4/30/11 A STRANGE COUNTRY

LOOKS LIKE RAIN

OLD FRIENDS

 Saturday, 7:00 AM.  47 degrees, wind SSW, calm.  The sky is overcast and it is a rather dark morning.  The barometer predicts rain, a few drops of which have already fallen.
    We met our old Bayfield friends Curt and Ruth Johnson, who now live in a retirement community in Minnesota, for dinner at Maggie’s yesterday.  They have a condo at the Reiten Boatyard Condominiums so they get to Bayfield off and on.  We had a good visit, and as I was taking a photo of Curt, Ruth and Joan outside the restaurant, a mutual friend, Sherri, stopped and offered to take this photo of the four of us.  I inquired after her husband Phil, a ship captain licensed for sea captaincy who has been servicing oil drilling platform rigs in the Gulf of Mexico for the last several years.  She informed us that he had been transferred to Ghana, where he is tending the drilling rigs that have moved to Africa from the Gulf of Mexico, since the Federal Government has cut off drilling in the Gulf. The rigs will not be back any time soon, since it is very expensive to tow them across the ocean. The Administration got what it wanted, I am not so sure about everyone else.
    At least Phil still has his job, even if we no longer have the oil.  It is truly a strange country we live in, from Washington right down to little Bayfield.
  

4/29/11 LIVING LIKE MY GRANDFATHER

THE LAKE IS WAY DOWN

GRANDPA'S SAUERKRAUT WAS HOME MADE AND STORED IN A CROCK

Friday, 8:30 AM. 45 degrees, wind WNW, calm.  The sky is clear, the Nor’easter is over and it looks like we will have a stretch of nice weather.  The Sioux River was running strong this morning but the lake is down further than I have seen it in the eleven years we have been here.  Things always even out, so I imagine we will have a lot of rain this summer.  The lake was very calm and I made a couple of dozen casts but there was nothing doing.  Lucky waded in the water and laid in the sun so he had an old man’s good time as well.
    Yesterday was a pretty good day for seeing wildlife.  Midmorning, while on Chequamegon Bay Road near the lake, two huge tundra swans flew over just above the treetops, uttering their goose-like calls.  Then in the evening we saw a half dozen deer in the orchard country near my deer stand.  I have a feeling the wolves have moved elsewhere; I hope they stay there.
    A few weeks ago one of my readers commented that we may all have to live like our grandfathers, if the current economic conditions continue.  That has gotten me to thinking about how my grandparents actually lived.  No central heat, only a pot-bellied stove in the parlor and a wood cooking stove in the kitchen. Somehow there was usually coffee, ground in the hand grinder on the wall. Coal was a luxury and apple wood burned branch by branch often provide heat all winter.  No indoor plumbing, the outhouse about seventy-five feet down hill from the kitchen door.  A chamber pot often sufficed.  No refrigeration, so there was a lot of salty pork and sauerkraut, stored in a crock with a thick layer of grease on top , and potatoes and vegetables from the root cellar, the stairs to which were almost as steep as a ladder and one had to hang on to a rope railing to get up and down. 
    No car, as driving was given up early and the old Ford rotted away in the barn.  No running water, there was a hand pump between the house and barn, and a smaller hand pump in the kitchen to pump water up from a cistern.  No radio, the Victrolla and a stereopticon sufficed, remnants of better days. Electricity was only for a few light bulbs.  My folks and an aunt and an uncle helped when they could, often bringing meals on the weekend, but my grandfather was a proud man and you didn’t dare do too much.
    Did my grandfather feel poor or deprived? Although he never talked to me about anything, I rather doubt it.  He had his pipe and tobacco and was free to cuss at anyone and anything, which he did liberally and often, and the country tavern was within walking distance if his arthritis wasn’t bothering him too much. Would I like living like my grandfather?  No, but if I had my books I could probably endure it, and if the tavern was within walking distance and if my arthritis wasn’t bothering me too much.

4/28/11 SPRING IS COMING... IS BOEING GOING?

