International Space Station paid a call this evening.
Center of the image.
Almost directly over the house!
Time: Thu Sep 30 8:19 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 67°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 67° above N.
Brightest object in this evening's sky....
Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is a Dutch
language term derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) that became
incorporated in French and English. Its origins are originally associated with the mass said on the
anniversary of the founding of a church (or the parish) and in honor of the Patron Saint. Such religious celebrations were regularly held in the Low Countries, in Central
Europe and also in Northern France, and were accompanied by feasting, dancing, drinking
and sports.
The
Dutch-American Village of Little Chute, Wisconsin, has celebrated Kermis
annually since 1981 with a street festival. The Wallonian settlements in Door and Kewaunee Counties have celebrated Kermis with traditional Belgian dishes and events for as long as anyone can remember.
Traditionally, Kermis around here stretched over several
calendar weeks as each small settlement - Namur, Brussels, Rosiere,
Little Sturgeon, Forestville, Lincoln, Duvall and Casco celebrated the harvest and the life-giving bounty of food.
I'm not of Dutch or Belgian descent - but we're celebrating our own Kermis here with a steady harvest from the garden including raspberries!
Our raspberry patch is roughly equivalent to the square footage of our master bath. It is not huge. Nevertheless, after cleaning-out the dead canes in early spring and giving it a generous drench of 'Raspberry Food' (fertilizer formula from Jung Seed) it has returned to proper productivity.
It is presently going thru it's second flush of ripe berries and the birds don't get them all. There have been plenty to incorporate in hand pies, crepes, salads and with ice cream.
This past weekend I emptied the freezer of the frozen surplus and made a batch of homemade jam.
Raspberry jam is an annual event and while the 2021 batch is a wee bit 'loose' in texture the tart sweetness is dang good.
Vive la confiture de framboise rouge!
In a previous post I published my observation that the local turkey flock was smaller or possibly in decline. I retract that conclusion.
In the last month turkeys have been featured prominently on the trail cameras, along the road, in the neighboring fields and even in the yard. Large numbers of birds traveling-about in brood flocks.
Most of the poults of 2021 are about the size of large barnyard chickens - while others are more mature along with smaller numbers of birds from very late hatches of smaller stature.
The bottom line is that there are large numbers of birds out there.
Like mama hen and her little ones from a week ago.....
Nobody seems to know how Susan became associated with this native plant.
Meet Oligoneuron rigida - commonly known as stiff goldenrod or stiff-leaved goldenrod. This is also a native North American plant belonging to the vast aster family (Asteraceae). Canada goldenrod is far more common but this was included in our prairie seed mix planted decades-ago.
Found east of the Rocky Mountains this plant develops with stems that branch at the top into multiple small yellow flower heads. Named after stems and leaves that are hairy and rough to the touch differentiating this flower from other goldenrod species.
Insects gravitate to this plant for its nectar to feed in late summer and autumn.
From a couple of days ago there was this progression of the sunset......
North from the back yard 
South cornfield across the road 
West 
West
The central figure in a parable of Jesus (Luke 15:11–32) is a wayward son who squanders his inheritance but returns home to find that his father has forgiven him.
This song is included in an album of the same name released by Ry Cooder three years ago.
Prodigal Son........
If you've been paying attention there has been a great deal of chatter about raising the debt ceiling this week. It may seem complicated but it's actually pretty simple.
The debt limit (debt ceiling) is the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to pay for existing obligations. This includes the obvious stuff such as Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and much more.
In simple terms the debt ceiling permits borrowing for obligations already incurred by all the prior Congresses and presidents
Since 1960, Congress has acted 78 separate times to permanently raise, temporarily extend, or revise the debt limit – 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents.
If the U.S. government cannot pay its bills, millions of Americans would
be affected with the obvious impacts. Social Security payments would stop. The salaries of our troops, all other federal employees along with veteran and pension payments would cease. Millions of Americans on
food assistance would see benefits stop and previously-issued government bonds would go into default and become worthless.
