11/30/10 LESSONS

IT RAINED ALL NIGHT
YOUNG TUNDRA SWANS
TRAPPED!

Tuesday , 8:00 AM. 35 degrees, wind NW, moderate. It rained all night and there is 1” in the rain gage. Most of the ice is melted from city roads. Chequamegon Bay off Ashland had a lot of ice yesterday but at this rate it may soon be gone. The barometer predicts more precipitation.
Lucky’s visit to the vet resulted in an antihistamine for his cough, which is probably an allergy, an antibiotic for bacterial tooth plaque, and a huge bill for complete blood work which in essence said he was generally healthy but getting to be a pretty old dog. There’s a lesson somewhere there for myself.
There are still flocks of migrating tundra swans landing on the Bay, this one comprised of more gray young of the year than mature, white plumaged birds.
I was rather appalled to see a whole flock of small ducks (can’t say whether they were golden eyes or teal or what, since they were very dead) frozen in the ice. Evidently they landed safely in open water, which entrapped them as it imperceptively froze them in. Sounds like the national debt, or my credit cards. Another lesson to be learned.

11/29/10 WHY I HUNT

THE MORNING AFTER
Monday, 7:45 AM. 34 degrees, wind SW, very light. The sky is overcast and the barometer predicts precipitation.
Everything goes back to normal this morning with a lot of stuff to do that has been on hold. The truck goes to the body shop for repairs, Lucky goes to the vet to diagnose his persistent cough and Joan stops at the clinic. I have tree board and Arbor Day chores that have to be done in the next several days. This year’s unsuccessful deer hunt will soon fade into memory, as the last several have done. It is human nature and probably a good thing to forget our failures and mostly remember our successes, but I still have some time for ruminating before memories fade; was my lack of success due to my deficiencies as a hunter, to the lack of deer or simply a lack of luck? Ego would deny the first factor, and approve the later two. I’m not sure where complete honesty would reside.
Anyway, I can justify my exertions by citing my love of the out-of-doors and respect for tradition. But the bottom line is there is no venison in the freezer.
However, there are other reasons I hunt, which have little to do with nature. I rebel at the politically correct view that the blood sports are anachronistic and somehow evil, and the more they are protested the more I will participate, and defend them.
But perhaps the most basic reason I hunt is political. I hunt to defend my second amendment right to keep and bear arms, for that is the most basic of all freedoms, and the first to be lost to tyranny. Much of the anti-hunting propaganda is simply a poorly veiled power grab by those who would have us all enslaved by an overweening, overpowering government, whether foreign or domestic. There are many well-meaning folks who are blind to that fact.
I still remember vividly what I was told a few months ago by a recent immigrant from Mongolia; the first thing the Communists did upon taking power in her homeland was to confiscate all the hunting rifles. A freedom undefended is a freedom soon lost.

11/28/10 LAST DAY

A GOLDEN AURA ON THE EASTERN HORIZON
GRAY CLOUDS SUDDENLY TURNING BLUE
Sunday, 8:30 AM. 25.5 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is overcast except for a golden aura on the eastern horizon. The barometer is down, predicting precipitation. After a full day yesterday I slept in this morning, the last day of the gun deer season,
Yesterday dawned dark and dismal, although both the barometer and the temperature were up a bit. As day broke in the deer woods I heard coyotes howl, the first time this season. They yipped and yapped for a while off in the distance and then all was silent again. The last several deer seasons there had been many coyote voices, and multitudes of their canine prints tracing back and forth over the deer tracks. This year there is very little coyote sign or sound. Does that mean there are so few deer that the coyotes have moved elsewhere? Or, does that indicate the presence of wolves, since they drive coyotes out of their territory? Or is it all just a charade of circumstances, signifying little or nothing? As the morning progressed I witnessed something I had not seen before; the sky had been gun-metal gray, and seemingly instantaneously it turned blue, but not the blue of a cloudless sky, but rather the clouds themselves turned blue, so quickly that I was a bit confused as to what had happened. Evidently the ambient light of morning reflecting off the fresh snow gave a bold bluish cast to the gray clouds.
Eventually a few ravens set to talking in their croaking voices, and two squirrels chattered, evidently annoyed at my presence. But no other movement or sound challenged the stillness of the woods. I heard two shots all morning, from somewhere off to the west.
After standing quietly for several hours or so, I stiffly made my way back to the truck. I swear I could actually hear my joints creaking. After trudging a hundred yards or so I came across a very fresh deer track, which I am certain was not there when I walked down the trail earlier. It had come down a narrow trail and crossed right in front of the buck rub on the big sumac bush. The tracks were those of a walking, not a running, deer. It had evidently crossed the logging road while I was standing quietly. I had been very careful to watch both extremes of my field of vision, and yet I had missed seeing the deer. And it had perhaps not seen me. A hot soup lunch fortified me for a fruitless stand again until dark.
My subconscious will probably bug me enough to go out again late this last afternoon if the weather turns as nice as predicted, but I suspect most hunters will be watching football, which is probably the more sensible option.

