IT TAKES A REAL WINTER TO FREEZE THE BIG LAKE

VIEW OF OPEN WATER OF LAKE SUPERIOR FROM THE DULUTH BRIDGE

A THOUSAND FOOTER WAITING FOR THE SHIPPING SEASON TO BEGIN

Friday,  8:30 AM,  -10 degrees F, wind SSW, calm at present.  The sky is cloudless.  The humidity is 75% and the barometer is up, now at 30.17".  Buddy and I had a good walk this morning, neither of us the worse for the cold.  We are getting used to it, I guess.  Don't forget the Apostle Islands Dog Sled Races, tomorrow and Sunday.  Go the the Bayfield Chamber web site above for details.
   We picked up our 1/4 Angus beef last evening and I have to sort it out and get it in the freezer this morning.  Grass fed, no antibiotics, all organic.  The Robertson's raised five beef cattle this year and will raise one or two more this year.  They make enough for it to be worthwhile,  and we get a delicious, healthy source of protein at a very moderate cost.
   We had a good trip to Duluth yesterday despite some unexpectedly bad road conditions on Hy. 2 in the morning.  The above photos of the Duluth/Superior harbor from the high bridge show the endless expanse of open water on the Big Lake, with Minnesota's North Shore and Canada beyond.  It takes a real winter to freeze the lake over, and even this one hasn't done it as yet.  The harbor is full of huge ore and grain boats undergoing maintenance and waiting for the shipping season to begin.  If you  are interested in Great Lakes shipping and the big boats, go to Boatnerd.Com, where you can track every boat, what its cargo is and where it is going.

XCEL ENERGY'S BAYFRONT PLANT IN ASHLAND, WISCONSIN

YESTERDAY'S GLORIOUS, THOUGH  COLD, MORNING

NEW CONSTRUCTION AT XCEL ENERGY'S BAYFRONT PLANT IN ASHLAND

Thursday,  9:30 AM.  15 degrees F, wind E, calm to very light.  the sky is again completely overcast, the sun not to be seen, in stark contrast to yesterday morning's glorious sunshine,  The humidity is 65% and the barometer is trending down, at 29.67".  An few errant flakes of snow are falling.
   We have a busy day, as I have a doctor's appointment in Duluth (two hour trip each way) and an evening event in Ashland. Among other things, we are picking up our one-quarter of grass fed, organic Angus beef.  More about all of this another time.
   For the last several months I have been watching with great interest construction taking place at Xcel Energy's Bayfront  power plant in Ashland.  This is a coal fired plant that also burns biomass (mostly forestry waste but also old tires, railroad ties etc.)  This is an important facility from an environmental standpoint, particularly in the Northland, since it uses waste wood that can't currently be utilized in any other way.  The company published a study on the potential for biomass utilization at the Ashland plant in 2007, which is available on their web site.
   Xcel Energy announced several years ago that it would expand its Ashland biomass use by building a fourth unit, which would make it the largest biomass user in the United States, but then cancelled the project.  But it looks to me like it is going ahead with the new construction.  I have tried to verify this but so far have not been successful. I will redouble my efforts, and report further on this very interesting  subject.

WHISTLING PAST THE JUNKYARD

LOOKS PRETTY, BUT WILL IT GET VERY FAR?

Wednesday, 9:00 AM.  -6 degrees F at the City Dock, -3 on the back porch.  The wind is calm and the sky is blue.  The humidity is 75% and the barometer is down, now at 29.97".  Buddy didn't need his jacket this morning and we had a fine walk, it is a beautiful winter day.
   I watched the President's State of the Union speech last night, which was the usual hour and a bit longer, but seemed interminable.  At least Vice President Biden somehow managed to stay awake this time.  Blah, blah, blah, on and on...filed with inflated rhetoric and old ideas, most of which haven't worked.
   It reminded me of when I was a young fellow and couldn't afford anything but clunker cars, and would go to the junk yard periodically to find replacement parts to keep the old vehicle running, and just as importantly, to find ways to spruce up its appearance.  I would scour the rows of junk cars for a fancier shift lever knob, or shinier hub caps.  I couldn't afford anything better but I could spend a few bucks to gussy it up a bit.  I may have thought the old rattle-trap looked good, but but it didn't impress the girls.
   So the President's speech was like a clunker resurrected from the junk yard (we did that too, but it was hard to get a title and a valid license for it).  I don't expect his recycled ideas will get very far down the road.

