November Night Sky

 

The evenings of November 29 and 30, the waning gibbous moon will pass Castor and Pollux - the twin stars of the constellation Gemini.  

These stars rise after sunset and are visible until dawn.

From this morning there was this...

 

The Darwins Are Out

The Darwin Awards honor those who tip chlorine into our gene pool by accidentally removing their own DNA from it by means of a spectacular idea gone very, very wrong.  

Yes ... it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.  

The winner is:

When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

The honorable mentions:

The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company.  The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself.  He tried the machine and he also lost a finger.  The chef's claim was approved.

A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space.  Understandably, he shot her.

After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped.  Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride.  He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies.  The deception wasn't discovered for three days.

An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train.  When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided.  The man took the cash from the clerk and 
fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter.  The total amount of cash he got from the drawer was $15. 

An Arkansas man wanted some beer pretty badly.  He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run.  So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window.  The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious.  The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas.  The whole event was caught on videotape.

As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher.   Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher.  They put him in the 
car and drove back to the store.  The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her.  That's the lady I stole the purse from."

The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan at 5 AM, flashed a gun, and demanded cash.  The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order.  When the man ordered onion 
rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast.  The man, frustrated, walked away. 

When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street by sucking on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for.  Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage.  A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake.  The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family; unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.

They walk among us, they can reproduce......

They Walk Among Us

Doggo and I ran the trail camera trap line recently and uploaded a nice collection of (drum roll please) digital photos of whitetail deer.

Yes, despite a successful hunt here at the Platz, and everywhere else based on my anecdotal and observational discussions with neighbors there are sufficient deer on the landscape to continue hunting thru January of 2024 and continue to propagate the species for the rest of my natural life expectancy.

Sunday morning we woke to a couple inches of white stuff and there was this....

Silver Lining From A Neglected Cloud

No pruning, weeding or fertilizing all of 2023.  We spent most of the year scratching our traveling itch.

 

Nevertheless, and despite the neglect, our forlorn raspberry patch produced a bumper crop of berries - most of which we froze. 

 

 

The rest we ate with breakfast cereal, vanilla ice cream or straight-up.  We learned the doggo loves them too.  The birds got their share when we weren't looking.

 

 

This weekend I converted all of the stash from the garage freezer into jam. 

 

 

21 half pint jars to be sure.

 

 

Lost the 22nd jar to a rare blowout in the canner. 

Tried it out on Sunday morning breakfast toast.  

 

Perfection!

November Night Sky

November's full moon is called the Beaver Moon.

Full moons often take their names from the traditions of native Americans and European Settlers.  November is that time of year that beavers retire to their lodges for the duration of winter.  As a consequence of their pelts being prime this was also the time of year that fur traders trapped beavers.

The Lakota people recognized this as the Deer Rutting Moon, Cree and Assiniboine called this the Frost Moon and with the spawning of this fish species in November the Algonquin called this the Whitefish Moon.

The Beaver Moon will reach peak illumination in the early morning hours of Monday.  Nevertheless, it will be sufficiently close to full just after sunset tonight. 

11.19.2021

 

This is not a sunrise.  It is a photo I took at sunrise of the Full Beaver Moon setting in the west. 2021.

This was a nice balance of low sunlight in the foreground from the rising sun behind me to the east and the moon dropping quickly below the western horizon.

Sometimes this stuff happens quickly.

You snooze, you lose...

If Only The Dead Could Talk

Most of you readers know that I am a consummate sucker for cemeteries.  The older the better.  I just love walking around imagining the lives of those interred or entombed underfoot or around me.  While traveling last month through the low country of Charleston, Beaufort and Savannah I scratched my cemetery itch on several occasions.  A walk through Bonaventure Cemetery included something special.  

Taphophobia - the fear of being buried alive as a consequence of being incorrectly pronounced dead.