11/26/10 DEER HUNT MUSINGS

WINTER HERB GARDEN
AN OAK CREAKING AND GROANING IN THE WIND

A COLD SUNSET IN THE WOODS

Friday, 8:30 AM. 16 degrees, wind SSW, light with stronger gusts. It is starting to snow lightly, and the barometer predicts the same.
Weather-wise, it was a Thanksgiving Day right out of the old song, “Over the river and through the snow, to Grandmother’s house we go,” but nobody came to Grandmother’s house, and Grandma and Grandpa didn’t go anywhere, either. Joan and I had a very nice Thanksgiving alone, and are fully blessed with leftovers. But we have resolved that this is the last one so spent, and the same for Christmas. The opportunities to spend holidays with children and grandchildren diminish quickly with the years.
I held my vigil in the woods again late yesterday, to no avail. The snow is really quite deep now, and I have to be careful to keep the truck on track so as not to get stuck. Yesterday the wind howled and shrieked through the trees, which creaked and groaned in protest in the eight degree temperature. My blood, as they say, has “thickened up,” and I don’t really get cold, but it seems to be a zero sum game at this point, and I am going to wait for a real change in weather and barometric pressure before I go out again. Deer hunting gives one plenty of time to think, and in the gloom and cold my thoughts kept returning to the Korean War so long ago, the bitter winter fighting and the 36,00o young Americans killed, most only a few years older than myself (at that time I was still in high school). I remember reading the headlines at the war's beginning as I was pedaling my paper route, I was thirteen; and hearing the news of the armistice on the radio while working at Wally and Eddie's Sinclair Station when I was fifteen. I have been lucky to lead a long and happy life, while so many others were cut down in their youth. And here we are, all these years later, on the very brink of the same tragedy. I pray we all dodge that bullet.

11/27/10 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

MORE SNOW AND COLD
SULLEN WEATHER YESTERDAY

Thursday, 10:00 AM. 16 degrees, wind S, moderate with stronger gusts. We have three or four inches of crusty new snow which I have just finished clearing from drive, walks and deck. The skies are mostly sunny, and the barometer is up, predicting more of the same.
Yesterday afternoon in the woods can best be described as sullen; leaden skies, cold, damp, with a biting wind out of the NE. My plan was to stand along the old logging road, as the snow makes walking pretty arduous, and if the deer move at all they will have to eventually cross it. Nothing…until just as the gloom was deepening to darkness, I saw movement to my right. It was a large deer, cautiously crossing the road about sixty yards away. Perhaps a buck. I put the scope on it but its head was down, almost to the ground, and it was just entering the vegetation on the side of the trail. I could not be sure it was a buck. I walked slowly towards where the deer had entered the woods but I did not see it again.
We are alone for Thanksgiving this year, and will eat turkey and all the trimmings late, so I will most likely go out again later in the day. Happy Thanksgiving!

