DOWNTOWN BAYFIELD:ALL DRESSED UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS

RITTENHOUSE AVENUE DECORATED FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Wednesday, 8:30 AM.  37 degrees F at the ferry dock, 32 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm at present, humidity 87%.  The sky is overcast and cloudy, the barometer 29.55" and steady for now, predicting overcast skies, cooler temperatures and snow for much of the next ten days.  We've been lucky not to have to shovel much snow as yet but that will change soon.   We could sure use some sunlshine, before we forget what it looks like.  We're beginning to feel like Seattle. 

   Downtown Bayfield isn't very large, only a few city blocks, but the street lamps are nicely decorated again this year with real balsam fir ropes and wreathes, and white lights.  As more homes and businesses become decorated we will post more Holiday photos.

RAINDROPS AND COW FARTS

"DON'T KNOW WHY..THERE'S NO SUN UP IN THE SKY...STORMY WEATHER"

FOR THE LAST TIME, JUNIOR, STOP BLOWING BUBBLES...YOU'RE GIVING ME GAS!"

Tuesday, 8:15 AM.  39 degrees F at the ferry dock, 35 on the back porch.  Wind W, calm with occasional light gusts.  The sky is overcast and cloudy, the humidity 87%.  The barometer is falling, now at 29.16".  The week ahead should be cloudy and cooler, with a mix of rain and snow showers.  The dismal weather continues, like a broken record stuck in one place.
   I have been listening to a lot of rain falling on the skylights of late, a sound I used to enjoy.  Now I hear lose change and more being shaken from my pockets by an out of control US Department of Agriculture and its subsidiary Forest Service.  They haven't gotten to me or to most of us as yet to shake us down, but they are on their way.
   I knew this would happen, as I was listening carefully a couple of years ago when a new idea for storm water abatement (a far reaching concept, it turns out) was explained in  official meetings.  Basically it is this:  water runoff into sewers and onto roads is bad and should be rectified.  The cause of such runoff is man-made hard surfaces, such as roofs, driveways and roads.  So the bigger your roof and driveway, the more you should have to pay for the water that runs off your property.
   The amount of runoff is very easy to approximate; simply take the average rain that falls on your property, determine the square footage of its hard surfaces, and assess a fee for that amount of water that will run off.
   Seems logical and fair, does it not?  But what will be the fee per unit of water, and what will it be used to pay for?  Silence on that.  So we have here an undetermined amount of tax with no limits, and no boundaries on what it will pay for.  Storm abatement? Coast line management? Storm sewers? Social Programs? Income redistribution (your roof is larger than my roof, therefore you owe me)? Why not just have building codes that would set limits on hard surfaces?  Not on your life.  That would mean no new taxes!
   This, my friends, is the perfect tax, and it is imposed not by your elected legislature, but by bureaucrats in the Washington, DC swamp.  Or, almost as bad, by your Mayor and Council, eager for more money, and now hampered by caps on real estate taxes.
   Oh, this is ridiculous, and it would never happen!   It is happening now, in Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay.  But it is just a little tax, and the need is great.  And that is why it will grow, exponentially.
   I saw this one coming, and here is another one.  The Forest Service has a plan to suggest (read enforce) a ruling that all private property must have 40% tree cover (no one has ever explained to me, and I doubt to anyone at all, how that figure was arrived at).  In any case, 40%.  What if I want sun for a vegetable garden? 40%.  What about a lawn for my kids to play soccer on?  Sorry, 40%.  What if I want to plant a prairie?  40%!@*!We are the Forest Service, after all.
   And what if I don't plant my property to 40% tree cover?  We know how much sunshine your property receives.  We will tax you for whatever amount over 40% is not intercepted by tree leaves.  You realize of course that trees make oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide, and you must do your share.  All very just and fair.  Pay up.
   So, the bureaucrats now have the authority to tax water and sunshine.  At least the air we breath is still free.
   Not so fast...California is now taxing cow farts.  Let's see...Humans turn what percentage of oxygen into flatulence?

REMEMBERING SALLY

SALLY'S FOOTBALL FIELD OF JUNK...

...DITTO...

...MORE JUNK...

