Noteable Quoteable

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

 - Obi-Wan

Friday Music

 In his 1989 autobiography Henry Mancini shared this:

The Peter Gunn title theme actually derives more from rock and roll than from jazz.  I used guitar and piano in unison, playing what is known in music as an ostinato - which means obstinate.  It was sustained throughout the piece, giving it a sinister effect, with some frightened saxophone sounds and some shouting brass. The piece has one chord throughout and a super-simple top line. 

Composed by Mancini for the television show of the same name the song was the opening track on the original soundtrack album - The Music from Peter Gunn.  Released in 1959 it reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 on the R&B chart.  Mancini went on to win an Emmy Award and two Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Arrangement. 

Enjoy the walk down memory lane with the Jeff Beck cover.

It rocks! 

All-Electric Livestock

 

 

One of the last coal powered sheep.

Most sheep are all electric nowadays....

 

Highway Patrol

Found on the interweb.

Wisconsin State Patrol 1967 Chevrolet Biscayne.

First two photos are originals.

The remaining two are current of a recent restoration.

How cool is that...............

The Taco Revolution

This advertisement is form the early to mid 1970s.  High school and college years for this blogger.

I had a close friend that went to work for Taco Bell as a manager about that time.  And if I had nothing better to do on a day-off I would swing by and help him out at the store doing prep work.  Understand that Mexican fare in general was not a universal truth.  Unless you lived in a Hispanic neighborhood or a Mexican family most Americans didn't know the difference between a burrito and a rolled-up comic book.  Tacos were not on the school lunch menu in those days.

Taco Bell changed all of that with a revolving and evolving menu of south or the border-influenced fast food items.  The first Taco Bell menu featured frijoles, tostados, chili burgers, burritos (red or green) and tacos - all for .19.  To this day the bean burrito is a fast-food favorite of mine.  It will set you back $1.69  - tacos (crunchy or soft) will set you back $1.89.  That's the impact of inflation.

Taco Bell was not named for the Mission-style bell logo or atop their early adobe buildings but after founder Glen Bell who had the brilliant idea to sell tacos out of a walk-up window in 1962.  He wanted the experience to feel authentic to Mexican culture even if the food itself was not.  Taco Bell not only played a huge role in the fast-food revolution; more importantly it helped to introduce the idea of Mexican food to US diners.

Venison tacos and nachos are a game day favorite in our household.

The rest is history....

Memorial Day

It is, in a way an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away.  The imagination plays a trick.  We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise.  We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired.         

But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives - the one they were living and one they would have lived.       

When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers.  They gave up their chance to be revered old men.  They gave up everything for our country, for us.  And all we can do is remember.    

 - Ronald Reagan

 

Originally called Decoration Day - Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country.                          

There is an American Cemetery and Memorial located in Colleville-sur-Mer on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.  Dedicated in 1956 the Cemetery and Memorial is situated closely to the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 - the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II.              

This is the final resting place of 9,388 of our military dead - most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.  If you were to visit this place you will note that upon the walls of the Garden of the Missing are inscribed an additional 1,557 names.  And because old battlefields continue to yield their dead - rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.              

In Plot E Row 26 Grave 37 rests James D. Johnston - Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.   

Jill and I walked this sacred place on a typical rainy Norman morning and while I have no connection to James Johnston, his life before the war, or his survivors following the war, what you can discern from the marker is that Johnston was from North Carolina and was a commander in the same division and infantry regiment my dad served.  

       

Howard Gaertner landed at Utah Beach as an infantry replacement.  He was a machine gunner in a heavy weapons platoon.  Dad fought in the battle of the hedgerows, the breakout at Saint-Lô and Patton's mad dash across northern France.  

Among the first allied troops to participate in the liberation of Belgium his European excursion ended less than three months later by wounds incurred in combat.  By the grace of God (and fortunately for me) he was not killed.  Following his recovery in England he was redeployed and served for a brief period in the US Army of Occupation in Germany.        

 

Johnston died from wounds suffered from the detonation of a German 88mm shell at the blood-stained Crossroads 114 near Acqueville just outside of Cherbourg.*  Death in combat was fickle in the skirmishes and battle for mere meters in the uneven and mixed woodlands and pastures of the Bocage.  Lt Col Johnston was killed - PFC Gaertner was not. 

Dad returned home from the war and lived a full and rewarding life.  He worked quietly in a public school system and never spoke about his war experiences in any great detail until I was well into adulthood.  I am alive today to muse about this subject because he survived.  James Johnston never had the opportunity to sit on the stoop with a a beer and share closely-guarded feelings about the war with a son.        

This is why Memorial Day is bit more personal for me.        

When it came time for a permanent burial, the families of the dead were asked if they wanted their loved ones repatriated for permanent burial in the U.S. or interred overseas.  Lieutenant Colonel Johnston's remains lie here with approximately 461 graves belonging to 9th Infantry Division G.I.s.           

