Vince

At the Packer shareholder meeting The Frau snapped a photo of this guy standing along the sideline with a football in his hand.

Spooky.

Packer Nation

Went to the Packer shareholder meeting Thursday.  Coming on the heels of the settlement between the  owner's group and the player's union - the timing was perfect.

And the weather was too.

Lambeau Field was filled to about a quarter capacity.  Shareholders galore.

Which according to the bylaws was more than enough to constitute a quorum.

Here are some interesting factoids: 

The Packers continue to lead the league in apparel sales.  The Packer website now leads the league in page views.  The Packers also lead the league in local annual economic impact - roughly $1,100 for every individual residing the greater Green Bay/Brown County area.  Contrasted with the Cowboys - their economic impact on the greater Dallas community is only a fifth of that. 

Grand Theft Kayak

Seems you cannot even make a trip to the grocery to fetch a gallon of milk with out taking your kayak along for the ride.

If you can believe it - someone actually swiped one of these.

I fella from Oshkosh had one blow off of a trailer right outside of town.  By the time he turned around and went back to fetch it someone had picked it up.

Read more about this incident here.

Fine Dining

As a dog owner I have nothing further to add...

The World's Largest Kayak Trailer

Oh sure.

I bet you think that this is just an ordinary military low loader.  Something the Army would use to transport a bulldozer or an armored vehicle.

Not so.

I would bet this is going to fetch a load of kayaks.

A kayak transport of this size could haul amored kayaks.  Tons of them.

They're taking over the world after-all.

Kayak Nation

Sometimes I think that kayaks are either taking over the world or have become a status symbol.

It used to be you had to sport a Rolex or Movado watch to be stylish.

Now you have too haul a kayak around everywhere you go. 

Kitchen Garden

The kitchen garden harbors all of The Frau's fresh herbs and my asparagus bed.

Other than that it is home to a variety of ever-changing seasonal vegetables.

Broccoli, Brussels sprouts (still cannot get to maturity), romaine and mixed lettuces, radishes, spinach, young beets, carrots, peppers, chives, parsley, thyme, oregano - you name it.

Just outside the backdoor where it's nice and convenient.

Lawn Mower Ingenuity

This might possibly be the most ingenious of self-propelled lawn mowers.

The ultimate green machine. 

Bees On Thyme

The thyme that The Frau has growing in the kitchen garden is flowering.

It is one of the most amazing bee attractants I've ever seen.


I don't see honey bees in large quantities like I did as a kid decades ago - but there were dozens of them all over the thyme plant.

click on image to enlarge  

If Only The Dead Could Talk

Ever see one of these roadside memorials?

I was out on my bicycle not too long ago and stumbled across this one.

Plastic flowers atop a wooden cutout of a guitar and faded United States and Packer flags, along with a package of Famous Amos cookies and some other stuff.

I huffed my way up a tall hill to find this at the crest.  An equally steep drop was on the other side.

A blind hill. 

I don't think I need to ponder too much what the background story is.

click on image to enlarge

The Onion

I was at a reception the other day that was hosted by someone who concidentally lives next door to the founder of The Onion.

These are my onions.

And in case you were unaware - onions flower.

These are sweet white onions.

Field of Dreams

The Kolberg Braves got their ass thumped by the Maplewood Mets last Sunday.

Very shocking.

Door County hosts some very talented teams and Kolberg (only a couple of miles down the road) has been dominating the league recently.

The Frau and I like a good Brewers game on occasion but it's so costly.

The Door County Baseball League is really a field of dreams - affordable admission, a six pack of icy brewskis for $8 and a couple of (charcoal-grilled) brats for $5.

Peanuts - $1.50.

One of the best Sunday afternoons you can spend with your main squeeze and you'll be hard pressed to spend more than $30.

Brats - Breakfast of Champions

Last Saturday the dogs cut me some slack and slept in until 7:30 AM.

Bliss.

