Friday Music

Summer festivals and the concert and performance season is immediately around the corner.  As a consequence it's time to publish a friendly reminder of a totally fun group that you need to put on your summer concert list.

Ruby James and saxophonist Stephen "Coopy" Cooper formed this Midwest phenomenon in Door County with a chance meet-up that somehow involved the Holiday Music Motel in Sturgeon Bay.  You know, that place born of the Steel Bridge Songfest where musicians come and stay for a long weekend to compose and record music. 

I’ve seen this group perform their brass-infused brand of soul and funk several times on the peninsula.  Sure, you may have to drive an hour (maybe) but they are worth the trip.

You can read the entire story behind the story in this piece by Matt Mueller and published in OnMilwaukee about the same time as I became aware of the group.  And if you like their music like I do follow them on Face Book and the band's website here to be sure you don't miss a performance coming close to you. 

In the meantime there is She Won't Go - WIFEE and the HUZzBAND... 

Frogger

Member of the local frog chorale, adept climber of vertical surfaces and personal friend.  

click on image for a closer look

 

Meet Hyla versicolor - the gray treefrog. 

This amphibian sports a number of chameleon-like qualities allowing it to change in coloration in seconds from green to gray with darker mottling or a solid color.  It tends to be darker when it is cold and dark yet can blend-in easily with a tree’s bark or foliage.  Field marks for this frog include a white spot below each eye, white belly and bright yellow-orange skin beneath its thighs.    

The gray treefrog is nocturnal – foraging in the evening for insects and other bugs and resting during the day in cover.  I found this guy beneath my Weber Smokey Joe.  The toe pads are pronounced and produce a sticky substance allowing this critter to cling to various surfaces.  

While the breeding season is presently in full swing - this species will sing beyond the breeding season, especially on warm, rainy or humid days.   The female selects a mate based upon his call, lays up to 2000 eggs in groups of 10 to 50.  The tadpoles hatch in four or five days and will change into froglets in about two months.    

The gray treefrog overwinters under leaf litter, logs and rocks and actually freezes.  It produces large amounts of glycerol replacing water in vital organs which acts like antifreeze and prevents ice crystals from forming in the cells.  The frog’s body freezes and its heartbeat and breathing stop.  When the temperature warms up – the frog thaws out and emerges to serenade us with its calling.

Flash of Blue

This aerialist with deep-blue iridescent backs and clean white breast is one of the first birds to return every spring.  

Audubon.org

 

Meet Tachycineta bicolor – the tree swallow.  Tree Swallows are a familiar sight in the big grassy field north of the house and are quite fond of both the wetland features and the bluebird nest boxes that they’ve usurped.  

The males arrive earlier and claim nesting territory before the females return.  Their courtship ritual includes the male introducing the female to possible nest boxes.  After they’ve settled upon a suitable location the female builds a nest of grass, pine needles and other plant material.  After the first eggs are laid the nest is lined with feathers from other birds.  The female incubates the eggs for a couple of weeks and both parents feed the nestlings.  The young fledge about 18-22 days after hatching. 

Watching these acrobatic birds flashing their blue plumage in the sunlight is a delight. 

Sunset

I spent part of my afternoon fussing with the boat.  And now there was this just awhile-ago.

Red sky at night - sailors delight.

click on image for a closer look

 

Auspicious....

Great White

Meet Ardea alba – the Great Egret.  This rare visitor actually paid us a call today. 

An entirely white bird - they are a tall wading species with long black legs and a yellow-orange, dagger-like bill. These birds are found in both salt water and fresh water habitats and build their stick nest high in trees.  They live in colonies and prefer island-living so as to be safe from predators like raccoons.  This bird doesn’t nest here as I believe we are pushing the furthest extent of their breeding range.  Besides, we have no islands. 

This bird spent the afternoon dining on whatever it could catch in the big pond just south of Silver Creek.  Standing still for a period of time it would suddenly thrust its bill into the shallows.  One less frog in the mix so it seems. 

It just flew-off about thirty minutes ago.

More Early Blooms

The white oak tree in the yard was a bare root stick when planted fifteen years ago.  In the intervening decade and a half it has grown into a handsome pre-adolescent.   

The other day I noticed that the tree had large numbers of catkins hanging from the prior year’s growth as the leaves of 2019 emerged from their buds.  These are one of the flowers that are produced by the tree – the male flower to be certain.  This species is monoecious – meaning that it produces both male and female flowers. Each male flower typically has six stamens (ranges from two to twelve) which have long spreading white filaments when the flower fully opens.  The female flowers are more reddish-green and appear as small slender spikes in the axils of new growth. 

