Spots Sighting

 Showing-up on the trail cameras lately.....

2021 Logging - Part 1

After three years of searching for a logger we've finally been able to pull it off.  A thinning of the forest we planted more than a couple of decades ago.       

We planted more than 40,000 trees on marginal farmland over the course of 1998 and 1999. The trees pictured here were planted in June of 1998. They were one and two year-old bare root stock making them about the size of a pencil. It's a mixed bag of native Wisconsin hardwoods and conifers.         

Machine planted in alternate rows it was the job of the bushier softwood conifers to 'train' the hardwoods to grow with nice straight trunks.

It is a successful planting - so successful that the forest had become virtually impenetrable and over-stocked with the conifers beginning to crowd-out and compete with the more valuable hardwoods for space and resources such as water and sunlight.    

It was time for them to go.     

This management technique (called a pre-commercial thinning) removes most (but not all) of the conifers so as to 'release' the hardwoods.  I blogged about this process more than a couple of years ago.     

Without having to compete with other trees we expect the oaks to literally WHOOSH with a flush of new growth. And in the years to come any scrawny less desirable hardwoods can be dropped for firewood or other similar uses allowing the dominant specimens even more room to grow.   

By then this planting will have become an acorn factory providing food and cover for the local critters.         

And, of course, there remain enough conifers to serve in the role of 'seed trees' so that natural forest regeneration will continue in the decades to come long after this old man is pushing-up daffodils.       

And so it begins..... 

 

 

They Have Returned

If you've been reading the news lately there has been a significant amount of chatter about unidentified flying objects or UFOs.  It doesn't mean that we're being visited by extraterrestrial beings or aliens - but you never know.  Here at The Platz there has been periodic evidence of aliens and UFOs over the years.  Nothing that I've personally witness - but evidence captured by my trail cameras.

I have evidence that the aliens are back.

They've returned for their first visitation of 2021.

That's because the ever-vigilant camera captured their coming or going.  Including this action shot of them firing their maneuvering thrusters on their spacecraft.

Creepy stuff..... 

The Drama Persists

More than seven months have passed since Election Day.  At least 86 lawsuits brought by the former guy's campaign concerning election fraud have been dismissed as frivolous and/or meritless.   

Among the judges who dismissed the aforementioned lawsuits - most were judges appointed by the former president himself.  

Multiple hand recounts of paper ballots have been conducted.  They have all upheld the 2020 election results.

The Department of Homeland Security, FBI, U.S. Cyber Command and Republican U.S. attorneys in the Justice Department have all said that the 2020 election was secure.  

Dominion Voting Systems brought defamation lawsuits against former campaign lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, each for $1.3 billion.  Smartmatic brought a defamation lawsuit against Fox Corporation and its anchors Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro as well as Giuliani and Powell for $2.7 billion.  

This past Thursday New York suspended Giuliani's law license for making false statements to the courts.  Oh how the mighty have fallen.

The drama persists. 

Go figure.

Farmer Tan

Outdoor living has left me with tan lines.  

Yup, that's were my wristwatch is attached.

And I use sunblock too.....

Friday Music

The lyrics were troubling and risqué for the time for their inclusion in a rock song that heretofore did not make reference to transgender individuals, oral sex and prostitution.

I always thought it would be kinda fun to introduce people to characters they maybe hadn't met before, or hadn't wanted to meet - said the songwriter/performer.

Released on his second solo album Transformer in 1972 this song became a worldwide hit with the single peaking at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1973.

Lou Reed and Walk on the Wild Side…….

The Garden Chronicles

The garden has been a source of frustration for me of late.  Mostly a consequence of poor germination, poor growth, critters and general lack of plant vitality.

All of this started with unseasonably cold weather.  Followed by a stretch of blistering hot weather.  Followed-on by cold weather.  All overlapped by a dearth of rainfall.  Drought conditions.  Then to add insult to injury while away fishing this year the ground squirrels excavated my seed potatoes and after nibbling on them left them on the surface of the dirt to dry-out under a hot hot sun.

Ugh.

All of the troubles aside at least the onions, broccoli and tomatoes seem to be doing fine.  And my third sowing of radishes is up and prospering. By the time you are reading this post I'll likely be replanting cukes, pumpkins, green beans, carrots and lettuces.

Vive le Jardin Magnifique!

Beardtongue

From our walk the other day there is this - one of the first species to make an appearance in very large quantities.  

Acres and acres of this blooming beauty - smooth penstemon - Penstemon digitalis.  