11/23/10 BEASTLY AND BEAUTIFUL

FIRST REAL SNOWSTORM OF THE WINTER
THE ROADS WERE TREACHEROUS
BUT THE WOODS INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL...
LOTS OF SNOW, AND THE DEER NOT MOVING

Tuesday, 10:00 PM. We awoke to 5” of new snow in the driveway this morning on top of the icy slush deposited yesterday. There was no getting around shoveling , which was a good workout. The roads were terrible yesterday afternoon and evening, and I felt sorry for the young woman who slid though the stop sign on Erickson Road and Washington Avenue as I was going out to the woods. Her car ended up perpendicular, nose down in the deep ditch on Cemetery Hill. Luckily she was not hurt but I don’t think her car faired as well. I would have had great difficulty climbing the bank but youth and adrenalin bounced her right up onto the road. I waited to see that she was alright as she made a phone call on her cell phone.
Once the snow stopped the cold set in; 12 degrees in the woods this afternoon, and no deer movement, not a track across the logging road. I think they are all down in the deep evergreen cover of the ravines. My own movement can best be described as a trudge, in the foot or more of snow now on the ground. The upside to all this bad weather is that the woods were incredibly beautiful under this afternoon’s bright sunshine and blue sky, the trees and bushes heavily festooned with clinging snow. It’s almost bedtime and I still haven’t made up my mind what course of action to take tomorrow.

11/21/10 FOG

A WET BLANKET OF FOG DESCENDING ON THE WOODS
Monday, 8:15 AM. 28 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is overcast and the barometer is down, predicting precipitation. I slept in this morning.
I went back out yesterday afternoon in freezing rain, but stayed in the woods closer to where I park the truck. There was lots of deer sign but nothing was moving. About 4:00 PM fog descended on the woods, almost instantaneously, as though a wet blanket had been thrown over us. A grouse flushed nearby and I thought perhaps a deer was approaching but there was no other movement. Shortly after, a diminutive ermine, a weasel in its winter coat, scampered by, itself on the hunt. As the gloom thickened, I groped my way back to the truck. Once home, a hot fire and a brandy sure felt good.
I have a tree board meeting today at which I will announce we were successful in our matching grant request to the DNR for funds to update the city’s tree inventory. Then I will go out to the woods for the last hour or so of the day.

11/21/10 COLD, WET AND BUMMED OUT. BUT...

LIKE FIFTY YEARS AGO IN THE NORTH WOODS

Sunday, 11:00 AM. 32 degrees, wind SSW, variable. The sky is overcast and it has been snowing or sleeting most of the morning. The barometer predicts more of the same.
I came in from the deer woods for an early lunch pretty cold, wet, stiff and bummed out. Plenty of deer sign but haven’t seen a deer so far. Yesterday was snowy, windy and in the low twenties all day. This is as I remember deer hunting in the north woods a half century ago, and it occurs to me we may be reverting to those climatic conditions. Anyway, I heard a few shots yesterday morning but none this morning. It appears the deer aren’t moving much. Yesterday as I was walking up the trail just about dark there was a fairly close shot in the woods to the north of me, but I saw nothing. After I have a hot lunch and rest up a bit I will go back out, particularly since I just drove past Don’s house up the road and he has a nice buck hanging from his deck.

11/19/10 RECOUNTING MY ADVENTURES

LOTS OF DEER TRACKS
THE DEER HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR ACORNS

THE LITTLE CREEK NEAR THE STAND

Friday, 7:15 AM. 32 degrees, wind SW, moderate. It is overcast and the barometer predicts precipitation.
I made a last trip to my stand yesterday. There was still lots of snow on the ground and deer tracks everywhere, and I put down a new bait block. Saturday morning I will park the truck at the top of the hill and walk the half-mile or so down the old logging road in the dark to my stand.
Late yesterday afternoon coming back from Washburn an eight point buck stood on the side of the road. I slowed way down and it ran across the road in back of me. So, the rut is still on, a very good sign.
Beginning tomorrow and for the duration of the deer season I will post my blog in the evening, recounting the day’s adventures…or lack thereof.

11/18/10 THINK SNOW

A COLD, GRAY DAY
AIRING OUT

Thursday 8:30 AM. 26 degrees, down 3 degrees from earlier. Wind WNW, light. It is a cloudy, gray day but the barometer is up. The longjohns will be on Saturday morning.
I’m starting to get things together for opening day of deer hunting. The blaze orange clothes are hung out on the porch to have the human scent blown off of them. I bought some amo and buck lure the other day, and the deer rifle is sighted in. I still have a few things to get together, the truck needs to be filled with gas and the carrier put in the trailer hitch receptacle. Sometime today I have to take another bait block down to the stand. A little fresh snow tomorrow would be welcome...think snow!