TWO LARCHES

TAMARACK LAST FALL

AMERICAN LARCH, OR TAMARACK

CONES WITHOUT STALKS

JAPANESE LARCH

CONES (MUCH LARGER, STALKED)

Tuesday, 9:00 AM.  -12 degrees F, and warmer than earlier.   The sun is shining brightly and the sky is mostly blue, but there is a constant, biting SW wind.  The humidity is down to 69% and the barometer is steady, at 30.25".  Buddy and I are actually getting used to the frigid weather.

   We had our monthly Tree Board meeting at City Hall yesterday morning and all eight members were in attendance, something of a rarity. I think everyone has cabin fever and jumps at the opportunity to get out of the house.

   The larches are large, deciduous conifers of far northern regions.  The American larch, or tamarack, Larix laricina, is native to much of Canada north to the Arctic, and northeastern US and the Great Lakes states.  It inhabits boggy areas but also is found on drier sites and at high elevations.  It has glorious fall coloration.  In growth habit it is a broadly pyramidal tree of medium  height. We have several in our yard, including the top photograph.  It is a favorite tree of mine and unfortunately will probably grow too large for its setting.

   The European species, Larix decidua, is native to northern and central Europe, principally in the Alps, and is an important timber tree.
   The Japanese larch, Larix kaempferi (synonym leptolepis) is native to the mountains of Japan and is a beautiful tree in shape and seasonal color. Pictured is one in a neighbors yard (it is obviously hardy in Bayfield) it has a more pyramidal and formal shape than our native tamarack and grows somewhat larger.  I may have misidentified this tree as a European larch in a past post, but I am sure its larger, stalked old cones identify it as the Japanese species.
   I particularly like the deciduous aspect of the larches, as they are an interesting contrast to other trees, both conifers and deciduous, in the winter, and their soft blue green summer foliage that turns to gold in the fall stands out in the landscape.
 

HE'D EVEN GET MY VOTE

YESTERDAY'S SNOWSTORM (the same today)...

...FOG, HAZE, AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS

Monday,  9:00 AM.  -13 degrees F, wind NW, light with strong gusts.  The atmosphere is filled with fog, haze and blowing snow, but it will probably clear eventually.  The humidity is down to 77%, and the barometer is up sharply, to 30.25".  We got several more inches of snow last night, and it has
snowed at least eight inches in the last twenty-four hours.  It just keeps piling up, and up.
   The Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare, isn't working out too well.  Even so, I suggest that the President introduce a new program in his upcoming State of the Union speech; the Affordable Glacier Insurance Act.  Tens of millions of grateful Americans, fearful now of an impending Ice Age and its disastrous economic effects, would become an instantaneous new political constituency for the Democratic Party. After all, health insurance becomes an insignificant issue when compared to a mile-high glacier advancing southward from Ontario.  The President could call it Obamafreeze.  He'd even get my vote.

STAYING HOME

VIEW OF LOWER CHEQUAMEGON BAY AT SUNSET

Sunday,  9:30 AM.  2 degrees F, wind W, calm to light.  The sky is overcast, it is hazy and foggy and snow continues to fall, in addition to the several inches already scraped from the driveway.  The humidity has risen to 84% and the barometer is trending down, now at 29.44".
   I stopped by the Mount Ashwabay ski hill yesterday afternoon about four PM and found the usually busy place virtually deserted.  Then the same at the Washburn IGA.  Everyone seems to be staying out of the deepening cold and home by the TV and the fireplace.

