From
our early walk this morning it was already 75F and forecast to rise
into the mid to low 80s. Whew! We ran the trail camera trapline too so
there are more critters to follow,
There was also silky dogwood - Cornus amomum.
This
deciduous shrub has an open-rounded form and features tiny
yellowish-white flowers in flat-topped clusters in late spring to early
summer, followed by attractive berry-like drupes that ripen from white
to blue in late summer. It is typically found in moist lowland areas, such as swamp borders, floodplains, and along streams and ponds. The
berries are edible for birds and wildlife. The berries can be used in
teas or other preparations when ripe but are otherwise toxic to people.
Lots more blooming in the pollinator habitat; and monarch butterflies, pardon the pun, are king.
False Sunflower (Heliopsis Helianthoides), is a perennial native.
It is characterized by its bright yellow petals surrounding a darker orange-yellow center. It prefers full sun and average to dry well-drained soil. It's a good pick for pollinator habitat or a butterfly garden because it provides abundant amounts of pollen and nectar.
The June moon - typically the last full moon
of spring or the first of summer - is traditionally called the Strawberry Moon. With origins traced to the Algonquin people
this was a sign to commence gathering wild strawberries.
Following European settlement alternate names
included the Meade moon and the Honey moon were introduced.
Because the Roman goddess
of marriage is Juno – namesake of this frequent month of marriages - we have the honeymoon.
Schadenfreude is the pleasure we feel when witnessing the misfortune of others. While it may seem mean-spirited, and even vindictive; if you feel guilty about the satisfaction you experience when someone else messed-up don't be too hard on yourself. It happens. I admit to feeling a wee bit mirthful over the president's ongoing battle with pond scum.
Anybody who has lived on a farm, had a neglected backyard pool, pond, gone fishing or otherwise been anywhere near a body of water knows that algae happens once the weather warms-up. Where I live excess nutrient runoff can create entire dead zones in Green Bay and close beaches to swimmers. When that happens both us and our dogs stay out of the water until the danger passes. Hey! What about your ponds and creek?
Good question. All three bodies of water on our property support a wealth of diversity including aquatic plant life to animals. There is no excess nutrient runoff in the ponds because we don't apply any. Natural algae growth and protozoans support insects and animals on the low end of the food chain. Which, in-turn, support amphibians and reptiles and birds like cranes, ducks and herons. I can't speak for runoff in the creek because I cannot control agricultural applications upstream or downstream; but it certainly supports bait fish and crawdads. Speaking for myself, we use best management practices (BMPs) for riparian habitat.
Does the water on my ponds and creek look like drinking water? Nope. Would I drink it? Nope. Does it look better than the Reflecting Pool water? Absolutely. The biophilia is in balance. You cannot win a fight against Ma Nature and science.
Algae blooms have long thrived in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool since it opened in 1922. It is filled with stagnant tidal water from the Potomac River further enriched with excess nitrogen and phosphorus runoff which algae loves. Mr. Trump's own Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will tell you that the water in the pool is unsafe for swimming, fishing or supporting aquatic life. It is hazardous.
The president has insisted that his $14 million renovation this spring would forever banish the cloudy, algae-infested water as a consequence of sealing the leaks, filtering the water and painting the bottom American Flag Blue.
Following the renovations it was refilled with the same nutrient-rich tidal water (not treated city water), wildlife defecated in the pool,
it is shallow, fetid and foul and warmed-up in the summer sunshine. Summers in D.C. are sweltering and the dark blue bottom exacerbated the problem by absorbing more heat and voilà, the largest algae bloom in recent memory!
Mr. Trump wanted blue and he got green. And lots of it.
He
looked at the algae and blamed imaginary enemies, because enemies are
easier than learning. In the last five days it seems at least five individuals have been cited, arrested or otherwise detained for poisoning or vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. I don't believe the Reflecting Pool was sabotaged; because I haven't been witness to mug shots or the drama of a Trumpian perp walk. The real cause is usually the obvious; it is simply dirty water, full
of food for algae, followed by hot weather and now the bottom is delaminating possibly because of
shoddy installation by a no-bid contractor and/or the president's own
motorcade driving across it.
The president called it an attack because the real answer is too complicated for him to grasp. Another excuse from the man who shouts at people but cannot shout science out of the water. I guess he missed the class.
The toxic Reflecting Pool is actually a perfect metaphor for Mr. Trump; and he created it himself. He's gonna drain it, repaint it and start over. All the while expecting a different result.
