2/29/12 THE DEMISE OF AN ICON, AND THE GHOSTS OF OUR GRANDFATHERS

ASHLAND ORE DOCK...AN ICON OF THE PAST

DOWN IT GOES!

BLIZZARD!

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  31 degrees, wind S, very strong at times.  It is snowing heavily.  We have blizzard conditions and the barometer predicts more snow, of which about 4” has fallen.  Doesn’t sound like a lot but give it time.  I cleared the driveway once and anticipate that will pretty much be my occupation today.       
        We had a number of errands to run yesterday in Ashland, and as we began our return journey, heading west on Hwy. 2 through the city along the lake front, giant cranes caught my eye, and we drove toward them.
        In the past such cranes would indicate construction of new major buildings or infrastructure.  I knew immediately what these cranes represented; the dismantling of community history.  The cranes are beginning to dismantle  the last of the giant ore docks, constructed nearly  a century ago during the heyday of iron ore mining in the region.  Back then great steamers tied up at the docks, to be filled with iron ore from the iron ranges, brought to Ashland by rail to be shipped to the steel mills of Gary, Cleveland, Buffalo and other great Midwest manufacturing centers.  Jobs were plentiful,  paid well, and the city’s population was double what it is now.  Those ore docks have been an icon of Ashland and the region for a hundred years, once pointed to by all with pride, and with confidence in the future.  In later years the ore docks were pointed to with pride in the city and the region’s past.  There has been great lamentation in recent years, not for the economic decline of the city and the region, for few remember now, but for the demise of the ore docks, the principal icon of the past.  The people have worshiped the ore docks much as the Easter Islanders worshiped their great stone faces, out of awe and tradition, but without  true understanding.
        Something is terribly wrong here.  Symbols of past greatness overshadow the promise of our future.  Every excuse is made, and every obstacle is placed in front of projects such as a new iron mine which could revitalize the city and the region.  Proponents of progress are shouted down, and the status quo is king.  History should be respected, but it should not rule the present nor pervert the future.  We are not France. 
        Generations before us came to cut the trees and dig the earth and sail the seas.  We, to whom they gave life and dreams through their toil and vision, are filled with  wonder at what they did, but are too timid, or too vain, or too preoccupied, or too lazy, or too stupid to follow in their footsteps.  Many of us follow instead  a new and foreign philosophy, I would call it a religion, which purports to save the earth while it destroys mankind.
        I was talking to a man yesterday who said he spent thirty years working in the Ashland paper mill, a good paying job that had given him a good retirement.  That was the first I had ever heard of the mill.  Where was it, I asked?  “Where the new Honda and Toyota dealership is, down by the ore docks,” he said.
        We won’t mine iron ore because it affronts the earth.  We won’t make paper because it pollutes the air.  We no longer manufacture the things we use in our daily lives.  Our cities decline, our children learn foolishness or worse and are without a future, and we occupy ourselves with writing bad verse and worrying about wolves.
        So the old ore docks will be gone, and new ones will not be built because there is no ore to ship in the long ago boats because no one is allowed to dig the ore out of the earth.  And few will have the money to buy the new automobiles we no longer make at the car dealer where the paper mill used to be.  And the ghosts of our grandfathers will wonder why they bothered.