...SALLY'S CONDEMNED HOUSE, FULL OF JUNK

Monday,10:00 AM.  46 degrees F at the ferry dock, 41 on the back porch.  Wind SSE,  moderate, with stronger gusts.  The sky is overcast and the humidity is 86%, after one-third of an inch of rain fell last night.    The barometer is falling, now at 29.30".  The forecast calls for a chance of rain today and tomorrow, then cooler with the possibility of snow on Thursday.
   Small towns are noted for their characters, and Sally was one of Bayfield's best known.  Sally collected and sold junk.  She picked over the freebee's at the end of every garage sale, and was right there on Dumpster Day to rescue anything of possible value.  But, as everyone knows, one man's junk is another man's treasure, and folks came from all over to pick through Sally's junk, looking for treasure.  They usually bought something, but those in the know knew that the good stuff, the really valuable antiques and such were squirreled away in the several buildings that she owned around the area.
   Decorators and wannabe decorators would seek her out.  A few years back I was looking for some  old-fashioned snow shoes, and spotted a pair sticking up out of the junk in the back of her pickup truck, which was usually parked along Hwy. 13 just north of Bayfield, where her junk lines both sides of the road for the length of a football field.
   Stopping to ask what she wanted for them, I was shocked at the price she quoted for the worn-out relics, and told her so  "They're not just snow shoes, you know, they're wall hangers," she replied, "Decorator items."  Needless to say, I didn't buy them.
   Sally was also quite artistic, and made beautiful Christmas wreathes using all natural materials, including Princes' Pine, which she alone knew where to find.  We always bought one to hang above the fireplace, and the one that hangs there now is a rather sorry alternative.
   Sally,  a single woman probably a good deal younger than I, purposely I suppose, dressed the part of a junk dealer, and everything she owned looked the part as well.  She was college educated and very smart, but she chose a different lifestyle than most.  She chose to be a town character.
   Sally died suddenly a couple of weeks ago from a raging infection.  She was given a great funeral sendoff in neighboring Washburn.  Mourners brought items to be recycled; Sally would have loved to sort through the junk.
   Sally may be gone but she won't soon be forgotten, as her football field of junk on Hwy. 13 just north of the Bayfield city limits looks like it will be around for a while.  I envision it being loaded into dump trucks one far-off day when her estate is finally settled, and taken to a landfill. 
   I bet Sally will be there in spirit, sorting out the wall hangers from the junk.

GEESE STILL HANGING OUT ON CHEQUAMEGON BAY

.

CANADA GEESE AT THE BEACH IN ASHLAND

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  36 degrees F at the ferry dock, 31 on the back porch.  Wind variable with light gusts.  The sky is overcast and it is foggy over the Bay.  The humidity is 95%, the barometer 29.99" and beginning to fall rapidly, predicting warmer temperatures and rain tomorrow, then cooling and snow by Thursday.  It's been a goodly time since we have had a sunny day, and I may have to find a cheap flight to some Southwestern desert.

   There are still several large flocks of Canada geese hanging out on the lower Chequamegon Bay at Ashland.  There is probably no real reason for them to fly further south unless the weather gets really cold.  The Bay won't freeze for quite a while, and there probably will be plenty of food  in neighboring fields until we get a lot of snow.

   These seem to be very large birds for the most part, and large geese are usually locals or don't migrate very far.  Except in severe winters there is usually open water as near as the Mississippi and lower St. Croix Rivers (of course there is usually open water further out on the big lake, but that isn't  winter habitat for geese).  Currently these geese leave at sunset to feed somewhere locally; we will note when they leave for the winter for good.

OFF THE CUFF 

THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

    Sore losers can cause a lot of trouble, never accepting the outcome of a game  (or election) that they have lost fair and square.  Hillary has already conceded to an amazing landslide defeat but now, at the instigation of Jill Stein of the Green Party, who got a whopping 1% of the vote, joins in a recount effort in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. 

    There is no evidence that there were any problems with the electoral process, and I guess since it is not a court case it isn't necessary for these trouble makers to have standing, or real cause, for demanding the action.
    The recount is requested on the dubious premise that "there could have been" hack attacks or other problems with the vote count. Yes, there could have been a zombie apocalypse, I suppose; but it's the Democrats with the greatest propensity to have the dead walk from the cemetery to the polling booth, just as the stone dead Vince Foster walked from the White House to the park.

   We have seen all this before; the Democrat's desire to keep counting and recounting, until by some slight of hand they eventually win.
    It is getting tiresome.

PRAISE THE WORKERS, PRAISE THE WORK

PRAISE THE WORKERS, PRAISE THE WORK

PRAISE THE CRANE, REACHING A GIANT HAND UP INTO A CLOUDLESS SKY

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  34 degrees F at the ferry dock, 30 on the back porch.  Wind W, mostly calm with occasional light gusts.  The sky is overcast, the humidity 89%.  The barometer is heading downward, now at 30.21".  The forecast is for seasonally warm temperatures and rainy weather through Thursday, then turning colder with snow showers on Friday and the weekend.
   Thanksgiving Day, during the Cowboys-Redskins game,  I was nearly blown away by a poetic add for Ram Trucks, produced by The Richards Advertising Group of Dallas, Texas.  The gist of it is here.  If you missed it, you can find the 90 second ad on the Adweek web site.

