Smile For the Trail Camera

Recent trail camera photos include a strutting gobbler, strolling sandhill crane, red fox on the run, robins picking around for breakfast, the family dog, a ditch tiger on the prowl, and a cuddly fox squirrel.

Friday Music

Written, composed, and performed by Bob Dylan this song was released in 1965 on his album Bringing It All Back Home in 1965.  Coincidentally, California folk rock band - The Byrds - also recorded their version of the song the same year.  It has been covered by multiple artists including Melanie, Judy Collins and more.  

The Byrds’ recording reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the UK Singles Chart and (along with Dylan) made Rolling Stone's list of the 500 best songs ever.  

It is also on my personal Top 100 list.

Mr. Tambourine Man...

Return Of The Timberdoodle

While out walking the dog recently she has flushed several doodle birds.  They're common around here because of the remnant alder and willow thickets in the lowlands and younger reforested uplands.  Nevertheless, outside of the local situation this curious bird is becoming less common every year.

The American woodcock - Scolopax minor - also known as the timberdoodle - is a ground-dwelling shoreland bird species found in young forest and shrublands.  Woodcock breed across eastern North America with Wisconsin part of its western range.  This migratory bird winters in lowlands from the Mid-Atlantic south to the Gulf Coast states. 

Historically, woodcock were found in much larger numbers.  This was a consequence of a landscape that included larger amounts of early successional habitat - the technical nomenclature for younger forest.  Not surprisingly those younger forest have evolved and grown to mature forest where woodcock do not live. Fire is suppressed and logging is in decline so the extent of younger woodland habitat continues to shrink.  Urban development also destroys former habitat and because of all of these factors the woodcock population has fallen by about 1 percent each year since the 1960s. 

Aldo Leopold’s - A Sand County Almanac - describes the courtship display of the male Woodcock.  This is one of the true harbingers of spring around here and a delight to observe before sun-up.  From the chapter titled Sky Dance in this excerpt.

I'm tickled to listen to the courtship ritual.  It is another sure sign of the arrival of spring.

 

Talking Turkey

Yesterday was the last day of another Turkey season and it's looking like it's SPAM Aux Gratin for Thanksgiving dinner this year as I am turkeyless.

Saw four jakes, a lonesome hen and had three opportunities to work a gobbler only to have them each hang-up on me.  Jill reminds me that this is why i is called hunting and not shopping.

I also have no recollection of actually hunting in scattered thunderstorms.

Of course, I'm old and forgetful from time to time...

Turn-up the volume for this short digital capture of what a turkey rumble sounds like.  If I had a hand grenade I could have smoked this gobbler.

 

 

Media Circus

Jon Stewart weighs in on the media’s overblown coverage of Trump’s criminal trial, from sketch-artist interviews to following his motorcade via helicopter, and how the airtime contradicts their stated goal to give him less airtime. Plus, Daily Show alum Jessica Williams surprises us with some joyful benefits of following the Trump trial story.

Lighten-up people.

This is funny.......

Optional Equipment

Choosing how to outfit the new Toyota truck you are ordering?

Ask about this.

Tailgater's best friend.....

April Night Sky

If you are reading this you have ample notice about this evening's full moon - called the Pink Moon. 

The term ‘Pink Moon’ actually does not imply that the moon is pink.  The term derives from the spring appearance of native ground phlox and their pink blooms that coincides with the April full moon.  The Full Pink Moon of April rises this evening and will be at peak illumination at 6:49 PM CST. 

The April full moon is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and the Fish Moon.  The Algonquin people knew this as the Breaking Ice Moon while the Dakota identify this as the When The Ducks Come Back Moon.  These native tribal themes are certainly true around here.

More here from the Old Farmer's Almanac...

 

Setting The Record Straight

It is not a crime to pay hush money. 

It is a crime to cook the company books to hide it.

It is the cover-up that gets you in trouble. 

Competition

Speaking of trees.

From our walk there was this.

An oak and a spruce growing together, side-by-side.

The oak has had a head-start and presents itself as a 10-12 foot sapling,  Somehow a spruce seed germinated at the base and has grown into a 2 foot seedling.

I'm not going to interfere in the competition; preferring to let nature take its course. 

Talking Turkey

My first season turkey hunt got off to a disrupted start as a consequence of packing, moving, relocation to alternate living quarters, meeting with crew restoring the floor and a trip to the naked city yesterday for a co-worker’s memorial service.   (The packing, moving and alternate living quarters story will have to wait pending the outcome of Bog Box store's botched dishwasher installation).