BAYFIELD IN BLOOM MEETING AT BIG WATER CAFE

BOX ELDER BLOOMS

TAMARACK LEAFING OUT

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  35 degrees, wind N, light.  It is raining and snowing lightly, the skies still overcast and the barometer still predicting precipitation.
    Plants are blooming and leafing out, despite the weather.  Like an old box elder (Acer negundo) down the block and a tamarack (Larix laricina) in the  yard.
    The federal government is again instigating a lawsuit against a private corporation, endangering the security and economy of the nation.  For a federal agency to sue Boeing Corporation on behalf of the unions because it is building a new plant in South Carolina, which is a right to work state, is rank political favoritism and stupid economic policy, regardless of whether it is sound legal policy or not (and there is plenty of argument that it is not).  The Obama administration is overtly favoring a state and a constituency that is a political ally and is punishing a state and a constituency that it considers an enemy.  That is pure Chicago politics, right out of the Richard Ayers and Rohm Emanuel play book.
    But, worse than that, it is pushing a private corporation, which has every right to move where it wishes in order to enhance its profits and operating efficiency, against the wall. Boeing has endured numerous strikes at its Washington plants in recent years, so why wouldn’t it wish to expand into a state of the Union which has a better business climate?   The Administration’s actions are nothing but political payback to its supporters.  Such thuggish behavior denigrates the almost half of the states of the United States that have right to work laws.  Are all those states now to be targets of federal lawsuits at any and every opportunity?  Let's get rid of the NLRB and let the  unions hire their own lawyers! Boeing has manufacturing operations in forty countries worldwide.  If it is not allowed by the US government to expand into a state of the United States when it wishes to, its next most likely move will be to a foreign country, perhaps Ireland, or India, or…China.  Boeing, going…gone!

4/27/11 A NOR'EASTER LASTS THREE DAYS, AND BEING SUED BY A HAM SANDWICH

APRIL SURPRISE

RED MAPLE BLOSSOMS IN A BLIZZARD

TOUGH CROSSING

THE SIGN SAYS IT ALL

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  32 degrees, wind NE, moderate to blustery.  We had gale force winds yesterday that forced the ferry to use an alternate dock within the city  breakwater, and we now have an accumulation of several inches of slushy snow on lawns and roofs.  The barometer still predicts stormy weather, proving the old adage that “A Nor’easter lasts three days.”
    If you have been perplexed, perhaps humorously, by recent far-left environmentalist statements that animals and plants should have “legal rights,” you either are not old enough to remember the ‘70’s or you slept through a lot of college classes, as this is not a new idea.  But, what is really meant by legal rights? Not being a lawyer, not even having played one on television, I think I can still  offer an explanation.  Lawyers will say it means to “have standing,” the legal right to bring suit or defend oneself from one in a court of law.  In all of human history, that right has been selectively granted; but always to humans alone.  Back in the days of the tie-died shirt and the universal Afro, there was an attempt to broaden the concept to include nature and natural objects, not as things of human concern, but as objects with some sort of human-like individual rights. 
    I rummaged around on my dusty book shelves and dredged up “Should Trees Have Standing,” circa 1974, by Christopher D. Stone, then a professor of law at, where else, the University of Southern California. It pretty well puts forward the present day proposition that nature and its constituents, living and non-living, have human rights.  Of course, since they cannot themselves speak, much less use lawyerly logic, they would have to be represented by human lawyers speaking in their stead.  Just imagine the court scene, all solemn and steeped in tradition, with an opening statement to a legal suit like this; “Your honor, I represent the elm tree on South 92nd St., who brings suit against the resident at number 220  who has neglected to protect it from Dutch Elm Disease.” Or, “I represent the elm tree on South 92nd St., who brings suit against the beetle that bit it, thereby infecting it with Dutch Elm Disease, the co-defendant in this suit.”  Oops, that’s the ‘70’s, nobody remembers DED.  More to the point, how would you like to be sued by your dog Fluffy, for neglecting to take her to the vet twice a year (the suit brought by your busybody neighbor who has hired the lawyer).  Or, how about this scenario; a suit brought to court by the Earth (lawyers hired by the Society for  Sustainability) against Gogebic Mining and the Wisconsin DNR, to prevent the mining of minerals in Iron County, Wisconsin?  That hits a little closer to home and reality, doesn’t it? 
    Please, don’t laugh this threat off, as lunacy abounds in our society like never before, and what was only a nutty idea forty years ago is a serious threat today.  We ignore the crazies at our peril, who would gladly see human society sued back to the stone age, even though they would be the first to perish in some sort of a Green Jihad.  We may any one of us yet suffer the ignominy of being sued by a ham sandwich.