I gave this tree a thorough examination and could find no flowers of the female persuasion. Not surprising inasmuch as they are not visible to the naked eye.  It is from the female flower that acorns are formed.  White oaks mature sufficiently at twenty or more years of age before they are capable of producing acorns.  Large numbers of acorns won't materialize until the tree is fifty years of age.  Which makes sense for a tree that will live many hundreds of years. 

This retirement shtick is OK.  I have plenty more time to take notice-of and observe what is going on in the natural world. 

Early Blooms

From our walk last Thursday we found a nice specimen of this tree/shrub growing on the north bank of Silver Creek. 

click on image to enlarge

 

Meet Amelanchier sanguinea - the tree known as serviceberry, Juneberry, shadbush or shadblow.   An early bloomer - the colloquial origin of the name comes from 'service'.  The blooming of the serviceberry indicated the ground had thawed sufficiently to dig graves so those who died over the previous winter when the only way to deal with the bodies was to allow them to freeze and wait for spring to be buried. 

The plant’s other name  - shadblow - because the fruit matures in June when the shad swim into the rivers.  The plant’s etymology similarly explains the name serviceberry by noting that the flowers bloom about the time roads in the Appalachian Mountains became passable - allowing circuit-riding preachers to resume church services.  

All of this is interesting folklore for sure; nevertheless, the serviceberry is an early blooming plant and as a consequence has an important role as a food source for pollinators like bees and butterflies.   Birds and wildlife are very attracted to serviceberry’s fruit. The fruit may be eaten by orioles, cardinals, thrushes, catbirds, woodpeckers, waxwings, robins, squirrels, and chipmunks.  And if you are people - and can collect enough of the berries - it makes a mean serviceberry pie.

The Garden Chronicles

May 16th I planted peas and radishes.  They have begun to emerge thru the surface of the soil in the last 24 hours.

May 21st I planted the old reliable German butterball taters and Stuttgarter yellow onions - renowned for their ease of raising and long-term storage characteristics.  As I tap this out I have onions and potatoes from last year's garden in the garage fridge.

Today I planted the first sowing of the following:  four varieties of lettuce, spinach, two varieties of carrots, green beans and two varieties of beets - traditional red and golden.

More will be installed after these are up and thriving so as to have a continuous harvest throughout the growing season.

I've also been hardening-off my potted tomatoes, sweet peppers, broccoli, a melon and an acorn squash plant.

After 14 years (give or take) the asparagus patch is most definitely played-out having only sent-up three, thread-thin stalks.  Added to the project list is digging-up the existing bed and replanting it.  Reflecting-upon the loss of fresh-picked spargel for a period of 2-3 years as I get a new bed established it has occurred to me that I should have planned for this eventuality and started a back-up bed five years ago.  Sigh.

You're probably thinking - Jeez, Swamp, what's with those weeds in your garden.  Getting lazy in retirement? 

It's expected to rain tomorrow - and those weeds will pull easy following a good soak.

Vive le jardin magnifique!

Memorial Day

It is, in a way an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country....in wars far away.  The imagination plays a trick.  We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise.  We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired.

But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives - the one they were living and one they would have lived...

- Ronald Reagan

Originally called Decoration Day - Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country.

There is an American Cemetery and Memorial located in Colleville-sur-Mer on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.  Dedicated in 1956 the Cemetery and Memorial is situated closely to the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 - the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II.  

This is the final resting place of 9,388 of our military dead - most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.  If you were to visit this place you will note that upon the walls of the Garden of the Missing are inscribed an additional 1,557 names.  And because old battlefields continue to yield their dead - rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

In Plot E Row 26 Grave 37 rests James D. Johnston - Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.  Jill and I walked this sacred place on a typical rainy Norman morning and while I have no direct connection to James Johnston, his life before the war, or his survivors following the war what you can discern from the marker is that Johnston was from North Carolina and was a commander in the same division and infantry regiment my dad served.  

Some of you know that my father landed at Utah Beach as an infantry replacement.  He was a machine gunner in a heavy weapons platoon.  Dad fought in the battle of the hedgerows, the breakout at Saint-Lô and Patton's mad dash across northern France.  His participation in the liberation of Belgium was interrupted by wounds incurred in combat.  Following his recovery in England he served for a brief period in the US Army of Occupation in Germany.

Dad returned home from the war and lived a full and rewarding life. He worked quietly in a public school system and never spoke about his war experiences in any great detail until I was in college. I am alive today to muse about this subject because he survived.  James Johnston never had the opportunity to sit on the stoop and share closely-guarded feelings about the war with a son.  