In any event, after lunch and chores I got out to set some dekes and croon the turkey love call. Earned some return gobbles but nothing coming in to my set. 

 

Beautiful, sunny afternoon.  Long sleeve T beats winter cammo from only a few years ago. 

April 19, 2018

 

 

Following Orders

Donald Trump has said that during his presidency he was dissuaded from using the military to quell violence in Democratic-controlled cities and states.  This was a source of frustration to him.

And while he has been coy about how he might use the military during a second term, Trump's surrogates have suggested his administration would have wide latitude to deploy the military within the country's borders.

I'm not suggesting that heavy armor will be rolling down main streets across America; but it is a fair question to ask how the military will be used domestically in a second Trump administration. 

The Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement; nevertheless, Trump's musings have given rise to concerns over a possible invocation of the 1792 Insurrection Act.  What are the implications for executive power, administration appointees and military oaths?

While it is true that a president can give illegal orders; he cannot execute them unilaterally.  Donald Trump has learned from his first term that in a second term it is imperative he surround himself with individuals who are loyal - not to the constitution - but to him, personally.

Trump has accused former Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley of treason and deserving of execution.  There will not be a Mark Milley in a second Trump administration.  Instead there will be pliant sycophants which means the execution of sketchy orders will fall to the next line of senior military officers.

Ponder that.

This Is What Governing Looks Like

Bravo Mike Johnson for straight-up votes on foreign policy and global security interests. 

No one likes war yet Russia, China and Hamas are antithetical to basic western values.  

Johnson did the correct thing because, as a leader, he saw a differing perspective than a back-bencher like Marjorie Taylor Greene. His leadership today was courageous and he must be congratulated by all regardless of any other consideration.

This is what governing looks like.

April Night Sky

The month of April brings us the Lyrid Meteor Shower which will reach its peak the evening of April 21-22.

This meteor shower is made up of the remains of the Comet Thatcher and could produce up to 10-20 meteors per hour. Your best viewing opportunities begin late night tonight until sunrise on tomorrow.  They're expected to peak Sunday and Monday evening although there will be significantly increased meteors beginning tonight and to a lesser extent thru the middle of next week.

Look to the northeast for these shooting stars to originate from the radiant.          

Friday Music

Composed by Keith Richard and Mick Jagger this tune is the first track on the Stone's 1969 album, Let it Bleed.

If you're like me and have watched the documentary 20 Feet From Stardom this recording includes vocals by Merry Clayton. Clayton was four months pregnant at the time and was whisked to the studio without notice around midnight.  She cut the track in only a few takes and promptly returned home to bed.

Clayton solos Rape, murder!  It's just a shot away! It's just a shot away! Almost screaming the final stanza to finish with repeats of It's just a kiss away.

Merry Clayton's contribution to a stone's track as a female vocalist stood for 54 years until October of last year with the release of the Hackney Diamonds album. Lady Gaga's talents shine on the track, Sweet Sounds of Heaven. 

Turn-up the volume for Gimme Shelter....

Cute Rodent

For your morning viewing pleasure I deliver a foxy cute fox squirrel...

Who Owns Our Farmland?

There's been plenty of chatter lately on the interweb about foreign ownership of US farmland - much of it singling-out China in particular for scorn.  Anyone who follows me here or knows me on a personal basis would tell you that I am no fan of Communist Red China.  We can have a discussion another day about all there is to dislike about these commies and the teetering and dire condition of their economy and social state resulting from insular autocratic rule.  Today I would like to set the record straight on the foreign ownership matter.

Foreign persons or entities held an interest in over 43.4 million acres of US agricultural land as of December 31, 2022.

This is 3.4 percent of all privately held agricultural land and nearly 2 percent of all land in the United States.  The Top Ten countries who own the most acres are as follows:

Canada (12,845,000 acres)

Netherlands (4,875,000)

Italy (2,703,000)

United Kingdom (2,538,000)

Germany (2,269,000)

Portugal (1,483,000)

France ( 1,316,000)

Denmark (856,000)

Luxembourg (802,000)

Ireland (760,000)

According to a USDA report from 2021, China owns roughly 384,000 acres of US agricultural land.  Of that, 195,000 acres, valued at almost $2 billion at time of purchase, are owned by 85 Chinese investors, which could be individuals, companies or the government. 

Of the 109 countries that own US farmland, China ranks No. 18, far behind No. 1 Canada (12.8 million acres) and even the Cayman Islands (672,000). 