2/28/12 APALLACHIA

CLEAR SAILING

MOUTH OF THE SIOUX RIVER

EIGHT MILES OF OPEN WATER

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  25 degrees, wind WSW, calm.  The sky is overcast and the barometer predicts snow.  It si snowing lightly, big dime-sized flakes.  Very pretty, but I have had about enough of it.  There is open water now from Bayfield past the Sioux River, some eight miles. 
        The mining law proposed by two state Senators, one Republican (Schultz) and one Democrat (Jauch) called “The Wisconsin Way Mining Reform Act” seems to me to be a wasted effort, as it was rejected by the Wisconsin Assembly when it was substantially presented in amendment form earlier.  As I read the summation of their bill, it still does not address the most  basic problems with current Wisconsin mining law: the ability of third-party law suits to interfere with mining permits literally before they even get started; and the open-ended permit process which never has a date-certain end.  Without those problems honestly addressed and solved, the result will be, as top-ranking Assembly Republicans have stated, that “it ensures that no [mining] company will ever do business here.”
         One would assume that the DNR and the Army Corps of Engineers and the local counties and townships with all their resources and legal purview could determine water quality and other environmental issues during and after the permit process.  Assuming that, the fundamental opposition to mining must perforce be driven by personal and political opinions or philosophical objections.  While I would not trivialize the later, if there is to be economic and social advancement and fairness, and reasonable use of scarce and valuable resources, those who oppose mining simply because they do not like it are in my opinion morally obligated to compromise their position. 
        Northern Wisconsin, absent the vacation homes and lake front mansions of the wealthy, is akin to Appalachia.  Read the newspaper and note the advertisements for full-time jobs at $6.00 an hour.  A relatively good full time wage might be $12.50 an hour.  Most  of the decent paying salaried jobs are in local, state or federal government service. Objecting to mining, which is a traditional and legal business in Wisconsin, on purely political, philosophical or aesthetic grounds denies ordinary, decent citizens, our friends and neighbors, the right to live here and raise their families in relative comfort and security.

2/27/12 A STAY-AT-HOME SUNDAY, EUROPEAN LARCH, AND WE CAN ONLY EAT SO MUCH OAT MEAL

MOSTLY OPEN WATER BETWEEN BAYFIELD AND LA POINTE

EUROPEAN LARCH

THE PRIZE INSIDE THE BOX

GRRrrrrr.....I'LL DEMOLISH THE OATMEAL BOX...

...AND I'LL GET THAT COOKIE!

Monday, 8:30 AM.  22 degrees, wind W, calm to very light.  The sky is overcast and it is still snowing slightly.  We got 4”-5” of light fluffy snow last night.  There is a huge area of open water between Bayfield and La Pointe on the Island this morning.  The barometer is high.
        The roads were bad yesterday and I did not go to the mining legislation meeting at the Northern Great Lakes Visitors Center west of Ashland.  I will follow the results in the Daily Press and give my analysis tomorrow.  Yesterday  was a rarity in that the truck never left the garage, nor did a city plow or sand truck appear on the streets, and a night time walk with the dog was hushed, with us treading on nearly virgin snow.
        Most larch trees that one sees in Bayfield are American larch, also called tamarack, Larix laricina.  Occasionally one might see a European larch, Larix decidua.  The two species are quite similar in appearance, but in winter the European larch is easily identified by its much larger,  pendulous empty seed cones, while those of the American species are much smaller and  less noticeable.
        Buddy loves his toys but makes short work of many of them, and we found that an empty Quaker Oats carton with a cookie inside (like the prize in a box of Cracker Jacks)makes an inexpensive and satisfying toy, at least for a while.  But there is only so much oatmeal we can eat.

2/26/12 AN OLD JEWISH PRAYER, AND MORE HEAT THAN LIGHT

LIVING ON THE EDGE

STILL WINTER

BLACK WILLOWS IN THE BLIZZARD

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  26 degrees, wind SW, moderate with stronger gusts.  It is snowing, at times blizzard-like.  The sky is completely overcast and visibility is poor.  The barometer predicts more snow.  Winter is still very much with us.
        In spite of it all, or rather because of it all, it is a picturesque day, and a pleasure for Buddy and me to take our walk in.  On days like this I like to remember the old Jewish prayer, “This is the day that the Lord hath made.  Let us be glad, and rejoice in it.”
        The mining issue is as murky as ever, the Chippewa tribes now intimating they will take it to federal court as a violation of their treaty rights. There is another public meeting this afternoon in Ashland, hosted by two of our representatives in the state legislature.  If the weather permits I may go, although these meetings seem to seem to generate more heat than light.

