LIKE A TALE TOLD BY AN IDIOT

SOUTH TENTH STREET ON A SUNDAY MORNING

Monday, 9:00 AM.  17 degrees F at the ferry dock, 16 on the back porch.  Wind NNE, calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky is overast and cloudy and it is snowing lightly.  The humidity is 85% and the barometer falling, currently at 26.86".  About 3" of new snow has fallen.  It looks like a day that could go either way.
   We watched Super Bowl 50 on CBS yesterday evening.  As the whole world knows by now, the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers, 24 to 10.  It was a boring, almost endless game, devoid of any really exciting plays and overrun with personal fouls.
   Endless and needless commentary and flashbacks interrupted the flow of the game.  The halftime show was mostly crude and devoid of artistry.  The commercials were relentless, and every time one came on it reinforced my dislike of  televised football.  The play action was interrupted so often and for such long periods of time that it was difficult for the viewer to stay in the game.  I can only assume that the play is mostly filmed and the commercials inserted to make it really a semi-live broadcast, as the players could not possibly stay engaged in the game with so many and lengthy interruptions.
   I have to admit that I don't understand most of the commercials because they do not directly identify the product or say much about it; they are mainly stream of consciousness presentations and devoted to blowing things up.
   Shakespeare must have been anticipating American football commercials when he coined the phrase, "Like a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, and signifying nothing."

I DON'T ANSWER POLLS

SNOW BATH

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  31 degrees F at the ferry dock, 28 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky is overcast and cloudy, the humidity 93%.  The barometer is at 29.57"and momentarily steady.  It is beginning to snow again.
   We had a surprise visit from a niece and her friend yesterday and we went to Maggie's for dinner.  Joan and I hadn't been there in a long while and we had really good burgers with all the trimmings.  The iconic eatery is a must for visitors, and is often the only restaurant open in the winter.
   Joan and I watched the Republican debates again last night.  We are all debated out, having watched the debates of both parties.  My succinct impressions of the candidates:

REPUBLICAN
   Trump: capable but crude. Would drop the F bomb on Putin, get a missile in return.
   Cruz: great debater, but a  right-wing sourpuss.
   Rubio: inexperienced but silver-tounged (a Republican rendition of Obama).
   Carson:  Could make a fortune performing brain transplants on politicians.
   Christie: aggressive, and smart about everything except closing the George Washington      Bridge.
   Bush: Barbara would get my vote.
   Kasich: saved Ohio, could save the country.
   Fiorina: the country's evidently not ready for a woman candidate smarter than the men. 

DEMOCRAT
   Clinton: "What difference does it make now?" Not much, she's through.
   Sanders:  It's a good thing high school sophomores can't vote.
   Biden: "He's too old to cut the mustard any more."

There you have it.  I don't answer polls.

  
  

MUSH ON!

RACE START ON HWY 13 (2012 PHOTO)

RACE START (2012 PHOTO)

BUTTERNUT ROAD AND STAR ROUTE CROSSING (2014 PHOTO)

BUTTERNUT ROAD AND STAR ROUTE CROSSING (2014 PHOTO)

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  23 degrees F at the ferry dock, 21 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with occasional moderate gusts.  The sky is mostly cloudy and overcast, the humidity 84%.  The barometer stands steady at 30.10". It is a quiet, not unpleasant morning.

   It is dogsled race day again, and unless we have been in Texas have always attended.  This year we are in the middle of painting and varnishing and cleaning up after work on the fireplace surround so are preoccupied.  Too bad, but we had to make choices.

   The snow and weather conditions should be perfect for the dogs and the the  times should be good.  If you haven't seen a dogsled race you have missed an interesting time.  The race is actually a race against time, but the competitors do bunch up so there is plenty of action,  and interaction, between teams at choke points and at the crossings.  The dogs can be seen up close at the starting point.  

   Dog lovers can sign up in advance to help harness the dogs and interact with them.  It is a yearly event, so if you missed it this year, come join the fun next year.

   Mush On!

SEE YOU AT THE POPULAR KIDS TABLE AT LUNCHTIME

FRIGID DAWN

FROZEN SUNSHINE

Friday, 7:45 AM. 13 degrees F at the ferry dock, 10 on the back porch.  Wind variable, and calm to very light.  The sky is overcast but attempting to clear, the humidity 85% and the barometer 30.39" and falling.  Buddy and I are waiting for it to warm up a bit before we take our walk.

   I have been suspicious and apprehensive concerning communicating via the so-called social media (twittering, tweeting, texting).  My concerns have certainly been confirmed by the dust-up over what occurred in the Iowa presidential caucuses, when CNN erroneously broadcast that Ben Carson was heading home and might be dropping out of the race.  Bad journalism, that. 

   The Cruz campaign immediately jumped on the "news "and used social media to tell all its caucus captains that they should spread this rumor and persuiade Carson supporters to cast their vote for their candidate.  Given that there were 1,500 caucus sites, there could have been a considerable shift in sentiment; we will never know.