Chinese agricultural land ownership increased significantly under the Former Guy.  Only about 550 acres were purchased from 2015 to 2019.  Chinese ownership jumped 30% from 2019 to 2020, from 247,000 acres to roughly 352,000.

You're welcome.....

 Source:  Forbes

Quote Of The Day

 Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

- Carl Sagan

A Deer Behind Every Tree

Plenty of deer on the landscape around these parts.  And the numbers are going to increase when the does begin birthing their fawns. 

Sure, it's an exaggeration; but some days it feels like there's a deer behind every tree.....

Acquatics Center

From one of our daily walks on this trip the dog took a dip in all three major water bodies located on the front forty.

The rain garden pond out back adjacent to the patio and forno.  The big pond now full to the brim and home to our resident cranes and various migratory ducks.

And Silver Creek - which is flowing full bore, is deep enough for a swim and presents a challenging current.

Can't keep her out of the water.....

Economics 101

Am I better off today than I was four years ago?  How about you?

Over the course of the administration under the former guy the rise of the stock market was frequently trotted-out as a personal barometer of the success of his presidency.  Until it wasn't.  Let's look at the stock market; which crashed in 2020 the last year of the Trump presidency.  

In what became known as Black Monday II, this was one of three days March of 2020 that the sell-offs were so extreme that the New York Stock Exchange temporarily suspended trading.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 3,000 points, wiping out 13 percent of its value.

The cratering stock market presaged the coming economic calamity including a unemployment rate that would more than triple to a high of 13 percent. 

To be clear, I think presidents get too much blame for bad economies and take too much credit for strong economies.  Truthfully, it is a heavy lift for a president to move something as complex as the US economy.  Nevertheless, as of the publication of this post the broad market indices have doubled since their nadir in 2020.

Since I no longer have a day job I have to rely on my savings and investments for income.  So, yes, I am better off today than I was four years ago.

Of course I'm smart enough to know markets periodically correct.  And investing in a single index does not constitute a diversified portfolio or appropriate investment policy.  I am also smart enough to understand you should not solely conflate the rise of a stock market as a barometer of economic success.  That can lead to a bad case of schadenfreude. 

Pro Tip - Significant market corrections can present opportunity for savvy investors.  Another reason I prospered as a consequence of all four years of the Trump presidency.  Same for Biden.

From The Inbox

A week and a half ago we got clobbered with a sockdollager of a spring storm. 

Here’s a shout-out to all of the utility employees from near and far who kept the lights on and restored service for their customers. 

Details below…

 

Selfie

From March 10th there is this.

The pooch and I were out running the trail camera trapline and captured some short video footage of the pup and my fat hand at the end...

Friday Dinner

Sometimes you pull out the stops on dinner. 

This evening there was Romaine dressed with bleu cheese, croutons and bleu crumbles, venison tenderloin seared rare and baked tater.   Deglaze of fresh shrooms and Merlot.  The kitchen garden yielded fresh chives for the sour cream. 

 

Pro Tip - rub your spud in bacon drippings for added crisp and flavor. 

Peninsula sunset for dessert…..

 

Missing Pieces

During the power outage last week we had some neighbors staying over as we had our standby generator keeping the house on life support.  Our power was restored in reasonably short order - they went for five days without power before it was restored.  

Anyway, we started a jigsaw puzzle consisting of a map of London in 1666.  Jill completed it last Sunday.  It was only missing three pieces which we attribute to the dog.  They too have passed.

By the time this is published Jill has begun another jig saw puzzle - a modern day map of London that includes some three dimensional pieces.

Stay-tuned.....

Friday Music

Written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio this song was originally recorded by the US band the Four Seasons and released in 1964 on the flip side of US number one single Rag Doll (also composed by Crewe and Gaudio).

The British band The Temeloes recorded their version in 1967.  Their cover reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and rose to 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming one of the top performing songs of 1967.  I was 12 years old that year and five and a half decades later it's still gold.

Silence is Golden.....

What A Difference A Few Days Make

 

 

Started the day with some snow-covered whitetails and finishing with a photo from last Saturday.

65F on the sunny side of the porch.

What a difference a few days makes..... 

Getting Away From It All

 

A short drive from here is our pup's favorite new space.  Red River K9 offers boarding, grooming, training and daycare.  And because our red bundle of energy is in her formative years an opportunity to be away from us, socialize with other dogs and run with her pack is good.  She burns-off some energy, learns to make new doggie friends, get along with others and we catch a break for a day to square-away a class, projects and chores.

Dropped her-off this morning and already there are photos on kennel's Face Book page.....