This is why Memorial Day is personal to me.

A bit of reading reveals that Johnston died from wounds suffered from the detonation of a German 88mm shell at the blood-stained Crossroads 114 near Acqueville just outside of Cherbourg.  Death in combat was a fickle mistress in the skirmishes and battle for mere meters in the uneven and mixed woodlands and pastures of the Bocage.  PFC Gaertner survived - Lt Col Johnston did not.

When it came time for a permanent burial, the families of the dead were asked if they wanted their loved ones repatriated for permanent burial in the U.S. or interred overseas.  Lieutenant Colonel Johnston's remains lie here with approximately 461 graves belonging to 9th Infantry Division G.I.s.

Today it is useful to remember and honor the lives that brave men and women sacrificed.  

Both of those lives.
 

click on images for a closer look

 

 

_{*Eight Stars to Victory - Mittelman, The Battery Press}

Noteable Quoteable

I don’t do cover-ups, I’m the most transparent president, probably, in the history of this country. 

So said the man who paid hush money to a porn star and who is now mounting multiple legal battles to conceal his tax returns and business records. 

Hilarious.

You cannot possibly make this stuff up - my funny bone is getting a real workout lately...

Friday Music

Sting wrote the song in 1982 in following a separation from his wife and the start of a romantic relationship with her best friend.  It is a dark song with lyrics describing a possessive lover who is watching ‘every breath you take; every move you make’.  He was the object of public criticism for the public scandal.

Nonetheless, it was a huge hit for The Police reaching Number One in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Israel, Ireland, and South Africa.  Rolling Stone critics and readers voted this song 1983’s Song of the Year.      

Sting has written and produced a reimagined version of this song along with a number of his most celebrated hits – including ‘Englishman In New York,’ ‘Fields Of Gold,’ ‘Shape Of My Heart,’ ‘Roxanne,’ ‘Message In A Bottle’ and many more. 

The album’s debut is today.  Check it out on the web here.    

And there is this…

Tiptoeing Thru The Berry Patch

From our walk is this.

So many of these delicate white flowers covering the ground that it was oddly reminiscent of snow.  Which of course it wasn't.  The wild strawberries - Fragaria virginiana - that are part of the natural groundcover are blooming.

A member of the rose family These flowers will yield one of the sweetest of wild berries.  Although it is rare that the missus and I have an opportunity to taste one.

The critters seem to get them first.

Manure Management

The other day on the way to the dump I stopped to watch a manure spreading operation on a field not far away. 

click on images for a closer look

 

I have observed these ginormous tanker trucks hauling liquid manure, a network of large diameter hoses, tanks and pumping equipment and what appeared to a rig hitched to the tractor that not only injected the manure into the soil but also used a disc to work-up the soil as well. 

It all appears to be a bit more complicated than the usual practice of spraying a geyser of liquid manure over the surface of a field and then returning to disc it the next day.  Complications-aside, it does appear more efficient and most definitely has a diminished olfactory impact. 

If I had to hazard a guess this non-farmer - suspects that manure injection (versus spreading) reduces nutrient losses due to evaporation and also reduced runoff.  Both of these features are important considering Door County's shallow soils and karst geology.  Is it higher cost?  I suspect it is.  Does this result in higher yields?  I dunno the answers to these questions.  Maybe someone that knows about this technology will chime-in with a comment. 

Using the photos I snapped - I believe I identified the equipment mounted on the Deere tractor and it would appear to be a manure injector and disc – Phil’s Pumping and Fabrication.  (This is what retired guys do when they have spare time on their hands).   

photo - Phil's Pumping and Fabrication

 

Specs as follows: 

Pottinger Terradisc  - 20 Feet 
Bolt on swing tube for attaching with ease.     
Accurate Application with 4 splash pans spreading in front of the discs evenly spaced.       Hydraulically run 6" Trueline Valve w/Resilient Seat for superb sealing.      
23" notched discs built to last!     
Flow Meter accessible     

You can lean much more about dairy farm manure handling at Phil’s Facebook page here:  https://www.facebook.com/philspumpingandfab/       

And by watching this YouTube video…..     
  

New Ferry On Deck

In local maritime news it was announced last week that the fifth and largest Washington Island Ferry will be built in Door County.    

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding of Sturgeon Bay will construct the vessel - named Madonna - making it the company's third ferry for Washington Island.     

