Weather Forecast

With all the technology weather forecasters have at their disposal, I would not have thought that they could be off as much as they were during our 4 night camping trip in northeast Wisconsin from August 20 to 24. Even a day ahead of time the forecast was remarkably wrong. 

About 1:30 pm Sunday

On Sunday morning we departed for a camping trip to our favorite campground in northeast Wisconsin. We arrived at the campground at about 12:30 pm, and selected a site we had never been in before. Prior to leaving on Sunday morning, I used my Weather Channel app to check the weather for the nearest community, Armstrong Creek. This is what the Sunday (8/20) forecast predicted:

Sunday- 82-53 mstly sunny; Monday-77-55 ptly to mstly cloudy; Tuesday-71-57 AM rain, then clearing with sun in the afternoon;  Wednesday-94-61, sunny; Thursday 85-58 sunny; Fri 74-49 rain in AM and mstly cloudy.

Loons

This is what he weather turned out to be: Sun-72 Ptly to cloudy; Mon-abt 67-52 Cloudy and cool; Tues-AM rain (1:30 am to 9:30 am), 62 high; fog over the lake; Wed abt 67 cloudy low abt 62; Thurs drizzle and cloudy, returned home due to rain in forecast for Thursday.

On Tuesday we went to town to get more ice for the cooler and sad to say, the sorry weather was present for the Laona State Bank customer appreciation day. I am not sure what food they cooked up, but it sure smelled good. I almost want to open an account so if we are up there next time for the appreciation day we an partake. Anyway, we checked our phones for the forecast, that is when we found rain on Thursday. However, Wednesday was now predicted to be 84 and sunny. Much better temperature than the Sunday forecast of 94 on Wednesday. The weather was so cool on Tuesday, that upon our return from town we started a campfire that we kept going all day until we went into the camper sometime after 8:30 pm. We also had a campfire Wednesday morning due to the cool weather. 

Tuesday early afternoon temperature

With the rain we adjusted our meal plan. When the rain intensity decreased for a few minutes Tuesday morning, my wife went to our chuck box and got the coffee pot, tea cups/tea bags, and the oatmeal. She turned on the propane and we heated the water and drank our tea and I ate my oatmeal while it started to again pour cats and dogs. We usually cook and eat outside, but this event is why we bought a camper with an indoor stove, to cook inside in rain. On two camping trips last year or the year before knowing rain was forecasted in late afternoon, we had our main meal during lunch in non-rain, and then made sandwiches when the rain started to come so we could then eat in the camper for our dinner. 

On Wednesday we were at the beach and a forest service worker showed up. She commented how the forecast Monday had Wednesday having a high of 94 Wed and sunny, while the Tuesday forecast changed that to a a high of 84 and sunny. She then said the Wednesday morning forecast changed the high Wednesday to 73 and mostly cloudy but with periods of sun. we had the sun shine a few brief moments, emphasis on brief, on Wednesday early afternoon. Hence, the forecast, even two days earlier was over 20 degrees off from the temperature experienced. 

Campfire

We made do with the weather, playing Yahtzee, cribbage and solitaire on each other's aces. Cribbage is somewhat new to us, and I am not sure if we were playing and counting correctly, but the wife was happy because over two days we played six games of which she won five. I have not figured out the knack for what cards to keep and what to put in the crib. She always seemed to have the right card at the right moment. 

Even with all the cool weather I did swim a few times, but no early morning swims. The weather and water were just to cool. I was looking forward to a sunny 84 degree day Wednesday to be in the water more often, but that was not to be. I did kayak everyday. Tuesday I kayaked when the fog was most dense over the lake where it was difficult to see less than a 100' in front of you. My wife thought I might get lost. Prudence suggested keeping the shore line in sight. The moisture created by the fog enveloped our campsite and made everything damp. We did notice that the eagles and loons were much more quiet when the fog was over the lake than they otherwise were.

Maybe we jinked ourselves signing up for four nights, and leaving a fifth night open as an option. With rain predicted Thursday morning, we packed the car the night before to keep the gear dry. Part of me hoped the day would arise bright and sunny, but that was not to be. We had drizzle, and it was heavily overcast, so we decided to depart. I think we reached west of Fond du Lac before we really saw the sun. Meaning much of the eastern part of the state was under heavy cloud cover. 

