Predictable Extraterrestrials

They’re back. 

Yup - those pesky extraterrestrial beings from the fringes of our galaxy that periodically pay a call to the peninsula to vex me.  The evidence is irrefutable. 

click on the image for a closer look

One of the patient and stealthy trail cameras recorded the return of their spacecraft as it landed nearby.  Curiously, the visitation is right on time.  I looked back at my records and it was only a year ago I captured photographic evidence of their November visit. 

Predictable the aliens are…..

Word of the Day

Chionophile.  Animals that can thrive in cold winter conditions are called chionophiles.  This includes any organisms (animals, plants, fungi, etc.) that can thrive in cold winter conditions. 
 
The derivation of the word is from the Greek word chion meaning ‘snow’, and phile meaning ‘lover’).  These animals have specialized adaptations that help them survive the harshest winters. 
 
Considering the current weather conditions and the fact that we are sheltering in-place – Jill and I are exercising our special adaptations therefore confirming we are chionophiles.
 

Thanksgiving Arrived A Day Late

Today is the best I’ve felt since I awoke Tuesday morning capable only of vocalizing a hoarse croak. 

Whatever crud has been going around knocked me for a loop and I lost most of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to sleep.  Donning my street clothes I stacked firewood in preparation of hunkering-down in the predicted snow and picked-up our fresh venison from Marchant’s.         

click on image for a closer look

In the laundry baskets is a boatload of burger while the boxes hold steaks, chops, roasts and stew meat.  At the bottom of the photo are three large bags of trimmings which will be used to make both fresh and smoked sausage.  Coinciding with the thanksgiving holiday this is quite the avalanche of delicious goodness.  For which we are grateful and give thanks.  My hunting friends would concur.        

My friends know that I periodically opine about people eating more deer - and how if only that would happen we could solve the dual problems of forest regeneration and hunger.  But I shall not moralize or preach on matters of sustainability today.        

With my appetite returning of critical interest is a reoccurring vision of venison tacos in the near future.        

And maybe a haircut........

Friday Music

Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert -  Bert Kaempfert - was a German orchestra leader, instrumentalist, producer, arranger, and composer.  His music figured significantly in our household when I was a child.  

Bert made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, including Strangers in the Night and Moon Over Naples, Danke Schoen, Blue Midnight, We Can Make it Girl, Sweet Maria, Sweet Caroline, Wooden Heart, That Happy Feeling and many more.  

Long before it was popularized by other latter-day artists the LP entitled A Swingin' Safari was heavily influenced by South African kwela style music containing versions of Zambesi, Wimoweh, Skokiaan, and Afrikaan Beat, as well as the title track. -Wikki

Chub a Dub Dub

Behold the Bloater Chub. 
 

click on image for a closer look

 
At least that's what I think it is.  My pal Lawyer picked-up almost four pounds of this delicious delicacy from La Fond's Fish Market in Kewaunee last week for cocktail hour at deer camp. 
 
Fished commercially with gill nets on Lake Michigan this deliciously oily delicacy makes for a wonderful smoked fish.  Once off the boat they are soaked in a salty brine and smoked just enough to bring out their subtle flavor.  No fishy taste here. 
 
In case you are interested this fish contains the highest amount of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) of any commercially-caught fish species on the great lakes.  More than even a sockeye salmon! 
 
You are looking at my last one.  And I am going to dine-upon it before my Thanksgiving repast.  So it you can get your hands on some of these breakout the napkins and enjoy with a refreshing adult beverage. 
 
You can learn more about this diminutive – yet delicious – fish species here. 
 
Cheers!

Count Your Blessings

On this day of holiday thankfulness it is useful to reflect-upon what an incredible time it is to be alive.    

Ten years ago would it have been considered possible to treat cancer with gene therapies?  That items (including body parts) could be created with a 3D printer?  That the unemployment rate would be 3.5%?  Or that energy costs would be substantially lower than they were only a decade ago? 

Who knew you could summon a ride from a Smartphone.  Speaking of automobiles – back-up cameras are now a standard feature.  Cars have cruise control that automatically responds to traffic conditions and flow.  There are blind spot warnings and many cars can now park themselves.  A new generation of sixteen year-olds may no longer have to learn how to parallel park!   

Retiree savings reflects the strength of US markets and the profitability of entrepreneurship. 

For sure there is much to be improved-upon – yet on balance this is a terrific time to be living.  We have much to be thankful-for so if you  glass is half-full take a moment to count your blessings.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Roots

This is my DNA ancestry. 