Under a worse case scenario, such a default could cause interest rates to soar, stock prices to plummet, send the economy back into recession along with the loss of billions of dollars of growth and millions of jobs.
It would be a really bad shit show.
So don't be a turkey and fall for the fake BS you'll be served on Facebook and from sketchy media outlets. I recommend popcorn, a glass of wine and enjoying the drama......
Meet Diapheromera femorata one of the coolest insects
around these parts. This is a bug that literally
looks like a twig or a stick that can walk. Consequently, it is commonly referred-to as a
walking stick bug. This insect is
equipped with possibly the most efficient of natural camouflages on earth. It and the - equally inconspicuous - leaf insect
comprise the Phasmatodea order; of which there are approximately 3,000 species
worldwide.
You can learn much more about this cool insect by clicking on this link to the UW-Milwaukee Field Station.
Allow me to introduce you to Helenium autumnale - named after Helen of Troy and the autumn time of the blooms. It is commonly knows as Sneezeweed.
It begins blooming late summer and persists into the fall with sometimes as many a 100+ flowers on each plant. Multiply that by many multiple plants and it puts on a stunning display of blooms.
It grows all over around here preferring the wetter clay soils. We didn't plant any of it but there are ginormous clumps of it growing around the rain garden pond so maybe the seeds came in with the ducks. It's anybody's guess.
The deer appear to avoid it so if anyone wants to propagate it in their yard come by this fall to shoot some deer and collect seeds. It is a maintenance-free and lovely flowering native plant.
Here's a historic tidbit about this plant that you can use to amuse and impress your friends. Back in the day the early settlers collected the leaves and flower petals of this plant, set them aside to dry and pulverized it into a powder that was utilized as snuff. Hence the sneeze.
View of the southern night sky
September full Moon (upper left center) and planet Jupiter (right margin)
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| Photo Credit - NASA |
The September full moon is called the Harvest
Moon.
The Harvest moon can occur in
either September or October because it coincides with an astronomical event –
the autumnal equinox. The full Moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal (fall) equinox - or the start of astronomical fall.
(September 22 or 23 depending-upon your time zone) takes on the name Harvest
Moon. If it occurs in early October - like it did in 2020 - it is called the Full Corn Moon or Barley Moon.
The name comes from this moon’s ability to
shine light when it is needed the most – to bring in the harvest. In the Northern Hemisphere and in our time
zone the Harvest Moon rises tonight at 6:54 PM.
Sure, I know I've been snarky this month what with some posts about fawns being cheap and all.
But in all seriousness this year's crop of new recruits, by all outward appearances, is doing well.
They've been putting-on some size and growing larger by the day.
Pre-teens they are.....
This tune was composed by Graham Nash while a member of the Hollies - although it was not recorded or performed by that group. It was released in 1970 by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The original recording also featured Jerry Garcia on a pedal steel guitar.
Who knew?
The single peaked at 16 on the Billboard Top 100 that year. An altogether memorable year for this blogger.
This cover features Kathy Mattea, Alison Krauss and Suzy Boggus from the 1995 PBS special, "The Women Of Country" recorded live at the White House.
Teach Your Children.....
If you spend as much time as I do napping in a deer stand or turkey blind one of the observations made during a hunter’s waking moments is that deer and turkeys sometimes hang out together. It’s not all the time; yet, it isn’t a rare occurrence either.
The proximity of a flock of turkeys to one or more deer doesn’t scare-off the whitetails and the presence of the deer doesn’t seem to bother the birds. By all outward appearances they seem to enjoy the company of one another. What is the explanation for this curious wildlife behavior and what seemingly might be a symbiotic relationship?
Wild turkeys both see in color and their vision is incredibly advanced – possibly three times greater than that of a human with 20/20 vision. Since turkey do not sport external ears their field of view is 270 degrees and they can detect motion a hundred yards distant. Turkeys move about in sizeable flocks resulting in dozens of vigilant eyes. Inasmuch as turkeys will immediately begin to distance themselves from any movement they conclude is suspicious whitetail deer place their trust in the instincts of their turkey pals and follow.
