First-off there are too many raccoons around these parts. And while they're more trouble in an urban environment they're murder on ground-nesting birds, they crap in the deer stands and they're carriers of parasites and diseases.
They're so common on the trail cameras most days I give thought to setting a trap and thinning the herd.
Almost a month-apart (to the day) here are digital images of five raccoons together. What are the odds?
Oftentimes known as SRV, Stevie Ray Vaughan was the guitarist and frontman for Double Trouble. He is singularly considered one of the most influential musicians in the history of blues music and one of the greatest guitarist on the planet.
Like many talented musicians he struggled with substance abuse for most of his short life; nevertheless, he turned things around, began flying straight and level, and commenced touring again with Double Trouble in late 1986. His fourth and final studio album In Step climbed to number 33 in the US in 1989. Including his hit single Crossfire; the album was both a critical and commercial success.
His mainstream career spanned only seven years; cut short on August 27, 1990 when he, and four others, were killed in helicopter crash after a performance at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin. An acquaintance of mine was witness to that performance and the tragedy that followed.
Good thing someone had the presence of mind to tape this. Live at The El Mocambo, Toronto, Canada, 1983......
Twenty four years ago I was driving to the office listening
to WHAD’s Tom Clark interview someone in New York City. The interview was punctuated by the
interviewee in New York noting that first responders had been dispatched
following initial reports of a small plane crashing into one of the World Trade
Center towers.
Arriving at the day job I
found Mike had live coverage of the smoking tower on the television in his
office. Details were sketchy. As we speculated upon the crazy notion of how
someone could possibly fly into a skyscraper a second plane crashed into the
other tower - a commercial airliner. We
knew then that it was no small aircraft that struck the first. That tower collapsed and we watched until the
second structure fell.
Four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda on that day. So as we reflect-upon the solemnity of this anniversary let us not forget
that that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabia citizens. Dozens of well-connected Saudis had fled the
United States on chartered flights in the days after 9/11. The House of Saud is a notoriously loathsome
collection of individuals. The gruesome murder and dismemberment of
Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is further evidence of its odious persistence.
As far back as the early 1980s I enjoyed multiple opportunities to tour the towers. This photo was snapped on the observation deck. I have some photos of Connie Chung doing a live broadcast from the CNN studio. I’ve even dined at the 107th floor Windows on the World restaurant.
That day almost two and a half decades-ago was a seriously bad day. Strange how all of the details remain so fresh
in the present day. My Pearl Harbor life event I suppose.
Ask if you would include the Saudi royal family among your friends.....
From an earlier walk we found this perfectly camouflaged katydid perfectly blending in with the shadows.
Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess,
is a Dutch
language term derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) that became
incorporated in French and English. Its origins are originally
associated with the mass said on the
anniversary of the founding of a church (or the parish) and in honor of
the Patron Saint. Such religious celebrations were regularly held in
the Low Countries, in Central
Europe and also in Northern France, and were accompanied by feasting,
dancing, drinking
and sports.
The
Dutch-American Village of Little Chute, Wisconsin, has celebrated Kermis
annually since 1981 with a street festival. The Wallonian settlements in
Door and Kewaunee Counties have celebrated Kermis with traditional
Belgian dishes and events for as long as anyone can remember.
Traditionally, Kermis around here stretched over several calendar weeks as each small settlement - Namur, Brussels, Rosiere, Little Sturgeon, Forestville, Lincoln, Duvall and Casco celebrated the harvest and the life-giving bounty of food.
Getting back to the subject of culinary traditions I happened-upon this short video published only a few years ago. I'm sharing it as it is about the tradition of hog butchering in both English and Walloon. Walloon is a national treasure around these parts as it's actually an endangered 'Romance Language' of the Langues d'oïl family - spoken primarily in the Wallonia region of Belgium.
One of the elements of the past that is alive and well is a local favorite called Belgian Trippe.
Trippe (pronounced like: trip) is a sausage similar to a bratwurst but with a not-so-secret ingredient. The thrifty Belgian settlers extended their pork sausage with the inclusion of cabbage. Further seasoned with onion, salt, pepper, thyme, nutmeg and ginger it is made locally by Marchant's.
It's pretty good stuff for breakfast, lunch or dinner and you won't find it anywhere outside of northeast Wisconsin.
Here's a newspaper clipping from 1963 with a recipe for 60+ pounds of the sausage for serving at a Kermis - or Belgian harvest festival....
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| click on image for a closer look |
From our walk we took a moment to check on our burgeoning vineyard - wild grape, likely Vitis riparia - Riverbank Grape or Frost Grape.
Seems like too much work when I can just purchase Merlot by the box; nevertheless, perhaps there is wine-making in my future?
This is a common hawk around these parts and remarkably sometimes captured digitally on one of the trail cameras. Like this one from the last batch of photos we recently uploaded.
Don't take my word for it; if you go to the 'LABELS' feature on the left side of the blog homepage you can click on Red-Tailed Hawk or Raptors to see previous posts on the subject.
This bird comes in a range of colors stretch from dark brown to almost white. Typically they're shades of brown, white breast and a distinctive rust-red tail. Both sexes are similarly-colored with the female being slightly larger in size. Yes, you'll find photos here of a pair.
They raise one brood a year and the young of the year don't develop the red tail until the second year. Contrary to what the book says - this species is found here year-round.
Here's a captive (rescue) bird; providing a good look at the talons found on this raptor.
If a raptor goes to a nail salon do they get a manicure or a pedicure?
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