THE END OF THE ROAD, AND BEGINNING OF THE SAP RUN

ICE ROAD ADVISORY

PROPANE TRUCK TOO HEAVY FOR TH ICE ROAD

COLLECTING SAP FROM COURTHOUSE SUGAR MAPLE TREES

CLOSEUP OF SAP COLLECTION BAG AND SPILE

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  17 degrees F, wind NW, light with stronger gusts.  It is party cloudy with lots of blue sky.  The humidity is down, at 66%, and the barometer is up, now at 30.19".  We had a dusting of snow last night, and our morning walk was a bit nippy.
   The Ice Road is now closed to all but local traffic.  This is an advisory only and is not enforced in any way, and is meant to keep the road useable by residents for as long as possible.  The unofficial projection is that it will be open perhaps another week.  The major portions of the road have very deep ice, but the approaches to land on both ends are becoming noticeably soft and wet.  The Ice Caves visitation will probably not last much longer either, although I suspect this weekend will be another mob scene.  I have heard that the local EMTs have been making an average of two dozen emergency runs on weekends, mostly falls and exposure.
   The propane supplier on the Island is running out of propane and a tanker truck was at the Bayfield dock today, too heavy to cross the ice.  The last I saw, it was waiting to transfer the propane to smaller trucks that can safely cross the ice.
   Someone has tapped the large old maple trees at Bayfied's  Old Courthouse (now Park Service headquarters) to collect sap for making maple syrup.  I assume it is a school project.  The bags were still empty when I took the photos, indicating that sap is not as yet flowing.  The bag system looks to me to be clean, neat and efficient.  As long as taping is properly done and the spiles (sap spigots) are removed at the end of the season no harm is done to the tree.

DEER, MYOPIC MISCHIEF, AND NATIONAL DECLINE

DEER ARE EMERGING FROM HEAVY WINTER COVER

Friday, 8:00 AM.  39 degrees F, wind WNW, light to moderate.  The sky is mostly cloudy at present.  The humidity is 81% and the barometer is trending down, now at 29.44".  We are very fortunate that the melting has been gradual, with no rain, so that runoff has to this point been gradual.  The ground has been frozen hard and deep, and a lot of the snow melt will run off into the lake rather than percolate into the water table.
   Lake Superior water levels should rise considerably with all the snow melt, and in addition the lake has been mostly frozen over and will remain so for some time to come, greatly reducing evaporation, which lowers water levels in an open winter.
   Yesterday we saw five deer along Nevers Road on our way to Tetzner's Dairy to get milk and ice cream.  As the weather warms and the snow melts they will become increasingly visible, moving out of winter yarding areas to find fresh forage.
   Wednesday's Urban Forestry Council meeting at the capitol in Madison was filled with interesting information, some of which I will pass on.  The harsh winter will probably hold down some insect populations, such as Gypsy Moths and Emerald Ash Borers, but insects are so fertile that even under the worst conditions enough of the population overwinters that their numbers can soon return to normal.  Twenty-one of Wisconsin's 51 counties are now under EAB quarantine.
   A report was made on Leed certification of "green" buildings (those which pass stringent environmental standards of energy and water use, recycling, carbon emission and sequestration, etc.), which sounds like a good goal for all new or reconstructed building projects.  How could anyone object to such obviously virtuous standards and results?
   Ah, but as with any sales pitch, it pays to read the fine print and ferret out the unintended (or at least undisclosed) consequences.  In order to reach the highest levels of certification, a "green" building must be constructed of so-called local materials, i.e., produced within a five-hundred mile radius of the building site.  Who could argue with that, as it supports more-or-less local industries and labor?
   I could, and here's why.  I won't even argue the fact that it may increase the cost of the building significantly, and of course finance costs and real estate taxes as well.  My main objection to so-called local input requirements is that if everybody, everywhere adopted these draconian standards, interstate and international trade would be decimated and everyone, everywhere, would suffer.
   Case in point: Wisconsin's forest products industry adds approximately nine billion dollars to the state economy yearly, over 12% of the state's annual GDP. Approximately 2 billion dollars of forest products are exported annually to China alone.  If  environmentally "enlightened" Chinese adopted Leed standards, Wisconsin would loose that $2 billion dollars a year and drive the struggling forest products sector into further decline.  Add to that the fact that the wood products sector supports many highly paid jobs and established private sector businesses, and that decline is at the expense of the struggling middle class.
   The  environmental movement is rife with this kind of myopic mischief, and it is sucking the entire nation further and further into decline.