11/17/10 MIGRATING GEESE AND A PAPER WASPS' NEST

A COOL, PARTLY CLOUDY MORNING
LARGE PAPER WASP'S NEST

Wednesday, 8:15 AM. 35 degrees, wind W, light to moderate. The sky is partly cloudy and the barometer predicts the same. It has been cool and cloudy enough that the snow cover in orchard country has not melted.
There was a huge flock of migrating geese far out on the waters of Chequamegon Bay off the power plant in Ashland yesterday. At least several hundred birds in the flock.
This very large paper wasps' nest is in a tree overhanging a roof on 11th St. just south of Wilson Ave. The wasps die off in cold weather, so the nest is no longer active and will not be reused (safe to bring in and hang from the family room ceiling). The queens over-winter in protected places and start new colonies in the spring. I wonder how many people have noticed this amazing example of Nature’s art.
Since it is my birthday I am going to spend the day however I like, maybe reading in front of the fire, and possibly looking for a grouse with Lucky if it is a nice afternoon. I am reminded today of the old guy in the nursing home, who said, "If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself."

11/16/10 FOUR DAYS TO GO!

SNOW COVERED TRAIL TO THE DEER STAND

ALL DRAPED WITH SNOW

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 30 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is gray and the barometer is down, predicting pretty much the same.
I went out to my deer stand yesterday afternoon and was both amazed and encouraged.
Amazed that there is still considerable snow in the orchard country, at least 4”, and the trees and bushes draped with white. Unless there is a real warm spell in the next four days, this will be the first opening day of deer season with snow on the ground since I started hunting in Bayfield a few years back.
Encouraged, by all the deer sign in the snow; tracks everywhere, the leaves pawed up under oak trees, the food block I put out a week ago consumed. A few deer can make a lot of tracks, but these were pretty diverse, and some large enough to be those of a nice buck.
Four days to go!

11/15/10 "BROKE"

A COLD, GRAY MORNING
CLEARING AND DEMOLITION AT THE NEW CASINO

Monday, 8:00AM. 30 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is overcast but it is no longer snowing and the barometer predicts fair weather. There is still snow on roofs and road edges and some lawns.
Except for walking with Lucky it was an indoor weekend. The late stream fishing season, by all reports, was going to end with a whimper anyway. Except for scattered success stories fishingdoes not seem to have been very good.
My reading goal for the past few days was to finish Glen Beck’s “Broke,” which traces the history of the national debt from its beginning through the present, the political responses to it, and judicial interpretation of the Constitution. Of course it is opinionated in its predictions and recommendations for the future, but it is very well researched and annotated, and is a pretty lively read, which I highly recommend to everyone questioning the debt, the devaluation of the dollar and the future of freedom and prosperity in our country.
The demolition of buildings and clearing and grading of land for the new casino in Red Cliff continues apace.

11/14/10 BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES, MATES!

FACE OF THE NOR'EASTER
STORM IN THE ORCHARD COUNTRY
FIRST ACCUMULATION OF SNOW THIS SEASON

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 32 degrees, the wind has shifted from NE to NW and is still blustery, but it looks like the Nor’easter is over. It has rained or snowed for the last 24 hours, there is 1.5” of rain in the gage but not much accumulation of the white stuff. A few degrees colder and we would be digging out, like Minneapolis.
As usual, the snow started in the higher elevations of the orchard country and worked its way down as the temperature dropped. This was a true November storm, arriving almost on time to commemorate the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10th, 1975. The “thousand footer” went down with all hands on the eastern end of Lake Superior amidst gale force winds and thirty foot waves.
I have kept the fire burning in the fireplace, and have been catching up on my reading and that sounds like a plan for today as well. Keep the hatches battened down, mates!