Schnee Hirsch

Literal translation - Snow Deer.

From a snowy morning last month there was a herd moseying along the trail covered by the video trail cam.

How many can you count?

From another camera near-by there was this.  Until they shed their winter coat the superb insulating qualities of the outer guard hairs allow the snow to collect on the animal without it melting.  

Marvel of adaptation the whitetail is...
 

April Night Sky

In case you want to make sure you don't stay-up past your bedtime there is this view west early evening.  

There is a conjunction of the two day-old moon and a very bright Jupiter just after sunset.  You cannot miss the moon and Jupiter with the naked eye.  The Pleiades star cluster can be found just above the moon.  You might be able to get everything in the field of view with a pair of binoculars.

Uranus is lurking there too.  For that you might need a telescope.

Fingers-crossed for clear viewing conditions.

Image:  Bruce Betts - Stellarium

 

Recipe Of The Day

One of the things about sourdough baking is that maintaining your starter is akin to having another dependent.  Only you don't have to change its diaper and send it to college.  Nevertheless, once a week you have to feed it - a process of discarding half and replenishing it with equal amounts of high-protein flour and water.  Back in the fridge it goes.

On Saturday morning I divided and fed my starter.  

I reserved the half I would have discarded or redirected to baking bread and used it to ferment and overnight sponge for pancakes on Sunday morning.

It is an easy recipe resulting a very good pancake.  

If you follow the recipe below cut everything in half which is plenty for a hearty breakfast for two adults.  I used-up the last of some blueberries and buttermilk we had and served it up with Irish butter and local maple syrup.

If I was making this for guests I'd make a full recipe, amp-up the blueberries and fry-up some breakfast sausages from the local butcher.

This Lactobacillus fermentation is working rather well.  

Recipe here.

Raising a toast to Mad Scientist cooking....

Inflation

This advertisement is from 1963. 

I was in Green Bay recently and on a whim enjoyed a basic Whopper (with cheese) for lunch. 

No fries. No drink. 

That sandwich set me back $6.19.

 

I was mildly taken-aback, yet after reflecting on the subject 39 cents was a lot of money back in 1963 for a Government Inspected burger.  So I suspect current pricing tracks closely with six decades of inflation.

Anyway, it was, and always will be my favorite fast food burger.  I’ll probably have another in a few more years……

Survivor

The eclipse has come and gone and I live to tell the tale.

Someone notify Marjorie Taylor Greene that eclipse events are predictable.  And where was she during COVID?  That was a friggn' plague.  Sheesh.  Some days I think the House Freedom Caucus consists of cowards led by morons.  But I digress.

Here's a couple of pics from an unrepentant blogger has survived both earthquake and eclipse. 

Quote Of The Day

God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent.  Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come.  I pray that our country listens.

- Marjorie Taylor Greene

Solar Eclipse On Tap

 Not a night sky opportunity but an astronomical event worth your time and attention.

On August 21, 2017 a total eclipse sliced from coast to coast across the Lower 48 states.  For up to almost three minutes the moon blocked the view of the sun.  Today it happens again. 

This one will be bigger, better, more spectacular and will last longer.  If you miss it the next one for the United States is August 23, 2044.

You snooze - you lose.

Word Of The Day

Want to impress your friends and relatives?

Since there is a solar eclipse on tap for tomorrow try this on for size:

Umbraphile

Latin for shadow lover.  As eclipse enthusiasts are known.

Threats

Last January I published some observations and statistics covering the rise in censorship and book bans in recent years.  At the time I figured I'd revisit the subject following sufficient passage of time.

According to the American Library Association 2023 delivered 4,240 books targeted for removal from libraries.  A new record high.  This is up from 2,571 titles in 2022.  It is likely these figures are understated as not every library, local school, college or university is scrutinized.

Nevertheless, now that last year's numbers are in, challenges targeting public libraries were up 92 percent in 2023 and challenges to school libraries were up 11 percent.  

The culture war has grown from a smoldering insurrection to all-out total war.

How do I know this?  The challenges are coming from well-funded and better organized groups with national reputations.  Well-funded and better organized groups with national reputations is nothing new.  The civil rights movement is evidence of that.  

However, in their quest for limiting your and my intellectual freedom and taking control away from local communities and school boards these groups have chosen to single-out individual librarians for harassment with threats of legal action, job loss or even arrest. 

I am mindful of similar attacks targeting local election officials and poll workers with threats of violence over the last four years.  All of these people are good and decent folks.  They are our friends and neighbors and live amongst us.  Violence is not right.

