Snow Deer

Schneehirsch.

Fuzzy deer sporting that uniquely -adapted winter coat that includes coarser outer guard hairs for added insulation.  The insulating qualities are so efficient that snow on the deer doesn't melt.  The dull brownish-grey winter coat this time of year is also superb camouflage. 

 

The local whitetails are looking quite healthy considering the extreme cold over the holidays and the recent freezing rain and sleet.

 

Survivor the whitetail is...

 

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Nocturnal Buck

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Nicely-composed IR photo of a two and a half year-old six point buck.  He's a healthy-looking animal and if he's survived the hunting season and can avoid getting smacked by a vehicle in the next eight months  he'll be handsome quarry during hunting next autumn.

Yeah - I know I grouse about there being too many deer around here and all the browse and how they limit the  regeneration of desirable understory and trees.  Yet that doesn't mean you cannot admire them too.

Beautiful animal the whitetail is...

A Wisconsin Connection

 

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Last week marked the 50^th anniversary of the attack-upon, boarding and seizure of the USS Pueblo  on January 23rd 1968.  The Pueblo is still held by North Korea and is moored in Pyongyang.  What I did not know until last weekend is that the vessel was built by the Kewaunee Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Kewaunee, Wisconsin.  Launched in 1944 as a US Army Freight and Passenger ship (FP-344) the Army later redesignated the FP vessels as Freight and Supply - changing the designation to FS-344.  The ship was operated by the Coast Guard on the gulf coast for training civilians for the Army.  Heretofore I did not know the USCG operated ships for the army.  You learn something new every day.  FS-344 was mothballed in 1954. 

In 1966 FS-344 was transferred to the US Navy and christened as the USS Pueblo (AKL-44) after Pueblo and Pueblo County, Colorado.  After serving as a light cargo ship Pueblo was converted to an intelligence gathering ship, or what is colloquially known as a spy ship and redesignated AGER-2 in 1967. 

Pueblo is still considered to be commissioned by the United States Navy and remains the second-oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy, behind USS Constitution. Pueblo is one of only a few American ships to have been captured since the Barbary war in 1800.

After fifty long years I've learned ship load of history for a small ship with a Wisconsin connection. 

Go figure....
 

Al's Burgers

Al Rank opened this restaurant, located at 131 S. Washington Street, Green Bay in 1934. Over the years the Rank family continued to operate the establishment with son - George Rank - running the restaurant for more than five decades until Al's death in 2014.  

Things have not always come easy as Al's closed in August 2011 because of a fire that gutted the small building,  The shop reopened in April 2012.  When the Rank family finally decided to close the business Michael Wirz purchased it in 2016.  Following the completion of updates and obtaining a liquor license Wirz reopened the joint in (pardon the pun) short order.   

Another place to add to your list of great northeast Wisconsin burger emporiums. 

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The Golden Throne

It's tradition for US presidents to borrow famous artwork from museums in order to decorate the White House.  The Trumps requested to borrow a Vincent Van Gogh painting from the Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.  The president and first lady reportedly hoped to display it in the Oval Office.   

The Guggenheim's chief curator declined the request.  Instead, she offered an 18-karat solid gold toilet by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Called "America," the modern sculpture was on display at the museum for a year starting in September 2016.   

Naturally, Trump supporters have their noses out of joint over what they decry as a crass, tasteless and degrading reponse to the current occupant of the Whitehouse.

I call BS.  Crass is as crass does.  Guggenheim is simply dishing the POTUS a dose of his own medicine.   As far as commodes go this golden throne is certainly an appropriate platform from which to perform your morning tweeting.  

You can learn more about this dust-up here.

Friday Music

The British rock band - The Yardbirds - formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist/bassist Chris Dreja and Paul Samwell-Smith on bass. They worked with a number of lead guitarists – and launched the careers of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck - all of whom ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 greatest guitarists. 

1965 Heart Full of Soul was the Yardbirds' first single after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as lead guitarist.  The song reached the top ten on the charts in both the UK and the US.

Deer!

Not the best photo in the neighborhood as the deer are a quarter mile distant and a hurried shot with an iPhone from the vehicle.

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Location:  Top of hill on Swamp looking east.  Just shy of 4:30 PM today.

We killed fourteen deer last season a half mile distant to the east of the woods on the far horizon.  In this photo are fourteen surviving deer.  One can only wonder how many are hidden in the cover.

Mind-boggling amazing...

 

Personal Finance Simplified

Daughter and son-in-law are raising the grandson with the correct financial acumen balanced by excellent values.  Some adults might benefit from something this simple...

War Horror

Jill nailed it.   

Definitely not a film about the war in Vietnam as much as a fictional horror movie set in Vietnam and Cambodia cast with a collection of misfit, drug-addled actors. 

It has been decades - yet after two runs of evening viewing we got thru the ENTIRE 4 hours and 49 minutes of the Redux version. 

No less disturbing.

Yeesh...

The Girls

Trail camera photos from a hike on Saturday.

The Dowager Retriever



And the Blonde Bomber

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Oil or Paper?

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Styrofoam, is a product made from a non-renewable resource - petro-chemicals.  It is just about impossible to recycle and usually ends-up in a landfill taking a minimum of 20 generations (500 years) to biodegrade.  Furthermore, when it inevitably breaks down into smaller pieces it can wreak further harm when ingested by animal life.   

The container featured in the photo holds chicken wings.  After a short zap in the microwave it will become repurposed lunch the next day.  This box is manufactured of paper fiber - a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees.  In a perfect world it would be made from 100 percent recycled paper content which means that no additional trees were used to make it.  Recycled paper saves energy, landfill space and reduces pollution in the water and air.  Yet even if it is made from mixed content (new and recycled fiber) there is no getting around the fact that it happens to be a paper product.  And it bears repeating that paper is a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees.   

That means that I can discard it in my compost pile.  Under optimal conditions in ten days to two weeks it would be gone.   

On balance is a styrofoam container a more earth-friendly choice?  Or is the paper product?  I know where I come down on the issue and I made a point of telling the proprietor of the restaurant that I appreciated her thoughtful choice of to-go containers.  It never hurts to politely reward smart choices and educate to change hearts and minds.    Business Insider has more about this subject here.