Labor Day

Worker Bee

 

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Kremlin

It would seem that 2022 turns the page on a curious bit of peninsula history with the passing of a couple of notable men; Robert Costa and Mikhail Gorbachev.  

Costa passed away January of this year.   A navy veteran, he married, raised a family in Cedarburg, was active in his community and Legion Post and retired from Roundy's warehouse operations in Wauwatosa after 37 years.  An avid scuba diver he maintained a home on the peninsula, retired here and dedicated himself to memorializing his fellow veterans.

Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union, passed away less than a week ago.  He enjoyed a much higher profile as he rubbed elbows with the likes of Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa, Václav Havel, Solzhenitsyn and is associated with glasnost and perestroika.  Gorbachev was never a democratic reformer; nevertheless, he sought to open-up his country in an effort to salvage the soviet system.  And when the system tilted into collapse he rolled with the flow and didn't blow-up the world in an attempt to hold it together.

With their passing in 2022 I am reminded that Costa and Gorbachev crossed paths and shared a common - yet obscure - bit of peninsula lore.

Costa had plans to construct a veterans museum and in 1990 he corresponded with Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with a request for a historic  military relic that might serve as the centerpiece for his museum.  Gorbachev's response was to send a working WWII era T-34 tank.  In 1991, in a ceremony at the Port of Milwaukee, Russian dignitaries, Governor Tommy Thompson and Senator Herb Kohl welcomed the tank as it was loaded onto a flatbed for shipment to Egg Harbor.  Gorbachev's name and signature was included on the title transfer documents.

The catch was that federal regulations forbid the private ownership of weapons of this sort and only a government entity could be listed on the tank's title.  (Yes, armor carries a vehicle title.)  The Egg Harbor Town Board had voted to become the official owners of the WWII piece of military equipment when another complication arose.

Upon arrival on the peninsula someone figured-out that the T-34 was configured with working coaxial guns and an operational main turret gun.  The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) was not amused.  The machine guns and breech ring were removed and secured by the Door County Sheriff's Department.

In the end, the veterans museum was not built and the Town of Egg Harbor no longer wished to be responsible for the tank.  

Military Veterans Museum Photo

As a consequence it eventually was moved to the Military Veterans Museum in Oshkosh.  

The interweb tells me that in June of this year the vintage T-34 tank found a permanent home at the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, IN. 

All-in-all a curious bit of peninsula history that in many respects finds closure this year.

And now you know about the time Egg Harbor was defended by serviceable armor.

And not just eggs......

Kermis Time

Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is a Dutch language term derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) that became incorporated in French and English. Its origins are originally associated with the mass said on the anniversary of the founding of a church (or the parish) and in honor of the Patron Saint.  Such religious celebrations were regularly held in the Low Countries, in Central Europe and also in Northern France, and were accompanied by feasting, dancing, drinking and sports. 

The Dutch-American Village of Little Chute, Wisconsin, has celebrated Kermis annually since 1981 with a street festival. The Wallonian settlements in Door and Kewaunee Counties have celebrated Kermis with traditional Belgian dishes and events for as long as anyone can remember.  

Traditionally, Kermis around here stretched over several calendar weeks as each small settlement - Namur, Brussels, Rosiere, Little Sturgeon, Forestville, Lincoln, Duvall and Casco celebrated the harvest and the life-giving bounty of food.  

I'm not of Dutch or Belgian descent - but we're heading over to the park in Brussels for the Kermis shortly.  The festivities will kick-off with mass followed by food, music, a dunk tank featuring the local priest, beer, both a silent and live auction and a gun raffle.  

In the meantime, for the last few weeks we've been celebrating our own Kermis here with a steady harvest from the garden including an avalanche of tomatoes!

Several batches of homemade pizza sauce.

And cantaloupe too... 

 

 

How To Tell A Crow From A Raven

The large all-black bird that you observe is likely a crow or a raven and they both happen to belong to the same family known as Corvidae and the genus Corvus. The latter actually being Latin for crow.

This species makes its home throughout the world with the exception of Antarctica and South America.  While the common raven is more abundant on a global basis it is found in the western US, Appalachian Mountains, northern reaches of Wisconsin into Canada and Mexico.  The American crow is found throughout the US and Canada.

Both birds are year-round residents here and the best way to tell them apart is by the difference in size.  Ravens are larger.

There is also a subtle difference in their beaks - ravens sport a larger, curvier beak with larger bristles at the base.  This aids the raven in the pursuit of its preferred meal of roadkill and carrion.  In contrast crows are largely herbivores and will eat roadkill only rarely.

Vocalizations are different too.  Crows caw and ravens croak.  Ravens will also scream - a vocalization used to attract others to a particularly good source of food.

Listed as a species of least concern neither of these birds are endangered.  As a matter of fact they respond positively to the presence of people and the easy food resources that accompany urbanization and fragmentation. 

Even though these birds belong to the same genus they are indeed biologically different as described in the preceding paragraphs. While both are among the most intelligent animals on the planet, ravens excel at problem-solving, mimic the calls of other birds and possess the ability to plan in advance.  Crows have the ability to recognize individual people.

They don't necessarily coexist and have been known to raid each others' nests and compete for territory and food resources.  Strangely, the smaller crows make the most trouble.

If you want to learn more about the lives of these birds here at The Platz you can search under crow or raven using the labels on the homepage of the blog or plug either name or the word: corvus in the search feature in the tool bar above.

Raven

Crow

Auf Wiedersehen Mein Freund

Queenie, age 82, passed-away peacefully in the arms of her family September 1, 2022.

Preceded in death by her auntie - Inky - and feline family members Figaro and Bubba, she is survived by her people, Tom and Jill.

Born March 3, 2011, Queenie came to live with her people at six weeks of age and joined the flushing and retrieving team as back-up dog. She was a quick study and grew into a reliable partner along with Inky in the sport of pursuing upland game birds. Queenie traveled extensively; including pheasant hunting trips from Wisconsin to South Dakota and from Canada to the Gulf Coast on family vacations.

Outside of work Queenie enjoyed family life at the farm.  She knew that when the E-Collar came out there was a walk in the offing.  If the Browning 12 gauge materialized all hell would break loose.  In her spare time there were always baby bunnies to dine-upon, poo-rolling in the woods and porch-sitting with her people.  Wintertime and snow was her absolute favorite. Because this is what Queens do - she loved to be outdoors and surveil her domain. 

She embraced life, was on a first name basis with the UPS guy, a friend to most everyone she met, a canine good citizen and modeled the stoicism of a Labrador retriever. She was a clever dog with an incorrigible mischievous streak and an overall credit to her breed.

Blonde Dog will be sorely missed.

A celebration of her life will be held at a future date. Per her wishes adult beverages will be served.

Hunt ‘em up!

 

 

Friday Music

This British band rose to prominence about the time I was in high school.  I had sort of forgotten about these guys until an acquaintance posted this on her Facebook page.

If you like electric blues you'll like this.

Jail Bait - Wishbone Ash....

Yotes!

Remember those coyotes I said were showing-up on the trail camera?

Here's a sampling from three different locations August 12, 13 and 14....