2/25/12 WINTER SCENES, AND "AS AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE"

ICED OVER AGAIN

 BURDOCK SEED HEADS

EVENING PRIMROSE EMPTY SEED PODS

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  23 degrees, wind W, calm.  The sky is overcast and we received an inch of hard, crystalline snow overnight.  The barometer predicts sunny skies.
        Many plants, even just above-ground dead leaves and seed heads, are as interesting in winter as during the growing season.  Burdock and evening primrose seed heads contrasted well against the snow this morning.
        At fifteen I spent the better part of a summer managing a small corner gas station, one of those Nineteen-thirties little buildings that had a lot of architectural character and show up in prints and art work today.  The price of gasoline (three gallons for a buck when I started) would go up and down perfectly in synch with the stations on the other corners of the intersection, the prices supposedly set at surepticious  dinner meetings the owners went to once a month or so, but everyone knew the dictate actually came down through the company chain of command, every company’s price the same. Once in a while someone had some extra gas in a storage tank and there would be a price war, but it was over as soon as the tank was empty.  I worked part time and often more in the neighborhood gas station all through high school, college and beyond.  The pay was lousy (never more than a dollar an hour) but it was always there if I needed it.
        When I graduated from college with my bachelor’s degree I was desperate for money, and answered an add for inside sales reps for what was then Cities Service Oil Company.  For some reason I was hired and it was an interesting and well paying job, although far removed from my education and my desires.  In Milwaukee at that time most of the gasoline came in by boat from Gary, Indiana refineries.  All the different brands got the same gasoline at the dock, paying the same wholesale price.  Ergo, all sold it retail at the same price.  Each put in its own additives but basically as long as  the gasoline didn’t sit around and deteriorate somewhere, it was all the same. And, the gas stations, whether company owned or franchises were told what the daily price at the pump was going to be, and all complied.  Whether any of that was illegal price fixing I couldn’t say, but the end result was the same.
        The gasoline game has been non-competitive, at least at the retail level, ever since it was invented by John D Rockefeller Sr.'s Standard Oil Company (old JDR considered competition wasteful).  Sure, the stations nearest the freeways are always higher than those further away, but within those parameters the prices of the different brands almost always will be the same.
        Everyone has known for over a century that the oil industry is a monopoly, or a combination of monopolies, from the corner gas station to OPEC.  But, that's as American as apple pie.  Isn’t it?

2/24/12 SHIPS; AND, BANKRUPTCY WAS A GOOD IDEA

BIG GUY

LITTLE GUY

Friday, 8:30 AM.  30 degrees, wind W, calm.  The sky is overcast and it is snowing very lightly.  The barometer predicts more.
        We had to go to Duluth late yesterday afternoon. We had not been to Duluth/Superior in some time, and it was rather amazing to see absolutely no snow on the ground in either city.  It’s no wonder that the Bear Grease dogsled races were cancelled.  The harbor is still frozen in though, and it doesn’t look like the Coast Guard has been breaking ice.  Not far off, however, the lake is open.  It should be an early start to the shipping season, and the docks are full of ore and cargo boats still getting their winter maintenance.  The biggest ships, the thousand-footers, only traverse the Great Lakes, as they are too long to go through the locks of the St. Laurence Seaway.
        A front wheel bearing went out on the truck coming home yesterday evening, and I will have to tip-toe it to Ashland today to get it fixed.  The whole hub assembly has to be replaced, as the wheel bearings themselves are permanently sealed inside.  I replaced the other front assembly a few months ago.  Up until a couple of years ago wheel bearings could be replaced, but not anymore… GM is still selling us guaranteed obsolescence. Bankruptcy was a good idea.

2/23/12 SIGNS OF SPRING, AND A PROPOSAL TOO LOGICAL FOR THE POLITICIANS TO GRASP

VIEW FROM THE BEACH...NOTE THE ICE TENT

SCENE OF THE CRIME

NOT FOG...I DROPPED THE CAMERA IN THE SNOW

Thursday, 7:45 AM.  28 degrees, wind W, calm.  The sky is overcast but the barometer is up and it should clear.  It was very icy this morning and we only walked around the block.  Yak Tracks didn't help much.
        There are indeed signs of spring in Bayfield:

•  Load limit signs are appearing on town roads. 

• The first Bayfield in Bloom meeting was held at the Bigwater Café yesterday. 
• A raccoon  got the cover off the bird seed container on the porch last night and also tore a bird feeder apart.  I thought it might have been an early bear, but the masked bandit scurried away when I turned on the porch light.