THE KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE

THURSDAY'S SUNSET

KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE IN ASHLAND

FRUIT (BEAN POD)

DOUBLE-COMPOUND PINNATE LEAF

Saturday,  9:00 AM.  1 degree F, wind NW, moderate with stronger gusts.  It is overcast and  foggy, with blowing snow and freezing haze.  An anemic sun is struggling  to assert itself.  The humidity is down at 70%, and the barometer steady at 29.78".
   It snowed off and on all day yesterday, the temperature in the mid-twenties, rendering the roads very slick and treacherous, the snow plows nowhere to be seen.  We had appointments in Ashland and Hwy. 13 was dangerous both directions.  One's only defense is to drive slowly and cautiously, which most drivers seemed to doing.
   I saw this young Kentucky Coffee Tree, Gymnocladus dioicus, in Ashland in a park on 6th Ave. West.  The large dried fruits hanging on the tree caught my eye from a distance, the tree being in the pea family, the Leguminosae. There are only two species in the genus, ours and one in China.  The genus is in the bean sub-family, the Fabaceae. The Kentucky Coffee Tree species has separate male and female trees, only the female, of course, bearing fruit.  It is native to the lower Midwest but it is quite hardy north and makes a good street tree, as it has strong wood and few pests or diseases, although its pods and leaf parts may be considered messy.  Its doubly compound leaves are the largest of any American tree species, and, having few branchlets, it stands out rather starkly in in its winter nakedness.  The craggy bark is quite decorative, and the whole tree has something of an "ugly-duckling" appeal.
   The common name refers to the use by early settlers of the dried beans as a coffee substitute, but beware, they are somewhat poisonous if not properly prepared.  Native Americans used the poison derived from the beans to stun fish so they could be netted.  The beans have a squarish shape and it is said they were used by Indians like dice in games of chance and were also used in games by settlers' children.  It used to be said that the tree marked the location an old Indian encampment, having grown from a seed used in a game;  but I have no idea whether this supposition is valid.
   The species, a member of the Eastern Deciduous Forest biome, is not common; neither is it endangered.  I personally have not seen it in the wild.  It has become rather popular in recent years and is somewhat difficult to obtain from nurseries.

COLD, BUT NOT THAT COLD

THE FIRST LADY...

...JANE FONDA IN HANOI, 1972,  ADORINGLY APPLAUDING VIET CONG TROOPS

Friday, 9:00 AM.  15 degrees F, wind SW, moderate with gusts.  The sky is covered with a low overcast, and the sun has not yet made an appearance.  The humidity is up to 84% and the barometer is down to 29.66".  We got a couple of inches of snow last night.  It looks like we are entrenched in the frigid-warming-snow-frigid cycle.
   The First Lady said in an interview yesterday that she admires the actress Jane Fonda. Her admiration seems to be mostly for Hanoi Jane's physical appearance at her advancing age, but couldn't she have picked a better role model?  Many Americans old enough to remember Fonda's traitorous actions during the Vietnam War, when she gave aid and comfort to the enemy even while American prisoners were held captive and being tortured in the Hanoi Hilton, will be troubled and insulted by Michelle Obama's misguided adulation.  We are owed an explanation and an apology by Mrs. Obama.
   I have said for forty-five years that it would be a cold day in hell when I forgave Jane Fonda for her actions during the Vietnam War.
  It has been beastly cold, but not that cold.

A NEW RISK ON THE ICE ROAD

ADD A NEW RISK...