On this holiday it is useful to remember and honor the lives that brave men and women sacrificed.

Both of those lives.   

 

 

 *Eight Stars to Victory - Mittelman, The Battery Press

 

 

What's The Difference?

Armed Forces Day

Thanks to President Harry S. Truman, we have Armed Forces Day; a military day of recognition that occurs on the third Saturday in May. While this is a lesser-known day, and not a federal holiday, this is the day to honor those currently serving in all six branches of the U.S. military.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day honors Americans who died while in military service. It's a day that allows us to remember our fallen heroes. This federal holiday was formerly known as Decoration Day and was first enacted to honor Union and Confederate soldiers after the Civil War. At the end of World War I, it has evolved to honor American service members who have died in all wars.

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is a public holiday observed each year on November 11, the anniversary of the end of World War I. It is a day for honoring military veterans; that is, persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Veterans Day replaced Armistice Day in 1954. 

Bounce Off The Bottom

Are you better-off today than you were four years ago?

This photo is making the rounds on social media as evidence that gasoline prices were cheaper during the Trump administration four years ago.

I recently paid $4.15/gallon for non-ethanol premium for our small engine stuff; so factually the photo is correct.  What isn't told is that this was in the midst of the COVID recession the last year of the Trump presidency.  There was ample supply and nobody was traveling.  Gas and diesel prices cratered along with everything else.  Including the financial markets, employment numbers and the national economy. Inasmuch as this was a global phenomenon blaming Trump for any of this is a specious supposition.

While Trump didn't cause the pandemic, in my personal view his mishandling of the government response to the pandemic certainly contributed to a sharp, short-lived recession and likely contributed to his reelection loss in November of that year.

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. For the record, supply/demand markets determine gasoline prices. Not presidents.  If you believe otherwise I've got a bridge to sell you.

I am better-off today than four years ago.

Peace.

Tick Tips

From my In-Box was this email from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Ticks seem to be everywhere this spring! Most commonly found in the woods and areas with tall grass or brush, many Wisconsin communities are part of "tick country."  

Tick bites can be unpleasant and sometimes cause serious illnesses such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and spotted fever group rickettsiosis. 

Don't let ticks ruin your fun. You can still enjoy plenty of time outdoors this summer by taking a few preventative steps.

• Wear long sleeves, pants and tall socks to prevent ticks from getting on you. Tuck shirts into pants and pants into socks for extra protection. 

• Use insect repellent on exposed skin and clothes. Repellents should contain either DEET (20-30%), Picaridin (10-20%), IR3535 (15–20%) or oil of lemon eucalyptus (30-40%). Permethrin can be used to treat clothes, shoes and other gear. 

• Stay on marked trails and designated recreation areas. Veering off the trail and traveling through tall grass or brush can increase your chances of tick exposure. 

• Do regular tick checks. Perform full-body tick checks after being outdoors in areas where ticks may be present. Remember to look over clothing and pets, too.

• When removing a tick, don't squeeze, crush or puncture its body, which may contain infectious fluids.

• Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water and clean the bite site with rubbing alcohol after removing a tick. 

Help fight the bite in Wisconsin.

Just the other day I got out of bed and much to my horror found this on my shirt.

At first blush I thought it was a tick.

Turns-out it was black fuzz.

Whew!

Friday Music

Baby Driver is a 2017 action film written and directed by Edgar Wright. It stars Ansel Elgortas a getaway driver seeking freedom from a life of crime with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James).  

Supporting actors include: Eiza Gonzalez, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal, and Kevin Spacey.

You can find this on various streaming services.  It's a good escapist movie that won't make your head hurt.

Recorded live on an off day in Wabash, Indiana, in the back of a tour bus, here's a nice cover of the original Simon and Garfunkel tune...

Red Fox

In the last month or so I've suddenly began to collect photos - and now video - of at least one red fox on the property.  And still some coyotes.

Fox and coyotes generally do not peacefully coexist so it is going to be a bit of a citizen science project to see how this develops.

A short IR video clip...

And the burst of three shots (for the second time) of a fox running past the same camera in a month. 

What To See In The May Night Sky

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac - we use full moon names that were used during Native American and Colonial times to help track the seasons.  This practice is traced to the Algonquin tribes who lived in the same areas as the Colonists.    

May’s full Moon is known as the Flower Moon.  It signifies the wildflowers that bloom in May.  This includes wild iris, sundrops, marsh marigold, violets and more that are found around here. 

The month of May also marked a period of increased fertility and the warming days that made it safer to bear young.  For that reason it is sometimes called the Mother’s Moon.  Other names include the Corn Planting Moon, Leaf Budding Moon, Frog Moon and Milk Moon. 

