Welcome To The Family

Yesterday closed following a busy 30+ hours with the new pup. 

Key chapter to raising a pupper is routine. Feeding, rest, abundance of supervised playtime/exercise, potty breaks and positive correction and redirection.

Constant supervision is imperative.  Wear raggedy clothing as puppy teeth are daggers. 

A couple more things:  Super Blue Moon over the ancient pump house tonight.  Saturn is at one o’clock  and Ruby is sleeping it-off. 

 

Pro Tip - bifurcate puppy shifts with your partner and sleep after the dog has flipped her switch to off.

 

Today we started walking from the house on the trail to Silver Creek and back.  The dog is free to run but is clipped to a check line I can step-on to halt or hang on to her.

Spoiled

We are blessed with a proliferation of songbirds around these parts.

I suspect it's a combination of a variety of habitat - forest, open areas, native pollinator plants and as a consequence of the summer drought conditions some presently very dry wetland.

If you were sitting on the porch having your morning coffee or a beer after chores or maybe just a glass of Merlot as the sun goes down you can hear the birds calling back and forth.

I'm reasonably OK with bird ID using only their call; nevertheless, There are apps like Merlin that will assist.

Sunday morning was particularly busy because in the space of about fifteen minutes Merlin informed me that all of these birds were sharing my space.

Is it no wonder I like living here?  We're spoiled.

You can learn more about Merlin here and download the free app to your Android or iPhone device.

Welcome To The Family

A year ago on September 1 we said good bye to our blonde Lab, Queenie.  Who was preceded in death by her Auntie, Inky.  Also a Lab.

As a consequence of being dogless we really ramped-up our travel in our post-COVID world.

Nevertheless, it's been lonely as all heck.  Without a dog a house is not a home.

So they say.

Anyway, I want to introduce you to Ruby, a Golden Retriever who comes from a long line of AKC registered hunters.

Her story behind arriving here is long and complicated so I won't bore you with the details.  We're tickled to have her and are working diligently to establish a predictable schedule of structured play and exercise, feeding and rest.

Puppy teeth continue to be as sharp as I remember them...

Super Blue Moon

Super moons take their name from their appearance of 30% brighter and 14% larger.  This is a consequence of the moon's closer approach (called perigee) to the earth.

The month of August has been blessed with the appearance of two super moons.  August 1 and, again this evening.  Beginning tonight and tomorrow you may be treated to the third of four Super Moons viewable this year.

Our last Blue Moon was August 21-22, 2021.  It was viewable near the planets Jupiter and Saturn and was known as a seasonal blue moon.  A seasonal blue moon is the third of four full moons that falls in a season (between solstice and equinox).  Tonight and tomorrow features a monthly blue moon because it is the second of two full moons in a calendar month. 

If that explanation makes your head hurt it is because it is unscientific.  It is folklore.

Anyway, blue moons are rare occurring about every two and a half years.  Enjoy this even rarer opportunity to see a super blue moon.  The last one was 2009 and the next in 2037.

Finally, blue moons are not the color blue.  If you see a photo of a moon tinted blue it is PhotoShop or had a blue filter applied.

Fingers-crossed for good viewing conditions this evening.

 

How To Build A Deer Stand

Just as with The Taj, the Arm Pit deer stand was a perennial favorite of the hunters channeling thru deer camp.  Plenty of deer were scored at these locations.  Alas, those stand are installed in dead ash trees and are no longer safe for use.

Here is Arm Pit 2.0 going thru final assembly and deployment.

In the last photo you can see the forest stand of dead ash in the background.

Sigh.....

How To Build A Deer Stand

Last week I shared that Braumeister and I were going to deploy and perform final assembly of a couple of replacement deer stands.  The locations had already been scouted and brushed-out in preparation.  Located in the vicinity of their predecessors they were beyond the damaging reach of toppling ash trees.

These are constructed of treated lumber and make use of factory fabricated steel brackets that hold the four main posts at the appropriate angle along with the platform for a hunter to lurk.  The foot print of the platform is about a foot smaller (4X4 feet square) and the legs are taller (10 feet).  A nice, safe, comfortable and long term forest improvement that we have a really good feeling about.

