Playing Peoria

Playing Peoria is a phase often used, perhaps now in the past, about taking the temperature on a product or idea.  I guess Peoria is (was) considered to be a microcosm of the nation's middle class.  On this date, in 1854, playing Peoria meant something completely different than the colloquialism of  today (or recent past).  One hundred and sixty-one years ago Abraham Lincoln made a speech denouncing slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska Act which had been approved by congress about five months earlier.  As one writer has noted, Lincoln was an "obscure lawyer and congressional hopeful."  However, Lincoln actually won election to the Illinois House of Representatives on Nov. 7, 1854.  Three days later he would declare his candidacy for the US Senate seat from Illinois.  He would lose the senate election to Lyman Trumbell, but his Peoria speech would enunciate his principle of opposition to slavery.   This speech would be the foundation for of later speeches, including some of those in the Lincoln Douglas debates of 1858.

Stephen Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act in which he argued for popular sovereignty.  That is, he wished to allow the settlers for each territory to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery.  The act would overturn the Missouri Compromise which had previously set forth a latitude as the dividing line between free and slave-holding states.  He also commented on a little recognized issue that much of the Northwest Territories were, at one time, under the control of a slave holding state, that being Virginia.  However, he would note, at the time of creation the Northwest territories were legislated as being free.  In this ground-breaking speech Lincoln would presage the the several years of violence that would follow the adoption of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.  Lincoln said: "And in this aspect, it could not but produce agitation. Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature---opposition to it, is [in?] his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow."   The violence resulting from the Kansas-Nebraska act was sufficiently gruesome and ugly for historians to tag the line from a newspaper to forever memorialize and etch this inhumanity--Bleeding Kansas. But yet, this speech did more than simply set forth Lincoln's opposition to slavery.  It also set forth the basic principles upon which he would rely throughout his career.  In this same Peoria speech Lincoln, going back to the Declaration of Independence, would say:

What I do say is, that no man is good enough to govern another man, without that other's consent. I say this is the leading principle---the sheet anchor of American republicanism. Our Declaration of Independence says: "We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED."

This quote is a longer version of what he had to say in what is now likely regarded as his most famous speech--"The Gettysburg Address." In that famous speech he said: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."  Lincoln would depend upon a document claiming that all men were created equal that was written by a Virginian who himself was a slave holder.  Lincoln would alter, overtime, his views to a certain degree.  For example, even though against slavery, at one time he supported the creation of a separate colony, or transport of the African-American population of the time to a resettlement area.  It is often difficult for us in the twenty-first century to recognize the era in history of which events occurred and the different view of the world in play at that time.  

What we need to recognize is that events today, in our enlightened world, challenge the ideals of of the era in which we live.  Just two days ago, for example, it was reported that a major sex-trafficking raid across the nation rescued 149 children.  Interesting is that Wisconsin had the third highest number of children rescued, which was nine.  As bad as that is, keep in mind that 57  adults in Wisconsin were rescued.  Eleven traffickers were arrested.  There is also the horror of what the Islamic State and other religious fundamentalists are doing through out the Mid-East. Maybe we should not be so smug in our views of prior generations.

As I complete this blog post, I think back two years and four months.  It was on June 16, 2013 when I made my first "blog" post, recounting, on the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg the importance of a regiment from Minnesota played during that crucial battle.   That post was actually accomplished as a Facebook status.  My musings on Facebook turned into a regular event, so son suggested that using a blog format would be better than Facebook, so, in November 2013, I began the formal blog. The events of Peoria and Gettysburg were nine years and a bloody civil war apart.  The blood of Bleeding Kansas would be mild compared to the blood of the Civil War.  The Civil War would become one of the defining events of the nation.  Yet, the events leading to war were formed well before, and would affect the nation long after.  Lincoln's speech in Peoria is seemingly lost to history on an American public more interested in a tweet than our collective history. While this speech set forth and would form the foundation of Lincoln's views on slavery,  it is well down the line in speeches recognized as important.  We recognize the Gettysburg Address; we recognize his House Divided speech; Some may even recall his Cooper Union speech.  Yet, in plain Peoria Lincoln would give the speech that was critical in setting forth his basic principles and would provide the basis for much of what he would say later in life.  To this we owe a debt of gratitude, and a need to acknowledge the importance of Lincoln's playing in Peoria.  While his Peoria speech is, comparatively, lost to history, what really matters is the ideals expressed on that fall day.  It is to Lincoln's continued expression of those ideals, perhaps, to which the most gratitude is owed.    

