Caught Squirreling-Away!

 

Meet Sciurus niger - the Eastern Fox Squirrel - a large species of tree squirrel native to North America.  And we've been observing plenty of harvest activity from this busy rodent. 

From time to time this species produces black squirrels with a white belly, nose and white-tipped ears.  Thus is the translation from Latin - Sciurus niger - black squirrel.  The typical bright orange pelt of this animal and it's loud, scolding call make it an easier visual and audible identification.  

 

Unlike the Eastern Gray Squirrel this species has a wider home range and spends more time on the ground foraging.  Like this....

 

click on images for a closer look

 

They return with their food to a preferred dining location.  If you happen-upon a debris midden of corn cobs and split nutshells you will have found ‘that spot’.

This species doesn't hibernate.  They do put-on extra fat reserves going into the winter and they also bury food for retrieval at a future date - which probably accounts for all the tiny oak trees popping-up around the joint.  This squirreling-away of food for a future meal is called scatter hoarding.

 

The resident fox squirrels have been making a trip to a neighboring corn field and returning with entire corn cobs.  It is unclear if this is for immediate consumption or a winter stash.  Either way, it's not a short trip.  

These are squirrels on a fast-food mission!

 

Like the little oaks popping-up here and there I wonder if undiscovered corn will yield a woodland corn crop next year?

Pre-Rut

As the pre-rut begins another behavior that bucks engage-in is sparring.

It's all about establishing dominance and thus breeding rights when the main rut kicks-in.

It's not often you witness this behavior in person.  

Thusly, it is infrequent to capture it digitally...

 

 

Friday Morning Hate Speech

In case you missed it - When do we get to use the guns?

On Monday, Turning Point USA held an event during which founder Charlie Kirk took questions from members of the audience. 

An attendee asked this (as seen in the video below).

At this point, we’re living under corporate and medical fascism. This is tyranny. When do we get to use the guns?

Members of the audience applauded.

He continued,  No, and I’m not — that’s not a joke.  I’m not saying it like that. I mean, literally, where’s the line?  How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?

Once you've wrapped your mind around this rebuke of the Fifth Commandment and affront to all that is righteous and redemptive about the salvation found in Jesus Christ, I guess it’s not a joke. This dude is serious. He wants to know at what point he is allowed to begin killing people to defend The Big Lie. 

That's right - a belief in the systemic murder of his countrymen who do not ascribe to his beliefs. 

If you're thinking that this looks like the Taliban you might just be on to something.

It sure ain't your daddy's Republican Party anymore.

Go figure..... 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

There is a population of conservative, center-right and independent-minded voters who place a high value on facts and the truth. Marginalized because they do not demonstrate sufficient fealty and obeisance to the former guy - exile is their cross to bear.

Random Forno Report

Once and awhile I get asked - Hey Tom, how often do you actually use your wood fired oven?

To which I might explain that it is difficult to determine inasmuch as I don't keep a calendar or journal.  Maybe I should.  At least for now I can pretty much keep straight in my head what works really well (pizza) and what needs more work (bakery).  And what remains to be attempted - braised meats and more complicated main dishes.  

Tuesday I baked a couple of rustic Belgian loaves for a Brussels Lions raffle. 

Today I tried baguettes. They’re not much to look at yet the crumb (classic holes and chew) is pretty close. It’s a fussy recipe and I think I need to take the bake up an additional 100F. 

Made starter for calzones this weekend. 

It's been an edible journey so far…..

Woodland Redhead

Meet Sciurus niger - the Eastern Fox Squirrel - one of the larger of the tree squirrel family although slightly smaller than the common gray squirrel. 

At first blush you might guess this to be a Red Squirrel.  However, lacking in this short, silent video clip is the Red Squirrel's distinctive bright white belly and white rings around the eyes.  The rusty coloring and large bushy tail are reminiscent of a fox - implying this is a Fox Squirrel.  

The bright orange pelt of this animal and it's loud, scolding call make it an easy visual and audible identification.  Unlike the Eastern Gray Squirrel this species has a wider home range and spends more time on the ground foraging.  Just like this video suggests.

Bonus is the whitetail deer pal in the background. 

Hibernation

Not quite - but close.

So far this autumn we have not had to run the furnace.  We've been heating our living space with stove wood.  

And generally keeping our living area a comfy 72 F.

Keeping the furnace turned-off overnight the temps drop gradually as the fire dies out and sleeping temps of 69 F or less return.

And the next day we begin the process all over again.....