Fog enveloping the lake Tuesday

While Madison, and even Minneapolis, were experiencing record highs or near record highs on Tuesday and Wednesday, the campground we were located never really succeeded in getting to 65 and 70 respectively. It fell a few degrees short. Temperatures never came close to forecasted highs. I am not sure what was occurring, but the wind at the campground was always from the north or northeast for our stay, not a direction to bring in warm temperatures. Minneapolis is about 44.97 degrees north latitude and our campground was about 45.70 degrees north. Each degree of latitude is equal to about 70 miles, but one is much further east (campground) but is less than 70 miles more north of the Twin Cities.

Fog taken over the lake

On Thursday when we departed in a drizzle, the temperature was about 60 and arrived home to a temperature that would be 95 and over 70%  humidity. We generally expect warmer weather when we arrive home, but this was a system shock. We unpacked, put up the screen tent to complete its drying, and did laundry. I always wish I had a lake to jump into when we get home in hot weather. 

Fall tree color starting

Fall comes early to the Northwoods. When we camped here two weeks ago a few maples were turning, but this trip, looking at the woods across the lake, hints of yellows were already in the trees. As usual, the loons and eagles were present, which kept our attention to the lake. The fog on Tuesday seemed to keep them quiet most of the day. As the trees now start to turn as the days grow shorter, and the weather cooler, fall will arrive soon. I was respecting more and more the forecasts, as prior camping trips showed a fair amount of accuracy, although timing may have been off. It is now time to question that respect.

Buffer Zone

When Russia invaded Ukraine last year it should not have come as a surprise to the elites and power brokers of the world. After all,  several years earlier Russia "annexed" part Crimea from Ukraine. Russia has been wanting a buffer zone from the west since shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Further, the Russian desire for a buffer zone is not new, and relates, in part, to its geographic makeup. 

Ukraine and Russia have a long history. Kyivan Rus was a country back in 1054 which was larger than the Ukraine we know today. In the 13th century this country was run over by the Mongols. In the 14th century Lithuania threw out the Mongols and unified this area with Poland. The first use of the Ukrainian flag came following WWI in 1918. Shortly after, due to Germany's defeat in WWI, Ukraine was absorbed into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It was not an easy takeover. Josef Stalin's farm collectivization caused the deaths of 4 million Ukrainians. In December 1991 over 90% of Ukrainians vote for independence from the USSR. Yet there were wide variations in the voting with high numbers in Western Ukraine, and much lower numbers in the districts near Russia. 

Major Russian Rivers

Russia is markedly different than the United States, and we Americans have a tendency to view the world and all that it is from the American perspective. However, thinking that all nations are meant to recognize our values and our systems has not shown to always be transferrable. We view our American values, particularly those in the Washington think tanks, as universal. As Robert Kaplan writes, the Romans thought their values universal. They were not. Kaplan also comments that imperialism can be a relatively weak form of sovereignty exercised by a great power. Along with imperialism is also conquest. George Keenan, an American diplomat, who was born and raised in Milwaukee, viewed conquest as a source of weakness. Once you engage another country the invading country has the obligation and responsibility for governance. Two situations prove this point. 

First, when the US invaded Iraq, Pope John Paul II mightily proclaimed against the war saying, much as Pope Francis does today about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that it is a defeat for humanity. The Pope also said, not unlike a mother telling a child in a dime store, you break it you own it. The Vatican understood the situation on the ground in the Mid-east better than did the west. Here was a case where the US intervention was brought about by a certain hubris of American values. It did not end well.  

Kyivan Rus, 1054
National Geographic

Second, part of the reason for the decline and fall of the Soviet Union was because Russia had to support a number of satellite states. One would think Russia would learn from the Soviet experience, but perhaps they have a certain amount of hubris too (after all they suspected their invasion of Ukraine would be quick). This is where geography comes into play. 

The geography of Russia is markedly different than that of the temperate United States. Russia's inland streams and rivers tend to run north and south, unable to have unified the wide east-west nature of the country. By comparison, the US not only has almost more navigable inland waters than the rest of the world combined, but our geography is different. The great Mississippi runs north and south, but it is fed by great rivers than run at an angle--the Missouri, Snake, Wisconsin, Ohio, Platte, Arkansas, Colorado, Tennessee to name the major ones. These rivers helped to unify the nation when water transport was the most efficient method--it unified a nation and created a culture. 