Here is The Taj 2.0 going-up and with final assembly.  Each platform included a large ring bolt on one side for purposes of hoisting it aloft using the winch on the Kawasaki Mule.

Note:  The aluminum ladder is temporary and will be replaced with a wooden treated lumber ladder.

 

 

Practice Makes Perfect

Several of these people look confused. Or wretched. Or like ghosts. One of them looks like a serial killer straight out of central casting.

Donald Trump’s mugshot is picture-perfect.

If I had to hazard a guess, he practiced this in a studio beforehand. His makeup is precisely  suited to the light and camera.  His hair is coiffed a wee bit differently than we're accustomed-to.   That jaw-jut and downward tilt of the head hide his jowls and adds drama. 

Earlier today Trump's campaign spokesperson said the former president has raised $7.1 million since his mugshot was released Thursday evening after he was booked on thirteen felony counts related to an alleged scheme to overturn the results of the presidential election in Georgia.

The guy is masterful.

Palace Intrigue

It was only a few short months ago when a puzzling mutiny led by Wagner mercenary group strongman Yevgeny Prigozhin rattled Vladimir Putin and the Russian military.

This blogger has been wondering ever since why Putin, who accused Prigozhin of treason, allowed him to live.  Ordinarily, Vlad's enemies suffer radioactive polonium poisoning or strangely fall to their deaths from eighth floor windows.  Maybe Putin was waiting for the perfect opportunity?

Telegram/WAGNER_svodki

And Prigozhin's private aircraft fell from the sky last Wednesday.  Let's be clear, I've watched enough aircraft disaster episodes on the Smithsonian Channel to know that burning aircraft do not ordinarily drop from the sky. 

We don't know for sure if a bomb planted on board caused the aircraft to explode or if it was destroyed by antiaircraft fire.  Has anybody said for sure that the mercenary chief's remains have been recovered?  It has been reported that seven passengers and three crew members perished in the crash less than 200 miles north of Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Perskov would tell you any involvement by Putin is: an absolute lie.  Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko obliquely suggested:  I cannot imagine that Putin did it; that Putin is to blame.

Nothing like a healthy dose of Kremlin intrigue.  I've got some acquaintances who insist nothing coming out of Russia should be taken as factual or the truth.  Russia and its leaders have historically had an uncomfortable relationship with purges, coups, disappearances and assassinations.  And I suppose that amongst the elite gangster class of Russian oligarchs anyone who previously thought they might voice criticism of Putin is going to clam-up with the knowledge that any challenge to his authority is going to lead to a death sentence.  

Of course there's likely more than a handful off pissed-off Wagner people out there.  I wonder what's to come of this hired gun empire?

The Kremlin's war against Ukraine will likely persist and whispers about Putin's management of the conflict will persist as well.  One has to wonder if any of this is a morale boost for the conscript army being squandered on Putin's unprovoked invasion.  What a waste.

The bottom line is the public assassination of Prigozhin highlights the decades-long descent of Russia into a mafia state.  A vast criminal enterprise barely held together with barbarousness and completely incapable of global leadership.  A failed state.

The people over at the Wall Street Journal have had, what I consider, the best coverage of this unfolding event.  They published a terrific piece on the Wagner Chieftain's last days.  Check it out; it's a good read.

I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia.  it is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but there is a key.  That key is Russian national interest.

-Winston Churchill 

Edit to add - Sunday morning (08.27.23), in a statement published on the Telegram messaging service, Russia's Investigative Committee said the identities of all of the aircraft's passengers had been confirmed with "molecular-genetic examinations."

Wagner sympathizers had held out hope that the mercenary leader was somehow still alive and that his death was faked.

The state apparatus reports he's dead.  And, of course, Russian state media is unimpeachable.

Planet Gazing

I've covered this subject before; nevertheless, a refresher is in order.

In the world of astronomy, the celestial phenomenon known as opposition occurs when the earth is directly between a planet and the sun.  

All of the planets in our solar system orbit the sun.  Under certain circumstances the earth the earth will find itself between the sun and another planet.  At that moment the planet is said to be in opposition.

Beginning tonight and tomorrow Saturn will be in opposition and as a consequence will be at its closest and brightest for all of 2023.  Even at its closest, this planet is till 746 million miles away.