Sunset

View from the porch fifteen minutes ago.

Another terrific sunset as Old Sol continues a relentless march to the south.

Pre-Rut

If you encounter a whiff of deer pee redolent in the autumn air look carefully beneath any shoulder height tree branches that are close by.  You may locate a bare patch of dirt in the turf that is trampled with deer hoof prints.  This is called a scrape.  Bucks create scrapes by using their hoofs to dig at the ground.   Once the soil is stirred up they urinate on the scrape.

Bucks don’t pee the way those of us males of the human species do.  We try to keep it off of our legs and boots.  Whitetail bucks actually try to pee on their own legs.  The object is to hit their tarsal glands in an effort to leave their scent on the scrape.  Every deer has its own unique scent. The tarsal glands hold concentrated amounts of that scent.  

scrape - bottom center and  licking branch top center

 

 

Another thing scrapes have is a licking branch - a tree branch will hang above the cleared out soil. Bucks will rub their forehead glands on the stick and will also lick it with their tongue.  

 

Scrapes serve much the same function in the whitetail world as a mailbox post or a fire hydrant does for dogs.  Scrapes are meant to show dominance over a territory but are normally used by more than one buck.   

 

These early scrapes are a bit different.  Few and far between they are mainly used to communicate as bucks begin to leave their bachelor groups and stake out their territory.  It is akin to posting a no trespassing sign on a property line.  Later in the season an active scrape will be used to communicate breeding readiness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, there are these beginning to appear on the landscape – buck rubs.   

 

 

Around these parts it is typically a tamarack sapling sacrificed to the cause.   

 

It is a common misconception that deer rubs on trees are caused by male whitetails attempting to rub the velvet from their antlers.  While it would not be unusual for a velvet-antlered deer to rub against a tree the rubbing seen at this time of year is a consequence of deer that have long-ago shed the velvet from their antlers.  The rub in the photo was made by a dominant buck.  Consider it both a visual and a sensory calling card brought on by an increase in testosterone levels.   

It isn't unusual for other bucks to add their contribution to the rub but it's more to do with establishing the pecking order.   

 

The term dominant buck is apropos given that one of the reasons for this behavior is to mark their territory and curb the lesser bucks both psychologically and hormonally.  This suppresses testosterone levels in the smaller bucks allowing the Big Guy to exert his influence and create the circumstances for successfully spreading his seed during the breeding season.  

 

The glands located in the forehead of the dominant male send a signal that this is my turf.  It also signals to the ladies of the male's readiness to mate.  Consider it the whitetail equivalent of passing-along your name and phone number to someone you might wish to meet again. 

 

Stay-tuned for additional updates from whitetail romance land.

The Garden Chronicles

Ten days ago I pulled-up my tomato plants and relegated them to the composter.  I did pick a flat of unripened fruit and they're in the garage to ripen under a south-facing window.

And wonder of wonders - a tomato plant that has been growing in the composter has now grown to the ginormous size of taking it over.

It is the tomato vine that ate Toledo.

And not only is it large it is producing nice-sized red cherry tomatoes.  Same for a volunteer plant that showed-up on the north side of the house.  We have no clue as to how a cherry tomato plant finds itself into the flower bed on the north side of the house.  But I digress.  We're getting fruit and that's all that matters.

So in the mean time we're reveling in the decadence of BLTs constructed from homemade rustic French bread...

And this cardiologist's nightmare - the notorious grilled cheese, bacon and tomato sandwich constructed from rustic rye bread...

Come January I'll probably be in a frame of mind to commit high crimes and misdemeanors to get my hands on a real, homegrown, vine-ripened tomato.  Alas, there will be none to be had.  Nevertheless, there are canned garden tomatoes in the cellar bunker so there remains hope of bolognese, pizza sauce, tomato juice and more. 

Vive le Jardin Magnifique!

 

Typical Saturday

Busy day yesterday.

Walked the dog.  Fetched gas and diesel. Reinstalled hazards to navigation along the north property line to keep nocturnal road hunters from driving onto the property from the dead-end town road to poach deer.  

This was accomplished by means of returning the oversized boulders to the ditch that the logger had moved.  I also moved a bunch of larger ash pulp bolts to the mix like ginormous pixie stix.  Sure, a determined violator will persist in poaching a deer - my point is simply to provide a deterrent to any easy mark.  Thank the Lord for a bucket on the tractor and high-pressure hydraulics.

There is also a high probability I'll hide a trail camera along the edge of the road to record license plate data.  If there is criminal behavior I'll have something for the warden to follow-up on.