This was a thing back in the 19th century.  The horror of burial alive  was rampant in port cities like Savannah, Georgia who had the plague of yellow fever epidemics visited-upon them.  The comas of the stricken could be so deep that the sick were sometimes mistaken for dead.  Ghoulish tales written by contemporary author Edgar Allan Poe put nobody's mind at ease.

Naturally, entrepreneurs and inventors capitalized on this and produced any number of gizmos to facilitate the resurrection of those buried before actually dead.  Many of these solutions involved some sort of alarm that could be triggered by the entombed to alert cemetery staff of their need for rescue.

At Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah there is one such device that is present at the grave of Charles F. Mills.

Mills was a prominent and wealth Savannah businessman operating a steamship line on the Savannah River and served as president of the Marine Bank of Georgia.  He was buried in Bonaventure Cemetery on April 11, 1876 at age 74.  The vault is below this magnificent monument and his grave bell sits atop a pipe rising several inches from the ground immediately to the left of Mill's tomb.

The bell was connected to one of more strings or wires tied to the occupant's fingers or toes.  If the deceased woke, his movements would ring the bell and sound the alarm.  Cemetery staff could then pump fresh air into the pipe until the occupant was disinterred and rescued.

Naturally, by the time the 20th century rolled-around the widespread practice of embalming obviated the need for grave bells.  Nevertheless, these were a common sight at the graves of Bonaventure's wealthy occupants.  Most of them were later salvaged as scrap for wartime use during the first world war.  Because Mill's bell was cast in bronze it persists to modern time as the last intact grave bell at Bonaventure.

True story.

Friday Morning Music

This song was composed and produced by the American band Toto for their fourth studio album in 1982.

It's got some staying power as a consequence of the relaxed production style and composition.  As evidence of this the song reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  In 2021, it was listed in the 452 position on Rolling Stone's 500 Best Songs of All Time.

Africa....

MRE

 Meal Ready-to-Eat is raised to a new level.....

 

Deer Camp Thankfulness

As per usual the Thanksgiving Holiday falls during deer camp.  This year it’s just Jill and me as nobody wants to be with us.  Which is just fine.  It’s a relaxing day of televised parade and football and a traditional stuffed turkey roasting in the oven.  We're also baking a giant yam and there is pumpkin pie for dessert.  

I've got a great deal to be thankful-for.  My family, my friends, great community and neighbors, a comfortable retirement, reasonably good health and the great outdoors.  A new pup rounds it all out.    

An additional bit of good news is this:  The American Farm Bureau Federation's 38th annual survey provides a snapshot of the average cost of this year's classic holiday feast for 10 checks-in at $61.17 or less than $6.20 per person. 

 

This is a 4.5% decrease from last year's record-high average of $64.05, but a Thanksgiving meal is still 25% higher than it was in 2019, highlighting the impact of higher supply costs and inflation have had on food prices since before the pandemic.  Anecdotally, our ten-pound bird was free.  We earn Holiday Bucks from our grocery every December which can be redeemed for a free turkey or ham.

 

In closing the staff here at The Platz extends their best wishes to you on this Thanksgiving holiday.   

Gobble, gobble...

 

Noteable Quoteable

 

Inflation

I have reached the end of my rope.  My patience with the economic condition is not a bottomless reservoir of hope.  This is an outrage and further evidence that the administration has lost the reins on this runaway inflation.  Something needs to be done.

Gram for gram, the white truffle has now become one of the most expensive delicacies on the planet. 

 

In Italy, fresh white truffles run as high as 4,500 euros per kilogram (or nearly $2,200 per pound), according to Coldiretti, Italy’s biggest agricultural trade group. 

 

Once they are shaved onto a plate of risotto or roast quail in the finest restaurants in the world, the price will multiply again, underscoring their “white gold” reputation. 

 

Closer to home, at Acquerello in San Francisco, there is a $495 truffle tasting menu (excluding wine and tax). Trufflephiles in London and Dubai can expect a similarly pricey restaurant tab.  Sky-high prices will be the norm, truffle experts say.