This flower materializes quite suddenly (seemingly out of nowhere) during late spring or early summer for about a month and then it’s gone.  A showy member of the snapdragon family and native to the prairie it is commonly called beardtongue or foxglove.  

Native Americans and folk-healers have made use of this plant for medicinal purposes for both people and animals.  Long-tongued bees, including honeybees, bumblebees, miner bees, butterflies, Sphinx moths, and hummingbirds favor this plant.  

The name beardtongue is a consequence of the hairy reproductive parts found within the flower. 

 

Noteable Quoteable

If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

Belgian Adventure

Is this really beer? The malt and wheat are subtle and the fruitiness intense. The oak adds a nice finish. Brewed with whole Montmorency Cherries, Wisconsin Farmed Wheat and Belgian Roasted Barleys and balanced by Hallertau hops this beer is lagered in oak tanks for one full year.

Over a pound of Door County Cherries go into the brewing of every bottle in a process that has resulted in a patent application.

Ruby red, with a medium body that is highly carbonated and intense with cherry flavor and bouquet.

It is more tart and dry than the aroma might suggest. Pucker up!

4% ABV

Book Review

Author David Priess served during the Clinton and Bush administration as an intelligence officer, manager and daily intelligence briefer at the CIA as well as a desk officer at the Department of State. He earned his PhD in political science from Duke University. 

Recently I read his book: How To Get Rid Of A President which led to The President's Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America's Presidents from Kennedy to Obama. 

Every president has had a complicated relationship with the intelligence community.  Some Chief Executives have embraced the intelligence community while some have been distrustful.  Others have been adversarial.  With roots in the Truman and Eisenhower administrations beginning with Kennedy a short summary of what the intelligence apparatus considers the most crucial information for the president to know that day about global threats and opportunities has evolved into a top-secret document which has become known as the President's Daily Brief – or PDB. 

The contents of the PDB are classified so you won’t learn of any secrets in this book.   And, as the author points out, how much difference has the PDB really made? After all, the book left Richard Nixon unprepared for the 1973 October War, failed to predict for Jimmy Carter the Iranian Revolution in 1978-79 and missed the al Qaeda plot that led to the attacks on September 11, 2001, during George W. Bush’s administration. 

This isn’t a quick read as it’s heavy on facts and historical content. If you are presidential history nerd and want to learn more about the evolution of the intelligence services (specifically the CIA) over the last 50 years – this is a good read.

Guess the Critter

Wisconsin is home to only one species of this amphibian and it has been hanging out in the cool shade of the space between the front steps and the entry to the mud room.

There are rocks there to bland-in with and a a garden hose with a small leak to keep conditions damp.

It's a dandy one as large as my hand.

If I were this amphibian I might choose to live here too.

Can you locate it?

Hitch In the Giddy-up

Many of you know that I mostly stopped wearing socks after I retired. 

In the summer months I also generally stop wearing shoes (LL Bean moccasins when needed)

Earlier this week I ‘stubbed’ my toe on a roll of carpet pad stashed in the garage. 

The second toe from the left is cocked at an unnatural angle  and is turning blue and swelling.

 

Trust me when I tell you practically nothing puts a hitch in your giddy-up faster than a busted toe.   This has happened before so I know how to fix it. 

 

 

 

After a shower you tape the busted toe to the good middle toe with J&J First Aid adhesive tape, elevate, apply ice and drink Merlot. 

 

I'll likely miss the Peninsula Spring Classic Bide Ride today - but I'm on the mend.

Wear your mocs people…..

Friday Music

Composed by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan this song was records multiple times before release on his double LP - Self Portrait in 1970.  It's a straight-up love song to Dylan's wife Sara.  Later that year Dylan records this song with George Harrison who released it in November on his triple LP - All Things Must Pass.  Olivia Newton-John recorded Harrison's arrangement of the tune and it charted for her becoming her first hit single.

It has been covered by artists such as Rod Steward, Glen Campbell, Richie Havens, Bryan Ferry, Sarah Vaughn and more.  This song sure gets around.

No wonder, it's solid and I would include it in my own personal top 100 collection of singles music.

And here they are.....

Tag Team - Two

Yesterday I posted a couple of photos of a duo of coyotes on the hunt.

Today there is this short, silent video vignette. Same date, different location and slightly different time.

You have to be quick to notice the hind quarter of the lead coyote in the very opening frame - this was the animal that triggered the motion-activated camera.  It is the second animal that is worthy of observation.