After this I swept and vacuumed the machine shed, gassed-up both 4-wheelers and Jill and I covered the boat.  

Whew!

Cold beers on the porch followed while I fired-up the Forno.

 

At 900 F after only two minutes there was New York-style, cracker-thin pizza for dinner.  Yum!

And there was sufficient dough and toppings to par-bake two additional pies to freeze for easy meals down the road.

Looking forward to clearing the chore list of autumn tasks in the next week as the pre-rut has commenced.

And I saw plenty of deer out in the woods yesterday during daylight.

There is some serious hunting to be done.....

Internecine Warfare?

A Republican-led advocacy group is calling state Republican leadership to end their audits of the 2020 election. 

To get the point across they’re using billboards that read “Trump Lost.”

Republicans for Voting Rights, an organization operating under Defending Democracy Together, has launched a quarter-million-dollar campaign to erect dozens of these billboards in major markets across the country, including this digital billboard right in the heart of Times Square...

On Twitter, the Republican Accountability Project — a sister organization of Republicans for Voting Rights (RVR) — confirmed the Times Square billboard was up as of more than a week ago.  A representative for the group said “dozens” of similar digital billboards were already up and running with more traditional static billboards scheduled to follow.

Many of the billboards are, or will soon be, situated in states “where there’s discussion about an audit of the 2020 election,” according to the Republican Accountability Project (RAP) website. Such billboards are going up in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, per the RVR.

Defending Democracy Together, the anti-Trump advocacy organization under which the RVR and RAP operate, was founded by “lifelong conservatives and Republicans” including Bill Kristol, who served as chief of staff under Vice President Dan Quayle, and Sarah Longwell, a former chair of the Log Cabin Republicans.

“We are Republicans, former Republicans, and conservatives committed to protecting every American’s right to vote,” explains a message that appears on the Defending Democracy Together website. 

 

Internecine warfare now in the GOP. Can any good come of this? 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

There is a population of conservative, center-right and independent-minded voters who place a high value on facts and the truth. Marginalized because they do not demonstrate sufficient fealty and obeisance to the former guy - exile is their cross to bear.

 

Friday Music

Composed and sung by Lou Reed and performed by The Velvet Underground this song was included on  the group's 1969 album release - The Velvet Underground.  

The interweb suggests that despite the name this song was all about someone whose eyes were hazel.  Reed noted in his book Between Thought and Expression the song is said to have been inspired by Shelley Albin - his first love.  Who at the time was married to another man.

A couple of months ago I posted the original recording.  Today is a reprise cover performed live by a couple of my favorite artists - Sheryl Crow and Emmylou Harris.

Pale Blue Eyes....... 

Daily Bread

Actually a couple of days worth of bread.

Today dawned, dank, damp, overcast and cold.  46F when I finally got around to firing the Forno around noon.  

I had previously prepared a large batch of signature French Boule bread dough yesterday and it had been proofing for about 24 hours already.  I was either going to bake a traditional Boule in the kitchen range - or was going to bake hard rolls in the old-school wood oven out back.

As you correctly concluded it was old school today.

The fire built in the oven was considerably smaller than what I would have started if planning to bake pizzas.  I was looking to charge the brick interior not at 900F but something on the order of 450F.  Bread-baking temp.

With the oven heating, I measured-out my dough into eight basically equal portions and formed balls to further proof on a pan lined with parchment paper and corn meal.

The clouds parted and the sun emerged about the time the fire had died-down and pushing the embers to the back, I inserted my pan of rolls, gave the dome a healthy spritz of water from a spray bottle to establish a steamy-hot atmosphere and closed the oven door.

This was my first foray into hard roll baking with a wood oven and it wasn't long before the back yard smelled of fresh-baked bread.  I likely messed with the oven temp with more frequent checking but it's a learning curve after-ll.

I rotated the pan and the 20 minute mark - gave the dome another spritz and closed the door.

20-25 minutes later there was this...

 

Eight crusty hard rolls made the old school way.

 

Handheld Device Photography

 

I was cleaning-out photos from my phone yesterday and came across a couple worthy of sharing.

The aster and butterfly GIF (animated image) were taken while walking the dog on October 5th. 

In the two-week interval that has passed since then both the asters and butterflies have gone away.  

Poof!

Gone.

 

 

 

The moon rise photo was taken a couple of days ago - Wednesday the 20th.

The composition is interesting - to me at least.

The moon is rising in the east as the sun is beginning to set in the west.