...GETTING LOST IN THE FOG

MOUNT WASHINGTON...NOPE, NOT ME, BUT THAT'S THE HIKING TRAIL

VIEW FROM TOP OF MOUNT WASHINGTON

Thursday,  9:00 AM. -4 degrees F, wind N, light with some stronger gusts.  The sky is mostly blue, and the dense fog over the channel is being dissipated by a determined sun.  There are several inches of new snow waiting to be scraped from the driveway.
   Yesterday was truly a day when one wished to stay inside...perhaps joining the bears in hibernation. Cold, fog, biting wind and blowing snow.  I had all I could do to force myself out with Buddy for an afternoon walk.
   I watched traffic on the Ice Road for a moment in the morning and the fog and blowing snow seemed to me to create the hazard of getting lost out there, even with the Christmas tree markers and the ridges of plowed snow.
   The scenario brought back memories of a hike to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire many years ago while helping to host a group of visiting Soviet scientists. The popular trail is marked at intervals with tall rock cairns to keep hikers from getting lost in blizzard and fog.
   Four hikers to the top of the mountain were rescued last Sunday after they got lost in bad weather and missed a critical junction on the trail.  At over 6,000 feet in height, Mount Washington is the highest peak in the eastern half of North America, and is notorious for its hurricane force winds and rapidly changing weather conditions.
   I read today that the southern portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline is now completed from Oklahoma through Texas to the Gulf, and flowing with oil from various sources.  I predict the entire pipeline is going to be substantially  built within the US despite the Obama Administration obstructionism.  It will join the web of existing pipelines that already criss-cross the United States, awaiting only the cross US /Canada border portions for completion to the Canadian oil deposits.  In the end it will be far safer and more economical than the transportation of crude oil by rail and truck as is necessary presently from many oil fields, such as the Bakken in South Dakota.  The only thing the Administration will have accomplished will be to have made the entire undertaking  far more costly in money and diplomacy than was necessary.

MAYBE BY THE FOURTH OF JULY

THE ISLAND QUEEN

HOW ABUT THE SUNSET CRUISE?

MAYBE THE FOURTH OF JULY

Wednesday, 8:45 AM.  0 degrees F, wind NNW, light to moderate with strong gusts.  The sky is overcast and there was heavy fog earlier, which has lifted somewhat.  We have an inch or two of new snow.  The humidity is 78% and the barometer is trending down, currently at 30.03".  With no sun and a biting wind, this morning's walk seemed colder than yesterday's -14  degrees F.  There may be global "disruption," but there sure isn't any Global Warming in these parts.
   The traffic is moving nicely on the Ice Road, while the cruise boat Island Queen lies frozen in ice at the dock.  The sign above seems optimistic; maybe by the Fourth of July.

SLED DOG RACES, BEAN BAG, AND SHAKESPEARE

Tuesday, 8:30 AM.  -14 degrees F, wind SW, calm to light with occasional gusts.  The sky is clearing, and mostly brightly sunny.  The humidity is down, at 79%, and the barometer is trending high, currently at 30.45".  Buddy (with his jacket on)  and I took our usual walk and it was quite pleasant without any appreciable wind, but I need a better thermometer, as the cheap instrument I have only registers down to -10 degrees F.
   It's below zero with plenty of snow in the Northland; great conditions for dog sled races!  The 374 mile annual Bear Grease Race starts Sunday in Duluth, and the Apostle Islands races will soon follow, on January 31st through February 2nd.   The Bayfield races are very friendly for both viewing and volunteering and are a lot of fun.  Click on the Bayfield Chamber site above for more information. Come if you can!
   New Jersey Republican Governor Christy is getting really beat up over Bridgegate and other related supposed political bullying.  I am not a great Christy fan, but frankly it sounds like typical big city politics to me, with the pot calling the kettle black and vice-versa. It is becoming increasingly nasty all the way around.
   As New York City's Tammany Hall Boss Tweed famously said over a century ago, "Politics ain't bean bag."  But neither should it be character assassination and perjury.   As the dying Mercutio said in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, "A plague on both your houses!"

APOSTLE ISLANDS ICE CAVES ARE OPEN ...DON'T FORGET YOUR CAMERA!

HEAVY FOG AND BLOWING SNOW EARLY THIS MORNING

ENTRANCE TO ONE OF MEYERS BEACH ICE CAVES

...DITTO (That's Your's Truly)