Images from Google Images

Beets Me

This past Sunday I decided to make a beet chocolate cake.  My spouse had come across the recipe, but never had the opportunity to bake this particular cake.  We had beets available from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share. With my spouse's assistance we cooked and then pureed three beets to get at least the one and one-half cups required for the recipe.  While our CSA provided us with red beets, I did grow a few golden beets in our garden.  My garden beets were rather small, about the size of a golf ball, and were considerably smaller than the red beets provided by the CSA.

Beet Chocolate Cake, made Oct. 4 (photo by author)

Some people, like one of my older siblings, likes to eat beets.  But me?  Not so much. They are good for you as they contain a great deal of fiber and vitamin C.  To the weight conscious, they are also fat free and low in calories.  So, you can get your fiber with few calories and no fat.  What a way to keep the plumbing in your body in good shape.  Beet tops can also be eaten,and they too contain good amounts of fiber and C, but also contain vitamin A.  Table beets also contain more sugar than any other vegetable, and that includes sweet corn and carrots.  Growing up my parents would eat beets; in particular I recall my Dad eating them.  Back then they were mostly boiled, or perhaps steamed.  You can, however, eat them raw or cooked.  Today you see beet top greens with their red stems turning up in pre-made salad mixes.  Of course, pre-made or pre-mixed salads are an invention of the late 20th century. Another convenience for the modern consumer too busy to take time to make a salad.  Since you can eat the beet raw, you could consider shredding some on your salad with the beet tops, arugula, lettuce, spinach and what ever other greens one chooses to eat.

One interesting fact, that I read on a California agricultural web site is that nationwide only about 10,000 acres of beets are grown in the United States.  In California, beets are mainly grown for their greens--used in those pre-made salads.  Beet greens last more than a week, which is necessary for the pre-made salads.  But, here is the kicker, that article also stated that about half of all table beets are grown in one state, which is Wisconsin.  I never would have guessed that Wisconsin would produce so much of this one crop.  Beets, both table and sugar, do well in our climate.  Sugar beets are, obviously, related to table beets, but get large, like a foot long and can weigh up to five pounds. Perhaps it is more than climate that made Wisconsin a grower of beets, but also ethnic heritage.

Sugar Beets

A common crop grown in Bohemia and the Czech Republic in the 19th century were beets.  They were not grown simply to be eaten, but for the production of sugar. Wisconsin's climate and geography reminded Czech immigrants to the United States of their native land and so Wisconsin became home to a good number of Czech immigrants.  It was not that long ago that transportation was not only time consuming, but was also expensive. The most cost effective method of transportation for many goods is by ship, and inland countries like Bohemia would probably find it more cost effective to grow beets and produce their own sugar.  The first factory to produce sugar from beets was established in 1801 in a region sometimes regarded as part of Bohemia--Lower Silesia. Beets are thought to have been part of "push" factor for Bohemian immigrants to the United States.  Small farms were being gobbled by larger operations to grow beets for sugar. Like much of the this part of Europe, this area was subjected to various rulers over time--including Poland, Germany and Hapsburg Austria.

Former Sugar Factory as seen today

An old, once elegant building in Madison behind Olbrich Gardens was first used to produce sugar from beets. Today we know the building as the old Garver Feed Mill, but it was first owned and operated by the US Sugar Company.  Sugar--a dentist full employment act.  Today, sugar beets produce about one-third of the world's supply of sugar.  This makes sense, as most every culture uses sugar, and not all are sufficiently fortunate to import sugar made from sugar cane.