I received this update just before we left to visit Ireland.  Heretofore, the oral tradition in my family has always been that I was ½ Irish and ½ German. 

Mom's laborious genealogy research bore this out tracing our immigrant ancestors back to both Ireland and Germany – at which point the trail went cold.  Mom’s work predated the internet so much of it was conducted in person searching dusty birth, baptismal and death records in small Midwest communities and a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah to delve into accounts maintained by the Church of Latter Day Saints – the Mormons.  Nevertheless, the pie remained 50/50.  Easy peasy – half and half.  Looking at that regional map pictured here - it is no longer a simple 50/50 sprit. 


When I submitted my DNA for analysis in October of 2016 the original ancestry map looked like this. 

click on a map for a closer look

As additional data and DNA was collected it was updated in 2018 to this.    

And now the most recent update at the very top of this post.  The Irish half is actually becoming more refined and focused upon specific regions of Ireland.  It is the 39% that is traced to England, Wales and Northwestern Europe that is a puzzle.  Very little is specifically German. 

This is complicated on a number of levels but what is clear is that roughly half of my DNA reflects the history of Western European migration patterns and invasions.  If you go back far enough it was the Celts who dominated much of what is now Europe and the British Isles.  Tribal and warlike the Celts had no written language and as a consequence there are no complete records.  What we do know is that the Romans displaced them and the Celts retreated to Britain and Ireland.  Following that the barbarians displaced the Romans.  Armies ebbed and flowed and conquering Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans left their mark upon this part of the world both politically, culturally and ethnically as well. 

Modern studies suggest that the earliest populations weren’t necessarily wiped-out but adapted and absorbed new arrivals.  Invaders and migrators left their seed in their wake and as a consequence the story has become both clearer and more complex.  Trace DNA is quite persistent which makes my roots both diverse and a wee bit ambiguous. 

Stay-tuned as there’s likely some additional research needed.

Final Harvest

Last week I  fetched the garden onions that had been curing in the shed.  Sure-enough about five were soft and rotten. 

This was an altogether terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad year for onions.  While things started-out just fine - nearing the end of the growing season too much rain and cold led to a massive crop failure.  Unlike the carrots and potatoes who rose to the challenge of cold and wetter than normal conditions most of my onions developed rot. 

While these are of decent size - this is all that survived to tide me over to next year.

Ugh.....

Sunset

click on images for a better look

Fascinating sunset action tonight.   

It started with the yellow and orange bandwidths of the spectrum with visible rainfall to the north.  

Then - BAM!  

The color bandwidth instantaneously switched to red.  

The last photo is a panoramic as everything turned burgundy.   

Must be a sign.  

Or something........

Deer Camp

Things have been quiet here at the blog the last few days.  That's because deer camp has sucked all of the oxygen out of the blog.  In a word it has been too busy to blog. 

Nevertheless, this has been another deer camp for the archives. That makes 25 consecutive years of fresh air, exercise and a bunch of yuks.  

As all things on the continuum of life’s journey the players have evolved over time.  It’s all good.  

click on the image for a better look at this handsome bunch

We dropped seven does at Marchant’s for processing - including two for Northeast Wisconsin food pantry distribution. 

Coincidentally, since the deer donation program began in 2000, hunters have donated over 90,000 deer which have been processed into over 3.7 million pounds of ground venison. 

Raising a toast to good friends, scientific herd management and stemming hunger in Wisconsin.

Cheers!

Memo From Staff

The staff here at The Platz want to extend our hearty best wishes to our millions of world-wide readers for a very merry Christmas and good health and prosperity in the new year.

Cheers!

News at Five

On the news tonight...

Deer Camp

A couple of days before deer camp a hunter's wife puts her foot down and tells him he has to stay home and whittle down his honey-do list of chores.   

The fella's friends are upset and understandably disappointed that he cannot join them at camp.  Alas, they are powerless to do anything about it.  Two days later the crew has gathered at deer camp.  A fire is stoked in the wood burner.  Blaze orange bibs and parkas are hung in the fresh air on the porch.  Even the boots toe the line.  Firearms are carefully stacked on the gun rack at the back door.  Bunks are claimed and everyone is enjoying a refreshing adult beverage and shooting the bull in the testosterone-infused atmosphere. 

Suddenly the dogs bark as the door from the garage opens and the heretofore grounded hunter materializes.  

Dang dude!  How did you manage to talk your wife into letting you go? 

Sidling-up to the kitchen counter and opening a beer the hunter explains...  

This morning I was sitting in my chair feeling poorly when my wife came up behind me.    