SEA CAVES LIVE WEBCAM :  wavesatseacaves.cee.wisc.edu

Monday,  9:30 AM.  4 degrees F, wind NNE, moderate with strong gusts.  The sky was overcast and filled with fog and blowing snow earlier but the sun is shining at present and there has been some clearing.  We got another five or so inches of snow last night.  We are heading into another frigid cycle.
   The Apostle Islands Ice Caves (accessible from the Park Service Meyers Beach entrance on State Hwy. 13) are officially open, for the first time since the winter of 2009.  These photos were taken on  2/02/2009, when neighbor Eric and I hiked out to them from Meyers Beach. At that time it was not a difficult hike, although slippery in many places.  I am not likely to do that now, six years later, unless I have a similarly good companion.  We will see, as there will be plenty of time this frigid winter to do so.
   The caves are undeniably beautiful in their icy winter attire, so go if you can, by all means.  Use Yak Traks or cleated snow shoes, and ski poles for traction and stability.  A typical hike will  be about three miles round trip on the ice.  There are many caves to explore, so be sure to go beyond the first you come to.  Watch the weather and dress appropriately. Don't forget your camera!
   For an full account of that hike and other information use  the entry "Ice Caves" to search prior blogs.  For day to day information on conditions for getting to the caves, go to the Bayfield Chamber web site above, or to the Apostle Islands National Lake Shore web site.

"OFF THE ROAD AGAIN"

OOPS!...

...MAYBE IF WE ALL PULL ON THE ROPE REAL HARD...

...GUESS THE SIGN MEANT WHAT IT SAID!

Sunday,  9:00 AM.  26 degrees F, wind WNW, light.  The sky has a high overcast, the humidity is 85% and the barometer is trending down some, at 29.58".

   The ice road is open,  there seems to be a lot of traffic on it, and I think the wind sled has stopped running.  The plowed ice road is pretty obvious, and is lined with last year's Christmas trees as markers, but the "Travel At Your Own Risk" sign says a lot, if it doesn't say it all.  

   The truck that has partially fallen through the ice was evidently traveling at night and may not have gotten onto the ice road proper at all, from the looks of it, as it went through not far off  the ferry boat dock. Neighbor Sherman responded to a fire-rescue call earlier in the morning but it was cancelled because no one was injured or in danger. I took the photo about 10:00 AM, and the truck was not there when I returned at 2:30 PM.  It was either successfully retrieved, or it sunk.  I think I hear Willie Nelson singing, "Off The Road Again."

A COMMUNITY TRAGEDY

YESTERDAY'S SUNSET

Saturday,  8:45 AM.  -3 degrees, wind calm.  The sky is partly sunny and clearing.The humidity is 82% and the barometer is trending up, now at 29.92".
   Tragedy struck the Bayfield community this past week.  On Tuesday, Justine Ringberg, the charming girl across the street whom we have watched grow up, was killed in a car accident on her way back to college in Beloit, Wisconsin after being home in Bayfield.  A good friend and fellow student from New York died in the same accident,  and a young man driving the other vehicle was killed as well.  All were 22 years old.  Bad road conditions were blamed for the accident.
   Loosing a child is a parent's worst nightmare,  and our hearts  go out to Gordon and Mary, and to Justine's sisters. They are in our prayers.
   Small towns have their tragedies, just like big ones, and we only heard about this one from neighbors Jane and Sherman Edwards yesterday evening, having missed the news in the Ashland Daily Press.

GOING, GOING...GONE?

GET OUT THE SKIS...

WE'RE BURIED! ...

RIVER BIRCH FULL OF GOLDFINCHES...