Beet to Sugar Factory in Madison, was known as the "Sugar Castle"

Table beets generally are a deep red, and in fact this natural color is sometimes used to make lemonade pink, and is even used to add a fuller red color to tomato sauces. I should probably become a bigger fan of beets. But for now, I will continue to enjoy my beet cake.  I found that I can make the cake even better by slathering one of my favorite foods on top of a piece of that cake--peanut butter,  Now, I ask, what other writer would tie in beets, Bohemian immigration, a historic building in Madison, WI and a cake in one blog post?

Unless otherwise noted, all images from Google images

Picnic

This past Saturday my wife and I enjoyed a visit and picnic lunch at Devil’s Lake State Park. We tend to visit the park at least once a year. It is the third oldest state park. The park is expansive. It is the largest of all state parks in acreage. It also offers a variety of activities, and has the second most campsites of all state parks. The park is part of what is known as the wider Baraboo Range, a monadnock among which sediment accumulation at the base, and the forces of erosion have reduced the height of a once magnificent mountain range. The range is primarily composed of quartzite, which is a hard rock and is dated at 1.5 billion years old making it among the oldest rock formations in North America. Most of the activity at the park, however, occurs at the large picnic grounds on the north and south shores of the lake, and the trails to the top of the bluffs on each side. The views from the bluff are a sight to behold and on that autumn day hints of yellow and red were showing among the distant trees in the vast bluff-top view. The wide variety of recreational offerings, perhaps as diverse as any state park, combined with its geographic location make it the most visited Wisconsin state park.

Devil's Doorway, photo by author
Some may say the rocks were stacked by aliens

Being the most visited shows not only in the diverse activities offered in the park, but also in the type of persons it attracts. You have left-overs from the 1960’s enjoying the weather. You have motorcyclists and their biker companions in their leather bike gear roaring by. You have young and old alike climbing the strenuous trails to get to the top of the bluff. There are rock climbers sitting next to a mid-level bluff trail awaiting their turn to scale one of the sheer quartzite rock faces. There are young and old enjoying water activities. A number of watercraft rentals occurred on this mild autumn day. The number of persons in the water was not significant, mostly children, but some adults. Some would wade in the water mumbling at the varied stones that make stepping difficult. The coming of age millennials, off-spring of the baby-boomers, show an energy that a boomer can now only admire, or look back on with some envy. The diversity, however, is more than the type of activity, the demographics or even the socio-economic status. It is also ethnic and cultural.

The ethnic diversity was clearly shown this year as my wife and I began our walk to the pot-hole trail. The first three groups we met, as we were just beyond the parking lot, spoke a language other than English. Two of the groups were likely from Eastern Europe, the other from Asia. The Wisconsin Dells area employs a high number of Eastern Europeans to work as guards at their water parks, and clean their hotel rooms. Being from the Midwest we tend to be friendly and provide a greeting to those we meet on the trail. Some would respond in English, although heavily accented, and then carry on a conversation in their mother tongue with others in their group.

Portion of trail map of park, google images

A trip we made to the park in the summer of 2014 was a day the park was very heavily used. People were almost on-top of one another at the picnic grounds. The parking lot, and overflow parking was so full that cars were parking on Southshore Drive as far as one could see. There were people playing Frisbee that we had to duck, you had to navigate a maze of blankets and picnic gear to get from the beach to your picnic table. People being people, piled trash in the restrooms, even though the park policy is carry-out what you carry-in. However, that summer day also showed the aromas emanating from a variety of grills wafted through the air combining to cause a mixture of olfactory pleasure. The fare was not just brats and burgers. Some ethnic groups were grilling food common to their custom. It was like being at a foreign food festival, but without the chance to taste the variety of foods.