4/26/11 SPRING WAS HERE, THE TREE BOARD, AND "THE DONALD"

A COLD NORTHEAST WIND

TREE BOARD AT WORK

NEW ROOF FOR THE REC CENTER

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  39 degrees, wind NE, moderate with stronger gusts, and whitecaps are kicking up on the channel.  The sky is overcast and the barometer predicts rain.  Yesterday we drove to the IGA with the top down late afternoon.  I think that was our spring.
    We had a good Tree Board turnout yesterday and got most of the city trees I have ordered staked out.  We consider the wishes of the property owner, location of city street signs and intersection sightlines, and of course utilities; gas, water, cable, electric, and telephone.  I will call Digger’s Hotline for each address, and within three working days they mark all utilities, and we then move our tree locations before planting if necessary.  We have a nice selection of shade and ornamental trees this year, chosen for hardiness, size at maturity, shape, bloom if an ornamental, disease and insect resistance, and diversity.  I think we have a successful tree board mainly because we keep activities varied, useful and fun.
    The Recreation Center is getting a badly needed new roof.
    Initially I cringed at the thought of Donald Trump being a presidential candidate, but he tells me much of what I want to hear; stimulating private sector job creation by encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit of the country, shrinking an overbearing and bloated government, lowering taxes so citizens can make their own economic decisions while making big corporate tax dodgers pay, promoting a sane monetary and fiscal policy, developing our own vast energy resources, and maintaining the strongest military while using it with clarity of purpose.  The more he pushes these issues the more all candidates, including the President, will have to address them. His presence is certainly helping to shape the debate.

4/25/11 THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO "POP"

EVERY CLOUD HAS A...

OLD OAK AND CLOUDS

RED MAPLE BLOSSOMS ARE OPENING

Monday, 8:00 AM.  49 degrees, wind WSW, light at ground level but high clouds are moving more rapidly.  The sky is mostly clear with patches of puffy white and gray clouds.  It stayed in the high forties last night and everything will begin to pop today.
    The flowers of the red maple (Acer rubrum) on 9th and Manypenny Ave. have started to open.
I have been on the phone since 6:30 about tree deliveries, jobs, and Bayfield in Bloom, which is coming up quickly, on May 13th. Tree Board meeting today  as well.

4/24/11 RUMORS OF FISH, A LOW LAKE AND NOSY BUSBODIES

MOUTH OF THE SIOUX ON EASTER MORNING

MUST BE A BIG ONE, RIGHT THERE!

Easter Sunday, 9:00 AM.  38 degrees, wind W, calm.  The sky is cloudless, the barometer predicting partly cloudy weather.  It is a wonderful morning, one with the power to restore faith and hope in every creature, if we but let it.
    Rumors of fish took Lucky and I to the mouth of the Sioux River this morning.  I made a couple of dozen casts while Lucky puttered around on the beach.  There were a few surf casting fishermen and a couple of small boats in the water but nobody was catching anything.
     I have never seen the lake down so far, officially about 16 inches.  We didn’t get much late winter snow and have not had spring rains as yet.  To further contemplate things, one seldom knows how much water is being let out the Sioux Locks by the Army Corps of Engineers, also there was a major fissure in the bed rock at the end of the lake, cased by construction, that was reported a few years ago and one never hears anything about that leak either, so it is difficult to analyze the situation.
    How about that business of the I Phone, and I guess some other phones as well, storing all sorts of personal information; where the carrier has been, who he has talked with, what he has purchased, etc.  Was the information to be sold to businesses, or was it  mandated by the government so it could gather information on its opponents, or the average citizen?  Or, to be charitable, is it stored just because it could be?  In any case it is a civil rights violation of epic proportions and someone, perhaps many, should be prosecuted.  As for me, no more than a simple cell phone, and definitely no GPS installed in my car or truck.  I am opposed to any “black boxes” being surreptitiously installed in the vehicles of private citizens as well. Big business and big government are nosy busybodies at their best, criminals at their worst.
 