Fingers-crossed for clear viewing conditions tomorrow tonight.

our marsh marigolds

More Spring Blooms

For any of you who have paid a call you know of what I speak.

The apple blossoms are done; yet the lilac's have kicked it into high gear.  

This is arguably the largest lilac hedgerow in Southern Door.

BTW - that tall grass is a cover crop protecting an expansion of our pollinator planting....

 

Mixed Bag

 

 

You never know what will show-up on your trail cameras.

Including me and the Missus....

Fetch

Who needs expensive toys from the store when the natural world is full of sticks.

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

 

Total Recall

Seems to me that about half the population has no memory of life four years ago.  I certainly remember it.  I made a point of documenting events on the ground in real time because I had a hunch that there would be revisionist history afoot before too long.    

Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

Consider this.

Four years ago the stock market had collapsed - hitting the worst weeks since the Great Recession of 2008 - as the country spiraled into a years-long pandemic that claimed more that 1 million American lives, cratered the economy, upended our daily lives and arguably costing Trump the election.

I don't believe for a moment that voters blame Trump for the pandemic - a once-in-a-lifetime calamity thrust upon the entire world.  But they did fault his response to it.  The pandemic showcased a leader who exhibited the full panoply of characteristics that his supporters love and his detractors revile.

Excess Deaths - New York Times

Don't take my word for this as you can readily navigate this blog for a post history.  Simply use the TAGS feature in the left margin and click on key words like: COVID, Doing the Right Thing, Donald Trump, Healthcare, Liars or Quarantine Living.  Or use the search function in the upper left corner and search under Willful Blindness or any other discrete subject you think might be relevant.

A year ago the President was talking about shining ultraviolet light inside our bodies and injecting ourselves with disinfectant.  That's nuts.

 

So to answer the question of whether you or I were better off four years ago I would say, nope.  Six seven or eight years ago are debatable.  Four years ago was an absolute shit show.  Donald Trump struggled mightily during the pandemic and he failed to protect us.

What To See In The May Night Sky

Beginning tomorrow and thru Monday the waxing gibbous moon will be found near a very bright star.  

That star is Spica and is found in the constellation Virgo, the Maiden.

Both the star and moon will rise just prior to sunset and can be observed until after midnight.

Day Is Done

Canadian wildfires are still delivering spectacular sunsets; at the expense of our air quality….

Friday Music

From a couple of nights ago the resident Frog Chorale has romance on their mind.

One of my favorite rites of spring...

 

 

Spring Blooms

From the yard there was this.

The ancestral apple trees and lilac hedge from the original homestead are showing-off...

 

View Of The Neighborhood

 

 

Rather impressive view of the Great Lakes Region taken from the International Space Station April 25, 2024.

I can see where I live!

 

Talking Turkey

Braumeister forgot to apply for a 2024 permit.  Sid and Sic Deuce didn't hunt.  Neither Lawyer or I got a bird.  So no turkeys were killed this year.

No harm, no fowl.

Here's a couple of photos and clips from the trail camera trapline.

No shortage of birds...

Legal Corruption

Jon Stewart digs into the trial of comically corrupt Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and in a new segment called "How Dumb Is You?" asks the senator how he got caught engaging in such obvious illegal corruption, while government officials like Nancy Pelosi, Richard Burr, and Roy Blunt have been getting away with legal corruption for years.

Four Years Ago

Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

Good question.  I suppose from a crime perspective I am. 

To be fair, I live in rural America, where there is some crime but not enough to stop me and my neighbors from leaving our keys in our cars.  Having said that, national figures concerning crime are universally available and quite measurable.

Four years ago in 2020 we were witness to the largest increase in the murder rate in the history of this country.  Things were not going well.  America was not great again.  Since then the murder rate has fallen each and every year.  The decline from 2022 to 2023 represents one of the largest declines in the murder rate in the history of our country.

With the exception of motor vehicle theft and shoplifting (which remain shockingly high) most of the remaining crimes covered in this analysis are either below or have returned to approximately 2019 levels.  Most notable are declines in drug offenses and residential burglary.

So, yeah.  As a nation we're safer and better off than we were four years ago.

Red Rubber Ball

Canada wildfires are raising heck with air quality around here. 

But amazing sunset….

What Was Seen In The May Night Sky

Friday evening the rains put the kibosh on all of us peninsula dwellers attempt to see the northern lights.  Saturday evening I fell asleep with the dog trying to stay up for the show.

I awoke at 1 AM Sunday morning; and stepping outside was greeted by this.  

A very different borealis display than previous ones I've witnessed.  No flickering flames; a rather diffuse colorful glowing sky instead.  Stars and constellations visible.  Pleasing but uninspired. 

A buddy from Algoma shared that thee was a short-lived (less than ten minutes) burst of activity at 11:30 PM on Saturday.  There are gone.  Photo credit: Kevin Naze.

What To See In The May Night Sky

Looking for something to see in the night sky?