   The Donald of course, ever bombastic, tweeted his outrage at the Cruz campaign and claimed they  stole the election from him.

   The Cruz campaign then twittered (or whatever) an apology that was not just insufficient, it was really a smarmy denial of any wrongdoing.
   Even NY Congressman Steven King got into the act by twittering that Carson was out of the race and the Cruz people should take advantage of it.  This stuff metastasizes like a cancer.

   So here we go again,  beginning a very serious election season with lies, half-truths and stupidity. 

   I have all I can do, as a fairly serious person, to express myself fully and clearly in actual writing, much less by electronic shorthand, without time to think or reflect.  I suspect that most people are similarly unsuited to using social media for much more than jokes, outbursts of temper or immediate driving or shopping information.  I for sure don't want it used by politicians, most of whom are no more intelligent or thoughtful than me or you.

   OMG...LOL, BFF.  I just tweeted that you are fat and ugly, but I didn't really mean it!  See you at the popular kids table at lunchtime.

CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH FOR ME

OPEN WATER OF THE CHANNEL BETWEEN BAYFIELD AND MADELINE ISLAND

Thursday,  8:30 AM.  14 degrees F at the ferry dock, 12 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, mostly calm with light gusts.  The sky is mainly overcast, the humidity 83% and the barometer is at 30.16" and rising.
   We were extremely lucky to have returned from Texas before the massive storm which hit the Midwest during the last few days struck.  We would have been marooned somewhere along the way, for sure.  The storm closed hundreds of miles of I70 in Kansas and I80 in Nebaska and I 35 would have been almost as badly affected.  As it was, we got the leading edge of the storm all the way north to Bayfield, where the roads are still slick and drifted.
   It is now February, and the channel between Bayfield and Madeline Island is again open water, the strong winds spawned by the storm breaking up the ice and blowing it out.  The ferry has been breaking ice to keep operating, as the ice has been too hazardous for any kind of vehicle traffic, and the windsleds have not been in service as yet. 
   It looks now as though the ferry might run all winter, although a spate of really cold weather without strong winds may still freeze the channel.  We had a mild early winter and little really frigid weather thus far, and the groundhog predicted an early spring yesterday.
   Can't come soon enough for me.

IF ANDY WARHOL HAD BEEN A NORTHLANDER

I SHOT AN ARROW INTO THE AIR...

TRUSTY AXE

AH, THIS IS THE LIFE...

THE ONE THAT DIDN'T GET AWAY

BUT WHAT IS IT?

Wednesday, 7:30 AM,  20.5 degrees F at the ferry dock, 17 on the back porch.  Wind NNW, very strong and gusty.  The sky is overcast, with thick, low black clouds.  It has just stopped snowing.  The humidity is 89% and the barometer is at 29.0 and rising.
   The snow; fine, needle-sharp pellets, is swirling off the roof and around the house, trying to find a crack in our defenses.  Last night's blizzard left us between five and six inches of snow, and it was for sure nothing to be out and about in.  Buddy and I are hesitating to enter its realm even now.  It is a dark morning except for the brilliant white of the new snow, which contrasts starkly with the black clouds enveloping, or actually emanating from,  the channel.  Madeline Island is still only a dismal blob on the eastern horizon. We will have to go out eventually, as Buddy has an appointment at the vet to get his rabies shot updated, and we have a lot of other errands to run.  

   Joan had an eye doctor appointment in Duluth yesterday, so we checked on the roadside sculptures which have been appearing just east of Brule on Hwy. 13, and sure enough, a nice catch was dangling from the line of the rod and reel.  

   The fish is a very good addition, but it seems to be a hybrid species.  Maybe a cross between a walleye and a northern pike.  Or maybe a little artistic license was taken.  In any case, the artwork is very realistic and fun to view. 
   The whole display could be something by the late contemporary artist Andy Warhol, if he had been a Northlander.

  

FIRST AMENDMENT DEATH SENTENCE

STILL PLENTY OF SNOW, AND SLIPPERY ICE

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  29 degrees F at the ferry dock, 26 on the back porch.  Wind NE, calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky is overcast and it looks and feels like snow, the humidity at 81%.  The barometer is at 30.23" and falling rapidly.  It is a gray day.
   Roads and walks are very slippery, melting snow refreezing and becoming slick as an ice rink.  I have found kitty litter to be the best insurance against a nasty fall,  probably better than salt.
   On the news yesterday I listened to an apologist for the killing of one of the Oregon protesters by the FBI, who said that it was really a "suicide by cop," since the individual killed had been heard to say that he would stand his ground no matter what.
   I guess that means that the entire population of New Hampshire is suicidal, since their state motto, displayed on their license plates, is "Live Free Or Die." Or that repeating "Give me liberty or give me death," is an open invitation to be murdered.
   Looks like expressing one's First Amendment rights is fast becoming a death sentence.