Geographically, Russia has lacked the unifying nature of rivers present in the United States. This is important, because they have long viewed the need for a buffer from Europe. The Center for Strategic and International Studies in a June 28, 2017 document noted that Russia views sectarian strife, and fragmentation as destabilizing, much like the West does, but they use a different approach or method to address this challenge. Their  approach, creation of buffer zones, was seen in Crimea and they have now applied it to Ukraine. This article notes: 

Russia perceives its own actions as defensive and mirrors Western accusations by claiming foreign military buildup and intelligence services in its near abroad seek to destroy its unity and territorial integrity. No clear distinction is drawn by either document between Russia’s internal and external borders. On the contrary, neighbor countries allegedly serve as an entry point to shape Russia’s information space and its internal sphere, undermining its national interests. In this perspective, radical political change at Russia’s outskirts must be thwarted at any cost and could possibly lead to conflict.

The article goes on to specifically comment on buffers: 

The perceived need to recreate a buffer zone at Russia’s borders against the West has pervaded Russia’s leadership since the early 1990s. It started with the trauma of the fragmentation of the Soviet Union, the voluntary demise of which Vladimir Putin later called “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.” At the turn of the 2000s, Russia, fearing unrest in the North Caucasus (Chechnya and later Dagestan, Ingushetia, or Kabardino-Balkaria) could lead to attempts at secession in its inner abroad, responded heavy handedly.

Russia was concerned about its former satellite countries to its south, as it is concerned about its former satellites to the west. Clearly, Putin is desirous of remaking Russia as the old USSR. That Russia is desirous of a buffer goes back over 100 years to Polish leader Jozef Pilsudski (diacritical marks missing), who coined the term Intermarium, which Kaplan notes is Latin for between the seas, in this case the Baltic in the north and the Black to the southeast, and eastward to the Caucasus mountains, to the Caspian Sea. Pilsudski, says Kaplan, concluded that this will be the new battleground. Kaplan claims that Russia is still very big, but "it is an insecure land power that has suffered invasions not only from Hitler and Napoleon, but from Swedes, Lithuanians, and Poles and consequently requires a buffer zone of soft influence in Central and Eastern Europe." Not only did former parts of the Soviet Union provide this buffer, but so did their satellite countries--Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, down to Yugoslavia. The Iron Curtain was largely a result of FDR"s capitulation to Stalin at the Yalta conference, setting forth ramifications we continue to face today:. Russia wants their buffer back. Russia views the eastern regions of Ukraine as dominated by ethnic Russians. This was heard before, when the west appeased Hitler with the Sudetenland, the ethnic German part of then Czechoslovakia. Appeasement is easy to see after the fact. The problem with what the Brits did with Hitler in giving away part of Czechoslovakia, is they never asked the Czechs. Hitler was not pleased with just the Sudetenland and later invaded and took all of Czechoslovakia. As we know, Hitler and his desire for lebensraum grew to all of Europe and beyond.

Great powers have a tendency to do what they wish. When faced with the Iranian hostage crises, and the Soviet aggression in Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter outlined, in his Jan 23, 1980 State of the Union speech what became known as the Carter Doctrine, in which he said:

Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force. (Source: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v18/d45 )

This doctrine has been used to advance military intervention by the US since 1980. Russia has a long memory, and probably wonders why a US sphere of influence can extend to the Middle East, but Russia's cannot extend west to adjacent countries? Oil is a powerful resource, and played an important role in US foreign policy. Ukraine also contains certain valuable resources--fertile plains, and important waterways. Water is quickly becoming the new oil. From oil to food, resource availability also show how geography shapes not only the world but how and why geo-political conflicts arise.

Ukraine 1918 with current border outlined
National Geographic

This is not to say that Russia has a right to the buffer, much less a right to invade Ukraine, but this does help explain their point of view. It seems to me, that one has to know the interests and designs of another, so as to understand and anticipate, and decide what level of attention may be best. I guess it is like interest-based bargaining. Will a cease fire or negotiated settlement result? My American mind says that Russia is too far into the conflict for any settlement. Pope Francis, may well be right that we are on the cusp of of WWIII by the insidious nature of of small conflicts around the globe that ferment and become greater and greater. The conflict in Ukraine is just one aspect of current global discord. The funny thing is as the world becomes more globalized more diverse conflicts seem to develop. I believe part of this lies in a people's need to be tied to a certain geography and culture. 

The US keeps funding the war effort at great levels. Of funding provided to Ukraine from Jan 24, 2022 to May 31, 2023 61% or $46.6 billion was for military assistance, $3.9 billion, 5%, for humanitarian assistance, and $26.4 billion, 34%, financial assistance. The great majority of aid to Ukraine for its war effort comes from the US. The US will now provide F-16 fighter jets, and train Ukraine fighter pilots for their use in the conflict. In his farewell address, President Eisenhower made this prescient comment: "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist." 