11/13/10 STORMY WEATHER AND AN UNEXPECTED ASTER

ANOTHER NOR'EASTER
AROMATIC ASTER...
...AN ATTRACTIVE NATIVE

Saturday, 8:15 AM. 35.5 degrees, wind NE, strong. A cold, driving rain, mixed with snow, shortened our walk this morning. The barometer predicts more rain. This is the face of November, the most hazardous month for shipping on Lake Superior.
The aromatic Aster, Aster oblongfolius, is a plant of dry prairies and cliffs, native in Wisconsin to the Driftless Area and the Mississippi River Valley. It is growing on one of my planting sites, evidently coming in as part of a native prairie seed mix. It seems quite happy growing in the beach sand. It is an attractive, floriferous, low growing plant, and probably the latest of all to bloom. It’s common name refers the piney scent of its crushed leaves.
Thinking about the emerald ash borer problem yesterday, I called the Bayfield County Forester as well as the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest office to see whether they had developed management plans in anticipation of the arrival of the pest. As volunteer Bayfield City Forester I know we need a management plan; where to quarantine dead ash trees, city and private, where and how to utilize the wood, necessary ordinances, etc. and thought there might be a chance to coordinate efforts with these other forestry entities. Neither of them have a plan, or seem to have even thought much about it. Even if the only response to an infestation would be to cut standing dead trees down, there would still need to be a plan; how many ash trees might there be, what kind of a budget is needed to cut them down, how to respond to a quarantine, how to cooperate with other units of government and the private sector, and so on.
When one sees higher levels of government abdicate their management responsibilities in this way (the State and Federal governments simply passing the buck down to the lowest operational levels), it is easy to understand disasters like the poor response to hurricane Katrina.

11/12/10 SURVIVING HARD TIMES

THE EASTERN HORIZON YESTERDAY EVENING, THE GOGEBIC RANGE IN THE DISTANCE
LARGE BUCK RUB ON A SUMAC BUSH...
...TEN POINTER?

Friday, 7:00 AM. 36 degrees, wind NE, light. The sky is overcast and the barometer predicts partly cloudy weather. It is a gray morning. The tundra swans have left Ashland for more predictable climes.
The signs of continuing or even worsening hard times are everywhere, with incipient inflation already evident on the grocery shelves. I think Joan and I can survive hard times, as we certainly know how, from watching our parents. They continually worked, scraped, stayed out of debt; gardened, canned, even when times were “good.”
One of my most persistent memories is of my father, sitting on a stump in the basement in front of the open fruit cellar door, drinking a beer. I was about 15. “Hey, Pa, watcha doin’?” I asked. “Surveying my wealth,” he replied. “When the fruit cellar shelves are full, I am a like a king in his counting house.”
A trip to my deer stand yesterday, just before dusk, revealed a large buck rub on a sumac bush. The freezer has a lot of room, and hope springs eternal.

11/11/10 ONE OF THESE DAYS...

A VERY UNSETTLED DAY
GOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ANNUAL MEETING
HURRAY, I DON'T HAVE TO SIT AT THE HEAD TABLE ANY MORE!

Thursday, 7:45 AM. 43 degrees, down several degrees from earlier. Wind SSW, at times very strong. The sky is overcast but trying to clear. The barometer is still up, predicting fair weather. It is a very unsettled day.
The Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and dinner held at the Pavilion last night was very well attended. The Chamber and its programs have remained very strong, despite the down economy. Retiring from the Board after six years and one as President I had the pleasure of sitting with Joan instead of at the head table. The buffet, catered by The Pier Restaurant, and the deserts, by CoCo’s Bakery in Washburn, were both excellent.
I cleaned the chimney yesterday and should finish the last of the garden and yard work today, all done before deer season, which is good, as one of these days the weather will turn on us.

11/10/10 BACK ON THE GOLD STANDARD

GOLD AND SILVER DAWN
GOLDEN WEEPING WILLOW

Wednesday, 8:15 AM. 48 degrees, wind WNW, calm. It is a quiet morning with a silver and gold haze on the eastern horizon. The barometer predicts fair weather.
This weeping willow in the wooded lot on 9th and Manypenny still holds its golden-yellow leaves and is very attractive. The willow species (genus Salix) can be difficult to identify, as they hybridize readily in nature and horticulture. The oldest of the weeping willows in cultivation is Salix babylonica. Of Chinese origin it has been planted for hundreds of years. The Niobe weeping willow is a newer hybrid but has also been around a long, long time. Salix x blanda, the Wisconsin weeping willow, is newer and also much used, but my guess is that this huge old tree and several others in the woods are the ‘Niobe’ weeping willow.
All willows must be used with caution in the landscape, as most quickly become huge and spreading and are often dangerously weak wooded. However, they can serve well as background plantings in a big setting, particularly as a backdrop for water features and obviously can be very attractive. It looks like we are back on the gold standard this morning.

