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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

THE BIG OAK ON SECOND STREET

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BAYFIELD'S FIRST HERITAGE TREE
Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  64 degrees F at the ferry dock, 60 on the back porch. Wind NNW, light with stronger gusts. Humidity 78%, barometer steady at 30.17".  Looks like pleasant weather ahead.
   The following poem was written by local author Howard Paap for the dedication of Bayfield's first Heritage Tree on Sunday, August 28, 2016. 
 
THE BIG OAK ON 2ND STREET
(Heritage Tree – 2016)
by Howard D. Paap

Today we stand beneath this towering giant

With awe filled children’s eyes,
An oak so old, yet still so young,
Its strong arms reaching for the skies.

We honor ye, this ancient tree,
At home on 2nd Street.
Why pay homage to a tree?
These old red bricks a blanket at its feet.

These giant oaks may dot our land
With hungry mouths pressed sweet to earth
But none can claim our hearts as thee
This our red oak, so wide of girth.

Oak trees may come and go
But ours still standing tall
This the tree the young Boutins did climb
And sometimes from it fall.

Just up from Myers barn it was
Where horses stayed to rest and eat
This tree for years and years,
The big red oak up on 2nd Street.

What have such trees seen,
What have they felt and known?
As saplings in the sun
Where ancient pines had grown?

‘Twas a time when money had us on the move
When folly romped so loud and free
Soon forest and fish were gone, the brownstone passé
Oh, to stand our ground like thee.

“Grow where you are planted,” you said,
“Wander not across this land.”
Over time you admonished us,
Here, beside this big lake to make our stand.

For Bayfield, like this tree of old,
Our memory post
Had storms of trials of time
At some we laugh, of others we do not boast.

But what say ye, old red oak tree?

       I’ve seen them off to the Civil War, then Nº’s 1 and 2,       
       and the fighting still today goes on. The mills rose
       around me, then fell apart, their dust and dirt under
       our streets. I watched the sails turn to steam then black
       diesel, the stable and hooves gave way to gasoline and
       rubber tires. In the flood of ’42 the dead floated by,
       the quarrymen and fisherfolk of early time. Then in
       our street rose the refrain to “rush the can,” hurry the
       beer from the tap to the workers, their thirst to quench.
       The kiln-shed across the street became Mr. Dunker’s
       Bookshop, those books filled with what is yearned for,
       a laugh, some wisdom, and a tear. Those tomes, like
       me, strong and ever ready. I watched the traders and
       government-men come and go, to deal with my first
       neighbors, copper skinned folk just to the north, those
       keepers of trees. I watched the apples and berries
       come down the hill, the milk brought to town (and
       now I see the Creamery serves up a different suds!).
       And finally came the tourists, those lovers of ice
       cream cones, but through it all I still stand where I
       was planted.

Oh, our friend, you Heritage Oak
Your voice rings loud and clear!
Your arms spread wide, roots still deep,
‘cause of you today we gather here.

We humans, now your constant companions,
May we forever your welfare keep!
Our dreams, before they deign to pass,
Should never crash, through all time run deep.

Oh tree of old, our hearts in our hands you hold!
••••••••••••••••••

 OFF THE CUFF
Wild fires are burning again in Yellowstone National Park, during this, the 100th Anniversary of the Park Service.  When visiting in May we noted that fires were imminent, as there was standing dead and partially burned timber everywhere.   Nature is an effective, but exceedingly cruel and destructive, forester

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

ASTERS ARE BLOOMING

FROST ASTER

AZURE ASTER...

...DITTO 
Tuesday, 8OO AM. 68 degrees F at the ferry dock,  63  on the back porch.  Wind NW. calm
with light gusts. Scattered clouds, humidity 83%, barometer mostly steady at 30.12".  Nice weather predicted through the week.
   Asters are blooming, a first sign of fall.
OFF THE CUFF
   '49ers quarterback Colin Koepernick has a constitutional right not to stand for the singing of the national anthem, and an equal right to say dumb things.  But he has no such constitutional right to be a multi-million dollar NFL quarterback,  and my bet is that he is on his way out.  I hope he has saved some money.

