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.  A 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

I don't want to leave the impression with the reader that I am superstitious or anything.  Nevertheless, there is a long-standing tradition of listening the music by the Cowboy Junkies in the run-up to the gun hunting extravaganza. 

As a consequence there is today's musical selection from the second album of the Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session.   

The original recording was made inside Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity on November 27, 1987, with the band circled around a single microphone.  The band was unable to rehearse with most of the guest musicians before the day of the six hour session.

Considering the method of recording and time constraints, this could have been disastrous for the numbers which required seven or more musicians, but after paying a security guard twenty-five dollars for an extra two hours of recording time, the band was able to finish, recording the final song of the session, Misguided Angel, in a single take.  -Wikipedia

Stoke the fire and top up the wine - this clip from the Trinity Sessions Revisited with vocals from Margo Timmins and guest artist Natalie Merchant.

If you are hunting this weekend take all precautions to shoot straight and be safe....

Mr. Buck

From one of the trail camera there is this. 

They're still all appearing after dark...

The Incredible Edible Egg

In an Irish supermarket you will find chicken eggs in these convenient six-packs.  And they are not refrigerated.     

I’ve taken note of this in France and you will find it to be generally true throughout Europe.  You go the grocery and you’ll find the eggs either at the end of an isle or on the shelf along with routine canned goods, pasta, rice or other nonperishable foods.  In the US the eggs are found in the refrigerated dairy case along with milk, butter, cheese and orange juice.     

Why is this?      

In the states egg production occurs in large-scale vertical operations. We go big.  Nevertheless, while this occupies less space the eggs are more susceptible to contamination by hen feces raining down from above.  As a consequence they have to be washed and decontaminated.  In Europe free-range systems are preferred.  The priority is to produce clean eggs at the point they are collected instead of cleaning dirty eggs after the fact.  It is also useful to know that washing an egg damages the outside layer known as the cuticle.  Without that natural protective barrier it becomes easier for bacteria to penetrate the egg.  Finally, vaccination has been linked to a rapid decline of salmonella cases in the EU.  US regulators have still not mandated immunizations - although many eggs producers do vaccinate their hens nowadays. 

In the end a freshly-laid Irish egg can hang-out on your kitchen counter or in a cool dry pantry for more than a week.  Although once you put it in the fridge it has to stay in the fridge.      

I’m not suggesting one paradigm is necessarily better than the other – they’re different.  And anyone that has barnyard, free-range, or backyard chickens already knows this. 

Clean eggs are next to godliness. 

And they taste great.     

According to the US Food and Drug Administration salmonella remains the most common cause of food poisoning in the United States.

You Snooze You Lose

The big dog came-up lame the other day and on Monday she and I paid a call to the vet in Green Bay.

An exam and a couple of x-rays revealed nothing out of the ordinary so we'll chalk-it-up to an elderly dog soft tissue injury.  She's on a course of doggie NSAID and a pain meds with strict orders to rest.  She's been sleeping a lot.

Nonetheless, with exercise and potty calls less regimented we're leaving her 'unlocked' in the crate with the option to summon a person for a visit outside.

She woke me up for this the other day.  Not sure if she really had to pee or if she didn't want me to miss the sunrise....

Learning in Retirement

In retirement I have vowed to not only pay closer attention to the natural world around me but to learn new things.

 

Recently I spent some time at the Sturgeon Bay Police Department to learn more about the civilian response to an active shooter event.

A couple of years ago if you asked me if I'd ever want to learn more about this subject I would have suggested that you had taken leave of your senses.  Not so much today.

It was fascinating.  According to the FBI - those who would perpetrate mass murder in a workplace, school or public venue are difficult to profile.  They generally have an 'avenger mindset' and only some broadcast their intentions.

It is not unusual for individuals to have a history of and exposure to violence, stalking, harassment or threatening behavior, are substance abusers, suffer some sort of mental illness, demonstrate a pattern of suicidality and come from a background of negative family dynamics.  For younger individuals an addiction to violent gaming contributes to a desensitization for killing. 

Take-away for me is run (avoid), hide (deny) and defend (fight).  And I now have a heightened sense of situational awareness to add to my retirement repertoire. 

For instance, upon entering a grocery store it is a small matter and only takes a few seconds to identify where the exits are.  Then go about your shopping.

More to the Pavement than Meets the Eye

We recently visited Ireland and among the many and various things we did and saw was a visit to the Burren (Irish - Boireann, meaning "great rock"). 

click on images to enlarge

This is an eco-tourism region of exceptional environmental interest located in northwestern County Clare, Ireland.  The geology is karst formation very similar to that found on the Door Peninsula.  

The landscape of bedrock is lunar in appearance and consists of cracked pavement of glaciated limestone – likely the largest limestone pavement found anywhere in the world.  Also found here are cliffs, caves, fossils, rock formations and archaeological sites.

Although the rock may appear bare and barren – agriculture remains an important tradition with roots going back almost 6,000 years.  Livestock graze the hills in winter, clearing the ground of tough grasses and making way for the delicate plant life to flourish in spring.  

This diverse ecosystem has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation by the European Union. Of Ireland’s 900 native plant species, the Burren is home to 70% – including the mountain avens, an Arctic-Alpine plant introduced by the retreat of the glaciers at the close of the last Ice Age.

The grikes (crevices in the limestone) provide moist shelter, supporting a wide range of rare Irish plant species including dwarf shrubs.  The crevices are also home to countless smartphones dropped by visitors and never to be retrieved.  On the Atlantic coast, the precipitous Cliffs of Moher are home to thousands of seabirds, including puffins.