A BIT MORE SUBDUED THAN THE COYOTES

THE FERRY APPROACHING BAYFIELD DOCK...

...LEAVING A TRAIL THROUGH THE ICE ALL THE WAY TO LAPOINTE ON MADELINE ISLAND...

...STILL CARRYING CARS, TRUCKS AND PASSENGERS

Tuesday, 8:00 AM  26 degrees F at the ferry dock, 24 on the back porch.  Wind W, very gusty at times.  Serious snow today, about 4" fallen already.  Overcast and foggy with blowing and drifting snow.  Humidity 94%, barometer 29.68" and rising.  Cooler tomorrow, then warming, with snow on Friday and a wintry mix of weather and skies for the week ahead.  Have to go to Duluth in this mess.

   Several nights ago I was awakened by a pack of coyotes coursing down the street, evidently chasing a rabbit or some other quarry.  They howled, yipped and squealed like demons, and in the morning their tracks were evident in the fresh snow.  

   The ferry from LaPointe on Madeline Island to Bayfield is leaving an evident track these days as well, as it churns through the new ice frozen over its route each morning.  

   It's usually a bit more subdued than the coyotes.  I don't even hear it sounding its fog horn these days, since there is no other traffic out in the channel.

AN AMERICAN MADE TV, AND CABIN FEVER TIME

32" ELEMENT TV, ASSEMBLED IN USA...

...EVEN A GREAT PRICE

ASHLAND  ICE RACE DAY

Monday, 8:15 AM: 17 degrees F at the ferry dock, 15 on the back porch.  Wind variable and mostly calm, the sky overcast and the humidity 89%.  The barometer is falling, currently at 30.03".  Snow is forecast tomorrow, then a dip in temperature, followed by highs in the twenties and a wintry mix of overcast and partly cloudy skies, and occasional snow showers.  It has been a rather dull winter so far weather-wise, but winter none the less.  I don't need any more drama in my life.

   I have taken to indoor walking at the Ashland Walmart.  The roads have been slippery for walking, and I am a bit paranoid about falling on my still healing shoulder, which would be disastrous, as would a mishap on the treadmill down at the Rec Center.  So I will schlepp myself to Walmart three times a week or so.  I figure it's about a quarter of a mile around the inside perimeter, so if I get up to three or four laps I should be doing myself some good.

   That also gives me a chance to check a few things out, and I can report they have a 32" Element TV on sale for $133, "Assembled in America," whatever that actually means.  Well, it's a start. Nobody ever said it would be easy.

   I also checked out the ice track on the lower Chequamegon Bay. Things were pretty dubious there as well; trucks, cars, snowmobiles and ATV's all sliding around playing bumper cars.  

   It is getting to be cabin fever time, I guess.

OOPS: MISSED IT!

RACE PHOTO FROM TWO YEARS AGO

Sunday, 9:00 AM. Fifteen degrees F both at the ferry dock and on the back porch.  Wind W, mostly calm with occasional moderate gusts.  The sky is overcast but looks like it will clear.  The humidity is 77%, the barometer steady, at 30.08".  

   The forecast calls for high temps in the twenties, except for midweek, when it will drop considerably; otherwise it is a wintry mix of overcast or partly cloudy skies, with heavy snow on Tuesday.  I have no idea what the groundhog predicted on Feb 1, or whether there is any "there" there in any case.

   We missed the annual sled dog races, which we usually watch out on Star Route.  Joan has an inner ear balance thing going on and it is way too warm for the dogs in any case, they being at their best at 0 or below.  Yesterday was in the twenties at race time.  Snow there's plenty of, out in the woods.

RED SKY IN THE MORNING

RED SKY IN THE MORNING...

...FOLLOWED BY HEAVY SNOW SHOWERS!

Saturday, 8:00 AM.  12 degrees F at the ferry dock, 10 on the back porch. Wind WSW, calm to light with occasional stronger gusts.  The sky is cloudy and overcast and it is snowing pretty heavily.  The humidity is 82%, the barometer 30.14" and taking a dive.  The forecast calls for snow today, with a mix of wintry weather for the next week; highs in the 20's, with 3-5" of snow on Tuesday.
   There was a spectacular red dawn this morning, but an hour later it was snowing heavily.  Sort of a vindication of the old maxim, "Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning."
   Not many sailors out today, but motorists and ice fishermen could give a listen.

OFF THE CUFF

Riots at NYU 

   First it was riots against the First Amendment at UC Berkeley, now last night at NYU.  The perpetrators are scum of the worst order.  How long will this dangerous nonsense be allowed to go on?  Until their ultra-liberal supporters scare themselves into sensibility, I fear.  

   When something really dreadful occurs that they can't blame on somebody else.

45' BAYFIELD COAST GUARD RESPONSE BOAT

THE COAST GUARD 45' RESPONSE BOAT

Friday, 8:30 AM.  4.5 degrees F at the ferry dock, 3 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, mostly calm with light to moderate gusts (and considerable wind chill).  The sky is partly cloudy to clearing, the humidity 83%.  The barometer has begun to fall after being quite high, predicting somewhat warmer weather, overcast skies and snow; flurries on Saturday and snow on Monday and Tuesday.