Similarly, it is the sniffer of a whitetail that is incredibly advanced. I’ve been busted by a deer that winded me long before the animal ever had an opportunity to detect my presence visually. In a group setting, if a deer goes on high-alert as a consequence of a whiff of danger the turkeys place their trust in the instincts of their whitetail pals and follow.
So, if you’re driving down the road some day and you spy a flock of turkeys keeping company with a doe and her fawns or any collection of whitetail deer there’s an explanation other than mere coincidence.
Some biologists have concluded that each species trusts the other’s best sense for their mutually-assured security.
You're going to need a clear dark sky tonight and a pair of binoculars for this adventure. And if you've been observing Jupiter and Saturn in the southern sky you already know where to look.
This evening the planet Neptune will be at its closest and brightest. Even with that going for it it will be dim (relative to Jupiter and Saturn.
Fomalhaut - also known as the Loneliest Star - can be viewed as a bonus.
Fingers-crossed for good viewing conditions.
10:30 PM - Edit to add
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| click on image for a closer look |
This image was taken from the front porch. If you trace the arc of Saturn and Jupiter from right to left - and squint really hard - I think you can see Neptune adjacent to the center-left margin.
Fomalhaut (the Loneliest Star) is clearly visible where it is expected to be - left of center lower 20% of the image.
These reptiles mate in the spring, the female lays up to 30 eggs and they start hatching in August and September.
A member of this year's graduating class of resident western fox snakes.
Also called Spotted Adder....
Meet Eupatorium maculatum - commonly known as Joe-Pye Weed. The monarch butterfly is bonus.
This stuff grows all over around here - not a single plant introduced by us.
A
member of the aster family it is a native plant. Like blue vervain it
also likes wet feet and thrives in the lower and wetter areas of
topography and along the creek banks.
Butterflies love this plant and if you could successfully propagate it - it would make for a showy addition to your naturalized home garden.
Joe Pye?
Some say he was a native American medicine man from Salem, Massachusetts who earned fame
and fortune curing colonial settlers of typhus with his eponymous herb. There are other theories as well.
You can learn more about the story of Joe Pye and his weed here.
She earned a law degree from Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, New York, she served as a Assistant United States Attorney and as chief investigative counsel for the United States House of Representatives, working to investigate two scandals that arose during the Administration of President Bill Clinton.
She became a conservative television political commentator, appearing on Fox News and CNN cable news networks, and authored two works critical of the Clinton Administration.
On a personal level she was married to Theodore Olson, lawyer, practicing at the
Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Olson served as
United States Solicitor General under President George W. Bush and is a founding member of the Federalist Society
On September 11, 2001 she was a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 77 that was hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists and flown into the Pentagon.
Barbara Olson's final resting place is located on the peninsula at Ellison Bay Cemetery.
photo credit - Soorus/Find A Grave
Twenty years ago today I has on my morning commute to the Day Job and listening to Tom Clark's show on Wisconsin Public Radio WHAD. I do not recall the subject - but Clark was interviewing a guest located in Manhattan, NY.
The interview was interrupted when the guest remarked to the host that first responders were answering a call following the report of a small plane crashing into a downtown skyscraper.
Details were scant.
Arriving at the office I found several of my pals surrounding a conference-room television featuring smoke pouring from one of the World Trade Center towers. It had indeed been struck by an aircraft. Without notice we witnessed the crash of a second aircraft into the previously undamaged second tower.
Transfixed, we watched the events unfold including the collapse of the second tower shortly followed by the first.
All the evacuees still in the building. The first responders rushing into the chaos. The ambulances and equipment positioned in the adjacent streets. All of it crushed in the collapse.
Words cannot explain the shock and disbelief.
Later that evening, I gathered my wife, daughter and family together.
Dad remarked that this was reminiscent of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In sorrow and anger, Americans were more united in the weeks after the attacks than they had been in years. President George W. Bush’s approval rating exceeded 85 percent. It is puzzling to see how our citizenry has fallen since with division, generalized anger and resentment and embrace of lies and conspiracies.
Sigh.