THIMK SPRING!

WISCONSIN SNOW COVER

RED OAK LEAVES

Thursday, 9:00 AM.  22 degrees F, wind WSW, calm to very light.  The sky is overcast and very dark in the west.  The humidity is 70% and the barometer is more or less steady at 29.87".

   We had a good trip to Madison and an excellent Urban Forestry Council meeting at the Capitol.  We met with our state Representative and Senator and brought them up to date on state urban forestry issues, including Emerald Ash Borer infestations and other pest and disease issues, and we thanked them for their strong support for the recent, $49,000 Forest Service Great Lakes Clean Water Initiative grant  that we recently received.  I have several forestry issues I will discuss in tomorrow's post, but for today I would like to make some observations on the trip itself.

   US Hwy. 51/I39 pretty much bisects the state of Wisconsin, north to south, so traversing it really gives a pretty accurate overview of seasonal and other changes taking place in the state.  Most noticeable is that despite a lot of recent melting, Wisconsin north of Wausau, in the middle of the state, is still heavily covered with snow.  South of there  snow cover gradually diminishes and is mostly gone by Madison.  It is mid-March but outside of the coloring of the willows and the reddening of red maple buds not many signs of spring are noticeable from a moving vehicle, although I am sure the skunk cabbages are blooming in marshland in the southern part of the state at least.  I did notice a definite purple-gray coloration on gray dogwood branches as well, but I can't compose a photo of something so vague.  We saw a few local geese moving around south of Wausau where there is some open water, and the Wisconsin River, which twists back and forth across our route numerous times, is still frozen north of there but has a lot of open water south.

   Another thing I noticed is that the dried leaves are much more prevalent on red oaks the further one goes south.  It is very obvious but I have no explanation for the phenomena.  

   Thimk Spring!

RED MAPLE TREE FLOWER BUDS, TRUE HARBINGERS OF SPRING

RED MAPLE TREE BUDS...

...BEGINNING TO SWELL NOTICEABLY

Tuesday, 8:15 AM. 36 degrees F, wind NNW, light with slightly stronger occasional gusts.  The sky is hazy but clearing rapidly.  The humidity is 71% and the barometer is more or less steady, at 29.36".
   The melting continues, and as welcome as it is, it is also problematic.  The streams will soon begin to overflow their banks, and ice dams on roof edges and valleys will cause leaks and water damage inside buildings.  And to add insult to injury, the city tells us that the warm weather and melting actually drives the frost deeper into the ground, requiring us to keep our water running at least a pencil-diameter stream until further notice, to keep water lines and sewers from freezing.  As though to emphasize the point,  two more water line freeze-ups occurred in town yesterday.
   On the bright side, it is time to start watching the red maple buds swell. They won't bloom for perhaps another six weeks or more, but they are none-the-less true harbingers of spring, which I have watched wherever we have lived.  They are beginning to swell quite obviously now.
   We are on our way to Madison this morning for an Urban Forestry Council meeting at the state capitol.  Each spring we make the pilgrimage while the legislature is in session, so that I can meet with our state senator and representative to inform them of local issues in urban forestry.  This year we will thank them both (Senator Bob Jauch and Representative Janet Bewley) for their support of our recent, successful grant from the Forest Service to plant 142 or more street and park trees in the Chequamegon Bay communities.

ICE ROAD FUN

THE ICE ROAD IS WET BUT STILL SAFE...

...BUT EASY DOES IT

JUST IN CASE...

THE "BIG DOG" WAITNG FOR THE BIG THAW

ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME

WIND SKIING...LOOKS LIKE FUN!