The war in Ukraine shows three key points. First, that the US is still required to provide the might in European conflicts. Second, that Russia is acting on its desire for a buffer. This region, as an area of conflict was noted over 100 years ago, determined in large part by geography. It seems that the west was not prepared for this invasion. Third, as JPII and Francis have commented, war is always a failure, regardless of what side wins. Geo-political conflicts are always difficult, but the underlying geography provides a partial explanation.

Sources:

https://www.csis.org/analysis/russias-design-black-sea-extending-buffer-zone

2017. Kaplan, Robert D. Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America's Role in the World, Random House, NY NY.

https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v18/d45

"Ukraine, A Year at War", National Geographic, map insert, June 2023. 

https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-are-six-charts?gclid=CjwKCAjwoqGnBhAcEiwAwK-OkWakGIBx2V0rcbWzhEsperf7Jo-_aETNzDwKq-YBz2xjrORf6GRzVRoCIWwQAvD_BwE

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-dwight-d-eisenhowers-farewell-address

Produce

If one uses meteorological summer, which constitutes June-July-August, we are now in the last weeks of summer. Put another way: halfway through, are we, the last month of the meteorological summer season. Or, about five weeks to the autumn equinox on Sept 23. Late summer brings a number of changes. A few thoughts come to mind about August, but perhaps garden produce takes precedence.

First, is garden produce. Gardening is a story of transitions--garden plants and their harvest transition over the growing season. Summer garden crops are now coming in abundance--peppers, eggplant, summer squashes, cucumbers, carrots, beets, kale, collard greens, and some fruit--apples are ripening fast, some already so, and pears will be ready soon. I had my first taste of stand bought sweet corn last Saturday. Some crops are now in the late stages of produce--raspberries, broccoli, cabbage and perhaps greens like lettuce, unless one could get a planting in during the heat of the summer. Early crops have been done for several weeks now--radishes and peas being two examples. I have not been successful in successive plantings of radishes, with later planting simply being long and thin, rather than plump and robust. However, as hot as the summer was, I was surprised at how long our peas continued to produce. We may have picked our last peas just this week.  Tomatoes are also ripening, and now they start coming quickly. We did not plant tomatoes for canning this year, but my son did, and Land Girl was kind enough to can several quarts of his tomatoes for him. We did plant some sun gold tomatoes which Land Girl loves to eat. Next year will grow an even sweeter tomato for her. When completing the tomatoes, she moved the same day, Monday, to canning apple sauce from apples provided to us by her sister and brother-in-law from their apple tree. Being a cool, wet day, Monday was a perfect day for Land Girl to do what Land Girl's like to do--putting up produce. Our freezers are loaded with frozen raspberries picked this year, and some packs we need to yet use from last year. It makes me wonder where we will put the Brussel sprouts.

Hawk resting on our deck railing

Second, fall sport practices have started. I see this with the boys next door. One is entering his freshman year of high school and his cross-country practice started this week. His younger brother started youth football last week. The first high school football game is this weekend, August 18. School does not start until after Labor Day, but football and other fall sports cannot wait.

Third, our day light hours, due to the physics of our planetary bodies, are getting shorter. Last week Saturday, Land Girl and I went on a bike ride at 6:30 am and it was difficult biking east as the sun was right in our eyes. It has been noticeable for a time that the days are getting shorter, where we have day light as we would have in April. But, April day light seems more expansive as the days lengthen after the dark and cold of winter. 

Hawk at our pond, perhaps looking to eat the duck sculpture

Fourth, it is a time for families to get in last minute outings before school takes hold. Many state campgrounds are quite full. Although in WI when are state campgrounds not booked? Mount Olympus, a waterpark in the Wisconsin Dells, is looking to add the nation's tallest outdoor water slide, with construction slated to start after they close following Labor Day. It is interesting how much money is spent on activities that are only three month operations. Outdoor waterparks being but one example. 