Monday, August 29, 2016

HERITAGE TREE DEDICATION A GREAT SUCCESS


THE BIG RED OAK...
PROVIDED LOTS OF SHADE,,,
...FOR FORTY ATTENDEES
Monday, 9:00 AM.  68 degrees F at the ferry dock, 62 0n the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with light gusts.  The sky is mostly overcast. and it has rained lightly.  The humidity is 91% and the barometer is falling some, now at 30.10".  Unsettled weather today, then cooler and clear. 
   I'm getting by using the Hunt and Peck method, which actually improves my spelling.  Slow, though.
   Forty people came to the dedication of Bayfield's first Heritage Tree on Sunday.  We ordered two dozen doughnuts so we were right on target.
   Mayor Ringberg said a few words, Howard Paap read an original poem written for the occasion, and former City Forester Howard Larsen spoke of the first days of the Tree Board.  It was an interesting and worthwhile event.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

HAPPENING TODAY!

Sunday, 9:AM.  63 degrees F at the ferry dock, 59 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm.  Sky overcast, humidity 91%, barometer 30,16" and steady, chance of rain tomorrow. 



                              DEDICATION OF BAYFIELD’S FIRST HERITAGE TREE
1:00 PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 28
MANYPENNY AVE. AND S. SECOND ST

150 YEAR OLD RED OAK

​   
The City of Bayfield Tree Board, the Mayor and Common Council, have designated the first Bayfield Heritage Tree.  It is a red oak, Quercus rubra, located on the west side of South Second Street, just north of Manypenny Ave.  Probably planted about the time the brick paved street was plated, it is 42" in diameter at breast height, and about 75 feet tall.  Around 150 years old, it looks sound and healthy.  
   The street and sidewalk were just restored, the brick pavers taken up and re-laid, and new curbs installed, all done with care around the tree.  Tree Board members fertilized the tree with fertilizer stakes at their  September, 20015 meeting and the tree has been well watered and received plenty of rain since.
   The intent of the Heritage Tree program is to memorialize City of Bayfield street and park trees  that are important historically, environmentally or horticulturally, and to educate the public concerning their importance.  Trees so designated will receive extra care and attention to help ensure their health and welfare.
   This first Heritage Tree will be dedicated as part of the 2016  Bayfield  Home Coming event at 1:00 PM on Sunday, August 28, 2016.
    The program will begin with a welcome by Bayfield Mayor Gordon Ringberg.    An original poem about trees will be read by Bayfield author Howard Paap.
    Volunteer City Forester Art Ode will say a few words about the Tree Board, the Heritage Tree program, and its purpose and history.
    Members of the Tree Board will be recognized, as will former Volunteer City Forester Howard Larsen.
     Apple cider and doughnuts from Erickson's orchard  will be served at the Pavilion after the event.
   
  

Saturday, August 27, 2016

BIG BAYFIELD BOAT BARN BASH

NEIGHBORS TINA AND JON NELSON...

S
HOST AN ANNUAL PARTY...
...GREAT FOOD AND MUSIC
Saturday...nice weather, great party last night...still laid up but hangin' in there.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

UHOH!



BROKE MY ARM, CAN'T TYPE.  MAYBE BACK ON LINE IN A WEEK.

BOUNCING BET

BOUNCING BET AT THE BEACH...

PETALS NOTCHED...

RECEPTACLE ENLARGED, LEAVES OPPOSITE
Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  69 degrees F at the ferry dock, 65 0n the back porch.  Sky overcast. Wind variable and mostly calm, humidity 88%, barometer 27.78", steady at present. High around 80 today, then cooling, with a chance of rain on the weekend.
   Bouncing bet, Saponaria officinalis, in the Chickweed Family (Caryophyllaceae), is a European garden escapee that naturalizes along roadsides and other places.  It has five white notched petals  tinged with pink or sometimes all pink.  Another common name is soapwort, since its sap mixed with water lathers into a gentle soap.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN GLORIFIETH EVERYONE

 
        
        THE ODE GARDEN IN LATE SUMMER






                      THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN

Our England is a garden that is full of stately views, 
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues, 
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by; 
But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye. 