PRAISE

By

The Richards Group, Dallas, Texas

Praise the mill,

Praise the rig

Praise the rope, 

Praise the pull

and the die

Praise the time card,

the green card,

the union card

and the WIC card

Praise some urban mother,

bright-eyed and bone tired
Praise the daycare,
open late
Praise the candle,
lit at both ends

Praise the coffee,

Praise the cup

Praise the diner, open late

Praise the dinner, now cold

Praise the crane, 

reaching a giant hand

up into a cloudless sky

Praise the lonely,

laboring in the white linoleum glow

of midnight halls

Praise the mine worker,

Praise the mine

Praise the worker,

on the line

Praise the foreman,

and the floor 

Praise the second shift,

early Saturday

Praise the snow,

just as it begins to fall

Praise all who sacrifice time at home

for a one-day dream 

of their children's lives

outside of it

Praise the workers,

Praise the work

   Too bad Pres. Elect Trump didn't have this for a campaign add, he probably would have taken the popular vote as well! I hope he sees it.  The ad's message is why he was elected.
   Americans don't want handouts, the crumbs that fall from their rulers' table.  They want to work, to be paid an honest wage, to be independent and respected; they want, as always, to be free.

   Anyway, honest work of all kinds has always been sacred to me, and this truck ad  really resonated.
   To Hell with Madison Avenue!

A GOOD BUT DAMP THANKSGIVING

CRAB APPLES,HEAVY WITH DEW, SPARKLE IN THE MORNING SUN

Friday, 8:30 AM.  35 degrees F at the ferry dock, 31 on the back porch.  Wind variable, with occasional light gusts. The sky is overcast and a few snow pellets are falling. The humidity is 91%, and the barometer is steady,  at 30.25".  The forecast is for seasonally cool temperatures and a rainy or snowy week ahead.

   Our church parish house thanksgiving was good, although the day was damp.  We caught up on our sleep in the afternoon, and watched the Dallas Cowboys beat the Redskins in an early evening thriller.

   The crab apples on the tree on the south side of the house, heavy with dew, sparkled in a rare moment of morning sunshine; a treat on a rather dismal day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

WILD TURKEYS AT A BIRD FEEDER IN OCONOMOWOC, WI, LAST SPRING

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.  8:30 AM.  38 degrees F at the ferry dock, 33 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm, the sky mostly cloudy and overcast with the sun making little progress in its efforts to shine through.  Humidity 92%, the barometer 30.17" and more or less steady.  There is virtually no snow left for Thanksgiving, and it is a quiet morning, altough there was an emergency ambulance run earlier as I heard the sirens and see that neighbor Sherman has returned from his call to duty. That's a good thing about small communities; an EMT of Volunteer Fireman is usually a close neighbor.
   We are again far from family and old friends on Thanksgiving, so we and a few other "orphans" will join together as at our church parish house for dinner after a short morning prayer service.  It will be a small group, perhaps eight of us;  small enough that I might be able to snare a drum stick!
   We had a turkey in the freezer, Joan made a casorole,  someone else will bake a pie, and so on, and all will be good, and I am sure plenty.  And we will indeed be with church family.
   Joan and I wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving, the least commercial, most genuine, best holiday of the year!

SLEEPLESS IN BAYFIELD

RAIN, FOG AND A LOW OVERCAST THIS MORNING

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  36 degrees F at the ferry dock, 30 on the back porch.  Wind ESE, mostly calm with occasional light to moderate gusts.  The sky has a very low overcast, it is raining lightly and it is foggy with poor visibility.  The humidity is 92%, the barometer more or less steady for now, currently at 30.36" of mercury.  Snow showers are predicted for today, Thursday and Friday, then slightly warmer, with continuing unsettled weather patterns.  

   Sleepless and up very early with sinus congestion, I had the opportunity to witness, or at least to hear, intermittent early morning activity in Bayfield.  First heard were two fishing tugs leaving port in succession at about 4:45 AM.  Nothing else would be heading out of Bayfield into the lake at that early hour, and they must have been heading far out, probably past Michigan Island, in order to be at the fishing grounds by first light. I heard their engines growing fainter and fainter in the quiet of the fog, for perhaps twenty minutes. I hope their radar was working well, as they certainly could see little or nothing.

   All was silent after that until perhaps 5:30 or so, when a few cars and trucks were heard; probably early shift restaurant workers and such.  By 7:00 the Coast Guardian next door started his truck, and he was off to work before 7:30.  Teachers were going to school by 7:00 or so, and by 7:30 the first ferry out of Bayfield was just barely visible, plying the dark waters to La Pointe on Madeline Island.  I am surprised I heard no fog horns this morning, as murky as it was.  

   Also, by 7:00 or so it was light enough that the harbor lights at La Pointe had shut off; otherwise they are visible all night, friendly beacons in the darkness.

CONTRASTS

FIERY DAWN

Tuesday, 8:30 AM.  32 degrees F at the ferry dock, 27 on the back porch.  Wind SSE, calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky is mostly overcast, with the sun struggling to shine through.  The humidity is 67%, the barometer falling gently, now at 30.32".  The week ahead is forecast to be seasonally cold, and snowy.