All current ferry vessels were built in Sturgeon Bay – two by Peterson Builders and this will be our third here at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. Our past work is indicative of the quality and attention to detail the Ferry Line and all of our customers have come to expect from our seasoned workforce. This contract will add to the steady work relied upon by the hundreds of women and men we employ from across the region, said Fincantieri's vice president and general manager, Todd Thayse.  

Fincantieri Shipbuilding

 

The new ferry will be 124 feet long, capable of hauling up to 28 vehicles and 150 passengers.  Amenities will include outdoor, upper-deck seating and an enclosed indoor cabin with two restrooms.  Designed for year-round sailing the boat will also be capable of busting ice.  

Learn more here.

Update From the Oriole Ranch

743 photos taken over four hours - mostly of nothing but the feeder.  Such is the challenge of a motion activated camera.

We're up to one 30 ounce jar of grape jelly a day.

Here's a handful of photos from late afternoon when the lighting is optimal.

Load 'em up, move 'em out......

100th Anniversary

Last week the Missus and I had an opportunity to visit the Naked City for a movie premier.  It was fun - our first short 24 hour getaway vacation of my retirement.  We stayed overnight at County Clare, took-in some walking-tour sights, surprised a neighbor from more than three decades ago, and had lunch with our respective friends.  In case you’re wondering about the movie – it is a feature-length documentary exploring the transformation of the Wisconsin National Guard from loosely organized regiments into the 32nd Division at the outset of World War I.  

Told through the stories, pictures, and video of Soldiers who fought in the trenches. Over 15,000 National Guardsmen from Wisconsin and over 8,000 from Michigan fought together and earned the name of "Les Terribles" and the insignia of a Red Arrow, a legacy continuing to modern day.

General de Mondesir, the 38th French Corps Commander - which the 32nd served under - went to the front to observe the fighting. When he saw how the 32nd cleared the Germans out of their reinforced positions with unrelenting and successful attacks, he exclaimed: Oui, Oui, Les soldats terrible, tres bien, tres bien!    

General Charles Mangin heard of it and referred to the 32nd Division as Les Terribles when he asked for the division to join his 10th French Army north of Soissons. He later made the nickname official when he incorporated it in his citation for their attack at Juvigny.      

The division's shoulder patch, a line shot through with a red arrow, symbolizes the fact that the 32nd Division penetrated every German line of defense that it faced during World War I.     

Raising a toast to Wisconsin and Michigan’s 32nd Division Army National Guard – including both Grandpa Schmidt and great Uncle Lauer.

Learn more here.  and be sure to watch the trailer...

Ducks

It's not at all unusual to observes ducks in our ponds - particularly mallards in the spring and multiple migrating species in the fall.

On May 4th we flushed a hen mallard while on our walk and upon further investigation found this.

click on images for a closer look



A nest situated in the tall grassland surrounding the large pond.  Mallard nests are situated on the ground and concealed by grasses and other cover.  Mama will pluck down from her breast to further insulate the eggs during the period of incubation - 30 days, give-or-take.

After hatch the ducklings pretty much vacate the nest and head for water.  There was no way to know how long the nest was here and as a consequence no way to guess when the eggs would hatch.  So we left it alone.  My fear was that a marauding skunk or raccoon would predate the nest before the ducklings hatched and made a break for freedom.

On Friday, May 17 we made a most cautious of inspections and found this.

By all outward appearances the nest appeared undisturbed and was filled with shell fragments and duck down.  No ducks.  At first blush it looks like a successful hatch.  Nevertheless, we haven't been observing any ducklings paddling about the pond.

So maybe it was a successful raid that left little evidence of disturbance?  Fortunately, if the nest was hit by a predator mama will lay a replacement clutch of eggs in an alternate location.

Fingers-crossed...

Fair Trade Winds Blowing

Dairy farmers and Co-Ops are breathing a little easier today following yesterday’s announcement that the United States will be lifting tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Canada and Mexico.  Mexican and Canadian retaliatory tariffs on a broad range of U.S. products, including pork, beef, bourbon and dairy will also be lifted. 

 

This opens the doors to eventual congressional approval of a new North American trade pact which is good news for America’s hard-working dairy farmers who have suffered over the last year from the loss of their two largest trading partners.     

 

The only fly in the ointment is that Friday’s ‘deal’ allows the U.S. to re-impose the tariffs if either aluminum or steel imports 'surge meaningfully' over a period of time.  What constitutes a meaningful surge is to be defined by US steel and aluminum interests – which means that at the first sign of price and/or supply competition they’ll run crying to the White House.   Translation:  Politically-managed trade. 