For where the thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall, 
You will find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all; 
The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dungpits and the tanks, 
The rollers, carts and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks. 

And there you'll see the gardners, the men and 'prentice boys 
Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise; 
For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds, 
The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words. 

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose, 
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows; 
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam, 
For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come. 

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made 
By singing:--"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade, 
While better men than we go out and start their working lives 
At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives. 

There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick, 
There's not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick, 
But it can find some needful job that's crying to be done, 
For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth every one. 

Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders, 
If it's only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders; 
And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden, 
You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden. 

Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees 
That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees, 
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray 
For the Glory of the Garden, that it may not pass away! 
For the Glory of the Garden, that it may not pass away! 
Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 69 degrees F at the ferry dock, 65 on the back porch. Wind SW, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 84%.  The barometer is falling, now at 29.90," predicting rain tomorrow with cool and pleasant weather Thursday and Friday.
  Kipling is one of my favorite author/poets, and a great connoisseur of gardens, although I doubt he would have thought much of ours. 

Monday, August 22, 2016

ROUND LEAVED DOGWOOD

ROUND LEAVED DOGWOOD BERRIES,,,

...RIPE NOW...

FLOWER HEADS AND DISTINCTIVE LEAVES (Google photo)...

...FALL LEAF COLOR (Google photo)
Monday, 7:45 AM.  60 degrees F at the ferry dock, 56 on the back porch.  Wind SW, mostly calm with occasional light gusts.  The sky is clear with a few clouds here and there, the humidity 84%.  The barometer is falling some, now at 29.97". Highs will be around 80 today and tomorrow, then cooling with a chance of a thunderstorm Wednesday.
   I am more and more impressed with the native round leaved dogwood, Cornus rugosa, in the Dogwood Family (Cornaceae).  An under story shrub of deciduous and coniferous forests of the  north, it grows in full sun to semi-shade.  It flowers well, has fine orange to pink to red fall leaf color, and interesting, beautiful berries, just now ripening.  The bluish white to lead colored berries are borne on  red pedicels which may also have red aborted berries, all very pleasingly colorful.  Round leaved dogwood has opposite leaves and maroon colored branches and distinctively veined, entire leaves.
   I have used this shrub more and more in landscaping, and find it beautiful and dependable.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

BUDDY AT THE BEACH

BUDDY ON POINT AT THE BEACH...
WHAT'S UP? A FAMILY OF MALLARDS...
...BUT I DON'T HAVE WEBBED FEET!...
...I'LL JUST GO AND FIND A DEER LEG BONE INSTEAD!
Sunday, 8:00 AM.  61 degrees F at the ferry dock, 56 on the back porch.  Wind variable, mostly calm with occasional light gusts.  The sky is clear with some scattered white clouds, after yesterday's .6" of rainfall, the humidity 82%.  The barometer is rising somewhat, now at 29.84".  The forecast is for cooler and partly cloudy weather in the week ahead, with a chance of a thunderstorm midweek.
   Yesterday being a rainy day, I took Buddy for a run on the beach before dinner.  He went on a solid point at the mouth of the Sioux River, the object of his rigidity being a family of mallard ducks.  He went in the water but he doesn't have webbed feet and the current is strong.  So like any intelligent being, he went inead  and did what he can do well; he found a deer leg bone.
OFF THE CUFF
   We watch a lot of baseball, and have noticed the gradual reduction of  African American players (and a corresponding increase in Hispanic players). Now,  baseball is far from a mirror image of America, but if one is a fan it offers vignettes of our population, culture and history.  Currently, about 8% of MLB players are black, down from 16% a few years back.
   Many reasons have been given for that decline...i.e., the popularity of basketball in the inner cities, the decline of baseball as a sport in general, etc.  But upon further consideration of the statistics, I believe that it mirrors the decline of the African American population in America.  The black population is now 13.2% of the American total.  6.6% would be the natural percentage of the male black population, so 8% is actually a pretty healthy representation  of that population playing in Major League Baseball.  I remember not long ago when the prediction was that it would be only a generation or two and the country would be more than 50% African American.  What happened to that statistical trend, which was based on birth rate?
   Crime, black on black murder, drug addiction and abortion, which are mainly the results of poverty and the breakdown of black families, have decimated the black population.  How that gets turned around is primarily up to the black community, but it seems to me it has to start with personal redemption, saving families, and throwing off the suffocating cloak of dependency and victimhood fostered by the liberal-progressive movement of the past sixty years.
   Without sincere and rapid change, sparked by the black community and supported by the government and the rest of American society, it appears that African Americans will continue to disappear from not only baseball but from all of American life.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