4/23/11 SNOW, AND NEW BOATS

'TWAS JUST A GARDEN IN THE...SNOW?

BIG BROTHER

LITTLE BROTHER

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  34 degrees, wind WNW, very light.  It snowed about a half an inch last night and a flake or two are still drifting down.  The channel is foggy and the sky is gray and overcast.  The barometer predicts additional precipitation.  Lucky is better this morning and I took him for a walk of several blocks but did not want to push it.  I have concluded that his attacks, for that is what the are, are triggered by a rapidly falling barometer.
    I had a business appointment in Cornucopia, yesterday afternoon so we ate fish fry at the Village Inn, where we haven’t been for quite a while, and it was excellent as always.
    The spring yard work is about 75% done but won’t likely be completed until the weather gets a bit better.
    The Coast Guard station has a couple of new patrol boats, one a 35 foot brute.  The new boats have enclosed cabins, a great improvement over the open Zodiacs, which I am sure were fun, but very rough riding and  the Guardians would get soaked and frozen.  I will try to wrangle a ride or at least a tour.

4/22/11 AN OLD DOG AND AN OLD KNIFE FIGHTER

A QUIET CROSSING

Friday, 8:00 AM.  39 degrees, wind WSW, very calm.  The morning ferry  spreads gentle ripples across the glassy channel waters, and the sky is overcast with high gray  clouds.  It might be the calm before the storm, as the barometer predicts rain.
    Lucky had a bad day yesterday and I had to carry him to his bed beside ours last night, but he seems better this morning.  I didn’t try to get him to take a walk, but he was with me while I worked in the yard before breakfast.  One thing I have learned about dogs; they are either up or down, seldom anything in between, and the smell of food or some other expectation can literally raise them from their death bed, at least until they collapse again.
    I have railed about the Federal Reserve flooding the world with dollars of decreasing value, but it is difficult for anyone, much less a common citizen, to do anything about it, as the super secretive Fed is really not accountable to much of anyone except its own members, who of course are all banks, and bankers.  The Federal Reserve is nothing more, as I see it, than a national bank writ large, and the function of a national bank, and even whether the nation should have one, has been a contentious issue right from the founding of the republic.  Andrew Jackson, Old Hickory, fought the national bank as hard as he fought the British, as he considered both to be oppressors of the people.  Although he defeated both, the Bank, like Dracula, rose again after he was gone.  Where is the old knife fighter, now that we need him more than ever?
     Economics is considered the “dismal science,” but it is one we are all learning very fast, as inflation really starts to bite.