Finally, is nature itself. Having been up north a couple weeks ago I marveled at how some of the maple trees were already changing. Talk about a lot of effort for a few month time frame--some trees definitely foot the bill. They may leaf out for more than three months, but with leaves changing in early August, one knows autumn is not too distant. Squirrels in the yard have seemed to move from pro-creating to harvesting the hickory nuts from several hickory trees in the backyard. A rather significant part of our upper backyard is littered with the detritus of broken hickory nuts. The young hawks are busy attempting to buzz down small rodents and rabbits. The rabbits busy trying to stay alive by scurrying along edges of flower beds and avoiding the open lawn. I have hardly to fill the bird feeders this summer as the hawks seem to have kept the birds, who used to frequent the feeders, away. Meanwhile, monarchs have been laying eggs on our milkweed plant, but the small eggs, are no longer as prevalent as just week prior.

Squirrel eating a nut, with detritus of nuts on stump

In a few weeks the weather person will be talking about the arrival of meteorological fall. Produce will still be coming, transitioning to Brussel sprouts, winter squash and a few other plants. For now, the produce from our garden is abundant and has made us realize we can get by with fewer plants of certain crops. It is the time of year for Land Girls to do what Land Girls do, put up produce. It is just a matter of freezer space.

Wildlife Fight

Land Girl and I were camping for four nights starting 30 July at our favorite campground. The thing about camping near a lake is you really never know what wildlife, or other occurrences one comes across. That trip produced an interesting wildlife fight, and some humorous human instances. 

View of lake from shore by our campsite

We were fortunate to get a first-come first-serve site along the lake shore, but that is why we try to arrive before 1 pm. Check out time is at noon, although that is often disregarded by some campers. The site did not provide access to the water, but the boat landing was not far away. We kept our kayak down by the boat landing. The lake we were on is 106 acres, and does not allow gas engines. Trolling motors are allowed. Another nearby lake, on which the swim beach is located is 52 acres. Both are nice kayaking lakes. Fishing maybe another story, at least on the larger lake. Enhancements (40 ash trees were brought in and dropped into the lake) were done two years ago to improve the fishing on the lake, but anglers I talk to say they see no difference. 

Eagle in flight

But, the fishing must not be too bad as loons frequent the lake. We counted up to five loons a few times, grouped together. Land Girl is particularly astute at pointing out wildlife on the lake. An eagle has also been known to frequent the lake. I saw the eagle land in a tree on an island not far from the boat landing on the day of our arrival. That would not be the only time we saw the eagle. The eagle likes the tall pine trees that tower over the others along the lake shore.  

Five loons on the lake

For the first time in this location we saw a great blue heron. I was out in the kayak one evening, about 7:45 pm and heard a wildlife sound I have never heard before, but clearly it was a sound of distress. I was at the far southeasterly end of the lake, and looking against the sun was difficult. Added to that sound was the sound of a number of loons as if warning others to some danger. I paddled more along the west shore and as I looked east I could see an eagle flying around a water fowl hunkered low in the would peck at the eagle as it approached. I thought it was a loon fighting off an eagle. But, as I got more north and west of the altercation the eagle flew away to the east, and the fowl takes off and heads right for me in the kayak. I thought it was coming for me and at its closest was perhaps only 12 to 18 feet distance. It looked like a heron a blue grey color. People on shore watching, and thought it was a crane, but I said the color looked more like a great blue heron. When I got back to shore, Land Girl, who had been watching the whole time, said the fight started by the island near the boat landing and it was a heron. I never thought a heron could take off from water so fast as what I saw. Much quicker than I have seen loons. Another couple, which we have seen camping here the past few years, saw two great blue herons at a small bog lake south of the lake we were on. As I was kayaking back, I saw many campers crowded along the shore, so distressing was the call the heron was making while fending off the bald eagle attack. Eagles do not win all battles. I wish I had my camera with me to get some photos of the fight.

Perhaps the geese were smarter than the heron, hanging close to shore and going in and out of the trees lying along the shore. But, the loons, by their noises, seem to sympathize with the heron, or at least were warning other loons about an eagle on the attack.

Geese

The wildlife must find fish to eat, which makes me wonder why people with all their gear cannot seem to catch any fish. Although there were days when many fishermen were out all day, making me wonder if they had caught worthwhile fish. A group of three boys, staying with the grandparents provided some comic relief to the wife. One was on shore and the other two in a small fishing boat. The older boy in the boat yelled to the young one on shore to go "Tell grandpa it will take longer than ten minutes to get back as we are further from the campsite than we thought." However, they started to row away from the campsite. It turns out they thought it best to put their life jackets back on before heading back to meet grandpa at shore by their campsite. There campsite has a nice sandy area in which to put in a boat.