COMMING SOON: DEDICATION OF BAYFIELD'S FIRST HERITAGE TREE


Saturday, 8:15 AM.  68 degrees F at the ferry dock, 61 on the back porch.  Wind variable and mostly calm, with occasional light gusts.  The sky is overcast and it is raining lightly and looks like it will do so most of the day.  The humidity is 91% and the barometer is still falling, currently at 29.69".  The forecast is rain today, clearing tomorrow and early in the week, with possible rain by Wednesday.  What a growth year this has been!  The gardens and the entire countryside are lush and green and productive.

DEDICATION OF BAYFIELD’S FIRST HERITAGE TREE
1:00 PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 28
MANYPENNY AVE. AND S. SECOND ST
 
150 YEAR OLD RED OAK

​   
The City of Bayfield Tree Board, the Mayor and Common Council, have designated the first Bayfield Heritage Tree.  It is a red oak, Quercus rubra, located on the west side of South Second Street, just north of Manypenny Ave.  Probably planted about the time the brick paved street was plated, it is 42" in diameter at breast height, and about 75 feet tall.  Around 150 years old, it looks sound and healthy.  
   The street was just restored, the brick pavers taken up and re-laid, and new curbs installed, all done with care around the tree.  Tree Board members fertilized the tree with fertilizer stakes at their  September, 20015 meeting and the tree has been well watered and received plenty of rain since.
   The intent of the Heritage Tree program is to memorialize City of Bayfield street and park trees  that are important historically, environmentally or horticulturally, and to educate the public concerning their importance.  Trees so designated will receive extra care and attention to help ensure their health and welfare.
   This first Heritage Tree will be dedicated as part of the 2016  Bayfield  Home Coming event at 1:00 PM on Sunday, August 28, 2016.
    The program will begin with a welcome by Bayfield Mayor Gordon Ringberg.    A poem about trees will be read by Bayfield author Howard Paap.
    Volunteer City Forester Art Ode will say a few words about the Tree Board, the Heritage Tree program, and its purpose and history.
    Members of the Tree Board will be recognized, as will former Volunteer City Forester Howard Larsen.
    Refreshments will be served at the Pavilion after the event.
   
  

Friday, August 19, 2016

THE KIYI VISITS BAYFIELD

THE KIYI...

...A UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SHIP...

...CONDUCTS LAKE SUPERIOR FISHERIES RESEARCH...