 

She pauses to pee and then scratch to finish marking her territory before moving on.  This territorial marking is no different than that of our Labrador retriever.  Likely the same for your dog too.  The difference is that around here is is a constant battle to mark territory.  The coyotes pee and scratch, the Blonde Lab sniffs it out and then proceeds to mark it and scratch it herself.  The coyotes pee and repeat. The cycle does not end.

It's an on-going contest to determine who's Boss Dog of theses here parts......

Tag Team - One

I am told the coyotes hunt in pairs.  This technique yields better results - a higher probability of success.

I have never been witness to this live and in person in the wild as the resident coyotes are too wary of the presence of humans.  Unlike urban-dwelling coyotes the ones around here are cagey and wild.  Wiley coyotes.

Nevertheless, one of the ever-vigilant trail cameras captured as trio of images showing a pair of coyotes on the hunt.

I did not crop the date and time stamps as the first two photos were of coyote number one at 7:10 PM just before the camera flipped to 7:11 PM in time to catch and image of coyote number two.

Tag Team.

Death To The Invader

Last week brought another bad day for phragmites, reed canary grass and woody invasives out back in the prairie planting.    

Following our controlled burn in early May of 2020 we invited a field team from Robert E. Lee and Associates to return in late summer last year to perform follow-up chemical treatment.

We've done this before and this is their first visit of 2021.  If you're wondering why I don't just do this myself the short answer is that I probably could - but I'd be breaking the law.  Because the work is performed in a delineated wetland habitat only licensed applicators can pull a permit from Wisconsin DNR and perform the work.  You know me - I'm all about doing things on the up and up.

Death to the invader! 

You can learn more about NES Ecological Services here.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Time got away from us today what with cleaning out and rearranging garage crap. 

Put this big-ass bird on the Slow ‘N Sear® XL at 4 PM with Penzeys Galena Street rub and a healthy spritz of EVO.  

 

By 6 PM this happened. 

 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

 

Messenger of the Gods

Meet Iris Versicolor - commonly known as Blue Flag Iris or Northern Iris, Harlequin Blue Flag, Larger Blue Flag, Poison Flag, plus other variations of these names.  Habitats include wet prairies, along rivers, wet woodlands, swamps, edges of ponds and streams and other low-lying areas along rail lines and roadsides.  It likes wet feet - and it grows naturally along the banks of Silver Creek and in low woodland habitat.  A beautiful and delicate wildflower it propagates by means of an underground rhizome.  Native cultures used the root for medicinal purposes.

In Greek mythology Iris is a personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods - thus explaining the wide range of colors of this member of the iris family.

 

Ode To The Radish Sandwich

 

There is nothing more elegant in its simplicity than the radish sandwich.   

 

Harkening back to my childhood this was a favorite of my late father and remains a summertime indulgence of mine.  It is sublime.  And it is very European.

Ingredients:   

Garden radishes – sliced thin  

Two slices of my home-baked deli rye

Unsalted sweet cream butter 

Sea salt  

Instructions:  

Slather each slice of bread generously with butter.   

Top with radish slices.  

Cracked sea salt over all to taste.  

Yields one sandwich.

You can learn more about radishes here.

 

Porch Beer

 

Sitting on the porch enjoying one of your basic, go-to, American lagers. 

Built-upon a foundation of Wisconsin two-row barley malt it has a mellow and smooth body. The hoppy nose and taste are derived of imported hops from Germany and the Czech Republic.

Assured of a steady supply and with an ABV of 4.25 this could become a daily feature.

 

The Spotted Arrivals

Earlier this week I was returning home from a fishing trip with my pals when I stopped the truck to observe (and block) the tiniest of fawns from stepping-out on to the road and possibly into traffic and certain death.

It was afterwards I shared this encounter with Jill and pondered the incongruence of my brush with Buddhism in the land of whitetail over-population.

As a hunter beliefs can be screwy under the circumstances.

Anyway, the little ones are among us.  Drive carefully people.

Still no turkey poults.........

Freitag Musik

I've been itching to post this - not out of sense of obligation - as much as a desire to relive some fond childhood memories.  My parents were civilian employees of the US Army in southern Germany during the 1950s and as a consequence cultivated a fondness for German band leaders.  Notable would be James Last and Bert Kaempfert.

Bert (Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert) was a songwriter, producer and German orchestra leader that popularized jazz and easy listening music.  He also wrote any number of songs popularized by Al Martino, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley and Wayne Newton.  He's remembered for writing Strangers in the Night and Moon Over Naples.  I was surprised to learn that Kaempfert played a role in the success of The Beatles after he signed them to record several tracks during his sessions with Tony Sheridan.  