 

At an auction in Alba, Italy, a one-and-a-half-pound specimen fetched a record price of €184,000 (nearly $200,000). Bidders are set to converge on Italy’s truffle capital on Sunday to do it all over again.

 

Another Biden fail.

 

Deer Camp

Still plenty of hunting opportunities remaining until the close of the deer season in January of next year. But we punched our dance card for the gun opener this last weekend.

Dropped-off four deer at Mark’s today for skinning, cutting and wrapping. And donated an additional five for processing and distribution to the local food pantry network.

Enjoyed plenty of quality time in the woods, terrific food and a lot of yuks. Great group of friends. 

 

Deer Camp

I wonder if any of these buckaroos are hanging on the meat pole this morning?

New Testament Of The Day

I'm almost finished with a book:   After Jesus Before Christianity: A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements.

I'm only an armchair historian or theologian.  To be clear, I am not an ordained minister or an expert.  However, I do enjoy reading about history.  Including religious histories.  This tome has been an instructive narrative.  A couple of letters by Paul to the Thessalonians are instructive from a historical point of view inasmuch as they provide an insight into the nascent early church.  There is little of theological substance in these letters; yet they shed light upon the type if instructions Paul gave to followers of the early Jesus movement.

Without getting all Hebrew apocalyptic there is substance to these early writings that is apropos to modern conditions.  Of course nothing new under the sun as far as that goes...

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works.  He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.  They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

 -2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

OCPD

 

Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder.

A.personality disorder that's characterized by extreme perfectionism, order, and neatness.

After 20 years of living here I notice the trim on the base of this post is off by a sixteenth of an inch.

Ugh.

Deer Camp

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

The fella's friends are upset and understandably disappointed that he cannot join them at camp.  Alas, they are powerless to do anything about it.

Two days later the crew has gathered at deer camp.  The fire is stoked in the wood burner.  Blaze orange bibs and parkas are hung in the fresh air on the porch.  Even the boots toe the line.  Firearms are carefully stacked on the gun rack at the back door.  Bunks are claimed and everyone is enjoying a refreshing adult beverage and shooting the bull in the testosterone-infused atmosphere.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another collective gasp from the rapt audience.

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

So, here I am.

 

Friday Music

Released on their 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery this is the only song on that album that guitarist and lead singer Greg Lake wrote entirely by himself.

Further evidence that this guy can chew gum, play a guitar and sing at the same time.

Still...You Turn Me On

Deer Camp

Remarkably these trail camera photos were all taken on the same day.

Yes, all five of the daytime buck photos.

I left the date and time stamp to document...

 

November Night Sky

This year's annual Leonid meteor shower peaks tomorrow and Saturday evening across the US.  It will coincide with a five-day old crescent moon that sets before midnight.  

In recent years the number of meteors have been declining and are not expected to improve for a couple of years.  Nevertheless, there is much more going on in the night sky.  Jupiter is visible all evening and Venus rises early.  

The constellation Leo and its radiant (see illustration) will rise in the eastern horizon around midnight and will be highest above the horizon just before dawn.

The meteors originate when the orbital path of the earth collides with the debris left behind by
comets. These bits and pieces of comet detritus enter the earth’s atmosphere with the resulting vaporization creating the streaks of light we call meteors.  

The debris associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle results in this November display. Like other meteor showers, this one will be best viewed after midnight. Turn your gaze toward the
constellation Leo the Lion, where the shooting stars appear to emanate.

Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion, dots a backwards question mark of stars known as the Sickle. If you trace all the “shooting stars” from the Leonid meteor shower backward, they appear to radiate from this area of the sky.  A dark rural location with minimal light pollution provides for optimal viewing opportunities.