...BASED IN ASHLAND, THE KIYI WAS DOCKED YESTERDAY IN BAYFIELD

Friday, 7:45 AM. 68 degrees F at the ferry dock, 63 on the back porch. Wind variable and calm with light gusts.  It is raining steadily, and the sky is overcast.  The humidity is 92%, the barometer is at 29.80" and relatively steady.  Rain is forecast for today and tomorrow, then clearing on Sunday, with a chance of rain again on Wednesday.
   Another large ship was docked in Bayfield yesterday.  The United States Geological Service fisheries research vessel, the KIYI, is based in neighboring Ashland but I had never seen it before.
   Commissioned in 2000, the KIYI is 107 feet in length and is equiped with a large boom and trawling nets.  It has a crew of three and can accommodate six researchers.  It operates primarily on Lake Superior in the Apostle Islands region, sampling and studying whitefish and lake trout populations.
   KIYI are a species of Lake Superior deep water whitefish.
OFF THE CUFF
   We watched a major policy address by Donald Trump yesterday.  It occurred in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Trump spoke, I thought, extremely well about the challenges the country faces, his policy solutions, and his desire to unite the nation as one people to solve its problems.  He was emotional but controlled, and his demeanor was decidedly presidential.  He was enthusiastically received by a very large crowd.
   I have seen little or nothing regarding the rally or his speech anywhere on the internet news, which has been overtaken with the story of the stupid misbehavior of four US Olympic swimmers (if they weren't robbed in the first place, they sure have been by now).
   I don't think the media would give Donald Trump substantive or fair coverage even if he descended from the heavens, accompanied by hosts of trumpeting angels.  

Thursday, August 18, 2016

MOUNTAIN ASH BERRIES ARE RIPENING

MOUNTAIN ASH...
...RIPENING BERRIES


Thursday, 7:45 AM.  69 degrees F at the ferry dock, 66 on the back porch. Wind WSW, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 86%.  The barometer is falling precipitously, now at 29.95", predicting a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow and rain on Saturday, then clearing and cooler Sunday through midweek.  Rain would be welcome, as long as I get the lawn mowed this morning.
   Another sign that summer is waning is the ripening of mountain ash berries.  Mountain ash, small trees in the genus  Sorbus in the Rose Family and closely related to apples and pears, are of course not ash species at all, as ash are in the genus Fraxinus which is in the Olive Family.  The common name Mountain ash relates to its feather compound leaf, which is ash-like in appearance.  The two tree genera bear no other similarity, and scientific nomenclature of plants is based upon flower structure and its evolution.
   The mountain ash species most likely to be encountered are very similar in appearance and use, the most popular being the European mountain ash, Sorbus aucuparia, and the American mountain ash, Sorbus americana.  I find them very difficult to tell apart (although the winter buds of americana tend to be sticky), and the Europoean species is very much naturalized and commonly found growing as a volunteer in the wild around human habitation. For landscape purposes the two species are very comparable, even the orange, edible berries being very similar.  In recent years the most popular mountain ash sold by nurseries is the also-native showy mountain ash, Sorbus decora, which has berries that are red rather than orange.  The Korean mountain ash is sometimes available in nurseries, and is also a very handsome tree.  The European mountain ash has long been called the rowan tree in Europe.
   Mountain ash trees have great landscape value, as they are beautiful in flower and in fruit, and provide great wildlife food.  Many individual mountain ash also have good fall leaf color, and some northern countries brew a beer from the berries.  Mountain ash are all small trees or multi-stemmed large shrubs of the far north, the North American species being trees of the Boreal Forest biome.
   Sorbus species do have some problems, one being fire blight, which is also a very common disease of apples, pears and quince.  Sap suckers, which are small woodpeckers, can be very destructive, drilling holes in the soft bark in order to drink the flowing sap in the spring.  They can girdle and kill trees they take a liking to.
   Knowing the difference between mountain ash (Sorbus) and true ash trees (Fraxinus) is very important when dealing with Emerald Ash Borer, as that pest only attacks Fraxinus species. 
.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

WORTH THE TROUBLE

THE BLUFF JOB COMPLETED

HIBISCUS FLOWERING

THE GREAT WALL ON THE BEACH
Wednesday, 9:30 AM.  70 degrees F at the ferry dock, 67 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 85%.  The barometer is at 30.00" and falling slowly, predicting  rain showers for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, along with cooler temperatures.  Rainy weather is just what our most recent landscape installation needs.
   A big job with a lot of stress completed, Buddy and I went to the beach this morning, where it was sunny, calm and beautiful.  We encountered quite a sand engineering project, what I assume is a would-be replica of The Great Wall of China.  It must have taken hours to construct.  Another plus...Our hibiscus plant, kept all winter in the house and set out after Memorial Day, is finally blooming.  It's well worth the trouble.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

OH, TO BE A KID OF SIXTY AGAIN!

