SHINLEAF AND MAYFLIES

SHINLEAF IN FLOWER...

...DITTO

MAYFLY HATCH IN ASHLAND

Thursday, 9:00 AM.  70 degrees F, a bit cooler on the back porch.  The wind is variable and mostly calm.  The sky is clear with haze over the water.  The humidity is down to 70% and the barometer is down to 29.93".  It will be a nice summer day.  I have to mow the lawn and water plants before leaving tomorrow morning for Milwaukee and my 60th high school class reunion.
   We went food shopping in Washburn yesterday and the rapid increase of food prices has become painfully obvious.  Joan and I are certain that common food items have increased 30% in the last ten years.  We haven't seen this kind of inflation since the reign of that other infamous socialist, Jimmy Carter.  Inflation is nothing more than a purposeful, un-legislated "spread the wealth" tax, perpetrated by the US version of a monarchical central bank, the Federal Reserve.  As long as our country keeps printing fiat money that has no intrinsic value to pay out debts, we will have greater and greater inflation and a poorer and poorer debtor society.  Do we never learn?

   Shinleaf, Pyrola rotundifolia, one of the northwoods plants in the heath family (Ericaceae) is in bloom, this one found along the lake bluff south of Bayfield.  Several species of shin leaf inhabit dry northern woods, most are circumpolar in the northern hemisphere, and have long been used in folk and herbal medicine as astringents for the treatment of internal and external bleeding.  They are closely related to the aromatic, evergreen herbaceous plants commonly called wintergreens found in the same habitats. The minute, waxy, greenish-white flowers, borne on erect stems, are quite attractive.

   While getting gas in Ashland yesterday I noticed quite a hatch of Mayflies.  Probably should get out the flyrod.

THOR HAS BEEN BUSY WIELDING HIS HAMMER

THOR AND HIS HAMMER

LARGE WHITE PINE ON THE LAKESHORE...

...ITS TOP TURNED TO MATCHWOOD

BIG RED OAK ON HWY. 13...

....STRIPPED OF ITS BARK

Wednesday,  7:45 AM.  53 degrees F on the back porch, 57 at the ferry dock.The sky is clear with considerable morning fog over the water.  The humidity is 91% after getting a half inch of rain in a downpour yesterday evening.  The barometer has risen to 30.06" and we should have some nice weather the rest of the week.
   Thor, the ancient Norse god of thunder and lightning, has been busy wielding his hammer in the Bayfield area the last few days.  A big white pine just off of Chequamegon Road has been blasted, and the bark was exploded off of a large red oak along Hwy. 13 north of the Rez.  Amazingly, the branches are still full of green leaves (which will soon wither and die).
   Don't believe the old wives tale about lightening never striking in the same place twice: our well head in New York was struck numerous times in the twelve plus years we lived there.  Anyway, don't sit under the apple tree, or any other tree, during a thunderstorm.

SUMMERTIME, AND THE LIVIN' IS EASY (BUT IT AIN'T NECESSARILY CHEAP)

BAYFIELD CHERRIES

A BAYFIELD APPLE PIE

Tuesday,  8:00 A.M., 63 degrees F, wind W, light with some stronger gusts.  The sky has a high overcast and some rain clouds.  The humidity is 75% and the barometer stands at 30.03" but is beginning to head down.  We had a few sprinkles of rain last night and probably will get some more as the day goes on.
   Buddy is overjoyed to have the "lampshade" off.  The stitches were removed yesterday afternoon, and the wound seems to be healing O.K., although he won't leave it alone and licks it a lot. I have an all-day tree removal and trimming project to supervise today and so have no time to tarry.
   Bayfield cherries, both tart and sweet, are just now available.  The sweet cherry crop, mostly grown by Apple Hill Orchard on Hwy. J, was initially considered a complete loss by orchard owners Bill and Claudia Ferraro, but some of the buds on the sweet Lapins did not freeze last spring and the resulting crop is not large but is of excellent quality.  Last year they harvested 20,000 pounds and this year will sell about 5,000 pounds of sweet cherries.  Their Cavalier sweet cherries did not bear at all, and both varieties suffered some winter damage to the trees themselves but it was not major.  The Lapins are not as sweet as the Bing cherries  from Washington State currently at the markets, but they have a very refreshing, crisp flavor that I like very much.  At $4.00 per pound the local sweet cherries are twice as expensive as those from Washington but their freshness makes them very competitive.  The Ferarros reported that there were more honey bees this spring than last spring and that between rented and  wild local honey bees and other native bees there were plenty of pollinators to do the job.  They also said that it looks like there will be a bountiful apple crop this fall.
   On Sunday I ordered an apple pie from the Bayfield Sweet Shop and I picked it up to have for desert yesterday evening.  It is truly delicious but like the local cherries, somewhat pricey at $12.00. No matter really, for as much as I like my apple pie I only buy two or three in a year.  Anyway, pie, cheese, and a glass of milk made a fine, fast breakfast this morning.