4/21/11 GARDENS, GOVERNMENT SPEAK, AND OLD DOGS

GARDEN IS CLEANED UP, FERTILIZED, AND MULCHED

A TOUGH WALK

Thursday, 7:30 AM.  34 degrees, wind WSW, calm.  The sky is mostly blue, the sun is bright and we will have a fine day, even though the barometer is down a bit. The garden is cleaned up, fertilized and mulched.  Not perfect, but it will have to do.  The rest of the yard will  soon be done, given a break in the weather.
Have you read any ”governmentese” lately? Certainly you have recently read tax schedules, but how about legislation, or bureaucratic letters or documents, or a political speech?  Government-speak is a language almost unto itself, and is often difficult if not impossible to decipher.  At best it is often unclear, and or seems meant to confuse, or at least to impress the reader with how smart the writer or speaker is.  The misuse of the English language by government and politicians  becomes a national security threat when it concerns war and economics. Bills that are thousands of pages long are written by lawyers, and then their legalese is translated into bureaucratese by government workers and the resulting verbiage is often  incomprehensible.  I cannot tell you how many government documents I have read that were basically gibberish.  True intent is often cleverly hidden, couched in unclear language that can be explained as one thing or another, according to the circumstances.
  The first duty of a politician or bureaucrat is to speak and write English in simple declarative sentences.  If they cannot or will not do that they should be fired.  If I were a conspiracy theorist (I try not to be) I would think all this obfuscation an attempt to kill democracy at its very roots.  Remember the “New Speak” of the classic novel Nineteen Eighty Four, where contradictions such as “War is Peace,” "Freedom is Slavery," and so on prevail? I think we are almost there, a little behind schedule, in this year Two Thousand Eleven.
       We had to cut our walk short this morning and only go around the block, as  Lucky’s arthritis was really bothering him.  I gave him two baby aspirins when we got back and I hope that will help.  His persistent cough has gotten worse, now sounding like my Grandmother’s congestive heart cough.  He is at least thirteen this spring and I fear he is getting to the end of his life span.  It saddens me to see him deteriorating and in pain. But, where there is life, there is hope.

4/20/11 THE GARDENER'S LAMENT

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  33 degrees, wind N, calm.  The sky is overcast and the sun is struggling to shine through.  It has snowed a bit and it is a rather sloppy morning, but the barometer at least predicts partly cloudy skies.

FOGGY, SNOWY MORNING

GARDEN CLEANUP

    Andy and Judy are closing up the camp today and won't be back until June, so they came to dinner last night, and  Joan cooked a wonderful poached trout and whitefish dinner.
    I did more pruning yesterday and cut back dead growth in the garden and raked out all the debris.  Today I will fertilize with Milorganite and put down mulch.   The garden needs a makeover but I can’t get at that big job until fall.  When I was young I always said there was no way to get in shape for summer construction work except to do it, the same with digging trees.  I might add that is also true of gardening.  Walking, exercise routines, whatever, never does much for the muscle groups needed to do the work of gardening.  I make that statement while experiencing the gardener’s lament; stiff knees, aching back and sore hands.

4/19/11 RELUCTANCE

RELUCTANT SUN

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  32.5 degrees, wind N, calm.  The sky is overcast with high gray clouds but the sun is trying to fight its way through.  The barometer predicts partly cloudy skies.
    We are having a reluctant spring.  I am tempted to say fearful, but that would be overly anthropomorphic.  In any case, our spring in the Northland mimics our collective mood; reluctant, hesitant, fearful, confused.  Business mimics our spring, I think it fair to say.  People are afraid to commit to a deal, even if it is a bargain.  Many of my customers are putting off a project, rather than spend the money now, and I don’t see the economy coming out of this recession any time soon. 
Standard and Poors’ threat to downgrade our US credit rating is going to push inflation even faster.  If we aren’t careful we will back ourselves into a full-blown depression.
    There are a lot of parallels between the 1930’s and the present; a moral hangover from high times, massive public and private debt, high stakes economic gambling, bloated and intrusive government, over regulation of almost everything, the diminishing of the individual by government and politicians, unbridled class warfare. We need clear thinking and positive leadership, and we need to stop demonizing each other.  It will take all of this and more for an economic spring to emerge.

4/17/11 BRUNCH, A CAMPFIRE AND A NAUGHTY BEAR

GOOD MEAL, GOOD CAUSE

...GOOD CROWD ALL MORNING

LAST MAPLE SUGARIN' CAMPFIRE

STAKING OUT HIS TERRITORY?

