Weekend Update

Quick update on a busy weekend.

click on images for a closer look

 

The 30th Annual Southeast Wisconsin Woodland Owners Conference went-off without a hitch.  Attendance was higher than previous years - maybe even a record.  And the consensus was that the absence of concurrent (breakout) sessions was appreciated.  Attendees liked the notion of having one place to sit, be attentive to the program, have lunch and chat with adjacent attendees. 

One of the terrific things about these educational programs is that you come away with at least one thing that you didn't know about before.  My big takeaway is I learned that coyotes will hunt cooperatively with badgers.  I'm not making this up.  During a presentation on Wisconsin's largest member of the weasel family a wildlife biologist spoke about this fascinating phenomenon of cross-species collaboration.  Seems that when a badger and a coyote team-up to hunt together their success rate improves by 30% compared to hunting solo.  That's big in a world where the strong survive and the weak are killed and eaten.  This subject is blog-worthy so stay tuned.

The Wauwatosa Curling Club's 2019 Chili Spiel was also a resounding success with twelve homemade selections of chili in the tasting competition and plenty of time on the ice.  I believe this was my third or possibly fourth entry in the chili competition and I have yet to place in the top three slots.  And I think I make pretty good chili.

Pardon me if I editorialize.  Chili is basic stuff.  Meat, tomatoes, spices and sometimes beans.  And not blazing spicy hot.  It is always easier to add 'heat' to an individual bowl of con carne with a few dashes of hot sauce than it is to make an entire batch unhot.  The trouble with a competition is once you've had a couple of tastes of someone's overly-spiced chili your palate is basically ruined for purposes of tasting the rest of the competition.

Moreover, there is no place for weird derivations like 'Italian beef' chili or 'bacon' chili.  And absolutely no place for macaroni.  Although Jill has gently reminded me that many people grew-up with macaroni in their chili as their families had to stretch the dish at dinner time.  My conclusion is that personal preferences for chili are similar to preferences for BBQ.  Texas is different from Carolina which is different from Kansas City or St. Louis.  Reminds me of politics.  Which can be honest and unpretentious or completely corrupt and dishonest or just plain weird.  Rant over. 

Unfortunately I had to skip the last curling event to return home to let the dogs out.  Jill stayed for the bitter end.  She is a trooper.

And after 20 years of volunteering on the winter woodland conference I have decide not to retire and to stay active on the planning committee.

Raising a toast to sustainable forestry and good curling. 

And eat more deer....