Last Saturday a few things took my notice. First, was the Chinese family, a man, two adult females and a small child. They were dressed as if they had an important event to attend, not unlike people would dress today for a wedding. While the man did not have a tie on, he had on a dress shirt, nice dress trousers, and dress shoes. They took it upon themselves to rent a paddle boat. They were fortunate that the concessionaire, seeing their predicament, dried the dew off the seats, and waited for them to load and then pushed them in the water. The return journey required the man to remove his shoes and socks and roll his pant legs up to knee level to get out and pull the boat back to the sandy and stone shore. This was a contrast with the typical attendee in shorts and t-shirts. Also in contrast was the second group we noticed. A group of Mennonites were at the far west shelter in the south shore day use area. There you could see them, women standing in a group outside the shelter, and the men in the shelter sitting down. Some of the women would walk along the shore, their light blue shirts, and white bonnets, one waded in the water. Interesting, is that most we say were young, typical millennial age group or younger. The men in their black jeans and light blue or green shirts would walk by our picnic table perhaps on their way up the bluff. A few young couples walked by together, but that seemed more the exception. One thing I did notice, and was consistent with Mennonites we saw at the top of St. Peter’s Dome was that they did not have individual water bottles but a couple quart sized water containers for shared use. Most others, if they had a water container, had an individual water bottle. The Mennonite group was in contrast to the group at the center shelter, a fair distance off the lake. A birthday party was being held, a typical American event with balloons drawing guests to the shelter.

View from a bluff, google images

Also present were four legged guests. With the water-beach interface occupied by only perhaps 30 persons at the most, some people took liberty and would take their dogs down to the water, ignoring the “No Dogs Allowed” signs. With the number of dogs in the water at the far west end of the beach, perhaps that area was reserved for dogs. The furry creatures would run in the water to fetch a ball and then return to shake themselves out. Some persons took their dog on a canoe ride. Whether the dogs left some undesirable debris along the lake shore, I choose not to check.

Most groups that walked by had conversations, at least those in English, that seemed rather common. There was one millennial, however, who was walking down the path with a female friend, who was trashing his mother. Metaphorically speaking, he said to his partner, that “his mother can take the wind out of my sail.” He would go on to recount how one can be doing really well enjoying the day and then his mother comes along and bam, there is no more fun, there is no more joy. She would destroy his day. She just sucks the life out of the guy. While it made me chuckle a little, my wife had a discernibly different reaction, wondering if that is how her children talked when not in her presence. While moms hold a family together they also get the grief. Perhaps at some point that young man will make the recollection that was made famous (I think by Mark Twain) and apply it to his mother when commenting that he was amazed how much his father had learned over the span of four years from his child’s late adolescents to early adulthood.

Size of Devil's doorway, photo by author

One never knows what you can observe on a picnic at a state park. Our Saturday visit to the south shore showed the richness of the varied cultures that occupy the nation. One does not need go to a large American city to see the diversity of culture, you only need to visit a state park. The cultural milieu of the nation can be observed at Devil’s Lake State Park. Devil’s Lake is within the larger Baraboo Range which, according to the Nature Conservancy, is home to over half (or about 135) of the 226 bird species that breed in Wisconsin. Over 250 species of birds nest or pass through the area. Devil’s Lake State Park may be one of the top jewels of our state park system, but the richness and diversity of its natural environment and activities provided is matched by the human richness of ethnicity and culture of its guests. In the end, our visit was an example of what Pope Francis referred to in his recent US visit when commented that the nation should celebrate its differences.

What I found the most surprising is, how few digital photos I could find of Devil's Lake, considering all the times we have been visited. I thought for sure I had the camera last year, but I could not find any photos

35 Years Ago

It was on this date, 35 years ago that my mother, Mary Jeanne Sweeney Hovel, passed from life on this earth. She was born in Chicago, IL on 1 October 1923 to an Irish father and a German mother. Mom was a product of the neighborhoods in which she was raised. After schooling, and time for discernment, she would marry and then venture a few hours north to make her home with her husband in Sun Prairie, WI. She, and my Dad, were part of the Greatest Generation, which not only saw the US through a horrible conflict, but would forever change the course of our world. They, and other members of their generation, would see a rapid change in the built and social environment of the nation. With others of that generation, they would produce a demographic tsunami the consequences of which we see in our economy to this day. Mom and Dad produced their share of that demographic tidal wave, by having ten offspring. Their first child was born in 1948, just days into the new year; their last child would be born in the fall of the last year (i.e. 1964) recognized as the baby boom generation. In between in 1957 the largest population cohort of the baby boomers would be born, and so to with our family as Mom gave birth to twins. (But for my brother wanting more space and pushing me out, we were to have been born in 1958.)  Thus, the family would span the breadth of the baby boom generation. We became part of the great American experiment that changed our land use, would alter the nation's social mores, and in so doing change the fabric of the nation. In our family we were a mix of ancestry—German, Bohemian, and Irish. A combination now not unknown.