Monday, 8:00 AM.  29 degrees, wind W, calm.  The sky is partly cloudy and the barometer predicts the same.  It looks like our spate of wintry weather may be over.
    Yesterday morning was the annual Bayfield Fireman’s Brunch held at the Northern Edge down the road a bit.  The equipment fund raiser for the all-volunteer department was very well attended, always surprising us with the number of children in the area, although the city itself has few.  The surrounding townships of Bayfield, Town of Russell and Bay View have become the centers of local population, while the city itself has become more and more a tourist and absentee homeowner community. Over 60% of city homes now have absentee owners, and we lost population again in the last census. It is not a good situation, as high taxes, high utilities and until recently high real estate prices have taken their toll.  Anyway, the event itself was very encouraging.
    The retrograde weather has made for a longer maple sap run, and Andy and Judy have made more than five gallons of syrup.  But even they pulled the taps  yesterday and there was one more campfire last evening and then they will be leaving on Wednesday or so.
    I forgot to take the remaining bird feeder down last night and thought about getting up and taking care of it as we were lying in bed.  Just then there was a tremendous crashing about on the porch, and as I looked for my camera in the dark I saw the bear reaching for the feeder, a pretty big guy.  I couldn’t get the flash to work in the dark and he spotted me at the patio door and ran off, so no photo. While walking this morning I did take a photo of the aspen he is using to trim his claws, it is on the corner of 9th and Old Military just down the block.  We really don’t need a big, naughty bear staking out his territory in the neighborhood, though.

4/17/11 BEAR ALEART1

BEAR WAS HERE

A COLD, SNOWY WEEKEND

ICY BEAR TRACK

LUCKY INVESTIGATES

Sunday, 7:30 AM.  28 degrees, wind WSW, gusty.  The sky is overcast but trying to clear.  The barometer predicts more of the same.  It has been a cold, snowy weekend.
    I've been wondering where the bears have been, and last night one came on the back porch   after we went to bed and destroyed a bird feeder.  He left his tracks on the snowy side deck.  Lucky had a good time sniffing the frozen tracks.  It was not a cub as the tracks were pretty large.

4/16/11 ENOUGH!

WHERE ARE THE BIRDS?  GONE SOUTH?

WINTER HAS ONE (HOPEFULLY) LAST FLING

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  30.5 degrees, wind NNE, light at present.  The sky is overcast with storm clouds and Madeline Island is obscured by snow and fog.  We received several inches of slushy snow last night, which I refuse to shovel, except for porches and decks. 
    Very pretty, but enough is enough! Sort of like government ownership of land in Bayfield County, nearly a half-million acres.  Maybe some of it should be sold, or homesteaded, to put it back on the tax rolls.

4/15/11 I WON'T BUY GE PRODUCTS!

AH, GENTLE SPRING

FIT TO BURST

Friday, 7:30 AM.  30 degrees, wind E, cold and blustery.  The sky is overcast and clearing somewhat, but the barometer predicts precipitation.
    The red maple buds are fit to burst but it will be a while before the flowers  brave the weather.  The yard work remains undone, as I have been too busy to get at it, my consolation being that the weather is a bit nasty anyway. As my mother used to say, "The shoemaker's children never have any shoes."
    Have you heard? GE ,General Electric Corporation, once the quintessential American company, paid no US taxes last year.  What is the matter with our system? Is it all rotten, from top to bottom? I for one will never again buy a GE product, not that it will affect them any, but one has to have some recourse to keep from going crazy.

4/14/11 THE SAP RUNS WHILE THE DAFFODILS SHIVER

A TOSS-UP DAY

WILDFLOWER WOODS GREENHOUSE

SHIVERING DAFFODIL

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  26 degrees, wind NW, blustery and changeable.  The sky is overcast but the barometer predicts sunny skies.
    Andy and Judy are still collecting sap, at least for a few more days, and this change in the weather should produce another run.  They have plenty of help at present (including son Eric, who’s North Pole talk at Northland College  yesterday we unfortunately missed).  I have been busy with bids and proposals so have not had time to do much else.
    We stopped at Wildflower Woods Nursery in the Washburn outback yesterday.  Owner Becky Brown has a nice selection of native wildflowers, sedges and grasses, and collects the seeds mostly locally.
    There are a few daffodils just beginning to bloom, and in a week of decent weather they will be blooming by the thousands all over Bayfield.  The sap runs while the daffodils shiver. 