COMMON MILKWEED AND MULLEIN ARE BLOOMING

COMMON MILKWEED...

...UMBEL OF FRAGRANT FLOWERS

COMMON MULLEIN FLOWER STALK...

MULLEIN PLANTS GROWING ALONG HWY. J

Monday, 8:00 AM.  62 degrees F, wind W, calm to at times moderately gusty.  The sky is mostly cloudy and overcast, but the humidity has dropped to 75%, while the barometer has peaked at 30.12".  It looks like it will be another cool day, but hopefully warmer than yesterday, which was almost frigid.  The globe may be warming somewhere, but not in Bayfield, Wisconsin.
   The common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, in the milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae) is now beginning to bloom.  Almost everyone knows this plant, with its milky, sticky sap and intensely fragrant blossoms.  The family and genus are named after the Greek god of medicine, Asclepias, because of the many folk remedies associated with these plants.     The common milkweed has long been used for pain relief, its leaves and stems for fiber and the down surrounding the seeds, called kapok, for stuffing pillows and life preservers.  But most Americans today mainly only recognize its ecological importance as the obligate host of the Monarch butterfly caterpillar.  It is a North American native, but Linnaeus, the father of scientific binomial nomenclature,  mistakenly believed it to be of Asian origin, hence its specific name, syriacus.
   The common mullein, Verbascum thapsis, in the figwort family, the Scrophulariaceae, is a favorite of mine, even though it is a field weed of European origin. The latin name is said to be that used by the ancients for the plant.  The golden yellow flowers, borne on long spikes, are a dominant feature of summer vacant fields and roadsides.  It is also called flannel plant for its broad, downy leaves. In England it is called "candles", which the plants do indeed resemble (some varieties actually looking like elaborate candelabras).
   In medieval times mullein flower stalks were dipped in tallow and used as ceremonial candles for various occasions, and were also said to ward off witches and evil spirits. The French-Canadian common name, Tabac du diable, translates to "devil's tobacco," and the dried leaves, smoked like tobacco, are said to relieve asthma and tubercular cough.  The mulleins have a long history in folk and herbal medicine for the relief of various ailments, and mullein oil is still used successfully for children's ear infections.  I always like to have a mullein plant growing somewhere in the garden, as the fuzzy leaves make an excellent poultice for cuts, bruises and minor infections.

CHEAP GASOLINE AND DRIVE-IN MOVIES

'68 CHEVY...MY FAVORITE OF THE SHOW...

73 BUICK HARDTOP, MIGHTY SHARP

A CLASSIC HOT ROD...

...DITTO

Sunday, 9:00 AM.  61 degrees F, wind variable and changing, with moderate gusts at times.  The sky is partly cloudy and we may get some morning showers after a trace of rain falling last night.  The humidity is 89% and the barometer is steady at 29.72".

   Yesterday was a classic summer day, too pleasantly warm to do much of anything useful, so in the afternoon we went to Washburn for the annual "Brownstone Days" celebration.  The only thing that really interested us was ice cream cones and the Car Show.  The former helped with the heat and the later stirred up a lot of memories.  

   Joan and I grew up back in the days when the automobile was the icon of youthful freedom, rebellion and (gasp) romance, and we both owned cars that we treasured and wish we had kept as we would be wealthy if we had.  

   Anyway, ample horsepower was always available for a quick thrill and a fast getaway from reality in those days of cheap gasoline and drive-in movies.