        The Bayfield in Bloom meeting was attended by seven enthusiastic committee members and we are off to a good start towards the tenth annual B in B Kickoff with the  Garden Talk radio show and horticultural exhibitors at the Pavilion, and the annual Arbor Day tree planting and celebration, all on May 11th.  If we are lucky there will still be some of our tens of thousands of daffodils in bloom. Come visit us if you can!
        I have been considering the argument put forth by nay sayers to the Keystone pipeline, that the project and its Canadian oil won’t affect US oil and gasoline prices because the pipeline oil will follow the world market and be exported to China and India anyway. 
        Well, here’s my answer to that excuse:  it is fully within the constitutional rights of the federal government to place an export tax on pipeline products leaving our shores.  I bet Canada will do the same before the oil enters the US.  The tax should be an amount that would compensate for the federal and state taxes now placed on gasoline at the pump that would have been garnered had the product been sold here; and the tax money then used to reduce consumer taxes by that dollar amount, lowering the cost to the consumer considerably.  It would be a win-win situation for all, and thousands of  pipeline and refinery jobs will be created and stay in the US to boot. 
        My proposal probably wouldn’t fly because it is too logical and straightforward for the politicians to grasp, but in good faith I offer it anyway.

2/22/12 THE REAL REASON WE ARE PAYING MORE AT THE PUMP

WAITIN' FOR SPRING

STORM SKY

Wednesday,  8:00 AM.  26 degrees, wind W, moderate with strong gusts.  We experienced a little blizzard last night that dropped 4”-5” of snow in the driveway so Buddy and I shoveled instead of taking our walk.  The roads are slippery but everything is pristine again.  The barometer predicts more of the same.
        The Press reports that 2600 folks crossed ice in the Book Across The Bay.  Attendance was down because of the mild weather.  I guess Northlanders prefer a challenge.
        The pundits are all pundifying as to why gasoline prices are skyrocketing, citing Middle East unrest, the Administration’s stalling on the Keystone Pipeline, burgeoning markets in China and India, and these are all factors of course, but I have heard none of them cite what I believe is the root of the problem; our precipitous and untimely (may I say stupid?) withdrawal of our forces from Iraq. 
        Iran is ratcheting up its threats against Israel, withdrawing oil from the European market, and stirring the pot in Syria, all of which are causing oil prices to spike.  You can bet they would be much more cautious if we had kept 120,000 crack, war-hardened troops along with air support in Iraq, capable of a blitzkrieg against the mullahs in Tehran.  Any money we may eventually save by a troop draw down in Iraq, and ditto for Afghanistan, is being drained right out of our economy and into the coffers of  OPEC through higher oil prices.  And, do you think Asaad would be shelling his own cities if he were looking down the barrels of our tanks in neighboring Iraq?  Our timidity and lack of strategic vision are causing innocent blood to run in the streets of Homs, and will soon spark a major war between Israel and Iran, which we will perforce be drawn into.  When the bully is not faced down, he rules the school yard.

2/21/12 MORE ABOUT ICE, A MUDDY DOG, AND "CONTACT YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY IF..."

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  32 degrees, wind WSW, light. It is a densely foggy morning.  Everything is covered with a frosty snow, and the roads are slippery.  The barometer predicts snow.  The pilleated woodpeckers were calling raucously, seemingly carrying on a heated discussion with the crows.
      A few days ago I discussed the phenomenon of ice melting and/or migrating so quickly in the  channel between Bayfield and Madeline Island that it was difficult to perceive or understand what was actually happening.  Blog reader Pat Weeden of Weedengraphics,com has been good enough to contact me regarding time-lapse photography that he has been recording of Bayfield ice conditions using the Seagull Bay Motel live web cam.  From what he has seen studying the resulting videos, the ice does indeed melt very quickly and also often blows away quickly as an ice sheet.  To quote him exactly:
      "In Friday's [video] there is definitely ice drifting in the afternoon, so we now have evidence of both melting and drifting in the same week.  [It] is pretty neat to watch"
      The the link to videos he sent me are presented here with his permission, and they were very interesting. I was not able to  upload them to the blog directly.

"WHO, ME?"