Tempel-Tuttle is a periodic visitor that will return in 2031.  it is worthy of mention that the Leonids can be stunning on rare occasions. With the reappearance of Tempel-Tuttle every 33 years the debris left in its wake can result in meteors up to a rate of 1000 an hour!  2001 was a very good November and 1966 was breathtaking.

The best time for observation is just before dawn although the shower is active beginning November 6 thru December 2.  It is observable for a couple of weeks either side of the peak viewing dates. 

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear viewing conditions and early rising if you have to get out of bed to pee.....

 

Tag Team

Nocturnal predators - two in a row. Wile E. Coyotes....

 

Highway Patrol

Turnpike:  Typically a roadway that charges a toll to travel-upon.  Highways that a free to use are called freeways or expressways.

You may recall that in August I posted a short piece about the Door County Highway Police.

Well, I stumbled-upon this a few days ago; actually I think the all-knowing Google sent it my way so I could trip over it.

The Ohio Turnpike Patrol

The first Turnpike patrol cars were 1955 Chevrolet 150 Utility Sedans equipped with high performance engines.  These vehicles were modified to do 110 miles per hour.  They could reach that speed under full acceleration in as few as 400 yards.

The patrol cars were painted a light green that matched the color of the route signs posted on the Turnpike.

The flying wheel logo added a singularly unique touch.

Ohio's Turnpike Patrol is still on watch for speeders, responding to emergencies and travelers in need of assistance.  Their cruisers retain that very cool flying wheel logo.

Nice to know that some things never go out of style.

And they still charge a toll.....

Taunting

The other day there arose a big ruckus from the front door in the dining area.  

It was the dog working herself into a tizzy over a couple of pheasants.

Seems these two roosters decided to take a stroll across the front yard to taunt the dog before continuing on their way along the roadside ditch.

 

Seems they knew they were safe as nobody would turn-loose a dog on them so close to the road.  And besides it is unlawful to discharge a gun across the road.

A couple more (or the same ones) were back the next day in the rain sneaking behind the shed to hide in the lilac hedgerow.  Alongside the road.

We'll get them one of these days.....

Stovewood

I spent part of my an afternoon stacking freshly-split ash from the seemingly inexhaustible supply left for us following the 2020 logging operation.  There remains an estimated twelve cords of 8-foot bolts stacked up at the north property line and my neighbors and I have been reducing it slowly and surely.

It would appear I have a couple of face cords readily available on the porch and under the granary lean-to.  There's another two full cords in the granary as a reserve.

The gun deer opener is right around the corner so it's wise to have a supply on hand to keep the home fires burning.

Bring-on the dank and cold; it's true that firewood warms you twice.  Cutting, splitting and stacking.  Finally, burning.

November Night Sky

Alert!

New moon tonight so the skies will be exceptionally dark.

Fingers-crossed for a cold, clear night sky...

Tall Tale

Only in Sturgeon Bay.

Earlier this week I stopped at the gas station to get a cold bottle of iced tea and as I was pulling up I observed a a couple of police officers watching a woman who was smoking while pumping her gas. 

I was thinking:  Is this lady stupid, crazy, or both, especially with law enforcement standing RIGHT there! 

Anyway, minding my own business I went inside and got my drink. As I was paying for my bottle of tea, I heard someone screaming.  I’m talkin' about a blood-curdling death scream.

I looked outside and I saw that cigarette woman's arm was on fire.  She was swinging her arm, running around going nuts.  By the time I got outside, the police had the woman on the ground and they were putting the fire out.  

Then, remarkably they put handcuffs on her and threw her in back seat of their squad car. 

I was thinking:  Arrested?  Shouldn’t she be in an ambulance instead of a squad car? 

So I asked one of the officers what they were arresting her for.

And with a dead serious straight face he looked me in the eyes and said: WAVING A FIREARM!

Trail Camera Action

Daytime deer movement.

It's a beautiful thing to see...