 

Nevertheless, all of this is progress in the right direction even though we are months and months away from congressional ratification of the USMCA.  Personally, I've been heartened over the past seven days as more and more people have spoken truth to power about tariffs.  The Truth is that Importers pay these trade taxes and the costs are virtually always paid by you and I - the consumer.  

 

One final thought – I think that Tariff Man got a little jangled by last week's market volatility.  Raising the specter of his doppelgänger - Dow Man.  And, of-course, the 2020 election. 

 

photo - ABC News

 

Have a terrific weekend!

Flower Moon

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac - we use full moon names that were used during Native American and Colonial times to help track the seasons.  This practice is traced to the Algonquin tribes who lived in the same areas as the Colonists.    

May’s full Moon is known as the Flower Moon.  It signifies the wildflowers that bloom in May.  This includes wild iris, sundrops, marsh marigold, violets and more that are found around here. 

The month of May also marked a period of increased fertility and the warming days that made it safer to bear young.  For that reason it is sometimes called the Mother’s Moon.  Other names include the Corn Planting Moon and Milk Moon. 

Fingers-crossed for clear viewing conditions tonight.

Porch Beer

 
 


Founded by hobbyists Christian Bauweraerts and Pierre Gobron the Brasserie d'Achouffe is a brewery based in Achouffe, Belgium.   

Now owned by the brewery group Duvel Moortgat it continues to brew and distribute fine Belgian beers.       

Houblon CHOUFFE is the first Belgian IPA and features both a hoppy nose but notes of grapefruit too.  At 9% ABV this IPA is strong.     
 

Click on images for a closer look

Enjoy on the sunny side of the porch…..

Friday Music

From the second album of the Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session – is this song.   

The original recording was made inside Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity on November 27, 1987, with the band circled around a single microphone.  The band was unable to rehearse with most of the guest musicians before the day of the six hour session.

Considering the method of recording and time constraints, this could have been disastrous for the numbers which required seven or more musicians, but after paying a security guard twenty-five dollars for an extra two hours of recording time, the band was able to finish, recording the final song of the session, Misguided Angel, in a single take.  -Wikipedia

Nice live performance from Toronto's Massey Hall - from one year ago.....

How To Make A Lasting Memory

Following my retirement one of my most treasured friends arranged for the shipment of three dormant and potted, Hydrangea paniculata Vanilla Strawberry™. 

They're from White Flower Farm and coincidentally match an older hydrangea that the deer munched-upon last winter.

In any event, this gift is a perfect match to the existing shrub and situated at a different corner of the house the three plants should compliment the original rather nicely.





Furthermore, with permanent residence we can mount a better defensive effort to protect them from the marauding tree-munchers.  I'll wrap them in burlap!

click on the image for a closer look

 

Jill got them planted last weekend and it is going to be rewarding to watch these flowering shrubs establish themselves and further extend the memories.  

It is going to be fun watching these shrubs grow and become established.  Not only will they bring a smile to these lips - but they'll memorialize a 38-year career and a decades-long relationship.

Raising a toast to a perfect post-script...

Feeder Photography

I have embraced an experiment using a game camera to monitor one of the bird feeders. 

It is an intriguing theoretical notion however with the birds flitting and out and about along with the breeze moving a feeder from time-to-time the motion-activation feature is working overtime.  Case in point - 444 photos in roughly two hours!

The current fix is to power-up the camera for short intervals when the lighting is optimal and the winds are calm.  That keeps the sheer volume of photos manageable and allows for better photo composition. 

Some specimen photos are included in this post. 

Since the Orioles began arriving a week ago we’ve had to open another 30 ounce jar of grape jelly.

click on images for a closer look

 

Check-in periodically for updates.

Spring Flowers

While out on our walk yesterday the girls and I encountered these lovely little flowers poking thru the detritus on the floor of the understory  along the creek. 

Meet Viola sororia, also known as the common blue violet.  I've always called these wood violets.  Others refer to this plant as the purple violet, or the meadow violet, the hooded violet and the lesbian flower.  They are quite variable in color - with these a pale shade of blue.  You cannot miss them as they stand-out against the brown litter of the forest floor.  They are striking.  And everywhere.

This plant prefers wet feet or moist woodlands and is found across Wisconsin.  There are more than six dozen variations of the plant found in north America and botanists have expediently lumped them together under one name - V. sororia.  It reproduces by means of underground runner although it is capable of producing seeds as well. 

Just like the pansies you might find growing in the kitchen garden the leaves happen to be edible so if you give them a rinse in cold water you can mix them in your salad.