ICE WATCH

SNOW ON ROSE HIPS

FROZEN FOUNTAINGRASS

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oslQgnPervw
            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToMAZwEgZ6U
            http:///www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFJvirUK-/WE
            See Comments, below, for more info from Pat.

Buddy was a bad dog again yesterday, disappearing for an hour or so when we were practicing "stay" and "come" off leash.  He returned covered with mud and unabashedly happy and proud of himself.  I needed a shower anyway so we took one together. He eventually got clean but pretty much everything else got wet and dirty.  Daughter Greta the dog trainer says I am expecting way too much of him, too soon.  No more off the leash, and save up for a shock collar.  Anyway, he sure knows how to have a good time at my expense.
         I used to be somewhat embarrassed by the Viagra adds on TV but have come to the conclusion they are mostly just insipid.  Like the one with the guy driving his Sixties muscle car across the dessert and it overheats and he stops and gets a bottle of designer drinking water, opens the hood and pours the water in the radiator, solving his "problem."  These adds always have a cautionary comment, " Contact your doctor immediately if...(you know the rest)".
    This add should caution the viewer, "Contact your doctor immediately if you have third degree scald burns due to being stupid enough to open the cap on a  steaming radiator."

2/20/12 DOG TRAINING IS MOSLY BALONEY, AND WE WERE UP THERE WITH HIM

TRAINER AND TRAINEE (CAN YOU TELL WHICH IS WHICH?)

TRAINEE IN DEFIANT POSE

DOG TRAINING IS  A LOT OF BALONEY...

...BUT EVERY MAN (AND DOG) HAS HIS PRICE!

Monday, 8:30 AM.  30 degrees, wind WSW, calm.  The sky is mostly overcast with high, thin gray clouds.  The ferry was audibly straining through the pack ice this morning, its protestations echoing up the Bayfield bluffs. The barometer predicts snow.
        As promised, I have started to train Buddy more seriously, reinforcing the basics such as sit, stay, come, and no.  In the process, I am discovering that dog training is mostly baloney. Lots of baloney.
Every dog, like every man, has his price, and Buddy is a tough bargainer.  No doggy treats suffice, not even Beggin’ Strips’ (he knows it’s not bacon).  I have been complaining that baloney doesn’t carry well in a jacket pocket, but Joan has reminded me that wieners are pretty close to baloney and much more transportable.  Got to get some.
        In accordance with the plan, I am giving him (and...groan... me) more exercise.  We took a  longer walk before breakfast this morning, played fetch before lunch, and took a hike in the snowdrifts at the Larsen’s sugar bush. There is still a lot of snow in the woods. It’s a good thing I am “retired.”
        Today we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of John Glen’s orbit of the earth in the Freedom Seven space capsule. Unfortunately we can not at this point do what we did way-back-then…launch a man into space with our own space vehicle.  What a disgrace!  What a national tragedy, to throw it all away, as the Biblical Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of porridge.
        I was earthbound on that day a half century ago, but off the ground a little bit; up on a scaffold carrying bricks and mortar for an addition to a Milwaukee hospital.  From my vantage point I could see far out onto an ice covered Lake Michigan, so I could almost imagine looking down on that vista from space.
         I really remember the day well, because us supposedly “tough guys,” and me the youngest, were listening to that space odyssey live, on a portable radio.  We were proud of our country and our shared heritage as John Glen orbited the earth, and were relieved at his safe return.  We didn’t cheer, or wave flags, or sing the national anthem.  We were just up there with him, all the way, all the time.  I would give almost anything to be up there with him again.