I took them for a walk and was back by 8:30 or thereabouts.  Thinking about making breakfast the Frau suggested I go to town to pick up the mail before the Post Office closed at 10 AM.  Besides, there were some  groceries and  miscellaneous supplies to be fetched.

Fed the dogs and skipping my own breakfast I launched into my task.

Good thing the good guys from the local church had fired-up their grill at Marchant's grocery in Brussels...

Dog Hair

I have two Labrador retrievers in my household so I know exactly what possible inspiration is behind this license plate.

The Man Cave Gets An Upgrade

Not exactly the latest and greatest in technology - but it was free.

Well, technically I inherited it.

I finally got around to unpacking my dad's sound system.  I figured a good spot would be to install it in the machine shed.

Dad is no longer around but somehow I figure he would approve of this set-up.

Tuner, dual cassette player, six disc changer and a couple of Infinity speakers.

In case you were previously unaware of this tidbit - the acoustics of a metal building are actually quite conducive to enhancing loud music.

No deer will be processed any longer without a modicum of rock n'roll or country music.

Deer Everywhere

Plenty of the local whitetails have been posing for the trail camera.  No bucks lately - but here are a couple of does...

click on images to enlarge

TV

TV is short for turkey vulture - Cathartes aura.

Probably more closely related  to storks instead of birds of prey this is one of the few that has a developed sense of smell.  All the better to locate roadkill I suppose.

It has a bald head - an adaptation that reduces the risk of catching a disease from rotting carcasses.

They're pretty common around here - usually soaring in the warm updrafts on a summer day.

click on image to enlarge

I spotted this TV hopping about in the road the other day while running to town on an errand.  Stopped to take his picture with my Blackberry and caught a whiff of something bad.

Probably a car-killed deer in the ditch.

But I wasn't going to go poking about to verify it.

Half Way

If you're not paying attention you might just miss this important geographical marker because it is disproportionately small - considering its significance.

The 45th parallel (45 degrees north latitude) is the  geographic midpoint between the equator and the north pole.  Which happens to be just north of Jacksonport on the peninsula.

But because the earth is slightly flattened at the poles the distance from the 45th parallel to the north pole is approximately 3117 miles and to the equator is approximately 3105 miles. 

The North Star - Polaris - is directly above the north pole.  Therefore the angle between this point and Polaris is 45 degrees.

Mothra

I noticed that the leaves on an oak tree were looking sort of gnawed-upon.

Looking at the underside of the foliage I found exactly who I suspected was responsible.

Gypsy moth caterpillar.

It's amazing the amount of damage these hungry little monsters can do.

I knocked it from the leaf and stomped it with my  boot.

Death to the mothra!

Resident Deer Population Growing

And it's a good thing the population is up since my inventory of venison in the freezer is rapidly diminishing.

click on image to enlarge

Could there have been a more perfect pose?

Copy Editor Missing - Presumed Lost

On the Fourth of July edition of Door County Now Gannett Publications published a major faux pas.

The streak continues with this unicorn pictured on the front page.

click on image to enlarge

I have a sneaking suspicion that someone is toying with the Advocate readership.

Trail Blazing

Brushed-out almost three and a half miles of trails yesterday.

It has finally dried-out enough to get the tractor and Rhino brush hog out to whack the tall grass and willows.

There was one spot in the northwest corner I had to avoid.  I just knew if I ventured in there I would get stuck for sure.  That last 75 yard stretch can wait for drier conditions.

In some places the grass was waist high and the willows were shoulder height. 

This was a meatball mowing job.  What with all the rain this spring everything became really more overgrown than usual.  It looks like a a drunk gave another drunk a haircut with a dull scissors.

At least the dogs and I can get around now without feeling like you need a machete to blaze a trail. 

Next month I'll swap some finely sharpened blades on the machine and give the trails a finish cut.

Food plots are the next big item on the chore list.

Purple Bug Traps

Conducting a survey for the emerald ash borer - the State of Wisconsin has hung a bunch of 12" x 24" triangular purple insect traps in ash trees along roadsides all over the peninsula.