Grab a pair of binoculars to check-out a couple of dozen stars in a star cluster called the Beehive. The moon can be found in the upper right field of view.  Remarkably, there are roughly a thousand stars in this cluster although you will only spot a handful.  The Beehive is located in the constellation Cancer, the Crab.

 

Death To The Queen

This is my wasp trap.

A wasp trap designed to attract, trap and drown the queen of yellow-jacket wasp kingdom. 

Unlike honeybees (Apis mellifera), who over-winter as an entire colony containing thousands of individual bees, yellow jacket wasps do not over-winter in a colony.  It is only the mated yellow jacket queen who survives to establish a new colony of these nasty insects.  The queen hibernates in a protected location to emerge in the spring to start a new nest site.

Yellow jacket wasps are bastards.  This is why their taxonomy is Vespula vulgaris. 

As the spring temperatures warm-up enough for the queen to emerge from her long winter slumber trapping and slaying the yellow jacket queen is an exceedingly efficient means of putting the hurt on the bastard wasp population around your home.  For every queen trapped and killed in the spring there will be one to five thousand fewer bastard yellow jackets during the summer and into the fall.  

Lest there be no misunderstanding – I hate yellow jacket wasps.  They will sting you for absolutely no reason.

They are the sociopaths of the insect world.

Death to the queen.

Great White

Meet Ardea alba – the Great Egret.  This rare visitor actually paid us a call the other day.  They never stick around, so they must be passing-thru. 

An entirely white bird - they are a tall wading species with long black legs and a yellow-orange, dagger-like bill. These birds are found in both salt water and fresh water habitats and build their stick nest high in trees.  They live in colonies and prefer island-living so as to be safe from predators like raccoons.  This bird doesn’t nest here as I believe we are pushing the furthest extent of their breeding range.  Besides, we have no islands.  Great egrets can be found breeding on a few islands in the lower waters of Green Bay.  You can spot them crossing the Leo Frigo Bridge at the harbor entrance.

This bird spent the afternoon dining on whatever it could catch in the big pond just south of Silver Creek.  Standing still for a period of time it would suddenly thrust its bill into the shallows.  One less frog in the mix so it seems. 

The Great And Terrible Oz

 

Start Your Weekend

Jon Stewart tackles the media's obsession with Trump's hush money trial, while the GOP freaks out over Biden's new energy efficiency standards and a name change for the Boy Scouts. Meanwhile, Biden slows the flow of weapons to Israel, and after Trump shames Jewish Biden supporters, the Best F**kin' News Team stops by to give Jon a guilt trip.

Have a terrific weekend people.....

Friday Music

Like many folk songs this tune has an uncertain heritage with some musicologists suggesting that it resemble a 16th century ballad.  In any event it is a traditional folk song sometimes called the Rising Sun Blues.  It paints a narrative of an individual's life taking a turn for the worse in the city of New Orleans.

The release of a recording in 1964 by the British rock band The Animals boosted it to number one on both the UK, Canada and US singles charts.

Nice cover of House of the Rising Sun by a collaborative assembly of artists...

More Signs of Spring

We've been on the receiving end of three inches of rain over the past 3-4 days; and as a consequence conditions are quite squishy around here.  

Mud season is at peak.

Nevertheless, we haven't given-up on our daily walk - unless it is pouring rain.

From our walk today there were-

Blue Violets

 Wild strawberries

 

 

And a deer foot

Life is good

What To See in the May Night Sky

Tomorrow evening look for a waxing crescent moon situated betwixt Betelgeuse and Capella.

Betelgeuse is a bright red giant and is the brightest star in the constellation Orion the Hunter.  Capella is in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer.  Both will be visible up to midnight.

It you have good viewing conditions look for earthshine on the unlit portion of the moon.

We're Grandparents!

Meet Sialia sialis - the Eastern bluebird.  These are cavity-nesting birds and only a couple of human generations ago their numbers were in serious decline in this country as a consequence of limited nesting habitat.   

They’re more common nowadays as song bird enthusiasts have mobilized in the face of that decline and assembled and installed nest boxes for them. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of similarly-minded individuals and you get the drift.  More cavities – more birds.  

Most of the time house wrens and tree sparrows nest in our boxes which is just fine.  They make for good tenants.  Only a few days ago I spotted a flash of blue and upon checking the box discovered this.  They’re nesting in a box just at the edge of the back yard making bird watching from the sun room easy.

A fun factoid about the eastern bluebird is that the young of the first brood assist in raising the young of the second brood.   

While out with the dog for a walk we made a house call to check on progress.

 

 

What To See In The May Night Sky

The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the sky this evening.

Consequently this is the optimal time of the month to observe faint object in the night sky as there is no moonlight to interfere.

Grab a pair of binoculars or a telescope if you have one to take a look at faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters.