The Beast

Thursday my wife says -There is going to be a car show at Rouer's in town on Saturday. I saw a flyer on the bulletin board at the grocery store and at the post office. You should take The Beast over there if the weather is nice.

The Beast happens to be a 1968 Pontiac LeMans. I'm the second owner and I've now owned it longer than the first owner.

Pontiac's Tempest line included the Tempest, LeMans and GTO.

My Car has a 350 engine and a two-speed slush box transmission. It is also a rag top.

It's called The Beast because only a beastly car would guzzle gasoline like this one and handle like a large pile of wet bread dough.

But that's how Detroit built their cars back then. Big and fast and short on the finesse.

Anyway, Retro Modz & Rodz is the local car club and this was their second annual car show hosted by Rouer's Grand Slam.

You talk about perfect weather! Sunny and not too hot. $2 burgers and $2 Millers in a frosty 16 ounce aluminum bottle. My garden was in so I'm all over this.

I pulled-off The Beast's shroud, retracted the top, dusted it-off and fired it up!

Ooooh baby. Just listen to that rumble.

Close the back door - you're going to make the house stink!

This was also the era before emission controls.














We counted about 75 entries for the show in this little burg. If my math is correct that would make the ownership of collector cars pretty close to two-tenths of one percent.

I wonder what it is elsewhere?

This guy drove his dragster from the shop a couple of blocks down the road.

I thought this 1956 Chevy was the best of show. I was wrong.















Chevy Malibu. Get the impression that I am partial to red cars?














1967 Pontiac Firebird.














1962 Chevy II Nova. I owned one of these in college. I paid $50 for it. Naturally it wasn't as show-worthy as this.














Here it is - The Beast.














So - I bring you the start-up sequence for a 1968 Pontiac GTO.

This is muscle car porn so don't let your wife catch you watching...

Another Surprise

First there is the surprise family of cats.

Now there is this.















The Door County highway department has misplaced one of its tractors.

I'm thinking - Maybe it's broken?

Nope. It started right-up.

So the dog and I drove it home and put it in the shed.

Maybe they won't notice it is missing.

I've always wanted a side-mounted Alamo flail mower.

Sometimes good things come to those who wait.

Squatters

More troubles.

A mama cat and her brood have taken-up residence in our granary.

An Exercise in Frustration

Sometimes I get really frustrated - especially with individuals that are obtuse, uninformed or just plain dense.

Like the guy I talked with recently who was bragging about his new bamboo floor and how full of himself he was about saving the planet, his generally self-congratulatory greeness and overall concern for all things green.

Really.

This knucklehead gave absolutely no thought or regard to the energy consumed to ship that bamboo flooring from half-way around the world to Wisconsin. Or the tropical forest that was cleared and burned to farm it. Or the peasants paid a pittance of a wage to harvest and process it.

This dolt never even entertained the obvious - like purchasing a perfectly better floor made of renewable Wisconsin oak (I would recommend red oak) all supported by working Wisconsinites.

Sheesh.

And then there was the letter published in the June 3rd edition of the Door County Advocate that reads as follows-

I would like to know why the DNR shot the pair of nesting swans in the Little Sturgeon Bay on the morning of May 21. My husband and I were working in our yard at our home on Little Sturgeon Bay when I heard a shot. I saw three people in a boat. We witnessed a barbarous act that sickened both of us. They had shot the female swan near her nest on the island; then they went after the drake. They shot him from a moving boat, which I believe is illegal.

We have been watching this pair of swans since early spring. We watched the nest being built. We watched the drake chase away the pelicans and cormorants (which eat fish). We, and our neighbors cheered these events. Swans don't eat fish and don't invade our properties. They have become a valued part of our summer experience, and for our neighbors on Squaw Island, along with the sandhill cranes, various ducks and some of the geese. They are the only pair of swans in the Little Sturgeon area. We retell their migration and local adventures whenever we get together; look forward to the young and identify with their plight. Our grandchildren look forward to seeing them on their weekend visits, especially watching the young riding on the parent's backs.

We've been told the reason for this barbarous treatment of wildlife is that mute swans are not native to this area and that they are keeping native trumpeter and tundra swans away. I was born more than 70 years ago. Last year was the first time we have seen any kind of swans. They were also mute swans. They hatched six young, three of which survived. The DNR has introduced non-native species with devastating effects, such as alewives, turkeys and Asian beetles. Our swans have had a very positive effect.