 

Armistice Day

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

American troops in France celebrate the armistice

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

Inasmuch as today is Veterans Day I figure I'd take a moment to talk about my favorite veteran - Howard Gaertner.  Who also happens to be my dad.  Dad has been gone now for more than thirteen years already but I'm sure he'd appreciate the mention. 

This picture of him was taken in Kidderminster England, November 2, 1944. 

He'd already spent more than three months in combat - including the invasion at Normandy, the battle of the hedgerows, the breakout of the bocage at Saint-Lô, the dash across northern France with Patton's forces and the liberation of Belgium.  He was evacuated to England after being wounded in the Meuse River crossing in September of 1944.  Following his convalescence he returned to Germany for much of 1945 with the Army of Occupation.  

This was turning out to be much more than an average adventure for a previously skinny depression-era kid who was drafted after graduating high school.  

Thinking of dad today and giving a shout out to all of my acquaintances and friends who have served in the armed forces of our nation and call themselves veterans.

Small Maritime World

Today marks the 48th anniversary of the most famous shipwreck to occur on Lake Superior.

 

Of the 29 sailors lost to the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald two were natives of Sturgeon Bay. And the connection to Great Lakes maritime shipping history goes a bit deeper yet.

 

The USCG tug Naugatuck was the first Coast Guard vessel to respond on the scene of the missing freighter. The crew recovered life rings, jackets, life boat oars and other debris over three days on the scene.

 

 

The Naugatuck is still working on the Great Lakes now as the Jimmy L of Sarter Marine Towing in Sturgeon Bay.

 

 

When she is not at work you can find her berthed along the west waterfront adjacent to the Oregon Street bridge.

 

Small maritime world.

 

Friday Music

The Iveys were Welsh rock band formed in 1961 the best remembered lineup was Mike Gibbons (drums), Joey Molland (guitar), Tom Evans (bass) and Pete Ham (guitar).  Coming of age in the 70s this was a personal fan fave.  

Prior to the release of Come and Get It in 1970 Apple Records (yes Paul McCartney was involved) conviced the group that their name was too bland.  Among multiple choices a new name was chosen.  Bad Finger.

Originally recorded for their 1970 album, No Dice, this song was composed and sung by Peter Ham and produced by Beatles roadie, Mal Evans.

No Matter What.....

Pomp And Circumstance

This made me smile.....

Motion For Life

Bibendum, popularly-known as the Michelin Man, is the official mascot of the Michelin tire company.  

 

A humanoid figure consisting of stacked white tires, he was introduced at the Lyon Exhibition of 1894 where the Michelin brothers had a stand.

 

 

 

 

The Michelin Man is white because rubber tires are naturally white. It was not until 1912, that carbon chemicals were mixed into the white tires, which turned them black. The change was structural, not aesthetic. By adding carbon, tires became more durable.⁣

 

Michelin also began reviewing restaurants so that more people would travel further distances in their cars to eat at these restaurants. This in turn would wear down their tires faster, and force them to buy more.⁣

 

The star system that Michelin uses goes up to three and is broken down by whether or not it's worth driving to the restaurant.

 

 

One star: A very good restaurant in its category

 

Two star: Excellent cooking, worth a detour

 

Three star: Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

 

 

 

November Night Sky

Tomorrow be on notice that a super bright Venus can be found near the moon in the predawn eastern horizon.  In astronomical terms this is called a conjunction.

Good opportunity to view the Morning Star...

Traffic Jam

Last Saturday the dog and I ran the trail camera trap line and collected hundreds of images to be discarded.  To be fair, some were worth saving and possibly publishing here or on Face Book.

This particular camera is always a busy location - both day and night.

Interesting to me are these three photos taken within a couple of hours of one another.  A cat, a coyote and a skunk.  There were a pile a deer too but they're not pictured as deer are cheap.  Picture-wise.  

Anyway, you'd think that with all the wildlife traffic here at my woodland version of Piccadilly Circus There might be a need for a traffic cop...