She put her hands over my eyes and said - 'guess who?'   I pulled her hands away and was surprised to see she was wearing a flimsy negligee from Victoria's Secret.  

A collective gasp emanates from the group as the hunter continues.   

Then she took my hand and pulled me over to our bedroom. The room had candles and rose petals all over.  On the bed she had handcuffs.  There were ropes too.  She told me to tie and handcuff her to the bed.    

Another collective gasp from the rapt audience.  

You know I follow directions - so I did what she told me to do. Then she said - 'Do whatever you want.'  

So, here I am.

Friday Music

I don't want to leave the impression with the reader that I am superstitious or anything.  Nevertheless, there is a long-standing tradition of listening the music by the Cowboy Junkies in the run-up to the gun hunting extravaganza. 

As a consequence there is today's musical selection from the second album of the Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session.   

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

Stoke the fire and top up the wine - this clip from the Trinity Sessions Revisited with vocals from Margo Timmins and guest artist Natalie Merchant.

If you are hunting this weekend take all precautions to shoot straight and be safe....

Mr. Buck

From one of the trail camera there is this. 

They're still all appearing after dark...

The Incredible Edible Egg

In an Irish supermarket you will find chicken eggs in these convenient six-packs.  And they are not refrigerated.     

I’ve taken note of this in France and you will find it to be generally true throughout Europe.  You go the grocery and you’ll find the eggs either at the end of an isle or on the shelf along with routine canned goods, pasta, rice or other nonperishable foods.  In the US the eggs are found in the refrigerated dairy case along with milk, butter, cheese and orange juice.     

Why is this?      

In the states egg production occurs in large-scale vertical operations. We go big.  Nevertheless, while this occupies less space the eggs are more susceptible to contamination by hen feces raining down from above.  As a consequence they have to be washed and decontaminated.  In Europe free-range systems are preferred.  The priority is to produce clean eggs at the point they are collected instead of cleaning dirty eggs after the fact.  It is also useful to know that washing an egg damages the outside layer known as the cuticle.  Without that natural protective barrier it becomes easier for bacteria to penetrate the egg.  Finally, vaccination has been linked to a rapid decline of salmonella cases in the EU.  US regulators have still not mandated immunizations - although many eggs producers do vaccinate their hens nowadays. 

In the end a freshly-laid Irish egg can hang-out on your kitchen counter or in a cool dry pantry for more than a week.  Although once you put it in the fridge it has to stay in the fridge.      

I’m not suggesting one paradigm is necessarily better than the other – they’re different.  And anyone that has barnyard, free-range, or backyard chickens already knows this. 

Clean eggs are next to godliness. 

And they taste great.     

According to the US Food and Drug Administration salmonella remains the most common cause of food poisoning in the United States.

You Snooze You Lose

The big dog came-up lame the other day and on Monday she and I paid a call to the vet in Green Bay.

An exam and a couple of x-rays revealed nothing out of the ordinary so we'll chalk-it-up to an elderly dog soft tissue injury.  She's on a course of doggie NSAID and a pain meds with strict orders to rest.  She's been sleeping a lot.

Nonetheless, with exercise and potty calls less regimented we're leaving her 'unlocked' in the crate with the option to summon a person for a visit outside.

She woke me up for this the other day.  Not sure if she really had to pee or if she didn't want me to miss the sunrise....

Learning in Retirement

In retirement I have vowed to not only pay closer attention to the natural world around me but to learn new things.

 

Recently I spent some time at the Sturgeon Bay Police Department to learn more about the civilian response to an active shooter event.

A couple of years ago if you asked me if I'd ever want to learn more about this subject I would have suggested that you had taken leave of your senses.  Not so much today.

It was fascinating.  According to the FBI - those who would perpetrate mass murder in a workplace, school or public venue are difficult to profile.  They generally have an 'avenger mindset' and only some broadcast their intentions.

It is not unusual for individuals to have a history of and exposure to violence, stalking, harassment or threatening behavior, are substance abusers, suffer some sort of mental illness, demonstrate a pattern of suicidality and come from a background of negative family dynamics.  For younger individuals an addiction to violent gaming contributes to a desensitization for killing. 

Take-away for me is run (avoid), hide (deny) and defend (fight).  And I now have a heightened sense of situational awareness to add to my retirement repertoire. 

For instance, upon entering a grocery store it is a small matter and only takes a few seconds to identify where the exits are.  Then go about your shopping.

More to the Pavement than Meets the Eye

We recently visited Ireland and among the many and various things we did and saw was a visit to the Burren (Irish - Boireann, meaning "great rock"). 

click on images to enlarge

This is an eco-tourism region of exceptional environmental interest located in northwestern County Clare, Ireland.  The geology is karst formation very similar to that found on the Door Peninsula.  