 Monday, 8:30 AM.  29 degrees F, wind variable, calm to very light.  The sky had been mostly cloudy but is clearing rapidly.  The humidity is 89%, high due to the snow melting.  The barometer is more or less steady at 29.82.  The snow cover will diminish somewhat today.
   Figuring it might be our last chance to do so, Joan and I and Buddy rode out to Madeline Island on the Ice Road yesterday.  Actually, the road was as smooth and black as asphalt except near both shores, where it was getting slushy, and by all appearances it will be operational for some time to come.
   There was a fair amount of traffic on the road, but most of the activity was alongside; quite a few ice fishermen, some snowmobiles and several wind skiers ( I don't know if there is another term for being pulled along on skis by a large kite).
   The wind skiing looked like a lot of fun and even without a particularly strong wind they were getting up  to a pretty good speed, perhaps twenty or more miles per hour, as they raced along beside us.  It is certainly an environmentally friendly sport, and although the harnesses, ropes and parachute-like kite are probably expensive the skis and clothing looked conventional and it costs nothing else to participate in the sport.  One of the skiers shouted "Hi, Art!" as he zipped by while I was taking photos but I didn't recognize him and he was probably a much younger acquaintance (I wouldn't try doing it, I would undoubtedly break something).  The kite appears to be pretty maneuverable and it looked like it could be deflated with the proper pull on the tow rope.  If not, one might have a long cross country ski back from somewhere out on the lake.
   Once on Madeline Island we took a ride to Big Bay State Park on the eastern shore, and contrary to conditions in some years, the lake was frozen and snow covered as far as we could see in every direction.   Beyond the park the roads were pretty bad so we ventured no further.   There were several bars and restaurants open but not much appeared to be going on in La Pointe.
   The reports are that the Ice Caves are still attracting thousands of visitors and were very busy this weekend.

MORE HOLDOUTS; AND NOT BETTING ON IT

SWAMP WHITE OAK LEAVES

PAPER BIRCH CATKINS

WEIGELA EMPTY SEED PODS

ASH TREE, LAST YEAR'S MALE FLOWERS

THE MILKY WAY GALAXY

Sunday,  11:00 AM.  30 degrees F, wind NW at high elevation, variable and moderate at lower.  The sky is partly cloudy, the sun trying to assert itself.  The humidity is 74%, the barometer more or less steady at 30.1".  I hate dailight saving time.
   Looking about the winter landscape, it is easy to find more interesting holdouts from the last growing season.  Some are readily explained as empty seed pods or dormant catkins.  Some are more cryptic, such as last year's male flowers on ash trees, which are only present on male trees, and are still obvious on those trees because the flowers were disfigured by galls formed by the parasitic ash flower mite.
   It being Sunday I do not make political comments, but commentary on cosmology would seem appropriate.
   As long as I can remember, even before the advent of the space program, there has been active speculation about extraterrestrial life.  Think Buck Rogers, and Orson Wells.  It has been a given that other intelligent life (considering the human species to be intelligent, which sometimes seems something of a stretch) exists elsewhere in the universe and that we will eventually meet.  We have even gone to great expense to establish vast arrays of huge radio telescopes, in our western deserts and in the West Virginia back country, to scan the galaxy for messages  from space, or other evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.  All to absolutely no avail.  Nothing.
   Which leads me to conclude that we probably are, actually, alone in the vastness of time and space, the only creatures able to experience, explore, and potentially understand the universe.  Think about it.  Perhaps we, this miserable, struggling, self-destructive species are actually the highest current end product of God or evolution.  Either way, by design or by chance, this potential ought to be a truly humbling concept, one which would make us humans realize the enormity of our destiny, and the sacredness of our existence, both as individuals and as a society.
   But I'm not betting on it.

HOLDOVERS AND TUMBLES

RUGOSA ROSE HIPS

AMERICAN CHESTNUT EMPTY NUT HUSK

MOUNTAIN ASH BERRIES

SUMAC SEED HEADS

BLACK LOCUST SEED PODS

NORTHERN PIN OAK DRIED LEAVES

Saturday, 8:30 AM. 18 degrees F, wind variable, light.  The sky is partly cloudy with some weather apparently approaching slowly from the west.  The humidity is 75% and the barometer is pretty high, at  30.36".  It looks like it will be another day of melting, of which we could use about a month.
   We usually think of winter as  a pretty sterile season, but if we look around a bit we see all kinds of evidence of life, either dormant or holdovers from the last growing season.  I present evidence of the latter, all found within a short walk of my front door.  And there are many, many more such interesting objects of nature to be found in the winter landscape, that I will post as winter withers away.
   I have to admit that even ten years ago I wouldn't have been  paying close attention to such incidentals of winter nature.  I would have been jogging, trying to get my heart rate up over something or other that was supposedly good for me, and I would have been concentrating on not falling on the slippery road.  Run, rush, accomplish this task or goal every waking moment.  That's O.K., but a few aches and pains to slow me down and the final realization that I am not immortal has made me a much better observer and a lot more reflective.  Too bad I had to take so many tumbles to get there.