So here we are; the National Guard has been tasked with watching paint peel from behind a newly-installed chain link fence and Donald Trump may go down in history as the only US President to be outwitted by a single celled organism.
Relentless flusher and retriever of pheasants, this field golden celebrated her third complete navigation of the sun today.
Nevertheless, this working girl still has enough puppy in her to unload
her entire basket of toys and plush animals.
Anyway, while mom and dad were in Milwaukee to visit friends from their decades of curling, she scored a staycation at her favorite place; Red River K-9 II. Ran with her people, got a manicure and a shampoo and blow dry.
And after dinner at home this evening and everyone had settled-down to watch world cup soccer, scored licking
someone’s ice cream bowl.
Right up there with raccoons whitetail deer are among the most frequently photographed animal by our network of six trail cameras.
Within that category are girl deer; does.
Nevertheless, there are a bucks too.
And with the onset of summer they've shed their gray winter coat to show-off the ruddy red coat of summer for a few precious months.
And they're growing their 2026 set of antlers. The velvet covering the growing antlers is a delicate membrane packed with blood vessels that deliver oxygen, nutrients and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus to the primarily bone antlers allowing them to develop at an astonishing rate. The velvet supports one of the fastest-growing bones in the animal kingdom.
Around here the process begins in April and continues throughout the summer. Then, by late August or early September the adult bucks begin shedding the velvet revealing the bony antlers. Antlers are shed the following late winter - early spring and the process begins again.
Composed by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison this song was first recorded by Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956 and was rerecorded in 1957 by Holly and his new band, The Crickets. It was the second version that achieved commercial success rising to the number two position on Billboard's R&B Chart.
With over a million US sales of the single it was certified gold by the Recording Industry of America in 1969 and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. As a consequence of its cultural and historical impact it was enrolled in the National Recording Registry in 2005
It's been covered by every garage band on the planet and a plethora of professional artists; including the Everly Brothers.
I haven't had much of a reason to write about an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), colloquially known as a drone. Nevertheless, they're becoming more common at outdoor events like ball games, car shows, church picnics, Kermiss and Belgian Days. Photographing large events from a couple hundred feet is easy and still something of a novelty. They also have practical uses in agriculture, wildfire response, search and rescue and such.
So I purchased one; basically for fun.
It's a DJI Neo, a small drone that I will use for photography and scouting that doesn't require a pilot license. Over the weekend the winds died-back enough for me to get some flight time under my belt.
I previously was restricted to flying the dang thing in the house and up and down the staircase. That's OK for figuring out the preflight checklist and the joystick controllers; but it's really an outdoor toy.
The firmware on my little drone automatically limits my altitude to 120 meters: just under 400 feet. Because I’m a rank amateur and don’t have a pilot’s license that’s my limit. Which is fine because the lowest-flying aircraft around here is air ambulance Eagle III which generally comes screaming over the house at about 600 to 1000 feet. The altitude restriction is designed to keep hobbyists out of trouble.
Anyway, this ingenious quadcopter might be the answer to some (certainly not all) photography limitations. One being altitude. As the forest has grown up around the west side of the house it has become more difficult to catch an easy sunset photo.
No longer.
As a trial run I flew my drone up to max altitude and took some photos.
View North
View South - Farm in center is exactly a mile distant
Including my first sunset. If you look carefully there is a little band of blue on the horizon. That is Green Bay.
I have a sliver-sized view of the water at a fraction of the price of the real estate and property taxes!
This mechanical, digital, aerial technology is going to be fun. Wouldn't it be in cool to catch the northern lights at altitude? Or view a shallow coastal shipwreck from above? Falls colors? And outdoor events? I suppose if I really get sucked-into the possibilities I might just jump thru the hoops and get certified for more sophisticated flight opportunities; and naturally, spring for a larger, better-equipped aircraft.
Periodically we like a good pork chop; typically bone-in for flavor. Although a boneless loin chop works too as long as all your chops are cut thick so as to have a nice pink, juicy center. Not like the thin chops of my youth which always seemed to be cooked to the consistency of army boots. Anyway, grilling season is upon us and I found myself with a leftover loin chop recently along with enough leftover brown rice and frozen veggies to whip-up a batch of pork fried rice.
Easy directions if you follow the pics:
Cooking with flame, a nonstick Calphalon wok, some olive oil and the pork along with sliced scallions (green tops reserved).