2/19/12 STARS AND REFLECTONS

START OF THE "BOOK" AT ASHLAND MARINA

CHRISTMAS TREES AND ILLUMINARIES  MARK THE WAY

SIXTEEN PORTA-POTIES SAY IT ALL

ICY MORNING  REFLECTIONS

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  23 degrees, wind WSW, calm.  The sky is mostly blue and the barometer is trending up.
        last night was clear, cold, and star-studded.  I could see my breath in the light of the lone street lamp on the corner, and mark the progression of Orion across the inky void of the night sky.
         It was certainly a glorious evening for the participants in the four mile Book Across the Bay trek a from Ashland to Washburn.  Whether one can have more than fleeting thoughts about the starry, starry night and the meaning of human existence in the company of thousands of other skiers and snowshoers struggling across the candle- lit ice of Chequamagon Bay, I don’t know. At this point  I am content with the company of my dog, who is skipping and darting along at the end of his leash, breathing in the intriguing smells of the night with great snorts.
        The day has been filled with excerpts of the funeral of Whitney Houston on the TV.  It is always a tragedy when someone who has so much throws it all away, but it seems an even higher tragedy when the talent is so great, and so seldom awarded to any individual.  Then the waste seems truly an affront to God, who expects us, we assume, to use the talents so generously given us to some greater good.
        It is easy to be critical of the great and gifted who have fallen, but we need look no further than the foibles and wasted opportunities of our own little lives to be humbled into a degree of understanding. 
        And the older I get, the more I realize the human failings, and yes the mortality, of myself and others.  And I must ask myself whether I have tried to understand and help and love the alcoholics and  addicts among my own extended family and my own friends, who though not as greatly talented as Whitney Huston are, or were, just as human, and just as lost. 
        At the final curtain, when all the acts have been performed, we find we are all part of the same play…whether star, ingénue, or supporting cast…and each of us will have to reflect upon our lives, and perhaps will be asked by a higher power,  how well we played our roles.

2/18/12 GOOD COP, BAD COP

PAROLE VIOLATOR

P INES AND SUMAC IN THE SNOW

ASPEN IN THE MORNING SUN

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  26 degrees F. Up from 16 earlier.  Wind W, calm.  We received several inches of new snow since yesterday morning and everything looks pristine again.  The roads are icy and it was a Yak Track morning.  The sky is mostly clear and the barometer predicts partly cloudy conditions.  It should be a nice night for the annual ski and snowshoe trek from Ashland to Washburn across the ice, called “Book Across The Bay,” so named because it is a library fund raiser.
        Buddy violated his parole yesterday. The cops finally apprehended him way over by the city cemetery.  They let me know where he was and when I got there he was cornered between two cops.  He looked confused.  They did not have their weapons drawn, but I almost asked them to taser him.  When I blew the horn he came running and jumped in the truck as soon as I opened the door.  I think the episode scared the heck out of him, as he has been awfully quiet since.  He ate supper and went right to sleep.
        I guess I will just have to work harder with him, play ball with him more and get him more exercise.  The police thought it was great fun to help catch him this time, as they had nothing else to do in a small town on a Friday afternoon, but I suspect they will tire of the game rapidly. 
        Had Buddy gone another mile out into the boondocks, he may well have been gone for good.  The wolves were probably watching and waiting, licking their chops.  He had better learn to mind, and quickly.
        Speaking of cops, have you heard about the federal lunch police, who inspected a four-year-old’s home packed lunch, consisting of a ham and turkey sandwich, banana, chips and apple juice?  They gave her Chicken McNuggets (hardly the epitome  of responsible nutrition) instead and billed the mother $1.25.  Is this government completely daft?  It would be laughable if it were not so sad.  Confuse a child, dis a mother, confiscate a perfectly good, lovingly packed lunch, …in the name of what? By what authority?  For what purpose?  We are a society of sheep, headed to the slaughter (we’ve already been sheared!).
        When I was in grade school, probably age ten or so, there was a rash of lunch filching (we all kept our lunch boxes or bags on shelves beneath which we hung our coats and caps).  It turned out that the culprit was a little crippled girl from a very large family, who was hungry every day.  I don’t remember exactly how the situation was resolved but she was well fed after that.  Feed hungry children, yes, by all means…but the police powers of the federal government poking its nose into their home packed lunch bags?  Give me a break!

2/17/12 A BAD DOG, AND A MYSTERY AT THE BEACH

BAD DOG!

HIND QUARTERS  OF A YOUNG DEER

WHAT PUT IT THERE? ...BEAR, BIG CAT, EAGLE?

Happy Birthday, Joan! The  years have been kind to you , and  you're still a good lookin' babe! 29 degrees, wind W, calm.  The sky is overcast and it is snowing big, fluffy flakes.  The barometer is trending up, however, and we probably will not have much accumulation.

        Buddy was a very bad dog yesterday!  He bolted out of the house at 11:30 AM and did not return (we looked all over) until 4:30PM, just in time to bark at the door for his dinner.  I fear that he is a runner, and is not bonding with us, but only with his food dish.  We will see. If he had run off like that in unfamiliar territory he would have been truly lost, and ldinner for the wolves.
        In the prospect of looking for Buddy we went to the beach, where we were greeted by a somewhat grizzly sight; the partially eaten hind quarters of a young deer hung high up on a broken tree trunk.  The snow in the area had melted so there were no obvious footprints of man or beast.  I saw this once before some years ago at the beach, but it was only a hind leg, not both hind quarters.  The stump is about six feet high and has a lot of frayed bark that may or may not be claw marks.  It could be the work of a bear, particularly because of the height of the stump and what appear to be claw marks.  Or, it might be the work of a bobcat or cougar, as either would be powerful enough to climb the stump with the trophy in its jaws.
        My best guess, however, is that it was placed there by an eagle large enough to lift the weight, and and put there to be out of the reach of smaller scavengers. Has anyone else seen anything like this, and have any theories?
        Commentary: Unfortunately, there is an analogy between the dog that only bonds with his food dish rather than with his owners,  and the citizen who only bonds with his food stamps rather than with his country.  I think it is both dog nature and human nature to do so.  Ingratitude and untrustworthiness are ingrained in both species, along with their better qualities.

2/16/12BODINS FISHERIES, AND SECRET NEGOTIATIONS

A LITTLE FISH TRUCK

A BIG FISH TRUCK

FISH PROCESSING LINE

WHERE'S THE SMOKED FISH?

BODINS WHARF

FRESH FISH ALL YEAR 'ROUND

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  36 degrees, wind SW, moderate.  The sky is clear except for a few puffy white clouds scudding across with the westerly winds.  There is some haze in the east over the Islands.  It is a very nice morning.
        Yesterday evening was the monthly Chamber of Commerce After Hours get-together, which was held at Bodins Fisheries on the lakefront.  Bodins is a fourth generation fishing business.  They have their own fleet of boats and are also processors for independent fishermen.  They process salmon, lake trout, whitefish and herring, sell retail at their plant, also wholesale to stores and restaurants throughout a wide area. There are fresh fish year-round except during the worst of the ice conditions. Commercial fishing is still a big business here.  It went through rough times in the later part of the Twentieth Century when the parasitic lamp ray devastated the lake trout populations, but the lamp ray is under good control and the commercial and sport fisheries are healthy once again.  Bayfield is a maritime community and depends upon fishing, sailing and the lake for much of its economy and most of its charm, and Bodins plays a large role in that scenario.
       Commentary: I see the Administration  is holding "secret" talks with the Taliban.  Can't be very secret if it is in the news.  This is like the lake trout negotiating with the lamp rays, and will be about as successful.

2/15/12 BUDDY, PUSSY WILLOW FLOWERS AND THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

Wednesday, 8:30 AM.  28 degrees, wind SW, calm.  The sky is overcast and it was somewhat foggy earlier, but the barometer is trending up.
        Buddy is leaning nicely to respond to his name, and to sit, stay, come, go home…and most important command of all, no.  We are pleased with his general deportment and pretty soon we will see how he does on the beach or down a woodland road off a lead.

BUDDY, STAY!

FOGGY  MORNING

PUSSY WILLOW LOWERS FULL OF POLLEN

    The pussy willow branches I brought into the house a week or so ago matured and began to drop, so out they went.  They were pretty while they lasted.  The photo shows the yellow stamens full of pollen.
        Comment: I cannot believe the President’s proposed budget; a1.3 T dollar deficit, on top of 5 T in deficits over his first  three years in office.  That these destructive deficits are being sold as necessary to keep the economy from returning to recession or worse is a most dangerous game..,I believe it is a shameful ploy to entrap as many Americans as possible into dependency upon a leftist federal government. If we don’t change our ways we won’t have to worry about foreign competition or enemies destroying us, we will have done it to ourselves.