Some photos of the WTC from a business trip to New York back in the early 1980s including a fabulous dinner at Windows On The World one evening.
Fond memories from a more peaceful time beforehand.
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| Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges |
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Composed by and released on her nineteenth studio album, Red Dirt Girl is both a single and title of the album by Emmylou Harris released in September of 2000.
In case you're interested this album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
This is a rather beautiful cover of a beautiful by First Aid Kit.....
If you're looking for something predictable to observe in the September night skies cast your gaze to the southern sky and look for Jupiter and Saturn. They're both a couple of the brighter objects to observe and they'll be hanging around for the entire month.
Jupiter is brighter than Saturn and if you have a pair of binoculars handy you might be able to spot some of the largest moons.
Don't forget the bug spray......
In its genus category - Verbena - is Latin for 'sacred plant' likely harking back to the past when this plant may have been used for purported medicinal properties.
From our daily walk there is now this.
Coming online in the past several weeks is Verbena hastata - Blue Vervain - a native plant with a long stem and a bright blue flower spike that is now blooming.
Big, giant clumps of them as in the photo.
To be clear we never panted a single stalk of this stuff. It was here all the time - its progeny slumbering in the heavy wet clay soil constrained by invasive plants. It was only after decades of burning and nuking invasive cool season grasses that this striking native plant was released from prison.
This
plant likes wet feet. And wet feet we have around here what with the
abundant precipitation. The bees and
butterflies like
this flower for its nectar.
Stay
tuned as more late summer native plants begin to show-off their colorful flowers.
Another dose of cuteness from Whitetail Nation.
Sometimes you just have to scratch that itch...
It's gonna be a large graduating class around these parts.
Fawns are cheap.
A couple of years ago I published a post about the problem of light pollution and how it can
mess-up your viewing of the celestial bodies on a dark night. Tonight offers a terrific opportunity to
venture outside for what might be the start to your fall and winter stargazing as long as
the skies remain clear and mosquitoless. This is
because it will be extra dark tonight.
The darkness is a consequence of the new moon.
So dark that an object like the International Space Station will stick-out like a sore thumb.
A new moon is the first of the moon phases
and it occurs when the moon is located on the same side of the earth as the
sun.
Tonight is that night.
September is a good month for star gazing.
Stay-tuned for viewing tips.
While not scarce - turkeys around these parts have not been as common as in years past. Brood flocks in particular.
Last weekend Jill spied a brood flock of three adult hens and their poults cruising thru the backyard. Because it was a mowed expanse of lawn it is highly unlikely that we missed any additional hens or little ones. However, between the three of them there were only a small handful of young. One hen had only a single sole poult in tow.
Low probability (poor) hatch this spring?
Predation?
It's not likely I'm mistaken about the anecdotal evidence. I'm sure it's the same for the neighbors. I'll have to ask around.
Anyway, I was reminded of this short, silent video vignette taken recently. One of the very few with mama and her brood.....
It is abundantly clear that the class of 2021 is going to be in the record books.
Fawns are abundant around here.
You might say they're cheap........
In 1960, Ben E. King repurposed an older gospel hymn by
Charles Albert Tindley loosely based-upon Psalm 46 - will not we fear, though the Earth be
removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. King composed this for the Drifters who
subsequently took a pass.
Later in the
year King had some studio time left over and the producers, Jerry Leiber and
Mike Stoller (think Supremes and others), inquired if he had any more songs. King played it on the piano for them. They
liked it and called the studio musicians back in to record it. File this under really smart move.
Remarkably, there have been more than 400
recorded covers of the song including the soundtrack of the 1986 film Stand by
Me. In 2015 King's original version was inducted into the National Recording
Registry by the Library of Congress, as "culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant". Later
that year – and only five weeks before his death - the 2015 line up of the
Drifters recorded it as a tribute to him.
Enjoy this really nicely-done cover of a song that resides on my personal Top 100 list.....
Meet Lobelia
siphilitica – Great Blue Lobelia – a member of the bellflower family. Also called great lobelia or blue cardinal flower.
Bonus too!
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