The result is a blue sky and back-lit pines framing our planetary satellite while the low light from the sunset is highlighting the fall colors in the background.  

The full October moon is called a Hunter's Moon.

Taunting

And now for something completely different and fun to watch.....

Hunter's Moon

2019 Hunter's Moon

In our part of the northern hemisphere the full moon appearance following the Harvest Moon is  generally known as the Hunter’s Moon.  Its appearance is typically in October - although it can also reveal itself in early November.  Last year (2020) it appeared on Halloween which is the last day of October.  That is known as a Blue Moon.  But I digress.  

Before European settlement Native Americans knew it as that time of year when people would hunt deer and other animals to lay-up stores of food for the winter. The Anishinaabe people knew it as the Falling Leaves Moon while the fall bird migration led the Cree to refer to it as the Migrating Moon  With the arrival of lower temperatures it has also been called the Ice Moon or Freezing Moon.  

The October full moon will be at its largest on October 20.  Nevertheless, If you are blessed with cold,clear viewing conditions it should appear full both before and after.

 

Boost Your Performance

 

With spare inner tubes wrapped around their bodies these cyclists from a 1920s Tour de France light up along the way. 

In the early 1900s, a smoke was thought to provide a jump-start to a race. 

The Tour has a long and illustrious history of doping - This was legal.

Who knew?

Chug Chug Goes the Tug

From the Kahlenberg web site:

Established in 1895 as Kahlenberg Brothers Company, Kahlenberg Industries, Inc. has been continuously family owned and managed since its founding over a century ago.

The original three Kahlenberg brothers, Otto, William, and John, began by constructing small steam engines for marine and stationary work. From this early beginning the company expanded, eventually manufacturing and selling gasoline and diesel marine engines across the globe. During World War II, Kahlenberg was the recipient of the Army-Navy “E” (Excellence) Award as the company worked around the clock for the war effort. Engine manufacturing was discontinued in 1960.

William and Otto Kahlenberg opened a machine shop in Two Rivers, Wisconsin in 1895. The brothers installed their first gasoline motor in a fishing boat in 1897 with great success. The Kahlenberg gasoline engines were two-stoke make-and-break designs and quickly established a reputation of dependability and economy. Manufacturing was done using jigs and standardization to create easily interchangeable parts, a practice that was relatively new at the time.

In 1914 William began development of a hot-bulb or semi-diesel engine, the first of which was put to work in 1916.  A new line of semi-diesel engines was introduced in 1922.  It was this product family, referred to as the Kahlenberg Oil Engine, which led the company to tremendous success.  These two-stroke engines came in two, three or four cylinders with horsepower ranging from 20 to 200.  The Kahlenberg oil engine is largely responsible for eliminating sail and steam power in the Great Lakes commercial fishing industry due to outstanding reliability, speed and efficiency.  For many years there were more Kahlenberg-powered fishing vessels than all other types put together.  They remained the dominate engine power until the 1970’s when more modern high-speed diesels became widely adopted.

Kahlenberg remains in business today in other commercial marine segments including air horns, commercial propellers and low volume custom manufacturing.

 

 

More Fall Colors

The other day we got together with four of our in-laws visiting the peninsula,

There were beers.  

Followed by lunch.

Followed by a canopy walk to take-in the fall foliage at the recently-opened Eagle Tower located at Peninsula State Park.

 Followed by more adult beverages.

All-in-all a perfectly fine day.........

Friday Music

This song performed by the ‘cartoon’ band the ‘Archies’ was written and produced by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim – and originally released on the album Everything's Archie.  The final product was the result of a collection of studio musicians managed by Don Kirshner. 

 

Lead vocals were by Ron Dante along with Andy Kim and Toni Wine - studio multitracking held this catchy tune together by a thread.   Released in late May of 1969 the song achieved small success on the charts in the early summer in some radio markets.  It was re-released mid-July 1969, on the Kirshner label - when it went on to spend four weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.  The song eventually rose to the 1969 US number-one single of the year.  It persists - ranked at number 78 on Billboard's Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Singles. 

Not a poor showing for a fake band. 

Fall Colors

The key to strong leaf coloration is bright, sunny, and dry days followed by cool nights. Lets unpack that sentence a bit! 

 

The bright sunny days contribute to the change in coloration by breaking down chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the green pigments in leaves. The plant isn't able to synthesize and replenish it's chlorophyll due to the dryness of the fall air. 