We have also been told mute swans are unchecked and our of control in southern Wisconsin, the eastern state and Michigan. That may be so, but they are not unchecked or out of control on Little Sturgeon Bay. If we need to control them, we want to be part of the discussion instead of part of the barbarous killing. We have read about alternative controls such as sterilization, addling eggs, raising and reintroducing trumpeter swans. Why aren't these methods being used? We are intelligent adults who resent being treated as if we didn't exist or didn't have representation in the control of our environment.

Althea F. Gothberg, Sturgeon Bay

Since no silly letter should ever be allowed to remain published without comment - I wrote back a good, old-fashioned letter to the editor in response. I really needed to set this swan lady straight. And it is a good thing I waited the requisite cooling-off period before I sent it. That letter was published in the June 10th edition of the Advocate and reads as follows-

Althea Gothberg's outrage over the killing of mute swans (Your Letters, June 3) begs a response.

Sure, the beauty and grace of these swans is a delight to behold. Not here - in Europe and Asia, where they belong.

The personality of these non-native birds does not match their good looks. In defending their nesting territory, they will harass and kill native waterfowl, including their young. These large birds are capable of uprooting 20 pounds of aquatic vegetation a day, destroying valuable habitat.

Even the Audubon Society supports the removal of mute swans.

As for your accusation about the DNR "introducing non-native species such as alewives, turkeys and Asian beetles," you're mistaken. The DNR had no role with the fish or the beetles. The turkeys are native.

Save your venom for issues you know something about.

Tom Gaertner, Brussels

There. I feel better already. I also had to do some venting over at the other blog.

Random Musings and Idle Chit Chat

I feel like someone kicked me in the ass.

I spent yesterday afternoon and most of today working in the garden. Mostly on my hands and knees. Everything aches.

I've been planting since the first week of May and an excess of rain followed-on by temperatures in the mid-thirties put an end to my developing radishes, spinach. beets and lettuces.

First they were drowned and then mother nature gave them the cold shoulder.

They have been replanted.

The onions, cabbages, green beans and peas are all doing fine. The potatoes too. The red Pontiac and Yukon gold spuds are doing so well that I had to mound them already.

The first two rows of sweet corn are just beginning to peek thru.

Yesterday and today I planted four each of Early Girl, beefsteak and Roma tomatoes along with one cherry tomato plant. Green peppers, kale, Brussels sprouts and broccoli plants all went in. Two additional rows of green beans and sweet corn were planted along with a row of pickles, cukes and cantaloupe.

I've run out of gas and it is starting to rain so I'm in for the duration.

Girlfriend and I went out for a long walk this morning and we retrieved the memory chip from the game camera.

The entire interior of the camera was infested with little red ants and their eggs.

Blech.

Here's a tip. If you attempt to shake a game camera of its ant colony the little red ants will swarm all over you.

Anyway, here are some pictures. The trail is flush with a couple of types of clover and the deer have been feasting on it.

I've also been on the lookout for sign of gypsy moth and the results have been discouraging. The nasty little caterpillars are everywhere.

We've done a reasonably good job of oiling egg masses over the winter so the question is where are these caterpillars coming from?

Early on, when still small and lightweight, the caterpillars drop down from tree branches on silk-like threads and are blown by the wind to other trees.

These are probably my neighbor's.

You can see in he picture below how quickly and efficiently they'll devour an oak leaf. If there are enough of them they'll strip the tree of its leaves.

So, Swamp Gas, you actually brought those furry little buggers into the house? Are you nuts?

Hardly. I just wanted to take their picture. After which I put that leaf in the microwave so I could nuke those nasty guys.

I immediately felt better.

I counted 27 goldfinches on the thistle feeders this morning. There is a pair of nesting blue birds in a nest box within view of the house. And last night a pair of cranes were putting on a show in the big pond.

Tonight I am preparing venison loin skewers marinated in harissa and yogurt.

If it's any good I'll post the recipe.

Edit - The recipe was good but not excellent. Thus it will not be posted. The cucumber salad component was very good but it needs a yogurt dressing upgrade. Once I get it perfected I will post my recipe for loin of venison gyros.

Economic Question of the Day

This is something that has been on my mind lately...

Sunset At Eagle Lake