The landscape of bedrock is lunar in appearance and consists of cracked pavement of glaciated limestone – likely the largest limestone pavement found anywhere in the world.  Also found here are cliffs, caves, fossils, rock formations and archaeological sites.

Although the rock may appear bare and barren – agriculture remains an important tradition with roots going back almost 6,000 years.  Livestock graze the hills in winter, clearing the ground of tough grasses and making way for the delicate plant life to flourish in spring.  

This diverse ecosystem has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation by the European Union. Of Ireland’s 900 native plant species, the Burren is home to 70% – including the mountain avens, an Arctic-Alpine plant introduced by the retreat of the glaciers at the close of the last Ice Age.

The grikes (crevices in the limestone) provide moist shelter, supporting a wide range of rare Irish plant species including dwarf shrubs.  The crevices are also home to countless smartphones dropped by visitors and never to be retrieved.  On the Atlantic coast, the precipitous Cliffs of Moher are home to thousands of seabirds, including puffins.

MacGyver

Jill and I were traveling in Ireland recently and had returned to our hotel with some adult beverages, Irish goat cheese and crackers to snack-upon.

We packed a Swiss Army Knife specifically for the purpose of pulling a wine cork or removing a crown cap from a bottle.  However, the knife we packed was the one without a bottle opener.  Who knew there was such a thing?

In any event, a happen to have a wee bit of MacGyver in my bloodlines and  a brief survey of the hotel room revealed this lock on the bathroom door. 

Perfect.....

Keeping Score

Snow Plow 1 - Mailbox 0

First snow of the season and the county plow came roaring down the road out front at likely 75 miles an hour sending-up a wall of snow that sheared the mailbox from the post.  The four sheet metal screws holding the plastic mounting bracket held firm - however the bracket self-destructed.

So I drilled a couple of additional holes in the floor of the box, placed it back on the remains of the bracket and drove a couple of lag bolts thru the base of the box directly into the horizontal member of the post.

Stay-tuned....

Friday Music

This song was released as a single from the eighth studio album by the same name by the Who in August of 1978.  The album charted at number 2 and the single at number 14 on the US charts.

Featuring lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon - as near as I can tell this exceedingly high quality performance was filmed live and in studio. 

Who Are You was the group's last album to feature Keith Moon as drummer.  Moon was dead three weeks after release of the album.     

This was filmed as a promo at The Who’s Ramport Studios in Battersea, London on 4 May 1978 by Jeff Stein Stein for inclusion in his documentary The Kids Are Alright.

Enjoy...

Illegitimi Non Carborundum

It was likely a good strategy initially - Trump fatigue was a terrific way  to wear down the president’s critics. 

Alas,  it has ended up a way to wear down the president’s friends. 

And with friends like Trump - who needs enemies?

You Too Might Save a Life

Two hillbillies walk into a restaurant.  While having a bite to eat, they talk about their moonshine operation.  Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough.  

After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress. One of the hillbillies looks at her and says, Kin ya swallar?   

The woman shakes her head no.  

Then he asks, Kin ya breathe?      

The woman begins to turn blue, and shakes her head no.    

The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress, yanks down her drawers, and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his tongue.    

The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm, and the obstruction flies out of her airway.       

As she begins to breathe again, the hillbilly walks slowly back to his table.   His partner says, Ya know, I'd heerd of that there 'Hind Lick Maneuver' but I never seed nobody done it.

Canned Flatulence

The title of this post is a lame attempt at a joke.  Actually, this is canned goodness.



click on the jars for a closer look

I made a ginormous batch of navy bean soup last evening using a couple of smoked pork hocks from Marchant's butcher shop as the foundation.

Rather than freezing it I canned it in a pressure cooker.  Twenty pints to be exact.  This saves precious freezer space with a shelf-stable product. 

It should keep for a couple of years without skipping a beat - but I don't think it will last that long.

Armistice Day

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, there was a temporary cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I as a consequence of the armistice signed by the Allies and Germany.

American troops in France celebrate the armistice

We just returned from a trip across the Big Pond to visit Ireland where this day in history is celebrated as Armistice Day.  

On its first anniversary President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919 as the first celebration of Armistice Day.  In 1938 this day officially became a federal holiday.  Later, in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became known as Veterans Day in the United States.  And while the allied nations honor members of their armed forces on Armistice Day – we commemorate it as Veterans Day. 

Sure, we call it something different here in America – nevertheless the sentiment is the same.