Leo Sweeney Family

However, in early 20th century America, the mix of ancestry of was in its early stages. While the US is often thought of as a melting pot, it was more of a stew, as ethnic enclaves were formed from large cities to small towns. These urban enclaves, began forming in the mid-19th century and continued into the first part of the 20th century. What resulted was a social, political and religious environment that would form the values of generations. Mom's values were formed in a big city, but my Dad’s values were formed by his growing up on a farm next to small communities in Iowa and Wisconsin. While there were marked differences in the built environments from which they arose, both had some crucially shared values of faith and family. These elements would dominate their life not only growing up, but in raising their own family.

Mary Jeanne Sweeney

Historians and urban sociologists tell us that in a number of large urban centers, particularly in the northeast and Midwest, neighborhoods were identified not by their polity, but by their neighborhood Catholic Church. Putnam and Campbell say that even non-Catholics would identify their neighborhood by that Catholic parish.  The church served not only as the religious center, but also as the social center and welfare center. One example in mass media is in the movie “Cinderella Man.” When James Braddock was fighting Max Baer, the neighborhood residents gathered in the parish church to listen to the fight on the radio. This was the depression era, and the church was the unifying institution on which people depended. Today, the German and Irish have moved on from the neighborhoods in which they, or their ancestors, were formed and with that move certain bonds and values were affected.

For some reason, even though my mother was half German and half Irish she identified more with the Irish side. You never saw her, or really anyone, celebrate St. Boniface day.  But, she did celebrate St. Patrick’s day. Perhaps it was that the German’s became more of just another ethnic group, whereas the trials which the WASP nation put the Irish through was a different matter. Ireland was dominated by the English, and so the ruling and dominant Anglo class in the US would make life for the Irish in the US less than desirable. This of course had the effect of drawing the Irish closer to their own kind, and to the neighborhoods and the one institution they shared in common—the Catholic Church. My mother would be educated at Catholic schools. My father’s family moved from rural Iowa to Sun Prairie so he could be educated at Catholic schools as well.  Even though one was raised on a farm in rural Wisconsin and the other in the then second largest city in the nation, they had common values.

Mary Jeanne and Roy Hovel

My mother would give birth to and raise ten children. She would bear the heartache of having lost a son in a tragic accident when he was only 4 years of age. As much anguish as that loss produced, I cannot help but think she was also pushed beyond her chronological age by other events. She was pushed by ten births, She was pushed by many other pregnancies which were only part-term. Maybe she was also pushed through the actions of her prodigy. As much laughter as the stories of the antics bring in later years, they probably were not very funny at the time, at least to her. Although I am sure my Dad found some of them quite funny. After all it was my Dad who caught on his movie camera a fight between my two oldest brothers.  While Mom is screaming for them to stop, my Dad has his Kodak movie camera moving around the action.  The most surprising thing is that one of my brothers did not slug him.  We would often hear the comment from Mom..."Oh, Bernard that is not funny!”  Other antics were more than my brother wearing his short tails out. Or, my Dad bringing a pony up the steps into the back hall. They were antics not totally uncommon to boys and girls of the age, but the antics tended to be multiplied by the mere fact that there were ten children, of which there were seven sons before a daughter.  We proved the adage that boys will be boys.