VIEW OF THE APOSTLES  FROM THE BLUFF...
...AN ALMOST PERPENDICULAR HILLSIDE...
PLANTING ON THE STEEP SLOPE...
...NEWLY PLANTED FERNS WAIT TO BE MULCHED
Tuesday, 7:45 AM.  68 degrees F at the ferry dock, 65 on the back porch.  Wind W, calm with very light gusts.  The sky is overcast and cloudy and it looks like we will get some light rain later in the morning.  The humidity is 86% and the barometer is falling, now at 29.99".
  The planting job restoring a burned woodland bluff got underway yesterday, but despite a good effort, did not get finished, and that's where I am heading now.  We planted about 150 of 200 potted ferns and grasses, so a morning's work should wrap it up.  After the last potted plants are planted and mulched it can rain.
   The plants are all native and along with the native shrubs planted last fall should hold the burned, eroded hillside, and the cottage that sits at its top, in place.
    I can no longer climb the almost vertical bluff and can only direct the project from the top.  If I lost my footing I would roll a couple of hundred feet to the bottom and have to be peeled off an intervening rock or tree trunk. 
    Oh, to be a kid of sixty again! 
OFF THE CUFF
POOR OLD MILWAUKEE
   Milwaukee, my home town, is burning...again!  It seems like only yesterday, but it was almost a half-century ago, in 1967, that it burned the first time.  Joan and I were engaged and she lived in a downtown apartment.  When the riots started she was trapped in her apartment for days because there was a sniper on the roof of the building across the street.  The city was on lock down and businesses and stores were burned, the entire Third Ward pretty much destroyed. 
   The city eventually more or less recovered, but the good Old Milwaukee we knew in our youth, and where as children we could go anywhere by ourselves on bus and streetcar in safety, was gone forever, destroyed in senseless mayhem. 
   To see it happening all over again, in all its mindless rage and futility, is heart wrenching.  Reasons can be debated, and excuses given, but a mob is a mob, and will destroy generations of hard work and good will in an evening gone. This destructive, self-absorbed  and self-defeating nonsense must stop.
    Poor old Milwaukee.

Monday, August 15, 2016

BUT WHERE ARE THE TREES?

ALL SIGNS LEAD TO THE PEACHES...

BUT, WHERE ARE THE TREES?

Monday, 7:00 AM. 65 degrees F at the ferry dock, 60 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm.  The sky is clear with some haze, the humidity 88%.  The barometer stands at 30.06".  A chance of thunderstorms is predicted for tomorrow.  The high will be around 80 today. 
   We are planting ferns and grasses on a steep bluff embankment this morning, plants that we picked up in Rhinelander on Thursday and delivered to the job site on Friday.  It should be an interesting undertaking, and if we get rain tomorrow that will be perfect.
   Signs advertising "Tree Ripened Peaches" are everywhere on Hwy. 13, both south and north of Bayfield, and if one follows them one eventually gets to the farmyard where the peaches are being sold. But the big question is, where are the peach trees?  Right here in Bayfield, you would assume.  Wrong!  The peach trees are in Colorado, a thousand miles away.  Might as well go to the grocery store.
OFF THE CUFF
  If California environmentalists have their way, Wisconsin will soon become the nation's milk producing champion again, validating the pronouncement on our license plates that we are "America's Dairyland."  
   The California crazies have introduced legislation that would limit the number of the state's milk cows because of their methane emissions, which supposedly account for as much as half the  methane in the state's atmosphere.  This would be good for Wisconsin, as long as our own home-grown loonies don't start sniffing the air.  Cows are detrimental to the environment?  
   As though millions of buffalo didn't in times past poop and fart on the prairies. 