   The dawns the last few days have been beautiful;  the morning sky is afire, but the atmosphere is frigid.  I haven't heard any news of the deer season, and don't see many hunters cars along the roadsides, or blaze orange-clad hunters walking the fields.  Looks pretty quiet.

   OFF THE CUFF

 "HAMILTON"

   The flap over VP Elect Pence being called out and lectured by the cast of the Broadway play Hamilton is evidently not going away.  Politically it is not that big a deal, and Pence has been very gracious in his comments, but the irony of the incident is palpable, at least to me.

   Ticket prices are outrageous, for one thing, and if a person has spent thousands of dollars for a brief evening of enjoyment for self and family one would think that the evening would at least be free of politically correct harassment from the actors on stage.

   Add to that the fact that the VP Elect should be due some minimal public courtesy.

   But the greatest irony of all to me is that the actors playing Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr are black; a complete fabrication of history, but one which is, I would think, a rather charming commentary on how really positive race relations are in this country.

   But I wonder what the reaction would be if the situation were reversed, and a white actor, perhaps Arnold Schwartzenegger, played Martin Luther King (in black face), and then lectured President Obama on the murder rate in Chicago.  All Hell would certainly let loose.

COLD BUT COLORFUL

A COLD AND SULLEN SKY...

TURNS COLORFUL AT SUNSET

BUDDY: I THINK I'LL JUST HUNKER DOWN AND  STAY OUT OF THE WIND

Monday, 8:00 AM.  24 degrees F at the ferry dock, 19 on the back porch.  Wind variable and mostly calm, humidity 81%.  The barometer is falling gently, now at 30.44".  Cold weather will stay with us the rest of the week,  with snow predicted for Thursday and Friday.
   Buddy and I went for a frigid, windy walk on the beach yesterday around sunset.  The prospect was cold and sullen, but changed to colorful with the setting sun.
   A sudden introduction to winter is a shock for a short haired dog.

SOUR GRAPES

SUNSET IN THE DEER WOODS

BIG COUNTRY

GOOD COVER

ALL DOES

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  26 degrees F at the ferry dock, 23 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm, sky overcast,  with 70% humidity.  The barometer is slowly falling, predicting cold and snowy weather the next ten days.  And a lot of folks were worried that the fall was too long and nice!

   No deer hunting for me this year, and perhaps never again. I  had pretty well forgotten about it being the opening of the Wisconsin gun deer season yesterday, until we drove past my deer hunting woods in the orchard country yesterday morning on the way back from the Recycle Center.  I stopped the truck at the entrance road and looked for deer hoof prints and saw none, but of course then a doe ran between two nearby orchards as we drove away.  No buck followed, but he was probably just waiting for us to leave. Well, that's the way it usually is.

   The weather was miserable yesterday morning, and the gale force winds rendered the woods dangerous from falling trees and limbs.  I did not mind being out of the hunt.  I do mind that I have medical conditions that will probably preclude any future gun hunting of any kind, as it is still a slow recovery from bypass surgery a year ago, and the fact that they relocated my pacemaker to my right side makes it risky for me to shoot a high powered rifle or shotgun.  Oh, well, I'm still here, and a camera has no kick.

   The fun has gone out of the deer hunt for me the last years anyway, as old buddies died or became incapacitated, or lost their desire.  It was really good fun many years ago, when a group of us would set up camp in tents out in the big woods, or all stay in the same cottage and hunt together.  In those days when we got bored with being on our deer stands we would set up drives, and scour the swamps for deer and push them to the standers on the trails.  There was always action then, and I have to admit that freezing in the wind alone in a tree stand is not a lot of fun.  

   Sounds like sour grapes though, doesn't it?

  

WELCOME TO OLD MAN WINTER

MORE THAN A TRACE OF SNOW...

...ENOUGH TO ANNOUNCE THE ARRIVAL OF WINTER

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  26 degrees F at the ferry dock, 24 on the back porch.  Wind NW, moderate with strong gusts.  The sky is overcast, with the sun trying to shine through; the humidity  is 74% after an inch or more of icy snow fell last night, enough for the city plow crews to get some practice.  The barometer is still rising, now at 30.22".  The ten day forecast is for temperatures around freezing, with snow on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Welcome to Old Man Winter.

OFF THE CUFF
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

   In the days since the election there have been anguished protests from The Left concerning the unfairness of life. They narrowly won the popular vote yet lost the election, and protest as though the Electoral College vote was immaterial. Of course, the United States Constitution does not establish a pure democracy, but rather a federal democratic republic, which everyone besides The Left understands.  Those are the rules by which we play our game.
   If The Left were playing baseball and had lost, they would be protesting the three strikes and you are out rule; in other words, they wouldn't really be playing baseball at all, but an entirely different game that they had made up in order to win it.