   The Station Bayfield patrol boats are out of the water for the winter.  The Bayfield Coast Guard Station has two fast patrol boats, this 45' response boat and a 29'  response boat that looks very  similar.
   This boat has two diesel engines and is water-jet propelled, eliminating propellers for safer rescue operations.  It has a top speed of 42.5 knots and a range of 250 nautical miles at 30 knots; a beam of 14'7.75", a draft of 3'4" and a displacement of 36,500 pounds. It has a crew of four and a five-person rescue compartment. It has fenders all around that allow it to access other boats with less chance of damage to either.
   Its mission is coastal patrol and rescue, and interdiction of drugs and migrants. It has gun mounts fore and aft, but I have never seen it armed, although it does go out for target practice.

OFF THE CUFF

University of California Berkeley Riots

   The University of California Berkeley riots that cancelled a scheduled Young Republicans sponsored speech was a despicable, cowardly act that destroyed free speech on campus and caused much property damage.  Were these students, or Leftist provocateurs? We don't know at this point, and probably never will, because arrests evidently weren't made.

   Such acts are a major escalation from kids getting out of hand, to true anarchy.  Our society does not tolerate anarchy, and there will eventually have to be a serious response to it.  One would hope that the Left will scale its destructive tactics back before there is loss of life, such as occurred at Kent State in Ohio on 5/04/1970, and in the bombing of the mathematics building at UW Madison on 8/24/1970.  

   How do you tell parents that their child, whom they sent away to college  to be educated at great expense, has lost his or her life in a shameful, senseless act of anarchy?  If my children were still of college age, I would boycott the schools that allow the suppression of free speech and encourage through tolerance acts of extreme violence. 
   Riots have nothing whatever to do with free speech or with education, and administrators and professors who encourage  or tolerate hate and violence should be fired.

THE PRICE OF EGGS

WILD BIRD POPULATIONS CARY AVIAN FLU VIRUS

A SOFT BUT COLD DAWN

Thursday, 8:30 AM.  6 degrees F at the ferry dock, 4 on the back porch.  Wind SW, calm with moderate gusts, humidity 72%.  The barometer is mostly steady, now at 30.33".  Today and tomorrow should be partly cloudy.  The weather then will warm up some, and be again overcast with snow showers on Friday with the possibility of heavy snow by Tuesday. Yesterday turned out to be beautiful.

   Have you ever noticed how volatile egg prices can be?  Eggs are one of the best and least expensive sources of protein, even when prices are at their peak, but can often be a tremendous bargain. I always thought low price to be a seasonal thing and it is to some extent, but it is also a function of epidemics of bird flu in commercial poultry production.

   Avian flu, or bird flu, is a strain of the flue virus that has birds as its principle biotic reservoir.  It can also infect pigs, cats, dogs and other animals including humans (in which it is particularly deadly) but it is spread principally by birds, human to human spread being rather rare.  People are infected by handling birds, alive or dead, and principally while working raising or processing chickens and turkeys.
   I remember well becoming terribly ill after cleaning out an old chicken coup many years ago, and I have been cautious concerning chickens ever since.

   Since 1990 there have been numerous outbreaks of bird flu, causing the death or preventive destruction of millions of chickens and turkeys, and economic losses of billions of dollars, worldwide.  When massive losses of domestic birds occur, commercial populations have to be built up again with egg production, and usually there are more eggs produced than necessary, leading to a flooding of the egg market and reduced egg prices until equilibrium is again reached.

   Wild bird populations carry the disease but do not usually succumb to it, and they therefore spread it to domestic flocks during their migrations .  This is an important source of infection in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, where many people raise their own chickens, and where many commercial operations are small and not attuned to the flu epidemics.

   Bird flu is extremely contagious and can spread to large commercial operations in this country through many means other than wild birds.  Currently there are serious outbreaks of bird flu in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, including cases among humans.  Researchers are constantly working with the avian flu virus trying to keep ahead of virus mutations and with formulation of new vaccines.  The University of Wisconsin plays a significant role in such research.
   The bird flu problem is very much akin to the spread of disease from wild populations of bison and other grazing animals to domestic cattle, stirring the same debates.

   As the world becomes more populated and there is more and more commerce in chickens, turkeys and eggs between nations and continents, bird flu will pose an even greater threat, and migrating wild birds will likely be blamed more and more for the spread of disease.  There eventually will have to be a balance established accounting for the size of commercial poultry operations, the education of home based chicken producers and migrating wild bird populations, and it won't be easy.  Part of that process I suspect must be the establishment of natural immunity in commercial fowl populations, along with current antibiotic measures.
   One thing is certain for me:  wild birds should not take the brunt of the control efforts.

   Portions of this post were obtained from The Wall Street Journal articles and information on the web.

THE DAY DAWNS GRAY, BUT THE SKIES WILL EVENTUALLY CLEAR

GRAY DAWN

Wednesday, 8:15 AM.  12 degrees F at the ferry dock and on the back porch.  Wind WNW, mostly calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky is overcast in the east but clearing in the north and west.  The humidity is 71%, the barometer rising, now at 30.13".  Today and tomorrow will be cold,  with mixed skies, then slightly warmer with snow showers on Saturday and heavier snow Monday and Tuesday. 
  I often awake early and sit looking out the window at the dawning.  There was no perceptible dawn today, just a gradual increase of light from night to day.

   Neil Gorsuch, President Trump's choice as Supreme Court nominee, is a conservative jurist with an impeccable judicial record and the best law schooling possible; Columbia, Harvard and Oxford.  He was worth waiting and fighting for, and is a great replacement for the late Antonin Scalia.  He will follow the law, uphold the constitution and not legislate from the bench.

   Watching the weather gives some insight into life; even as the day dawns gray, the skies will eventually clear.