Better yet, you will have the opportunity to view Saturn as it rises following sunset and sets in the western sky before sunrise.

Stellarium

Use this map to locate it - the view is to the southeast.  The brightest object in the sky is Jupiter and Saturn will be slightly higher and to the right. 

Binoculars will assist in viewing and if you have a telescope you might get a good look at Saturn's rings and possibly Titan; Saturn's largest moon.

Fingers-crossed for clear skies and no mosquitoes.

Friday Music

In keeping with The Beatles theme...

Written by John as an expression of his love for Yoko Ono, the song is heartfelt and passionate. As John told Rolling Stone magazine in 1970, “When it gets down to it, when you’re drowning, you don’t say, ‘I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,’ you just scream.” 

During filming on the roof of Apple, two days after the recording of the track, the band played ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ right after doing two versions of 'Get Back’ and it led straight into 'I’ve Got A Feeling’. Michael Lindsay-Hogg was once again directing a Beatles’ shoot. He and Paul met regularly at the tail end of 1968, while Hogg was directing The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, to discuss the filming of The Beatles’ session in January. By the time that fateful Thursday came around, the penultimate day of January would be the last time The Beatles ever played together in front of any kind of audience. (Official Beatles webpage)

Imagine walking thru the neighborhood minding your own business and stumbling across the Beatles playing on the roof of their studio.  For the last time ever. 

No one would believe why you were late....

Backyard Art

I was in the 6th grade when this song was popularized.

Easily the coolest propane tank, ever....

How To Build A Deer Stand

The last three great deer stands were both late and great.  The Taj, the Armpit and the Creek Stand are being retired on account of safety issues.  They're all built in ash trees who also are dead or in their death throes.  It's sad on many levels - not only because of the demise of the ash trees on the landscape but the memories of uncounted deer taken over the decades from those stands.

Anyway, new locations for replacement guard tower style stands have been scouted and prepped and are well out of reach of any toppling ash trees.  This week Braumeister and I will be deploying and performing final assembly of two of them.

Constructed of treated lumber and utilizing fabricated steel post-holders they should stand the test of time and provide a safe, elevated and comfortable place to sit.

Here they are, ready to go.  Component parts including pre-cut decking, bracing and rails all good to go.  Ten foot 4x4 posts are in the background.....

Quote Of The Day

 

I was the apple of his eye. Putin would have never gone into Ukraine, but that was just on my relationship with him, my personality over his.

- Former President Donald Trump

 

GBH

Sitting on the porch the other day reading when Jill whispered thru the window to me:

Look.  Over there by your mulberry.  A heron.

Craning my neck to take a look; sure enough.  A great blue heron had sauntered into the yard to pay a call.

And without making a sound it took flight.

Blessed to live where the wild things are.  And I had the presence of mind to snap a quick photo...

 

Source of Origin

It seems like a million years ago yet back in the very earliest of days as the pandemic was unfolding the term Kung Flu was bandied-about as a pejorative name for Covid-19.  There were some in the intelligence community that harbored suspicions that China wasn't coming clean with us and the rest of the world about Covid.  Ostensibly, coronavirus sample were destroyed in the name of public health.  Or was it a cover-up of a lab leak?

Last year polio virus was found in wastewater in the Netherlands.  Anthrax was leaked from Fort Detrick in 2001.  Foot-and-mouth disease escaped at Plum Island in 2004  The influenza outbreak of 1977 likely was the result of a leak from a Soviet laboratory.  It's been known to happen and the list of biosecurity incidents is quite extensive.

Both the Department of Energy and the FBI have concluded that sloppy safety practices at the Wuhan lab was the most plausible explanation for the origin of Covid.

Sure, I know that in the beginning of the pandemic there were divisions in our intelligence community about the origins of the disease.  Partisan politics complicated it further.  And no small amount of social media speculation and fixation over bizarre conspiracies from the Face Book cesspool of public health contributed to the mess.

Nevertheless, the lab leak theory got a toe-hold in the Trump administration and got a foot-hold under the Biden administration.

There is a declassified report that has deflected evidence to support the hypothesis of a lab leak; therefore, advancing the notion of natural transmission of the disease.