 

 

The bright sunny, and dry days together increase the sugar content in leaves which favors the increase in anthocyanins within the leaves. Anthocyanins are the pigments that create the red to purple colorations. Carotenoids is another group of pigments that may be revealed which creates bright yellow to orange colors. 

 

 

The cool nights contribute to the activation of a zone in the petiole of the leaf called the abscission zone which is the point where the leaf separates from the tree and flutters to the ground. There is a large science behind why leaves change colors that is quite fascinating and in-depth!

 

Future Forecast

 

 

Back in the day, Wisconsin Senator Bill Proxmire predicted the skilled labor shortage we stand witness to now. 

Of course, this was when Senators governed and didn’t spend their time fundraising and whipping their base into a nonsensical wet dream with every election cycle.

 

The Path to Luxuriously Supple Skin

In further news I have learned how to make soap.

Nothing fancy mind you.  Just honest, simple, unscented, utilitarian bars of soap.

I have to say the class was a hoot.  I was the only male of the species enrolled.  My ribald female classmates regaled the attendees with tales about making soap from rendered human fat obtained via dumpster-diving at liposuction clinics.  Yeech.

Anyway, who says you cannot teach an old dog new tricks via community college...

Voodoo Economics

If your lord and savior is the former guy read no further as this post may possibly upset you. Which is not my intent. As it is, I’m likely going to be derided as an elitist by certain of my friends anyway.  Nevertheless, this real-life illustration of magical economic thought is worthy of sharing.

 

It is not fake.

 

For some people this is their belief system. Economic and otherwise.

 

This conversation took place last weekend in the context of an economic discussion on a closed Facebook group.  It began with my supposition that the current economic picture (by most metrics) put the economy on-par with where it stood pre-pandemic.  Sure, I know it’s behind in some areas and ahead in others - but for the stuff that really matters basically par for the course. 

Heretofore I made no mention-of, or couched anything I posted in a political context. I was just sticking with the data. It did not take long for the worm to turn.  

To set the stage, a commentator had previously advanced the notion that the former guy’s economy was the best ever in all of history.  Naturally, this is a subjective conclusion. I did not challenge it as the pre-pandemic economy under the former guy was in-fact doing swell. Between you and me this blogger was enjoying the ride.  

 

Nevertheless, I suggested that if something is held-out as the best in history - as bold a conclusion as that should be supported by data.

 

Alas, the commentator reached for a bridge too far adding (without any supporting evidence) that under the former guy's administration gasoline had also fallen to $.99 a gallon.

Said commentator lives in Sturgeon Bay and I live close-by.  I should think that I would have taken notice of 99 cent gasoline in 2020.  But I digress.

I did point-out that when the economy cratered in early 2020 the price of crude oil plummeted as global travel dried-up.  Gasoline prices tracked downward as expected.  Not likely to $.99/gal - but prices did fall considerably.

To which the commentator suggested that it was the former guy who negotiated cheap crude oil prices thereby keeping gasoline prices low for all of us.

So there you have it. What I learned about supply-demand pricing of fungible commodities is of little utility.  All you have to do is simply negotiate a lower price for a globally-traded commodity such as crude oil - and voilà - $1.50 gasoline.  Presumably, that is the price at the pump so state and federal taxes are included.  All-in the actual refinery price is  much lower.

I suppose with Apple Inc. trading in the neighborhood of $143 a share (NASDAQ: AAPL) the former guy should be able to negotiate for us a cheap double digit price around $72 a share?  

 

Just kidding. You readers are smarter than that. You know I'm being snarky.

 

But on a serious note it is clear to me that in some circles the belief system is dismissive of labyrinthine and complicated financial markets. An article of faith suggesting that only a single key individual's negotiating skills is all that is needed is easier to digest. And just like magic - low commodity prices materialize. As a recovering financial guy I have to wonder how the commentator (above) navigates saving and planning for retirement. And $3.00+ gasoline. 

 

This is a head-scratcher for sure.

I'll spare you readers the rest of the painful discussion thread. When pressed for supporting evidence only argumentative opinions were forthcoming and the comments basically ended with the accusation that I was a Biden supporter.  That, my friends, is an intellectual cop-out. A lame deflection used by someone bereft of facts.

 

Nonetheless, it was a fascinating thought exercise while it lasted - concluded with lazy thinking.  

 

The late great PT Barnum had a term for those who embrace such belief systems.

 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

There is a population of conservative, center-right and independent-minded voters who place a high value on facts and the truth. Marginalized because they do not demonstrate sufficient fealty and obeisance to the former guy - exile is their cross to bear.