Add the leftover rice and veggies and continue frying giving a stir and a flip every coupla minutes
When it's got some nice crispiness to it add in a couple of locally-sourced eggs and scramble
Finish with a couple splashes of Thai fish sauce for umami and serve-it-up in a bowl and garnish with sliced green scallions tops
Pretty good chow if you can get it
Pro Tip: Since it is grilling season if you're smoking BBQ ribs now you have a way to repurpose any leftovers.
For any of you deer hunters out there consider donating an extra deer or
three to Wisconsin’s Hunt For The Hungry program. Since 2000, hunters
have donated over 100,000 deer, yielding more than 4 million pounds of
wholesome meat for families facing food insecurity.
Venison burger is the foundation of everything from chili, to sloppy
joes, to spaghetti sauce. In our household tacos are a crowd-pleaser.
We dine on deer weekly.
Clockwise from 12 o'clock: traditional frijoles, chips, crumbled cotija queso,
soft taco, homemade guacamole topped with lettuce, tomato and sweet
onion.
Forgot a dollop of sour cream on top of the guacamole salad. Nuts!
Anyway, pretty good chow if you can get it….
Since it opened in 1922 the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been an ideal incubator for algae growth.
It is filled with tidal water (not chlorinated city water), wildlife defecate in the pool, it is shallow, stagnant and warms-up in the summer sunshine. Since Mr. Trump had it painted a darker American Flag Blue, it now heats-up faster and warmer.
The Trump administration has reached the stage of its Reflecting Pool
saga where soldiers now stand guard over a pond full of scum and the
internet has decided that image needs no embellishment to be
devastating.
From Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar. There is more housing for each car in the United States than there is housing for each person:
Most
Americans, of course, do not have to fight for parking. On the
contrary, the combination of urban renewal, public lots, and parking
requirements for private development were astonishingly successful at
creating ample space to park.
By square footage, there is more housing
for each car in the United States than there is housing for each person.
All this asphalt constitutes a kind of ecology unto itself, changing
the way air and water and animals interact with human civilization. It
changes the way we behave, too.
"The effect of the cars reaches far
beyond the cars themselves," wrote Christopher Alexander in A Pattern Language, his landmark study of human landscapes. "They create a maze of
driveways, garage doors, asphalt, and concrete surfaces, and building
elements which people cannot use. When the density goes beyond the
limit, we suspect that people feel the social potential of the
environment has disappeared."
Perhaps most importantly, making it easier
to park did not get rid of the life-draining experience of traffic. On
the contrary, it created traffic.
Near the dawn of
time, the story goes; Coyote saved the creatures of Earth. According to the
mythology of Idaho's Nez Perce people, the monster Kamiah had stalked into the
region and was gobbling up the animals one by one. The crafty Coyote evaded
Kamiah but didn't want to lose his friends, so he let himself be swallowed.
From inside the beast, Coyote severed Kamiah's heart and freed his fellow
animals. Then he chopped up Kamiah and threw the pieces to the winds, where
they gave birth to the peoples of the planet.
– Nature
Yote - short for
coyote, Wile E. Coyote, Canis latrans.If
you were to inquire of a wildlife biologist they would tell you that there are
nineteen subspecies of coyote that are exceedingly well-adapted to living in
urban, rural and wild America. Male coyotes top out at about 44 pounds while
females weigh-in slightly less. For scale my red golden retriever weighs-in at roughly 48 pounds, give or take. Coyotes
are known for how well they adapt to different habitats. They are found living in and around large
cities, the central plains, farmland, and northern forest, in the desert scrub
of the Sonoran Desert, foothills and mountains as well as in populated ring suburbs. Coyotes dine on large prey and also eat snakes,
insects, rodents, fruit and other mast. As an opportunistic hunter coyotes have been known to prey-upon small pets
and livestock.In an urban setting they
will eat garbage and pet food left on a deck or patio.
The coyote is a gregarious animal - socially-inclined
- like the wolf. This is likely a
consequence of the need for a family unit or pack of animals combining to bring
down large game.
Recent genetic studies
suggest that coyotes are not native to the eastern United States - having largely evolved on the Great Plains.As the eastern old growth forests were cleared for
settlement and agriculture coyotes adapted to the new environs.It is thought that coyotes dispersed to our
neck of the woods early in the twentieth century.These canids are presumed to have come from the
northern Great Plains and are unique in their genetic origins.
Additional coyotes dispersed from here to New England
via the northern Great Lakes region and southern Canada meeting in the 1940s in New
York and Pennsylvania. These coyotes
have inter-bred with gray wolf and
Eastern wolf populations adding to their own unique genetic diversity and further
contributing to their hybrid vigor and ability to adapt to an ever changing
environment.Coyotes here are known as
the Northeastern coyote.