BAYFIELD'S RARE AND ENDANGERED AMERICAN CHESTNUT TREES ARE BLOOMING

LARGE NATIVE AMERICAN CHESTNUT TREE IN BLOOM...

HUGE OLD CHESTNUT ON 7TH AND MANYPENNY...

...WITH TRUNK CAVITY...

...NOTE CHARACTERISTIC RIDGED BARK

YOUNG CHESTNUT ON CORNER OF TENTH AND MANYPENNY...

...CHESTNUT FLOWERS...

...STAMINATE FLOWERS (FEMALE FLOWERS ARE VERY MINUTE)

Saturday, 7:30 AM.  68 degrees F on the back porch, 73 at the ferry dock. Wind SSW, light with a few moderate gusts.  The sky is clear with some haze over the water.  The humidity is down to 81% and the barometer is down from yesterday morning and is more or less steady now.  We may get some rain tonight and into tomorrow morning, which we need.

   We took Buddy to the vet yesterday afternoon and were informed that the stitches need to remain in place at least until Monday, necessitating keeping the "lampshade" over his head to keep him from licking the healing wound.  We were all disappointed, as this scenario is getting very old indeed, but we will be patient.

   We have reported before on Bayfield's rare,  remnant American Chestnut trees and shall do so again.  They are in full bloom at present, the earthy-smelling creamy white flowers adorning a number of trees, large and small.  A very large, double-trunked tree can be seen on the corner of 7th and Manypenny Ave., and a young tree, propagated and planted by former Bayfield volunteer forester Howard Larsen, is on the corner of Tenth and Manypenny.  The large tree pictured above is in a ravine on the grounds of Spring Hill B&B on Hwy. J just west of its junction with Hwy. 13, and is large enough to be seen in flower from the road.  There reportedly is a stand of chestnuts on the Apostle Highlands Golf Course further up the same ravine.

   American chestnuts, Castanea dentata, in the beech family (Fagaceae) were a dominant tree of the eastern deciduous forest until the invasive chestnut blight erupted a hundred years ago.  At that time one in four trees in that forest were American chestnut, and they rapidly became rare and endangered. The chestnut is valuable for its durable and beautiful wood, for its sweet, edible nuts and its ecological significance. The blight spreads readily by air and by vectors, including man, and at this point there is no known cure.  It is believed that the disease was inadvertently introduced from Asia, where the Chinese chestnut has developed natural immunity to it.  The disease causes bark cankers which kill the tree above the the canker.  Infected trees often sprout from the base of the tree so there are still chestnut trees to be found, but they are almost always diseased.  The Bayfield trees are not infected and that makes them an interesting and perhaps important rarity.  At this point I am not aware of anybody studying the Bayfield trees, or whether they are resistant to the disease or simply are isolated enough that they have never been infected.  I tried once to grow them from seed but was unsuccessful; I may try again, although I have never been good at plant propagation.

   Current efforts to develop resistant varieties of American chestnuts and also to combat the disease itself have been undertaken by the American Chestnut Society as well as various universities and other public entities, including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which monitors a large stand of the trees near LaCrosse, Wisconsin.  Bayfield is at the extreme northwestern edge of the original range of the American Chestnut, and the small number of trees here may have been a natural outlier population or may have been planted by homesteaders.  I doubt there is any way to accurately know their actual history.

   It occurs to me that a more intensive effort to propagate the Bayfield trees for use on boulevards, in parks and for ravine restoration would be an interesting and worthwhile project that might garner some support.

A CAMPFIRE PICNIC, AT LAST!

LOTS OF SMOKE TO KEEP THE MOSQUITOS AT BAY...

AND LOTS OF GOOD FOOD AND COMPANIONSHIP...

...AND DWARF CORNEL BERRIES TO BOOT!

Friday, 8:45 AM.  64 degrees F, wind variable, calm to light.  The sky is filled with rain clouds and we may get a thundershower like we had last night, and which gave us a trace of rain.  The humidity is 88% and the barometer has dropped to 29.81".
   After an all day trip to Duluth yesterday we were happy to go to the Larsen camp for a cookout, the first of this damp, mosquito plagued summer.  Larsen family, friends and neighbors gathered around the campfire and picnic table and we all had a great evening.  Except for Buddy, who had to stay at home with his "lampshade" on.  He missed out on a lot of fun with three other dogs but that's the way it goes.  I hope we can get his stitches taken out today or tomorrow.
   A bonus to the evening was finding lots of  ripening  dwarf cornel berries, AKA dwarf dogwood or bunch berry,  Cornus canadensis, growing along Blume Road.  Note the simple, entire (un-toothed) leaves that grow in a whorl, the characteristic leaf veins and the bunch of red berries. The berries are edible but not worth the trouble.
   This plant is very similar to the flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, of the south and northeast US, except for its diminutive size, no more than a foot tall.

YET ANOTHER RIPE BAYFIELD BERRY

THE JUNEBERRY TREE IN OUR GARDEN...

...IS ABSOLUTELY LOADED WITH FRUIT...

...BUT THE BERRIES DON'T ALL RIPEN AT THE SAME TIME...

...SO IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT TO PICK THEM IN QUANTITY

Thursday, 8:15 AM.  60 degrees F, wind SSW. very light.  The sky is clear with some haze in the east.  The humidity is 84% and the barometer is trending down somewhat but is still high, at 30.18".
   The Juneberries, Amelanchier canadensis, in the rose family, are loaded with fruit this year, and are ripe for the picking now.  We have a nice little tree at the back of the perennial garden and I may actually take the effort to pick enough to put on ice cream or cereal this year (jelly would be the better use but we are not likely to take the trouble).  The problem with the native Juneberries is that they pretty much ripen one at a time and it is time consuming to pick them.  That and the fact that as they ripen everything from chipmunks and every bird imaginable to the bears will be in the trees eating the ripe little apple-like berries.  Yesterday there was a beautiful Baltimore oriole flitting among the branches.  Bears can be particularly destructive, and can take down a small tree with one swipe of a paw to get at the fruit.
   Our little tree is an offspring of a large parent tree in the woods across the street that must be thirty-five or more feet in height.  I keep trimming the top branches of our tree so that it does not grow into our view of the lake.
   Juneberries have a rather mild, not overly sweet flavor, somewhat akin to that of an apple, but the pulp is soft, more like a blueberry.  The berry contains a few very small seeds that are eaten along with the pulp.  There are shrubby varieties of Amelanchier that can be efficiently grown as a row crop if the bushes are covered with netting when bearing fruit.  I used to see some Juneberries offered for sale by the local orchards but I don't think it is much of a cash crop, unless grown on a pretty large scale.  The berries are pleasant tasting to eat out of hand and jams and jellies could be a worthwhile sale item, as the bushes and trees bear quite heavily.

BROWNSTONE TRAIL PRAIRIE PLANTING AFTER TWO YEARS

PRAIRIES GRASSES AND WILDFLOWERS AT ENTRANCE TO BROWNSTONE TRAIL

COREOPSIS, MILFOIL AND BUTTERFLY WEED

LITTLE BLUESTEM GRASS

Wednesday, 8:30 AM.  60 degrees F, wind WSW, light with a few stronger gusts.  The sky is clear with some haze in the east.  The humidity is 88% and the barometer is trending up, currently at 30.22". It is a very pleasant morning.
    I cleaned all the weeds out of the rose hedge and lost enough hemoglobin in the process to donate to a blood drive.  I am debating putting a weed barrier cloth down with mulch on top of it but I am reluctant to do so for several unconvincing reasons.  I guess I am a masochist at heart.
   Two years ago I designed a new entrance to the very popular Bayfield Brownstone Trail, which starts at the boat launch on Fourth Street and Wilson Ave. and is managed by The Bayfield Regional Conservancy. It is a two mile trail to the south that follows an old railroad grade.  We wanted to use all native plants, and prairie species fit the bill.  Strictly speaking the prairie plant association does not extend this far north, but all these plants are native here in the Bayfield area, and technically are members of meadow, beach and barrens communities.  The plants were all grown locally from seed at Wildflower Woods Nursery in Washburn, and were planted under my direction by volunteers.
   The weather was already hot and dry when the planting was done but with plenty of water, mulching and weeding the planting established rapidly.  it is now a healthy, almost maintenance-free landscape, whether technically a "prairie" or not.  For  more detailed explanations of the project, use the blog search engine and enter Brownstone Trail.

SWEET THING

YOUNG LINDEN (AKA BASSWOOD) ALONG MANYPENNY AVE....

...FLOWERS, THE SWEETEST SCENTED OF ALL TEMPERATE ZONE TREES...

THE WINGED APENDAGE OF THE FLORETS

...LEAF SIMPLE, HEART SHAPED, TOOTHED

Tuesday, 8:45 AM.  70 degrees F, wind SSW, moderate with strong gusts; no day to be on the lake.  The sky is alternately sunny and filled with storm clouds, and likewise with anticipation.  We had a brutally hot and humid afternoon and evening yesterday, broken by a 2:00 AM thunderstorm and resultant scrambling to close doors and windows; it left .25" of rain in the gage, not much but something.  The morning is pleasant but very windy, and it should be a comfortable day.  The humidity has fallen to 82% and the barometer has bottomed out at 29.73" and is on the rise.
   The sweetest scented of all temperate zone tree flowers (in my opinion) are those of the linden, also called basswood in America.  A large basswood tree in flower will flood the area with a wonderful perfume and attract thousands of bees, and basswood honey is one of the best.
   The American linden, or basswood, Tilia americana, is a common tree native to the eastern deciduous forest, growing in association with sugar maple, red oak and yellow birch, among others.  The European linden, Tilia cordata, is quite similar but has much smaller leaves.  Both lindens make excellent street trees, being adaptable and relatively trouble free.  There are a number of other hardy species of Tila in the linden family (Tiliaceae), many of which make good landscape and street trees a little further south. 

MORE BAYFIELD BERRIES

BAYFIELD RASPBERRIES ARE RIPE!

STRAWBERREIS ARE STILL BEING PICKED AND ARE DELICIOUS

RED MULBERREIS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVEOP

Monday, 7:45 AM.  69 degrees F, wind SW, calm with occasional light gusts.  The sky is mostly clear but very hazy.  The humidity is 89% and the barometer is trending down slightly, currently at 29.84".  Today looks like it will be a virtual repeat of yesterday, hopefully leading to some rain showers tonight.  With the weather as warm as it has been,  newly planted trees and shrubs need either significant rainfall or watering.
   Rocky Acres Berry Farm has raspberries, we got some yesterday and they are wonderful.  Strawberries are still being picked, a bountiful and delicious crop this year, so much better than the huge California "pretenders" from the grocery store, which are O.K. until compared with the real thing.
   The mulberry tree at the edge of the woods across the street is loaded with berries this year.  They are still small and unripe.  I have gone back and forth over the years as to whether it is the native Morus rubra or the European M. alba.  The native is officially found only in the far south of the state,  and then but rarely, but neither the leaves nor the fruit look to me like alba, which I know well from living in Nebraska and Ohio.  Maybe it is a hybrid. In the past almost every farmstead had its mulberry tree, so who knows.  Anyway it bears heavily, and even though it blew over several years ago it continues to thrive.  It's a lot easier to reach the fruit now, although the neighborhood bears will get most of it.

GET OUT THE CANOE

YELLOW WATER LILY:MORE PROPERLY, SPATTERDOCK...

...IN A QUIET BACKWATER OF THE SIOUX RIVER

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  67 degrees F, wind SSW, calm with occasional light gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy with some haze.  The humidity is 85% the barometer 29.86", all virtually a repeat of yesterday.  It is a quiet, pleasant summer Sunday morning.

   Today is the 45th anniversary of Buzz Aldrich and Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.  I remember watching them on our little black and white TV back in Milwaukee while playing with our first child.  Today folks are more excited about LeBron James returning to Cleveland than astronauts returning to the moon and going on to Mars.  We once were leaders and accomplished great things.  Now we are bystanders, "leading from behind" while the world goes to hell.  It's time for a change!

   Yesterday we discussed the white water lily, Nyphaea oderata.  The native yellow water lily, Nelumbo lutea, is not actually a water lily but is more properly called spatterdock, or water chinquapin, or sometimes pond-nut (because of its edible seeds).  As can be seen from the photos, its flowers do not lay on the surface of the water as do the flowers of N. oderata.  Also, the petals do not spread out, and are not long-pointed.  There are a number of species of Nelumbo, and to be totally honest, I am totally confused as to which  grows where in Wisconsin. 

    In fact, I find all three of the species in the water lily family, the Nymphaceae (Nymphaea, Nelumbo and Nuphar) confusing, and the literature as well.  I shall feel free to change my mind on what's what as I hopefully learn more about them all.  One of the problems with water lilies, of course, is that you pretty much have to be in a canoe to get a good look at them.

WHITE WATER LILIES ARE BLOOMING

A QUIET POND...

...WITH WHITE WATER LILIES

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  65 degrees F, wind SW, light with occasional stronger gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy and hazy, the humidity 83% and the barometer trending down, now at 29.87".  We may get a shower this afternoon.
   Buddy is doing just fine, obviously feeling well,  running and playing and barking, hardly impeded at all by his "lampshade," which I take off when he eats or goes for a walk,  but if  he is not watched when it is off, he immediately licks his wound and nips at the stitches.
   In the last several days I have seen white water lilies, Nymphaea odorata, in the water lily family, blooming in several widely separated locations.  I think they are blooming a little late this year. The flowers are very fragrant,  opening in the morning, and last for several days.  The flowers float on the water, as do the leaves, which are round and have a conspicuous notch where the leaf is attached to the petiole.  The underside of the leaf is dark red or purple.
   Water lilies are emergent aquatic plants, growing in quiet, shallow water up to perhaps four or five feet in depth.  Another aquatic plant, spatter dock, Nelumbo lutea, is often called yellow water lily, but it is not in the same genus, which can be confusing.  More on that pond plant shortly, as soon it is in full bloom.

PROGRESSIVISM: A RADICAL, ALIEN AND DESTRUCTIVE FORCE

THE PENDULUM CLOCK

Friday, 8:00 AM.  60 degrees F, wind SSW, calm with light gusts  The sky is partly cloudy with some overcast but the sun is shinning through.  The humidity has risen to 88% and the barometer has peaked, now at 30.03".  It should be a nice day leading up to several days of unsettled weather.  Buddy is recovering nicely from his incident and is very happy to be home.  He still has to wear his "lampshade" another week at least, at which time the stitches will be taken out.
   I have lately done a lot of reading concerning the Progressive movement in our country, and since I have friends and acquaintances that at least nominally consider themselves Progressives, for what it is worth I present some analysis and personal opinion below.