Sunday, August 14, 2016

A BUMPER APPLE CROP ON THE WAY

APPLE TREES LOADED....

....WITH RIPENING FRUIT
Sunday, 8:30 AM.  69 degrees F at the ferry dock, 64  on the back porch.  Wind N, calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky has a high intermittent overcast with some clouds but plenty of sunshine, the humidity is a more comfortable at 77%, and the barometer is mostly steady, currently at 29.97".  The highs are predicted be in the upper 70's next week, with a chance of a thunderstorm on Tuesday.  It is a nice summer morning.
  I took Buddy for a beach run this morning early as I don't want him to go AWOL again.  The water was calm, the beach grass wet with dew.
   A drive through the orchard country yesterday revealed the obvious; it's going to be a bumper apple crop this fall.  The tree branches are bending to the breaking point, loaded with fruit. Some of the varieties are beginning to turn blush red already, and early varieties will be ripe soon.  The sweet cherries are almost through, the blueberries still ripening and being picked.  What a year for Bayfield's fruit growers!!

Saturday, August 13, 2016

TWO BIG SHIPS IN PORT

THE PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II
THE FLAG OF THE WAR OF 1812
THE PRIDE OF BALTIMORE
THE BIG EAGLE
Saturday, 8:00 AM.  64 degrees F at the ferry dock, 61 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm at present.  The sky is mostly overcast and cloudy after a trace of rain fell last night.  The humidity is 94% and the barometer is more or less steady, at 29.85".  We may get some thundershowers today, but it should clear for Sunday and Monday and turn warmer.
   Two big and beautiful ships were in the Port of Bayfield yesterday, one a tall sailing ship, the other a luxurious motor yacht.  The Pride of Baltimore II is a Baltimore clipper sailing ship.  It was built as replacement for the Pride of Baltimore I, a reproduction of the original ship of that name, famous as a privateer in the War of 1812.  That ship was lost at sea in 1986 with the loss of four crew members.  The Pride of Baltimore II was built to replace it, and sails the seas (and the Great Lakes) as a goodwill ambassador for the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland.  It stopped in Bayfield on its way to Duluth for the annual Tall Ships Parade.
   Docked next to the Pride of Baltimore II is The Big Eagle, built in 1980 as a luxury rental yacht.  It sleeps 12 and has a crew of ten.  It is registered, I am told,  in the Canary Islands, and again I am told, rents to private corporations and such for $150,000 a week.  I don't know its mission to Bayfield, but I hope its good for local businesses.
OFF THE CUFF
   Donald Trump speaks truth to power, and is getting hammered for it by both the Democratic and Republican elites, and does not get fair press coverage, as all three entities misrepresent his statements in the most outrageous fashion and twist his every word until they no longer mean what he actually said.
   I have heard most of what he has said, and watched how he said it, and although he can sometimes be as sloppy in his speech as you or I, he says what he means, not what his opponents say he means.
   This type of reporting and totally unprincipled conniving is nothing less than character assassination, and the elites and their press allies are killing Trump word by twisted word.  These three devils are doing a great disservice not only to Donald Trump the candidate, but to the country, as these unprincipled  attacks have a chilling effect on all free speech and on all dissent.  A democracy (think Weimar Germany confronted by Hitler)  cannot withstand this type of unrelenting sabotage.
   Trump speaks mostly without a teleprompter, that great facilitator of lies and disinformation, and I hope he continues to do so throughout his campaign, and that as many people as possible actually hear what he says, because much of what he says is indeed the truth, which is more than can be said for his opponents.
   Sick of the dissembling and self-serving elites of both the right and the left (they all report to the same masters) and their puppy dog press corps?  Then listen to Donald Trump, unfiltered.