Has civil society lost its collective mind?

Four Short Years Ago

One of the interesting benefits of Face Book is the Face Book Memories feature.  The Face Book algorithm will "nudge" you with a post or status from the past.  It is actually a reasonably useful feature inasmuch as it captures an actual day in history, a photo, a trip, a status or seemingly mundane post.  Did I really say that?  Yeah, that was a really great trip!  Or, I forgot about that.

This is one from April 4, 2020.  Four short years ago.  It seems like a million years ago.  I chose not to re-post it on FB - choosing to do so here instead.  You see, coming here to read something is voluntary.  If I were to re-post this on FB it might find its way by means of the algorithm to just about anyone's feed.  And as a consequence, it might inflame certain individuals who have seemingly fond memories of April 4, 2020.  Sometimes discretion and not agitating certain individuals is the better part of valor.  

Here it is:

Gas price a mile from home was $1.19.  School cancelled - yes cancelled.  Self-distancing measures on the rise.  Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.  Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.  Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.

Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.  Entire sports seasons cancelled.  Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.  Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.  No masses, churches are closed.  No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 5 or more.  Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home. Children's outdoor play parks are closed.  We are to distance from each other.

Shortages of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.  Shortages of ventilators for the critically ill.  Panic buying sets in and there is no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towels, no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer.  Shelves are bare. Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.

Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.  Supply lines begin to unravel.  Fines are established for breaking the rules.  Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.  With morgues full, refrigerated trailers begin overflowing with growing numbers of dead.

Press conferences daily from the President.  Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.  Government incentives to stay home.  Barely anyone on the roads.  People wearing masks and gloves outside.  Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.  Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

Why, you ask, do I write this status?

One day it will show up in my Face Book Memory feed, and it will be a yearly reminder that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.

 

This was a total, absolute, cluster f**k.  Nothing to be fond about.

Recovery Continues

Northeast Wisconsin was clobbered by a Nor'easter overnight Tuesday and Wednesday.

Our standby generator helped us to bridge the outage while some neighbors stayed with us

as we still had the means to pump hot and cold running water, septic, HVAC, appliances and some lights. 

While things have slowly returned to normal, those neighbors had to wait until today for their power to be restored.  And line crews will continue to work overnight until late Saturday to get everyone in the community back on the grid.

Returning from Rouer's Grand Slam at 5:30 PM today there were two crews on School Road between the bar and the four lane replacing poles and line.

God Bless 'em.  Every dollar of overtime has been well-earned....

 

April Night Sky

Actually this event is a pre-dawn and early morning before sunrise event. 

A small planetary alignment is when four planets appear close together in a small sector of the sky as seen from Earth.

Tomorrow morning if you are up a half hour before sunrise and have an unobstructed view low on the horizon to the southeast east look for this.  Mars and Saturn can be found adjacent to a waning crescent moon.  Venus and Neptune will be lower on the horizon to the east.  Use binoculars if you have a pair. 

Image:Chris Vaughn/Starry Night

 

Friday Music

Is this real?  Or another interweb head fake?  I stumbled across this courtesy of YouTube's algorithm.

The question; is this really Duane Allman?   

After some digging, near as I can tell it is a recording by Johnny Bellar that has accrued millions of views since being posted in the public domain.  The guy that posted this admits he never claimed is was Duane.

Nevertheless, it's good slide guitar of a classic tune.

Close your eyes and enjoy.

And don't believe everything you see on the web.......

First World Problem

North East Wisconsin was clobbered by a Nor'easter overnight Tuesday and Wednesday.  After intermittent flickering of lights we finally lost power Wednesday morning.

Power restored for us last evening. First time we’ve had to rely on the standby generator to keep the house on life support. 

We hosted neighbors overnight who at the time of this post still have no power.  Hundreds of households in the Brussels, Union, Gardner townships still without service.  At one point last evening it was reported that 14,800 households were without power in Door County.

That is one-half of the permanent year-round population.  Emergency warming centers have been opened and the Lodge at Leathem Smith has opened up their entire resort FOR FREE to those without power.

Internet restored this morning.

Terrific to see the community come together for the duration of the emergency....

Getting Away From It All

One of our pup's favorite side gigs is a day at the kennel.

Near to us is Red River K9 offering boarding, grooming, training and daycare.  And because our red bundle of energy is in her formative years an opportunity to be away from us, socialize with other dogs and run with her pack is good.  She burns-off some energy, learns to make new doggie friends, get along with others and we catch a break for a day or a weekend.

Here are some photos from a recent weekend while the humans were away for a family wedding.....