Regrettably, the Chinese have destroyed the evidence so there is no way to definitively prove that the virus came from the Wuhan lab.  Which could explain why a bunch of intelligence departments and the scientific community lean in the direction of a natural transmission theory. 

Lab leaks are bad for a county's reputation so I figure the Chinese are never going to come clean.  And if the spooks in our intelligence community have notice and knowledge of the source I figure they're not interested in revealing sources and methods.

So I suppose you can believe whatever you want and even embrace the most recent conspiracy theory du jour.

Show-offs

More native plants...

Bee Balm

Big Bluestem

Prairie Blazingstar and Ox-Eye Sunflower

Blue Vervain

Joe-Pye Weed

Compass Plant

Yellow Coneflower

 

Friday Music

One of my favorite espionage series that aired on CBS from 1966 to 1973.

Produced by Bruce Geller it featured the adventures of a group of covert secret agents and their sophisticated means of thwarting bad guys.  Good stuff for taking down crime bosses, cold war Iron Curtain governments, dictators and other hostile miscreants.

It was the original television series that was the inspiration for a series of wide screen movies featuring Tom Cruise.

Who knew that Dave Brubeck was an influence...

Blockade

Meanwhile in Washington the standoff between Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and the Biden administration continues.  The Alabama senator is single-handedly blockading more than 300 general and flag officer nominations for all branches of the armed services over the Pentagon's policy of paying for the travel expenses for service members to receive abortion and other reproductive services.

Last time I looked it seemed that those in the service don't get to pick where their command says they will be posted.  Moreover, one-fifth of our armed services members are women.  And with abortion and reproductive healthcare now determined by the respective states the pentagon policy is an accommodation for troops unable to receive such services in a state that prohibits them.  If I had to hazard a guess, the pentagon would also pay for travel for other specialized medical care unavailable where a service member is posted.

Oh well, now the troops have to fight a culture war to satisfy a lone senator's appetite for performative politics.  

I wonder if the blockade is also impacting school enrollment for the dependent children of military families?  Or job applications for civilian spouses?  Housing applications and moving plans?  Planned and pending retirements?  Promotions and career advancement too?  Readiness?

Anyway, the senate beat it out of town last month without resolving any of this and isn't supposed to return to work until after Labor Day.  The blockade continues.

Just another reason for the former football coach to tear things down and burn them up.

Of course, that is his prerogative; nevertheless, this is evidence of flaws and vulnerabilities in our institutions where one individual can put a stop to hundreds of critical national security positions.  Tuberville is entitled to his views on abortion yet I struggle to see a connection to filling key defense and security positions.

Report From The Oriole Ranch

Backyard bird report.

 

It would appear that the redwing blackbirds have left for the season. Same for the tree swallows. Off to southern coastal states, Mexico and Central America. 

 

Bluebirds are still around. With the recent rains the robins are picking-about in the yard. Cardinals, hummers, king birds, catbirds, and goldfinches are everywhere. It's been another banner year for indigo buntings and with all the dead and dying ash on the landscape woodpeckers rule the world around here.

 

The orioles are still hanging-around but they're not long for this neighborhood and will be departing before too long. And the porch camera will likely be redeployed somewhere in the woods.

 

Photos from this last week and prior.....

 

 And check-out those hydrangeas in the background!

Dark Sky Opportunity

The Milky Way takes its name from the Greek myth about the goddess Hera who sprayed milk across the sky. In other cultures our galaxy goes by other names.  In Asia it is called thhe Silver River and in Southern Africa it is call the Backbone of Night. 

There is a new moon tonight and if you read Forbes this is a Window Of Opportunity for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere to take-in the Milky Way. 

I happen to live almost halfway between the equator and the North Pole so my geographic positioning combined with the dark sky of a new moon have got me planning to drag the telescope outside.

The Milky Way is a ginormous collection of stars, dust and gas.  It is a spiral galaxy because if you could view it from above or from the side it would appear like this.

Our sun is located on one of the spiral arms about 25,000 light years from the center,

Consider this.  Starting now the Milky Way will be visible by 10 PM and will be directly overhead by midnight.  Generally-speaking, summer is the best opportunity to view the Milky Way and August is the best month.

It is estimated that 100 to 400 billion stars comprise the Milky Way.  In our night sky you may be able to see as many as 6000 with the naked eye.