Bert's albums were always on deck for Hi-Fi music in our household growing-up in the 1960s. 

Enjoy this medley of possibly familiar tunes... 

Mowing Season

The Door County Highway Department came thru and mowed our ditch.  A steep embankment our ditch has and I watched as the guys maneuvered to negotiate the slope.  This time nobody careened out of control into the roadside trees.  (Evidence in prior years suggested this happens with some regularity).

If I had my druthers I'd hold-off on mowing the ditch until mid to late July.  This is primary nesting season and it is heartbreaking to know that countless ground-nesting birds are being killed by the flail mowers.

They'll return once again in late summer to clean-up the ditch before autumn.

Sigh... 

Quote of the Day

If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket.  Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.

 ― Lyndon B. Johnson

Gone Fishing

Three and a half decades of northern Wisconsin fishing are now in the books.  Funny how time flies over more than half a lifetime.  

 

The tall tales of the musky that got away persist. 

 

Adult beverages were consumed. 

 

Friday Fish Fry happened thanks to Lawyer and Sid's contribution to the communal catch.

 

The weather was spectacular.

 

And the fishing tougher.

 

Arithmetically Challenged

In the 1980s A&W attempted to compete with McDonald's Quarter Pounder by selling a 1/3 pound burger at a lower price.

The promotion failed because most of the public thought that the 1/4 pound burger was larger.

This is why it is a waste of valuable bandwidth to attempt to win hearts and minds by means of facts and truth with some people on Facebook.

Talkn' Turkey

Last week I spotted a couple of Toms strutting in a hay field.  I even discerned some gobbling coming from the woods just west of the house.  

Not much of this happening now.

Waiting on the first appearance of turkey poults on the trail cameras....

Living Ethically

This is good stuff I found stumbling around the interweb.  Share-worthy too.

The following four virtues (called cardinal virtues or moral virtues) are the hinges on which the rest of the moral life swings:

• Prudence is basically practical common sense. It’s saying or doing the proper thing, at the proper time, and in the appropriate manner. It’s also the ability to know and judge whether to say something or do nothing at all.

• Justice is the virtue that seeks to promote fair play. It’s the desire and resolve to give each person his due. It demands that you reward goodness and punish evil. Justice can take three forms:

  • Commutative justice is based on the principle of quid pro quo, which is Latin for this for that. Commutative justice requires, for example, that a customer pay a fair price for worthwhile goods.

  • Distributive justice involves the relationship between one and many — between an individual and a group — a person and the government, for example.

  • Social justice concerns the relationships between individuals and groups between one another and everyone. The common good and equal treatment are the cornerstones of social justice.

• Temperance is the virtue by which a person uses balance. It’s the good habit that allows a person to relax and have fun without crossing the line and committing sin.
  

• Fortitude is the ability to persevere in times of trial and tribulation — the ability to hang in there when the going gets tough. It’s courage to do the right thing no matter what the cost.

   
  

Friday Music

This song was composed by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page over the course of three years.  The lyrics date to my high school graduation - 1973.  It was released in 1975 on the album Physical Graffiti. 

If you are a fan of Led Zeppelin this tune is right up there in popularity with Whole Lotta Love, The Immigrant Song, When The Levee Breaks and Stairway to Heaven.

This is a nicely performed cover of Kashmir by Martin Miller and Mark Lettieri.

Enjoy.....

 

Follow the Raindrop

This project is the brainstorm of web developer Sam Lerner.

What Lerner did was a compilation of watershed data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) into mapping software that allows you to trace the travel of a single raindrop anywhere in the US.

Lerner’s tool makes use of animation created with the Mapbox map and 3D elevation data to follow your raindrop navigate a watershed.

Rainfall here finds its way into the Ahnapee watershed by means of Silver Creek and eventually lands in Lake Michigan.

Give it a try yourself. Just click on the River Runner link here.

 

Even More Blooms

In keeping with the appearance of the Flower Moon a week ago recently Jill's iris have exploded in all their glory....

Sunset

Red sky at night - sailors delight

Prescient maybe..........?

Round-up At The Oriole Ranch

Anecdotally, I've gotten the impression that the bird action at the ranch this year is slightly slower than prior years.  As evidence of this I would submit that the consumption of grape jelly is lower and slower.  And with the exception of their earlier arrival there have been no Gray Catbirds at the feeders.

What he have seen in the past week includes:

A male Indigo Bunting

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker

And an adult and immature male Baltimore Oriole