4/13/11 LOGGERS AND BEARS

LOOKS LIKE RAIN

CRITICAL ISSUES IN FORESTRY CONFERENCE

A THIRD GENERATION LOGGER HAS HIS SAY

Wednesday, 7:45 AM.  45 degrees, wind WNW, calm.  The sky is overcast and it looks like rain, although the barometer does not predict it.
    Yesterday Howard,  Gene and I (all of us City of Bayfield Tree Board members) attended the annual Critical Issues in Forestry conference held in Ashland. We all thought it extremely interesting and valuable, with speakers  representing  National, State, and County forests, as well as loggers, a power company/biofuels representative and a realator. The economy has hit most forest products businesses very hard, and the general theme of private business is that governmental policies are not helping, that regulations are obstreperous and that taxes, including real estate taxes, have become prohibitive.   Governmental units own the majority of the land in Bayfield County and therefore control most of the natural resource base and pay no taxes, and hard times are leading to very difficult decisions in the forestry industry in Wisconsin.
    Much is made of the DNR granting local governments a payment in lieu of taxes on the land they hold, but this is just slight of hand (my opinion) as the state gets its money from taxes.  It is not common knowledge that the State of Wisconsin sets the property tax rates for various parts of the state, and there is a tax premium on waterfront and water view and recreational land. Real estate values have plummeted by almost half, and yet taxes seldom go down, and many landowners are “under water,” their property worth less than their mortgage.
    Wisconsin is now the number one state in forestry products and related businesses in the United States, and it is a mainstay of the local and state economies. It also seems that reality has set into the biofuels industry, and it will not be as major a factor in the future of forestry as originally thought.
    The bears are suddenly out and about.  I have not encountered any as yet, but others have seen them in town.  Neighbor Sherman had a bird feeder destroyed two nights ago, and I filled our feeders for perhaps the last time yesterday.  There were lots of geese, ducks and swans on Chequamegon Bay  in Ashland yesterday

4/12/11 IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

GONE WITH THE WIND?

Tuesday, 7:15 AM.  37 degrees, wind SW, calm.  The sky is blue and the barometer is up.  Spring is here.
    Spring is definitely here, as the ice went out yesterday.  At 8:00 AM the channel was iced in as far as I could see.  Having a second cup of coffee at 9:30 I looked out the window and it was gone!  I would dearly have liked to have seen how it went:  was it pushed out into the lake between Madeline and Long Islands by the strong west wind, or did it suddenly all reach a critical temperature and melt?  The only folks who will know for sure are the ferry captains.  In any case, it was a sudden and dramatic event.
    We usually think of the processes of nature as being very slow, steady, predictable.  We fool ourselves.  Think of tornadoes, earthquakes, temperature inversions when the lake waters turn over.  One is always surprised, sometimes regretfully so. 
    I have come to the conclusion that social phenomena can be equally sudden and unpredictable.  Think of the demise of the Soviet Union; one day it was a powerful adversary, the next it did not exist.  The same with the present revolutionary storm in the Arab world; no one predicted it, and no one knows how it will end. Things reach a critical mass and are transformed in an instant, in the blink of an eye.
    I have heard manypeople who should know better say that our Constitution is a meaningless anachronism, the same with the family, with social mores, with religion. And yet these are the very fundamental strengths of our society and our country.  If they become weak or are eliminated, one by one, we will look out the window one morning over our coffee and it will be gone before our very eyes, and our civilization will enter another Dark Age filled with pain, sorrow and deprivation.  One cannot trust evolution, whether in nature or society, to go always forward.  It also causes death and extinction.

4/11/11 ALDERS IN BLOOM

TAG ALDER IN BLOOM

MALE CATKINS FULL OF POLLEN

TINY FEMALE CONES

Monday, 7:30 AM.  44 degrees, wind variable but mostly west.  The sky is mostly overcast but the barometer predicts sunshine.
    The tag alders ( Alnus incana ) are blooming, the male catkins hanging pendulously, full of pollen, from the ends of branches, the tiny purple cone-like flowers just above them.   One of he first things to bloom in spring, The "tag alder" is a common , large shrub of southern Canada and the northern US, west to Nebraska.  It grows in swamps and along stream banks and lakeshores.