...DITTO

PILEATED WOODPECKER ON TELEPHONE POLE

FEMALE DOWNY WOODPECKER ON  SUET BLOCK

Friday,  10:00 AM.  14 degrees F, wind NNE, light with moderate gusts.  The sky is cloudy and overcast but the sun is struggling through and it is a very pretty day with all the new snow.  The humidity is 82% and the barometer is trending up, now at 30.02". Yesterday was a blustery day, with an accumulation of about six inches of snow, and then we had a surprise of another 8' to 12" overnight, so we are buried! Neighbor Jon surprised me as well, as he plowed the driveway while I was walking the dog. The day is starting out very well indeed.
   This morning there were at least one hundred goldfinches in the river birch on the corner of Ninth and Old Military Road.  I think I heard them discussing where to go for breakfast; "We'll go to the Ode's, the rest of you go to the Edwards,"or something like that.
   The pileated  woodpeckers are really active, even bold.  There were two on this telephone pole on Tenth and Wilson, but when one was visible the other never was.  The little guys, the downies, have been at the suet block on the back porch, both males and females.
 " Going, going..." the Canadian Prime Minister has voiced his frustration with the Obama Administration's foot-dragging on the Keystone Pipeline for perhaps the last time.  He issued a final warning that a pipeline will be built instead to the Pacific and the oil shipped to China if we do not get our act together.  We are no longer a serious nation, friends, and deserve the diminished, insecure future that awaits us if we do not wake up.
   And if we do finally wake up, the citizens of Connecticut, at least, will find their Second Amendment rights diminished as well, as gun owners in that state are at this moment standing in line to register their firearms; a bold first step towards gun confiscation, which is inevitably followed by the dictator's jackboot on the neck of the disarmed citizen. As Connecticut tiptoes down the path to serfdom,  the Obama Administration watches,  gleefully.  "Going, going..." Gone?

A FEW SIMPLE ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATIONS

LOOKS LIKE GOOD FISHING OFF THE MOUTH OF THE SIOUX RIVER

MOURNING DOVE...SURVIVING THE WINTER WELL

Thursday,  9:00 AM.  22 degrees F, wind W, light.  The sky is overcast with snow clouds and it has been snowing, dime-sided flakes drifting straight down.  The humidity is up to 93% and the barometer is down, to 29.34".  I shoveled three inches of fluffy snow from the drive after walking our usual route with Buddy.  It was a nice walk on soft new snow, the morning really quite beautiful, with a lot of bird activity.
   I am tired of the dismal news and all the politics, so today I will report a few simple environmental observations.
   I drove down Friendly Valley Road to the beach yesterday late afternoon, and two young guys were coming off the ice after fishing out a ways from the mouth of the Sioux River.  They had a nice catch of brown trout.  Nothing better in the pan when fresh out of the icy water, believe me.
  Driving to Ashland and back yesterday afternoon, I saw a large deer, killed on Hwy. 13. This happened between 2:15 and 4:15 PM, an odd time and place.  This is the first deer I have seen, alive or dead, since the end of deer season last November.  Deer are few and far between in the north woods, and this brutal winter is not helping.
   There has been a lot of activity at the bird feeder, and this mourning dove looks fat and happy.  I have been seeing and hearing piliated woodpeckers in the neighborhood, drumming on trees and telephone poles and calling raucously to one another.

LIFE ON THE EDGE

LIFE ON THE EDGE...

..OR, ON THE BRINK

...LOOKS LIKE THE WIND SLED WILL BE IN SERVICE A WHILE LONGER

Wednesday, 8:30 AM.  9 degrees F, wind WSW, very light.  The sky is again overcast, the humidity is 80% and the barometer is trending up, now at 30.09".  With little or no wind, our walk this morning was quite pleasant and comfortable, but some sun would be nice.
   There is a lot of unsafe ice on the channel and it looks like the Ice Road won't open for a while, and that the wind sled will keep running.  There is a pretty large patch of open water some distance off the Ice Road landing.  The pickup truck in the photo looks precarious to me, but then what do I know?  Only that mine wouldn't be there.
  I don't know if something went through the ice out there or if there's just a lot of debris floating around; even with field glasses I couldn't determine what had gone on.  Even the wind sled, although it is amphibious, seems to be picking its way pretty carefully across the ice to get to the landing.
  Come to think about it, the scene is rather analogous to life these days; precarious, with all of us living on the edge of things ill-defined but potentially very dangerous.  Debt, unemployment, dissension, unrest, oppression at home and abroad... wars and the rumors of wars...ominous signs are everywhere about us, and we are palpably worried about the futures of our children and grandchildren.

A DANGEROUS SILVER MAPLE TREE

SILVER MAPLE ON S. 6TH ST.

...LADRGE SPLIT IN TRUNK...

