bark.  The problem is, that characteristic is not always present.  Of course, when it is, the identification is certain.  But if not,  "It Ain't Necessarily So,,,"