New Moon On Tap

08.13.23 Night Sky View North

In the unlikely event that clouds, storms or other conditions messed-up your chances to view the Perseid meteor shower there is a new moon tomorrow night.  Consequently, conditions tonight, tomorrow and Thursday will be darker than normal and you may still be able to catch a glimpse of any meteor stragglers.

If you have a telescope or binoculars drag them outside for a better view of the heavens.

Fingers-crossed for clear skies and no skeeters!

 

Door County Highway Police

Back in the mid-1800s Door County was a backwater frontier.  With the arrival of European settlers there grew a need for law enforcement.  The early sheriffs were not career law enforcement but a hodgepodge collection of immigrants, saloon keepers, loggers, farmers and whatnot.  Compensation was a mix of fees and per-diems meant to supplement their primary source of income.

When Lorenzo Brown was elected in 1858 as the first sheriff the township of Otumba (now Sturgeon Bay)  it was a mill town with dirt streets.  A trip to Green Bay on horseback took seven hours.

Much has changed.  With the arrival of roads and automobiles the highway patrol followed.

I took this photo (of a photo) in a watering hole in Sturgeon Bay.  A modicum of web searching yielded almost nothing.  So I posted the photo on Face Book and asked my motorhead friends for help.  And they came through.

Best guesstimate is that it is an early 1950s model Oldsmobile or Chevrolet.

Incidentally, the building in the background is the county highway building in Sturgeon Bay.  It continues in use today as the Headquarters for County Emergency Services and the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of Door County.  

There is a two-volume history of the county sheriff department at the library.  Maybe I'll check it out.

 

Downgrade

In case you were snoozing a couple of weeks ago, Fitch Ratings downgraded the country's long-term AAA credit rating citing the steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last twenty years as the reason for Fitch's lack of confidence in our fiscal management.

Hat's-off to the performative politics crowd who increasingly delight in tearing stuff down and burning it up.  The downgrade was likely met with no shortage of fist-bumping by those morons. 

The downgrade, the second in history, is unlikely to curb the global appetite for Treasury securities; nevertheless, it is evidence that the financial community has concerns about the political brinkmanship that seems to have possessed certain corners of Washington including the very recent averting of a debt ceiling crisis and default.  

The first downgrade to our credit rating occurred in 2011 when S&P dinged our bond rating in the midst of an earlier bout of self-inflicted debt ceiling brinkmanship.

Between you and me, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid constitute the 800 pound gorilla in the room.  And I suspect Fitch is paying attention to the lack of action on reform of these demographic time bombs. The Big Three now constitute more than one-half of our entire annual federal budget.  Regrettably,  among some groups in Washington the solution to this problem is an unnatural preoccupation with someone else's gender dysphoria.  Am I the only one that considers this creepy and a distraction from more serious matters?  I digress.

In any event, inflation has been slowly retreating, corporate profits are up and the economy seems strong enough that we'll dodge a recession. Inasmuch as I had to give-up my crystal ball at retirement only time will tell.

Meanwhile, If you're forced to only purchasing AAA-rated securities you've one less choice to pick-from and we'll have to wait for the impact on our long term borrowing costs until the Fed holds its next rate-setting meeting.  

There are plenty of other nations that shared AAA bond ratings in 2011 that have since been downgraded by one of more of the rating agencies.  This would include peers such as Canada, France and the UK.  While we remain one of the most influential of countries as a consequence of the size, strength and depth of our economy; the economic condition is only one contributor to a rating qualification.  Bottom-line, the likelihood that a nation's bondholders will be paid on time, in full and unconditionally remains paramount.  A strong economy is a contributor, but dysfunctional fiscal governance can outweigh that strength.  The remaining AAA-rated nations have better track records that us when it comes to fiscal governance.

Alas, the performative politics crowd, who increasingly delight in tearing stuff down and burning it up, have gleefully announced their intention to press forward with more debt limit shenanigans and a government shutdown this fall.  Morons.

Performative politics has real world consequences to our county's reputation, fiscal and economic health and the same for the life savings of the rest of us.

If you take delight in this bullshit you need to get your head on straight.

Progress

Here's a walk down memory lane.

Photos from November 28, 2005.  