More frequently
Jill and I hear coyote vocalizations than we see them live and in person.In
rural America coyotes share the same
natural aversion to people that other wildlife do. They are
scared-to-death of people. However, from time to time I do catch a
handful
of digital photos on a trail camera.
Yesterday afternoon we went over to the Brussels Town Park to check out the 2026 Smokin' For Paws Rib Cook Off. This is a sanctioned event and it's outgrown the vacant lot adjacent to Rouer's Grand Slam as the field of competitors is growing.
There were 27 teams from Wisconsin and neighboring states; most being professional competitors along with a few really talented backyard enthusiasts.
Funds raised from this competition are to support the acquisition of a service dog for placement with a worthy veteran or first responder along with supporting our local BUG Fire Department.
Feeling a BBQ pork-induced coma coming-on we returned home for nap.
While I can't guarantee it I'd be willing to bet this competition will return next year even bigger and better.
Stay-tuned and check out Face Book if you subscribe for interviews and coverage via Let's Go Door County!
My new raised beds are working out as intended; basically saving my back and saving me from gardening on my hands and knees (note the chair).
Everything is crowded, but my vegetables and herbs seem to be happy over-all. The intention is to grow a seasonal supply of household produce on a rotational basis. If I need something in particular or a large quantity of something there are plenty of local farm markets.
Today I harvested spinach and radishes and replanted radishes.
For some odd reason the lettuces I planted several weeks ago did not germinate so I replanted them a week ago. They're a cool season crop so I cannot blame it on the unseasonable cool weather we've been experiencing.
We've even gotten a couple of opportunities to nibble on a handful of cherry tomatoes already.
Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice here in the northern
hemisphere which means that on Sunday we receive more sunlight than any other day
of the year.Naturally, you would
conclude that this date would have the earliest sunrise and latest sunset, no? Don't jump to conclusions.Even though the solstice has the greatest amount of daylight - the
earliest sunrise occurs before the solstice and the latest sunset falls
afterward.The occurrence of those
events is dependent upon how far you are from the equator – a function of the
tilt of the Earth on its axis. Here is
an interesting factoid – I went to the US Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department and looked-up the Sunrise and Sunset times for my location here at The
Platz before, during and after the solstice.
June 17 Sunrise 5:03 Am Sunset 8:38 PM
June 18 Sunrise 5:03 AM Sunset 8:38 PM
June 19 Sunrise 5:03 AM Sunset 8:38 PM
June 20 Sunrise 5:03 AM Sunset 8:39 PM
June 21 Sunrise 5:03 AM Sunset 8:39 PM
June 22 Sunrise 5:04 AM Sunset 8:39 PM
June 23 Sunrise 5:04 AM Sunset 8:40 PM
June 24 Sunrise 5:04 AM Sunset 8:40 PM
June 25 Sunrise 5:04 AM Sunset 8:40 PM
Notice that the three dates preceding the solstice
have almost the same amount of daylight.The
implication is that the solstice lasts more than half a week.
What's
the explanation? Does it have something to do with our location being
almost equidistant from the North Pole and Equator? Or is it a
consequence of rounding the precise times?
The notion that the solstice lasts for a few days or a week is a very common perception that even ancient astronomers noted. But mechanically-speaking, it's a beautifully precise illusion caused by trigonometry and orbital mechanics.
The earth orbits the sun in a smooth, continuous curve. Because the earth is tilted on its axis by 23.5 degrees the angle of the sun relative to earth's equator (called solar declination) changes throughout the year. If you plot this change on a graph over 365 days it forms a sine wave.
At the Equinoxes the curve is at its steepest. The sun's position changing rapidly every day meaning you notice significant differences in daylight length from one week to the next.
At the solstices the curve reaches its absolute peak (or trough). In calculus and trigonometry the top of the smooth curve has a slope of zero. As the earth approaches this peak the daily rate of change slows to a crawl.
During the days immediately preceding and following the solstice the difference in length of daylight is measured in seconds (not minutes); consequently, to our everyday clocks and senses it appears static.
While the "effect" of the solstice lingers for about a week, the astronomical event itself happens in a precise fraction of a second. That exact moment is when the earth's axial tilt is inclined closest (or farthest) from the sun. It is a single point in time occurring simultaneously for everyone on earth regardless of time zone. For me that is June 21, 3.25 AM CDT.
.JPG)
Posts