   The Founding Fathers were educated in Greek and Roman history, and understood that pure democracy was a Greek invention, noble enough at the time, but its usefulness relegated to small and homogeneous groups; i.e.,  the Greek city states.  The Romans, who succeeded them, created an empire comprised of many diverse cities and provinces, held together by force and the rule of universal laws.
   Our Founding Fathers had the prescience to see that the fledgling United States would spread across the North American Continent, a virtual empire that would dwarf Rome in population and power.  They understood that if it was not to be hobbled by continual fratricide among its components it needed to be a republic, based on democracy, but modified to diminish the possibility of it being broken apart by continual rebellion.
   Electing the federal Executive power through  simultaneous winner-take-all state elections  was their solution.  The system has changed somewhat in practice over the centuries, but the Electoral College method is still valid, and absent a very difficult constitutional amendment process, or another violent civil war, will remain the rule of our game.

   The Founding Fathers  also witnessed contemporary events that cautioned against pure democracy. They watched in angst, and finally in horror, the progress of the French Revolution and the control of the nation of France by the Paris mobs, and the chaos and havoc, and finally the dictatorship it engendered; they also remembered Roman history, with the continual need to squelch rebellions in provinces that resented being ruled by a distant power that ignored their needs, and their own experience of rebelling at being ruled by an elite an ocean away.  

  The Trump Revolution, although peaceful and constitutional, was just that; a rebellion against the prospect of a diverse nation, comprised of fifty sovereign states, being ruled by uncaring coastal elites a thousand miles distant, or by  the violent mobs of a few huge cities equally distant and foreign to the millions living elsewhere on the continent.
   Today, we see the true face of Leftist Democracy in Cuba, Venezuela, and other nations  of or our own hemisphere, where  dictatorships have been instituted via a one-man, one-vote, one-time election.

   Does anyone really think that those easily disenfranchised millions residing in the hinterlands of North America  will ever give up the safety of the Electoral College, to take the chance of losing everything in the Leftist casino of pure democracy?
   Long live the constitution, and its Electoral College.

  

  

REMEMBERING THE EDMOND FITZGERALD

THE EDMOND FITZGERALD

A "THOUSAND FOOTER"

Friday, 9:45 AM.  41 degrees F at the ferry dock, 35 on the back porch.  Wind NE, blowing up a gale.  Skies are rainy, misty and foggy, with a very low overcast alnd 93% humidity. The barometer is still falling, now at 29.74".  The forecast is for the rain to turn to snow, with the prospect of mixed weather with cold and more snow next week.  It became November in a hurry.
    It is hard for me to believe that November Tenth was the forty-first anniversary of the sinking of the 750 foot laker, the Edmund Fitzgerald.  It went down carrying twenty-six thousand tons of iron ore at the east end of Lake Superior in a monumental gale with 90 mile per hour winds and 25 foot waves.  It lies broken apart 525 feet beneath the surface of Lake Superior, a watery grave for 29 brave souls.  Exactly what happened is and shall remain a mystery, but all who live on the big lake know of its  rapidly changing moods and violent storms.  Gitche Gume, the Big Sea Shining Water, is as dangerous as it is beautiful.
   The gales of November are blowing strong today, as the huge lake ships still ply the tempestuous waters of Lake Superior.  If one listens closely to the Nor'easter as it roars outside  the window a distant ship's bell may be heard, clanging faintly through the roaring of the wind.  Perhaps it is the Edmond Fitzgerald, summoning "all hands on deck."

WHEN ILL WINDS BLOW (continued)

WHEN COVERING STRAW WAS LOST IN HIGH WINDS, 8'X90' CURLEX NET FREE LANDSCAPE MATTING...

WAS LAID AND PINNED DOWN...

OVER THE ENTIRE SEEDED AREA...

...THE SEEDLINGS WILL GROW THROUGH THE BIODEGDRADABLE  MATTING

Thursday, 9:00 AM.  46 degrees F at the ferry dock, 42 on the back porch.  The sky is overcast, the humidity 86%.  The barometer is more or less steady at 29.73" of mercury.  There is a chance of rain today, with falling temperatures and 1"-3" of snow predicted for tomorrow.

   When a gale wind blew the covering straw from a newly seeded area of a landscape job on the lake we decided to cover it with Curlex Net Free excelsior landscape fiber, which comes in 8'X90' rolls, pinned down with specially designed metal staples.

   We used about 3 rolls (with 3 of 6 remaining for use on an adjacent area to be seeded next spring).  It took three of us an hour to put down the matting.  Rain and snow are predicted for today and tomorrow, so we accomplished the task just in time.
   The native grasses and wildflower seeds we planted will be naturally stratified over winter, and will germinate in late spring.  The mats have no plastic netting, and the wood fibers are as good or better than straw for holding moisture and promoting seedling germination and growth.

WHEN ILL WINDS BLOW (cover seed with landscape fiber)

ROLLS OF LANDSCAPE FIBER...

MY CHOICE: EXCELSIOR WOOD FIBER MULCH ...

...WITHOUT PLASTIC NETTING

Wednesday, 7:45 AM.  38 degrees F at the ferry dock, 34 on the back porch.  Wind variable with light gusts.  The humidity is 90%, the barometer falling, now at 29.92", predicting rain tomorrow, falling temperatures and snow flurries on Friday, followed by temperatures in the low thirties thereafter.  Winter is upon us.

   The seeding project I wrote about on Sunday developed a glitch: the covering straw blew off with a gale off the big lake, leaving the expensive native seed exposed.  I had to come up with a quick fix, and being in Duluth yesterday decided on picking up a half-dozen rolls of landscape fiber mulch.  Let me explain where I am going with this.  Covering straw is of course vulnerable to being moved about by the elements, but I had thought we were safe at this location.  Wrong.  

   I have never  liked using mulch rolls with plastic netting, because the plastic takes a long time to disintegrate, and in the meantime is a stumbling hazard, gets entangled in lawn mowers, and can entraps birds.  The product I have settled on is Curlex Net Free, a wood cellulose product manufactured by American Excelsior Company of Rice Lake, Wisconsin.  It is completely biodegradable and comes in 8' by 90' rolls.  The germinating seedlings grow through the mat, which disintegrates  completely and does not need to be removed. the excelsior performs similarly to a straw mulch. The rolled-out mats are pinned down with large wire staples.  The mats are not inexpensive, around $65 per roll, but the cost of seed for this portion of the project was $550 and I do not want to jeopardize that investment.  

   The rolls are too heavy for me to move by myself with my ailing arm, so Jay's crew will give me a hand this morning unloading and rolling them out.

   To be continued...

WILD ASPARAGUS

WILD ASPARAGUS GROWING ON THE ROADSIDE

Monday, 8:45 AM.  46 degrees F at the ferry dock, 43 on the back porch.Wind NE, light with moderate gusts.  The sky is cloudy with a high overcast, the humidity 82%.  The barometer is steady, now at 29.92".  Rain is forecast for tomorrow and again on Thursday, with snow possible on Friday as temperatures dip into the thirties.  Winter is on its way, right on time for Thanksgiving.
   Wild asparagus is merely a garden escapee, found growing in roadside ditches and other places.  It is golden yellow now, its appearance fern-like, and can be marked for identification next spring to collect the edible young shoots.
   Asparagus officinalis, in the Asparagus Family, is native to Europe, western Asia and North Africa, and has been grown as a vegetable since ancient times (officinalis translates from Latin as "sold in shops").  Its "leaves" are actually needle-like modified stems.  Its red berries are mildly toxic and some persons get a rash from handling the plant, but cooked shoots are innocuous and edible.  In Europe the young shoots are often blanched by covering them with soil or growing the plant in dark tunnels.
   Asparagus has been used as a diuretic in herbal medicine, and it is also very rich in micro-nutrients.
   No post tomorrow, as we have an early morning appointment in Duluth.
  

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE WHEN LANDSCAPING WITH NATIVE GRASSES AND WILD FLOWERS

THE QUARTER ACRE TO BE SEEDED WAS CLEARED, LEVELED, TOP DRESSED, RAKED AND ROLLED...

SEEDED AND COVERED WITH STRAW

A WALKWAY LEADING FORM HOUSE TO LAKE  WAS INSTALLED ...

...THE COERED SEED WILL BE NATURALLY COLD STRATIFIED OVER WINTER AND GERMINATE IN LATE SPRING

Sunday, 8:40 AM,  46 degrees F at the ferry dock, 43 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, light with occasional stronger gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 73%.  The barometer has begun to fall, now at 29.79", presaging a chance of rain on Tuesday and again on Thursday, turning to snow on Friday as our fall weather inevitably cools off to early winter.

   We have just completed another, major section of a landscape project on the lake front that we have been working on for over a year.  The large home is on Cheqauamegon Road, just south of the city of Bayfield.  

   The owners  desired a  landscape that was native and relatively low maintenance, so the landscaping to this point has been all native trees and shrubs.  They also desired a brick walkway from the home to the steep steps that lead down the bluff to the lake, and a meadow of wildflowers and native grasses in a large area on either side of the walk.  We opted to install the walkway this fall, and at least the north half of the meadow area.  The fall weather being unusually favorable, we have been able to complete this portion of the plan.  Bayfield  mason Kenneth Hunt was chosen to lay the  walkway of concrete pavers.

   The area to be seeded was cleaned up, graded and top dressed with good screened top soil and a mix of  wild flowers and grasses native to northern Wisconsin was sown by hand.  The mix included sideoats grama, prairie brome, fox sedge and little bluestem grasses, and seventeen wildflower species, including wild onion, smooth aster, lanceleaf coreopsis and purple coneflower.  

  Three pounds of seed was used (a goodly amount), which was sown and cross sown, raked in by hand and rolled and mulched with straw  The freezing and thawing action over the winter will work the seed well into the soil, and it will be naturally cold stratified over the winter.  Fall is a good time to seed native grasses and wild flowers.

   Fertilizer was not and will not be used.  The area will need to be mowed several times next year to control weeds as the natives become established, and eventually will only be mowed once a year.  It will take several growing seasons to really see the native plants. Patience is a virtue when landscaping with native species seed, as the plants spend the first few seasons growing more  roots than leaves and flowers. 

 

SPINDLE TREE

EUROPEAN SPINDLE TREE IN FOUNTAIN GARDEN PARK...

...HEAVY WITH ITS UNUSUAL FRUIT

Saturday, 8:20 AM.  41 degrees F at the ferry dock, 37 on the back porch.  Wind WSW, breezy with strong gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 70%.  The barometer is falling, predicting seasonally cooler weather with a chance of rain on Tuesday.  We had frost on the roof this morning so our mild weather is leaving us, although the weather still looks good for the immediate future.

   Almost all trees and shrubs are bearing fruit heavily this year, including a very unusual small tree in Fountain Garden Park (south entrance to Bayfield on route 13).  It is the European spindle tree, Euonymus europaeus, in the Celastraceae Family.  Its yellow flowers are relatively inconspicuous, but the fruit is absolutely unique and beautiful, what is called an aril, this one a pink, valvate husk surrounding a bright red fruit.  In a good year such as this, the tree is loaded with the unusual, colorful fruits.
   It is not a plant I would normally use in a landscape and in any case may be hard to obtain, but as a conversation piece or focal point it is hard to beat.
   It is called "spindle tree" because its very hard wood was used to make the spindles on spinning wheels centuries ago.  It is a close relative of the common burning bush, Euonymus alatus, and the native Euonymus americanus, the strawberry bush (so called because of its bright red fruits).

OFF THE CUFF 

   I find it highly ironic that the pundits and polls on the left accused President Elect Trump and his supporters of plotting to delegitamize the election when they lost, to riot and cause disruptions.  And of course that is exactly what they, the left,  are now doing in defeat, supported by the majority left wing media, who have evidently not yet learned their lesson.

   Peaceful protest is the right of everyone at almost any time, but riot, destruction of property and bodily harm to others is against the law and should be punished to its fullest extent.  Allowing what has been happening in some cities  to continue is inexcusable and will only encourage more lawlessness.  

   President Elect Trump is not the cause of these despicable actions, and hopefully will stay out of it; there is only one president at a time and it is up to the present occupant of the White House to speak out against the current outrage and take whatever action may be appropriate for the federal government;  but by and large the lawlessness is at this time a state and local matter, and if they do not at least attempt to control it the onus will be on those entities.  

   And the shame of it all  is upon the permissive persons and organizations that have encouraged this dangerous and infantile behavior.

CRAB APPLES WITH YELLOW FRUIT

A WHIMSICAL VETERANS TRIBUTE...

IN A HOLLOW IN AN OLD PEAR TREE IN FOUNTAIN GARDEN PARK...

 

 

 

 

 

FLOWERING CRAB APPLE WITH YELLOW FRUIT

 

Friday, Veterans Day, 8:30 AM.  40 degrees F at the ferry dock, 37 on the back porch,  Wind NNE, gusty at times.  The sky is clear, the humidity 71%. The barometer is rising, now at 30.46". The forecast calls for several clear days, then clouding up,  with a chance of showers
by next Thursday.  Temperatures are cooling off but still no killing frost IS predicted.

   Flowering crab apples are small trees of about fifty  species  in the genus Malus in the Rose Family that are closely related to the edible, or orchard apple, M. domestica.  The major difference between apples and crab apples is size of fruit, apples haviNg fruit that is greater in size than 2" in diameter.  Apples are sweet enough to be palatable, crab apples (except for a few) being too sour to eat.  These are unusual parameters in botanical nomenclature,  which is usually based on flower characteristics, but that is the long and short of it (or the big and small of it).

   The apple genus Malus originated in the mountains of Khazahkstan in central Asia and most species of the genus are Eurasian, only three being native to North America. Crab apples are mostly grown for their decorative qualities as smaller ornamental trees with with decorative flowers and fruit, although they are valuable as orchard pollinaters for edible apples, and for pectin for jams and jellies.  Most crab apple species and varieties have red or purple fruit, but a few have yellow fruit, which provides a very unusual appearanvce to the fall landscape.  

   I suspect the tree in the phot to be 'Golden Hornet', but i don't know for sure.  Some other crab apples with yellow fruit are 'Holiday Gold', 'Bob White', 'Lolipop' and 'Louisa' (red gold).  Crab apples are considered hardy from Zone 4 to Zone 7, so the selection gets sparser the further north or south one wishes to plant them.

WELCOME BACK

NEW DAY DAWNING

HYBRID ELM TREE

Thursday, 9:00 AM.  56 degrees F at the ferry dock, 53 on the back porch.  Wind variable, light with moderate gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 59%.  The barometer is rising, now at 29.77", predicting seasonally mild temperatures and clear skies for much of the next ten day, with chances of rain next Tuesday and Friday.  Marvelous weather!

   Dutch Elm disease devastated American cities fifty years and more ago.  It is an old story that doesn't need to be retold here, except to say that after all that time the elm is returning to our cities, either as highly resistant American elm selections, which have basically the familiar vase-shape of the street trees that were so loved of old, or as hybrid trees that are  immune to the disease.  It should be noted that "highly resistant" trees still can be vulnerable, and the hybrids do not have the vase-shape of the American Elm. I cannot recommend one above another of the hybrids.  It should be noted that some of the hybrids grow so fast that keeping them properly training pruned can be a problem.

   In any case, elms are back as street and landscape trees, and all are basically cold hardy and fast growing, and this fall at least are very colorful.  Welcome back!

  

TOLD YOU SO

WE'RE BACK!

Wednesday, 9:00 AM.  50 degrees F at the ferry dock, 48 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, mostly calm with moderate gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 86%, the barometer heading downward, now at 30.23".  The clear and seasonally mild weather continues, with a chance of rain next Tuesay.

   I told you so, but even I never thought Trump would take Wisconsin; that is unbelievable!

WISCONSIN TRIFECTA

  

WE WOULD BE BEST SERVED BY DOING BOTH

DAWN IN BAYFIELD  (AND HOPEFULLY IN AMERICA)

Tuesday, Election Day, 8:30 AM.  50 degrees F at the ferry dock, 44 on the back porch.  Wind NNW, very strong with even greater gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 86%.  The barometer is mostly steady, currently at 30.23".  The next ten days will be a bit cooler but still no hard frost and little chance of rain.  It is still beautiful in Bayfield.

   Joan and I will vote this morning and then its back to the basics of getting ready for winter around the house and yard, and finishing up whatever landscape jobs still can be done while this ideal fall weather lasts. 

   We will vote for Donald Trump and the Republican ticket and platform as the best chance the country has to bring back business and jobs, to support law, order and justice at home, and our military abroad, and to protect the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, and to ensure that we have strong borders to keep out illegals, terrorists and drugs.

   We have an increasingly amoral society, reflected in the corruption and cynicism of the elites and our political leaders. Hillary Clinton thanked  Gaga (Lady Gaga) last night, not God.  Go figure.     
   Regardless of what else happens, real change and genuine progress won't come to us until decency and patriotism return to our daily lives.  When our society changes, our country's prospects will improve, not before.

   Maybe we should be going to church today instead of to the polls; but we would be best served by doing both.

SOME ONE FOUND OUR VANDALIZED TRUMP/PENCE SIGN, STRAIGHTENED IT OUT AND PUT IT BACK IN PLACE.  THAT'S ENCOURAGING!

EVEN THE APPLE TREES...

APPLE TREES ON HWY. J...

...IN THE ORCHARD COUNTRY, APPLES PICKED, AND LEAVES TURNED A  BURNISHED GOLD

Monday, 9:00 AM.  53 degrees F at the ferry dock, 50 on the back porch.  Wind SW, very gusty.  The sky is partly cloudy but clearing, the humidity 69%.  The barometer is more or less steady, currently at 30.08".  Seasonally mild weather continues for the next ten days, with highs around 50 and no frost or significant rainfall.

   I have never seen a longer or more colorful fall.  Usually the apple tree leaves more or less turn dull yellow-brown and fall off.  This fall, even the apple trees are glorious.

OFF THE CUFF

I think Donald Trump will win in a landslide.  It will be a stealth election, coming seemingly out of nowhere.  The reason?  Trump supporters are reluctant to be identified;  reluctant to put up signs (mine has been vandalized twice) and to put Trump bumper stickers on their vehicles because they don't want them "keyed" in a parking lot.  They don't want their home spray painted, or worse.
   They are tired of false and politicized science,  political dirty tricks, and a politicized and demoralized military devoted to arcane social policies.

   Trump supporters are unlikely to speak up in public, because they don't want to be called racist, or homophobic, or  sexist, or a Nazi.  They are fearful of being targeted by the IRS.  They are tired or being classified as "unredeemable" or worse, just because they believe that aborting 50 million babies in the US in the last thirty years was the wrong thing to do, and that killing a baby in the birth canal is infanticide; or because they see our foreign policy as flawed, or race baiting as destroying our society.  Or, because they believe no one should be above the law.  Or, just because they have a different world view than someone else.  Or, just because they are a  Christian.

   So the Trump supporters keep quiet unless they are surrounded by others of their persuasion at a rally, or when they are with a few others in the barber shop, or the beauty shop, or anywhere they can feel each other out and find that they are among friends.

   Political correctness and unprecedented intimidation have turned our country into a fledgling police state. Thank God for the sanctity of the voting booth, where a ballot can be cast in private, without intimidation or personal attack.

   

HANG ON TO YOUR HATS...AND TO YOUR GUNS AND BIBLES!