PROGRESSIVES AND THE PENDULUM 

   Progressivism as we know it started as a turn of the 20th Century movement in the Republican party.  It's chief early Republican proponent was Theodore Roosevelt, although the movement began before his presidency, and there were many other well-known Progressives in politics on both the national and state levels. The principles of Progressivism are designed to enable pure democracy in government through eliminating or ignoring the United States Constitution, with its system of checks and balances,  and its concept of limited and divided government.  In this respect Progressivism is far more radical than Liberalism, which generally works within the bounds of the Constitution.
   TR was a dangerous president, always governing on the fringes of the Constitution and who tended toward populism, imperialism and even dictatorship.  He was succeeded by the liberal but far more cautious Republican, William Howard Taft, whom TR rejected as too conservative, running against Taft in 1912, and seeking a functional, and unprecedented, third term after having been out of office for four years.  TR split the Republican vote by founding his own Bull Moose Party, which ensured the election of another radical Progressive, the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson.
   The radical Progressives, disrespectful of the Constitution, have all tended towards populism, imperialism, socialism and war, and the movement founded in the Republican party subsequently found a long term home in the Democratic party with Wilson.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whom we can see in retrospect as an avowed radical, imperial, and socialist Progressive, was elected to four terms,  the first president since Washington to serve more than two terms.  Lyndon Johnson, a classic Progressive, championed not only civil rights (a very necessary advancement in American society) but also the Great Society with its proliferation of big government, huge deficits, intrusive federal agencies, and the Vietnam War.  In many ways Republican President George W. Bush brought progressivism back into the Republican Party through championing ill-advised wars and other foreign adventures, big government, radical economics and hapless nation building.
  President Barrack Obama has turned the Progressive movement even further to the left, towards an imperial and dictatorial populism, very much in the image of the late Cezar Chavez of Venezuela, ignoring or over-riding not only the Constitution but Congress, all representative government and the  rights and duties of the states as well.  His assault on the Constitution, and particularly the Bill of Rights, is unprecedented.
   Progressivism has brought us a plethora of changes, both good and bad.  The popular election of senators, women's suffrage, anti-trust legislation, civil rights and the war on poverty, and the progressive income tax, all were arguably legitimate undertakings in their time; but it has brought us as well the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II,  and the Vietnam, Iraq,  and Afghan wars.  America may have been destined to be dragged into some of those conflicts, but it is significant that they all occurred under Progressive presidents, and half of them without a declaration of war by Congress.
   Well-meaning Progressivism has led to wars and other foreign adventures that end badly; to imperialism,  to out of control and intrusive government, to overwhelming national debt and, ultimately, crippling inflation and the loss of individual liberty and prosperity.
   If one likens our government and its constitution to a pendulum clock, Progressivism is like a naive tinker who destroys the pendulum, the action of which regulates the measured, predictable advance of the hands of the clock; and without it the delicate mechanism of springs and wheels and cogs runs amuck and the clock can no longer perform a useful function.
   Without the regulating pendulum of the Constitution, with its checks and balances, democracy runs amuck and the government cannot perform its necessary functions.  When that happens we will no longer be a republic nor even a democracy, but a dangerous and useless mob, controllable only by the iron fist of a dictator, one of which is always waiting in the wings (think "The dictatorship of the proletariat,'" or "National Socialism").  One need only look to history and current events to affirm this prediction.
   At best, true Progressives are well-meaning tinkerers who do not understand the mechanics of constitutional government and will destroy it and our civil society with their dangerous meddling. At worst they are communists and fascists hell-bent on the destruction of the United States of America and all it stands for.
   Liberal and conservative concepts and actions, working within the constraints of the the pendulum of the Constitution,  have balanced each other in the course of our history and led to measured,  unprecedented social progress.
   True Progressivism is a radical, alien and destructive force.

A VISIT TO THE ROBERT W MONK PUBLIC GARDENS IN WAUSAU, WISCONSIN

AN EMERGING WASAUA, WISCONSIN GARDEN...

...WITH A COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN

ENTRANCE  KIOSK AND STORAGE SHED

MEMORIAL GARDEN AND PLAZA

FIRST ELEMENTS OF A MEDITATION GARDEN

TREE HOUSES 

Thursday, 8:30 AM.  62 degrees, wind SW, light.  The sky is clear, the humidity is 84% and the barometer stands at 30.0".  We are in for some more nice weather.
   We got back too late to pick Buddy up from the vet's kennel in Ashland yesterday, so I am off to get him shortly; we are anxious to see how he is.
   The trip to Wausau and tour of the developing Robert W. Monk Public Gardens was very interesting and worthwhile.  It is a fast growing cultural institution in a vibrant Central Wisconsin community.  It was begun some years ago by Robert W. Monk III, a prominent local businessman, whose dream was to create a public garden for Wausau residents and visitors.  He donated twenty acres for the garden, which has some features he personally developed.
   The gardens were incorporated a decade ago, its mission statement being, "To promote an understanding of the aesthetic, economic, and ecological role of plants."  The site has a large pond, pine  plantations and other forest trees, a new system of walkways, several recently developed gardens and a wonderful tree house complex located in a wooded area.  Several new garden features, including a vegetable garden and potager will be added this year, and major infrastructure projects have just been completed.  A comprehensive professional master plan has been developed to guide future expansion.  At this point the garden is run by volunteers, with a small summer staff paid for through grants.  Children's education will be a major future program, complete with a children's garden.
   While we were touring the grounds there was a constant flow of visitors, mainly families with children but tourists as well, the later who were able to find the gardens in spite of a lack of off-site signage.    For further information on the gardens, go to www.rwmonkgardens.org.
   Even in its still embryonic state this garden is worth a visit, and in particular to see how a public garden can  grow from a dream to a major community resource.