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| STAR MAGNOLIA... |
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| ...PERFECT BLOOMS THIS SPRING... |
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| ...PINK VARIETY |
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| SAILBOAT BEFORE THE STORM |
Saturday, 9:00 AM. 54 degrees F at the ferry dock, 52 on the back porch. Wind NE, light with light to moderate gusts. The sky is clear, the humidity 49%. The barometer stands at 29.93" and is falling. The air is fresh and clear after last evenings thunder storms, and it is a fine day.
Yesterday was very unseasonably warm, 85 degrees F in Bayfield, and a reported 91 in Cornucopia. The hot, windy weather had spring flowers blooming, including both white and pink star magnolias. Magnolia stellata, a small tree of Asiatic origin, is hardy and beautiful in bloom, but only looks so occasionally in Bayfield, so I do not consider it a good choice as it can often look like it is blooming wet paper bags. Yesterday they were gorgeous.
Hot, dry winds from the NW were bound to collide with cold air over the big lake, and by late afternoon thunderstorms chased the boats off the lake; at least the sailors with any sense. We drove out to Cornucopia to the Village Inn for Friday night fish fry in violent wind and rain. The aspen are leafing out, a refreshing, light green color. The sugar maples are blooming and leafing out, as well as the red oaks.
If our winds are the winds that are prevalent in the Alberta oil sands country they are in continuing trouble from fire. With all the slash laying around from our current logging blitz in northern Wisconsin I also worry about wild fires here as well, in this kind of weather. Wisconsin has a history of disastrous forest fires that are easily forgotten today.
I also wonder about the oil sands themselves catching fire and smoldering forever, as have some coal mines. I remember when I was a child there was a period when Wisconsin peat bogs were burning, deep seated fires almost impossible to extinguish, which caused heavy smog. That situation was promoted by the draining of bogs and marshes for agricultural production.
No human activity is without its environmental hazards, risks and consequences and we seldom think things through thoroughly before we do them. We are a species as opportunistic as a bear dumping over garbage cans.
I also wonder about the oil sands themselves catching fire and smoldering forever, as have some coal mines. I remember when I was a child there was a period when Wisconsin peat bogs were burning, deep seated fires almost impossible to extinguish, which caused heavy smog. That situation was promoted by the draining of bogs and marshes for agricultural production.
No human activity is without its environmental hazards, risks and consequences and we seldom think things through thoroughly before we do them. We are a species as opportunistic as a bear dumping over garbage cans.
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