The purple traps, which are sticky and baited with a compound that simulates a distressed ash tree, are designed to attract the destructive emerald ash borer, should it be present.


Every time I see a dead or failing ash tree I cringe.  It's the dominant species around here.

God help us when the ash borer arrives.

Holy Cow!

St. Joseph Formation Center (formerly St. Joseph Retreat Center), adjacent to Kangaroo Lake in Door County, is operated by Catholic Youth Expeditions.

It's a place where young adults can live in community, grow in their faith, and discern their call to service as a priest, a religious sister or brother, or through marriage or the single life. Youth participate in summer CYE retreat expeditions at the center.

The Logerquist Farm - just across the road from the entrance has this cool signage. (Who says Catholics don't have a sense of humor).

Learn more about CYE here.

How to Keep Ants Out of Your Game Camera

One of the problems with putting a game camera out in the woods is the little red ants will eventually locate it and build a nest inside - thus taking over your camera and making a mess of things.  Then you  have to leave your camera out in the hot sun to bake the ants and suck-up the casualties with your shop vac.  You start over and the ants come right back.

They're relentless.

A discussion thread over at the Bowsite Wisconsin Forum provided a clever solution.

Dismantle the cage containing a No-Pest Strip and cut a piece off with a scissors. Place it in your camera....

VOILA!

No more ants.

(Wear gloves when handling the insecticidal strip.)

Another example of better living through chemicals.

Kayak Nation

As a kid growing-up only Eskimos had kayaks.  You never saw a kayak either in the water and certainly not on the road.  You only saw Eskimo people in kayaks hunting seals or walrus. And then only in pictures.

Nowadays, the proper term is Inuit.  (The People -  a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada).

And kayaks are ubiquitous.

Pagoda Dogwood

Alternate-leaf Dogwood, Blue  Dogwood, Pagoda Dogwood - Cornus alternifolia - they're all the same short shrub or tree characterized by the crown of  long horizontal branches.

Unlike all the other native dogwoods, this species has alternate rather than opposite leaves.  The name Pagoda Dogwood alludes to the flat-tipped crown, with horizontal layers of branches.

The Frau and I planted some of these near the creek probably about 15-16 years ago. They're doing so well we planted another 10 his spring.

click on image to enlarge

The late spring blossoms will result in berries that are consumed in quantities in fall and winter by the critters.

Happy Independence Day

No fireworks in today's post - just something that comes close.

If you have ever seen a woodcock flush or stumbled across one while walking to your deer stand in the dark it would remind you of a startling explosion.

Enough to take your breath away.  When flushed the ground-dwelling doodle bird flies like a wildly-errant fighter jet.  When hunted they are a challenging shot.

I think I captured one on the trail camera!

Copy Editor Anybody?

Hard to believe that this snuck past the sharp eyes of the copy editor at Gannett Publications.

But it did...

Happy Fourth of July Holiday...

More Deer

The deer are sporting their beautiful red-phase summer coat.

And the fawns are sporting their summer cammo too.

click on image to enlarge

Roadside Curiosity

Yessir.

A genuine road sign.

One country road looks pretty much like the rest...

Door County Geology

The topography of the peninsula is characterized by dolostone bedrock that is painfully close to the surface.

At The Platz the bedrock is alternately within a foot of two of the surface or as much as eighteen feet below the surface.  Sometimes it is at the surface.  A couple of miles away the Niagra Escarpment is above the surface.

This cedar is growing from the exposed face of a cliff and is likely thousands of years old.








If you pay attention to the scenery found in the countryside you might spy ancient stone fences  constructed of chunks of the bedrock that have worked their way to the surface due to the freeze/thaw cycle of the seasons.

Upon careful examination you can  often find the scars of plows on the surface of these stones.

Just imagine the back-breaking labor that was expended gathering those stones a hundred or more years ago.

There were no skid-loaders back then.

Learn more about the geology of the peninsula here.