...OBVIOUSLY WIDENING

Tuesday,  8:30 AM.  18 degrees F, wind NNE, moderate.The sky is again overcast, and the humidity is down a bit at  82%.  The barometer is up some, at 29.86".  It is much colder today, and the wind has a chill to it.
   The silver maple (Acer saccharinum) is a fast growing and very ecologically adaptable maple tree native to much of eastern and southern  North America, and much planted beyond its native range. It can grow very large, and has a more open shape and branching pattern than the sugar or red maple. The underside of the leaves are whitish or silvery, and they are more distinctly and deeper lobed than those of the sugar maple (Acer saccharum).  It is a popular landscape tree because of its very fast growth, but it is also very weak wooded and it is best not to plant it where it may cause damage at maturity.  Since in nature it is a bottom-land and stream-side tree, it is also notorious for damage caused to sewer pipes and building foundations by its moisture seeking roots.  It is really suitable only for use in wildlife and conservation planting, far from structures and roads.  Most cities, including Bayfield, have an ordinance prohibiting the planting of silver maples, even on private property, but it is difficult if not impossible to enforce.
   Silver maples can attain very large size and become very dangerous with age, as evidenced by the above tree located in a front yard on South Sixth Street in Bayfield.  By the time a tree reaches this size it is very expensive to remove and homeowners are often reluctant to spend the money to take it down. This tree will have to be taken down in pieces, and traffic on this busy road will have to be halted or diverted.
  As obviously dangerous as this tree is, it is impossible to predict when the right wind or ice and snow conditions will occur that will cause it to fall or shed major branches. This tree has obviously existed in a precarious state for many years, hanging over house and road like the Sword of Damacles...but one day it will crash and likely do great damage to property or life. It should be removed as soon as possible.

BLACK WILLOWS, AND MANIFEST DESTINY

WINTER'S BURDEN...

 ...SNOW-LADEN BLACK WILLOWS

MAN OF DESTINY

Monday,  8:30 AM.  30 degrees F, wind WNW, light with occasional stronger gusts.  The sky has a leaden overcast.  The humidity is down some, to 78%, and the barometer is trending up a bit, to 29.54".
   The massive branches of the old black willows along the road in the woods on South Ninth Street are heavy laden with the winter's snow, fitting objects to put one's mind in a serious mode  on a mid-winter's morning.
   I have just finish reading A Country of Vast Designs, by Robert W. Merry (Simon and Schuster, 2009), a biography of President James K Polk's years as president. An excellent if lengthy read, it chronicles the amazing history of the annexation of Texas into the United States and the subsequent Mexican American War, the resulting acquisition by the US  of New Mexico and California, and the virtually simultaneous acquiring of Oregon Territory from Great Britain by the United States.
  This incredible, short period of western expansion and the precursive concept of Manifest Destiny is usually hurriedly glossed over in the history books because it is confusing in its enormity and questionable in its morality (Mexico usually being depicted as a weak and unworthy adversary taken advantage of by the expanding American empire...an overly simplistic analysis).  This history gives full credit, or places full blame, take your choice, on the stubborn patriotism of an overlooked and mostly misunderstood American president.  I for one had never before really appreciated how assiduously Polk carried out the policies and designs of his mentor Andrew Jackson, whose expansionist philosophies were almost as directly descended from Thomas Jefferson.
   Along with a much greater appreciation for the history of America's amazing growth during the years leading up to the Civil War, I derived a much clearer sense of the reluctance of the American character to engage in offensive war, and the political costs of such wars.  Presidents who, justified or not, involve the nation in what may be considered less-than-necessary war do not fare well  historically.  In fact, I think it hard to find much historical enthusiasm for any of the nation's wars except for the Revolution itself and World War II.
   What one does come to realize is that most of our wars, even if unpopular and unjustified, seem to be historical imperatives;  they were bound to happen, sooner or later.  Such was the Civil War; the very expansionism of Manifest Destiny made the clash between the slave and free states manifestly inevitable.
   But, here we are, a colossal nation, a free and democratic republic spanning a continent and dominating the world, the end result of inexorable forces put in play hundreds of years past which are still propelling us into a largely unknown future.  The genius of Jefferson, Polk, Jackson...continuing on to Lincoln and beyond.. is that these rare leaders could not only glimpse the future, they understood their role in fostering it.   They did not "lead from behind."