Camping next to us was one family and the brother of the dad and his family were a few sites away. The two men must struggle with the y chromosome since the five or six children between them (and one friend) were all girls. While at the beach on Wednesday, not long before a heavy shower moved in, a few of the girls came to the beach and the youngest got stung by some insect while at the lake shore, through her long sleeved swim wear. The girls took her to the toilet so asses the bite. The parents and other children arrived and the mom's assessed the situation. Then one mother, being a total mother, noted that  "Autumn was the second child to get bitten" by something, and that another child had rolled her ankle. She then commented that the lesson learned is they should not stray so far from one of the adults. As if an adult present at the beach would have prevented the insect bite. Anyway, later Wednesday I don't think they minded that mother's advice.

Loons

The result is if the wildlife do not present something of interest, some of the campers are sure to to do so. The nice thing about having a lake site is sitting on the shore in the morning with sun shining and watching the wildlife, like the loons, float about the lake. It puts one in part of nature's glory. At times you see the darker reality of the wild, as occurred with the fight between a bald eagle and a great blue heron. Each working to survive, which led to the wildlife fight.

The Supper Club

Supper Club's are very popular in Wisconsin, but not long ago were becoming a dying breed for sometime as people navigated to "healthier" food options. Many wondered if they would go they way of civility in society. It seems, that in our era of nostalgia for everything termed mid-century modern, the supper club is making somewhat of a comeback in the state. It joins vinyl, what us older folks know as records, mid-century modern furniture and houses as increasing trends within the larger population. McFarland has a supper club that first opened in the mid-1950's. You cannot get more mid-century modern than that. 

Last year on Oct 5 the supper club in McFarland had a kitchen fire which burned a massive hole in the roof. An anticipated few month closure turned into several months. It reponed in late June of this year. Renamed the Maple Tree in 1984, many of my family members would recall it as Conrad's supper club. The supper club had recently been bought by two long-time employees of the prior owner, when the fire occurred. At least one of the two new owners is a young man, who was a classmate of my youngest son in the McFarland schools.  This summer night, every table was taken compared to the about 100 persons in the building at the time of the fire, for which the fire call came it at 5:20 pm. A community is supporting a business that suffered a great setback from the fire. 

The Vestibule is papered with old
news clippings from the area.

The wife and I ventured to the Maple Tree for dinner on Friday, July 28, a month after its reopening. The restaurant and bar open at 4:00 pm, and when we arrived a few minutes before the hour there was a long line waiting to get in. The line had shortened by the time we left, just before 5 pm, but the parking lot was fully packed with vehicles. One can say it is a popular place.

Perhaps it was the hour of our arrival, but for a few persons the wife and I appeared to be the youngest customers. Clearly, supper clubs are popular with the well-seasoned citizen crowd. The demographic, and I should probably not say this because it may be me in ten years, struggled moving through the salad bar. My wife asked why I did not pick up my plate right away and put salad on it, and I said I would just have to hold it. The people ahead of me had a hard time figuring out what to get, and to get it on their plate. The older gentlemen ahead of me filled his plate with salad, skipped most everything else, and then proceeded to fill his plate with French dressing, such as in have a little lettuce with your  salad dressing. He then back tracked to get other items. And once again hit the French dressing. I said to my wife, this is why I was not in a hurry, I could not have gotten in a good groove to get the salad bar items. Our only regret with the salad bar was the lack of hand sanitizer at the end.

We both enjoyed prime rib, something we have not had for a good amount of months. She had the petite and I the queen cut. I said to the wife, that when I was younger, perhaps two years ago, I would have had the super cut. But, with my age (being a seasoned citizen) I thought it was appropriate to cut back on the portion size. She said perhaps I am just eating a little smarter in my old age. 

Talking about old, while the renovation was wide spread, so most of the interior is new, they did keep it quite authentic to the way it looked before. The wood wainscoting and paneling and even the wood accordion dividers between sections of seating. Supper club aficionado's should be pleased with the way it appears. 

Many supper club's have been lost over the years and it is nice to see this testament to Wisconsin having been renovated and reopened after the fire. The Herrmann's supper club in Sun Prairie, an old main stay, was lost to the large gas explosion in 2018 and is being replaced by an apartment building. Yet, I think the site was struggling before that explosion as it had turned over ownership and even was closed for a time. You will not find fancy food at a supper club, but the comfort food that has made supper club's a standing presence in the state. Given our era of discontent, there is nothing wrong with some Old Fashions and comfort food at a Wisconsin supper club.