11/09/10 ALL BEER CANS AND PLASTIC BOTTLES

FOG OVER THE CHANNEL
MIGRATING TUNDRA SWANS
WHAT $2,612.72 WORTH OF DAMAGE LOOKS LIKE

Tuesday, 8:15 AM. 47 degrees, wind N, calm. The sky is completely cloudless and there is considerable fog over the channel, but it is rapidly dissipating. The barometer predicts mostly sunny skies.
A large flock of over 100 migrating tundra swans were on the bay at Ashland yesterday, about half of them young of the year.
Well, I got an estimate on the repair of my Chevy truck…$2,612. 72; the damage didn’t seem bad until all the bits and pieces were added up. You will recall that I hit a deer. I shouldn’t have been surprised, as friend Myron’s repair bill on his little Pontiac Vibe last year was $2,000 and change. He hit a dog. Why these great expenses? Because the grill, lights and everything else at the front of the vehicle is not real, only an illusion, sort of an automotive holograph. Looks nice sitting there behind a bumper that can’t “bump” anything (why not call it a “nose,” like in “I broke my nose”). These vehicles ride nice, are pretty, have plenty of power, but it’s mostly for show. Kind of makes sense, since GM is owned by the US Government, which we are finding out is also quite a show (think of the Broadway musical “It’s a Grand Old Flag,” with Jimmy Cagney and a cast of too many thousands singing feel-good songs as the Doughboys die in the trenches). Perhaps I am being too tough on old General Motors, as I suspect the other makes are all just as bad, all of them putting vehicles together with bubble gum and paper clips. But GM is a special case, since you and I own it.
Remember the ‘60’s song, “Little boxes, little boxes…all made out of ticky-tacky”? I never did know what “ticky-tacky” was exactly, but the body-shop guy hit it on the “nose” with “…all made out of beer cans and plastic bottles.”
If, as I suspect, my shiny truck is a metaphor for our society and the economy, buckle your seat belt and hang onto the wheel, we’re in for a long, bumpy ride.

11/08/10 HUBRIS

DOES THE SUN KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
...ROXY DOES; IT'S TIME TO PLAY

Monday, 8:00 AM. 42 degrees, up from 36 degrees an hour earlier. Wind WSW, calm. There are a few high thin clouds and the barometer predicts the same. We are having a run of fine days.
Waking up with the rising sun gets us out and about in reasonable light again, now that Daylight Saving Time is over. Roxy and the other neighborhood dogs of course pay no attention to our clocks, but sensibly, their internal clocks are ruled by the sun. Only man has the hubris to try to control day and night.

11/07/10 ERIC'S BIG GREEN EGG AND ALDO LEOPOLD'S BENCH

STRATOSPHERIC CLOUDS
ERIC'S BIG GREEN EGG
ALDO LEOPOLD BENCH
...SIDE VIEW (PLANS AVAILABLE ON WEB FROM MANY SOURCES)
Sunday, 8:45 AM. 47.5 degrees, up from 33 degrees at dawn. Wind WSW, calm. The sky is mostly clear except for some thin stratospheric clouds. The barometer is up, predicting mostly sunny weather.
We went to dinner at neighbors Eric and Nancy’s yesterday evening, along with neighbors Don and Heidi and their visiting son Steve. The conversation, dinner and libations were excellent. Eric cooked port tenderloin in his new Big Green Egg charcoal grill, the likes of which are becoming quite an item in Bayfield.
The Aldo Leopold Bench is extremely simple in design, looks like it would be unstable but is not. It will fit in nooks and crannies that a regular bench won’t. The plans are available on the web, I couldn't upload the PDF for some reason. This one was built by new neighbor Mike on 9th and Manypenny, who says he placed it on the side of the road for the benefit of some old dude who struggles up the hill with his equally old dog every morning. I guess I should be grateful, Mike.