 

I remember it clearly as a very soggy and muddy deer camp experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is notable in the photos below are thousands of little trees planted in rows.  

 

At the time I was discouraged.  Those trees seemed to stay as small as twigs FOREVER.  I figured I would never live long enough to see them amount to anything.  

For a significant number of years you could easily see a quarter mile distant and any whitetail sneaking across these fields did so at their own peril.  Things have certainly changed.

I went upstairs to the blue bedroom and took photos from all the principle compass points.  These are to the southwest...

 

 

And to the northwest...

 

Same views after almost eighteen years of reforestation progress.  Southwest....

And northwest...

 

  

You can hardly see anything beyond the edge of the yard.  Not even the road or the western property line.  

Jungle it is....

 

Friday Music

My daughter introduced me to this guy following a concert she and husband attended recently in NOLA.

Multi-talented he is as an accomplished singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, author and filmmaker.  He is best known for founding the band Primus in 1984 and is considered one of the greatest bassists of all time.

Les Claypool.

Beyond Primus, additional projects include The group Oysterhead, Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains and Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.

It was in New Orleans that he featured Sean Lennon.

Turn the volume up...

Why America Is Already Great

In case you’ve been wondering why you won’t find my FB page to be a vast reservoir of grievances, perceived and real.  It’s because, in general, I think my community is a good place to work, raise a family, retire and whatever.  Here’s another reason. 

When your tractor develops a high pressure hydraulic leak you can go to O’Reilly in Sturgeon Bay and they’ll fabricate a replacement hose while you wait. 

 

And because I had to wait a bit longer (maybe 15 minutes or thereabouts) they voluntarily knocked a bit off the price. $53 down to $39.

 

This, my friends, is the kinda stuff that singularly is why America is already great. 

Hat Tip to my Brussels neighbor, Paul, for the assist and advice.

 

Civilization Ending Event

Yesterday I published a reminder to be sure to check-out the Perseid meteor shower.  The shooting stars you may observe are a consequence of the our earth passing through the debris field left behind by the Comet Swift-Tuttle.

A word about this heavenly body.  

Swift-Tuttle completes its circumnavigation of the sun once every 133 years.  Because it is sixteen miles wide it can cause a world of hurt (pun intended) if it strikes something.  Every time it it returns to our inner solar system it gets closer to us and our moon.

If this sucker were to collide with earth the impact would be three hundred times more devastating than the asteroid or comet that struck and wiped-out the dinosaurs.

Astronomers who study such stuff like doomsday events have guessed that a real threat won't manifest itself for another 2,000 years.  I sure won't be around to witness it.  Nevertheless, the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) keeps tabs on things for us.   Funded by NASA and operated by the University of Hawaii an array of four telescopes located in Hawaii, Chile and South Africa keep watch on the sky for near-earth objects that may present a threat to us earthlings.

Sleep tight.

Notable Quoteable

I really do believe that anyone who puts themself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. Anyone who asks someone else to put themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.

-Former Vice President Michael Pence 

Perseid Meteor Shower

As our planet crosses the orbital path of the comet Swift-Tuttle the Perseid meteor shower will be active from July 17 to August 24.  As the earth passes thru the trail of comet dust and debris the best viewing will be the evening of August 13.  Over this period, there will be a chance of seeing Perseid meteors whenever the shower's radiant point – in the constellation Perseus – is above the horizon, with the number of visible meteors increasing the higher the radiant point is in the sky.

Watching the meteor shower is actually observing the pieces of comet debris heat up as they enter the atmosphere and burn up in a bright streak of light.  In outer space this debris is referred to as meteoroids.  When they enter and burn-up in Earth's atmosphere they're referred to as meteors.   If a piece makes it all the way down to Earth without burning up, it is called a meteorite.   Most of the meteors in the Perseids are about the size of a grain of sand but if you’re lucky a few might be the size of a pea or a marble.

With a waxing crescent moon the sky will be darker and viewing conditions optimized.

At my latitude here - equidistant from the equator and the pole - the radiant point is circumpolar.  That's a fancy way of saying that it is always above the horizon and the shower will be active throughout the night.  The meteors emanate from the constellation Perseus (namesake of the shower) which is found in the northern sky.

 

Fingers crossed for clear night skies and no skeeters.....