Being self-employed my Dad was at work quite often. He worked long hours, particularly during tax season when he would return to the office for a few more hours of work each night. As was not uncommon, he was also immersed in various civic and church groups. My mom ran the household. Again, that was not unusual for the day. It was a different era than that seen by the helicopter parents of today. We walked to school, we walked or biked to visit friends. We climbed trees and played in the creek. We would be set outside during the summer only to return for lunch and dinner. Of course, many of our activities were in our large yard, if not within a few blocks. We got hurt, but we survived, even if few stitches were required. We (or me) built ramps on which we would ride our bikes, and then would place pedal cars and tractors and try and jump over those too. It was not unlike what was in “Sandlot” or other movies representing life of an era and childhood that as we age we tend to look back on with fondness rather than enmity. Mom’s life was the care and well-being of her children. She was not a helicopter parent, but was sufficiently present to provide necessary guidance. Of course, she had eyes in the back of her head. Her mother’s intuition was very strong. Her life likely mirrored many other mothers of the day. Having grown up in an urban area, she would raise her family in the suburban culture as Sun Prairie moved from a rural farming community to a suburb of Madison.

Mom and Dad

She was a city girl that appreciated the five acres her large boisterous brood had available to roam. In Sun Prairie today, my lone brother to live in Sun Prairie notes, the term “are you one of the Hovel boys” is still asked of him. Perhaps less common than 35 or 50 years ago, but it is still present. In a then version of Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, her phone network often had her hearing of some the antics of a child before they returned home. It was a small town where you really could not get away with anything. The words we did not want to hear were “Wait to your Father gets home.” Although her punishment was often more exacting than his. Yet, it was still the threat. Not unlike what the Barone boys saw between Marie and Frank in some of the stories told on “Everybody Loves Raymond.” We would go to church Sunday mornings at 9:00 am. Sunday was my Mom’s morning off from kitchen work, as my Dad would do the cooking—generally pancakes and bacon or sausage. Of course, the young two being spoiled had bunny shaped pancakes, with chocolate chips for eyes.  Her life was one of service, primarily to her children. Her success was not measured in the deals she cut, the money she made, or some other common measure of success. Rather, her success was in raising a large family.  She was quite self-less, not after for her own personal gain, but rather the gain of her family. Yet, her actions moved beyond the family.  When friends needed assistance she was there.  She was well practiced in the lost art of letter writing.

The institutions in her Chicago neighborhood that were important to her have been in decline. Mobility has altered the way we live; our form of development has helped to decrease the importance of some of the institutions on which families of her growing years depended. These institutions have been significantly damaged by a variety of forces, some self-inflicted. Today, it is often not the common good which is important to a person, but rather what an individual can get for him or herself. The individual nature, rather than individuals forming a collective consciousness, can be seen in many different facets of what we refer to as our post-modern world. In their basic form, institutions are a collection of persons with a common interest, which should work to advance the common good.

Tombstone in Sacred Hearts Cemetery, Sun Prairie, WI

Times have changed between my mother’s childhood in Chicago and when she raised her own family. Times have changed between my being raised and my current age. Of course, we should not expect things to not change, life would be rather dull and boring if it did not change. Yet, the aspect of community, our "common home," seems to be less important as individualism takes hold. Individualism can be good, individual activity can drive advances, but like all things, it needs to be tempered by some other aspect, and that aspect is community.  My mother showed the true value of caring for others.  A value instilled by the family and larger community of which she was apart.  She understood the value of the common good, and the role an individual plays to assist the larger institution or community in which they participate.   She would understand the comment by St. Thomas Aquinas who (as quoted recently by Martin O'Malley) wrote: “Any seeker of a higher truth or of God, must eventually and inevitably come back to the idea of community.” As time has lingered, some of the memories I had of her have unfortunately diminished.  Yet, the lessons learned, and virtues formed through the institutions that formed me, including the family unit, continue to inform.

Can Never Have Enough....

Last week my wife said something I thought I would never hear. No, it was not what you may be thinking. She said she was going to miss zucchini. By this time of year, who in their right mind would utter such a comment? One does not have to be a long-term gardener to know that zucchini are the rabbits of the vegetable family. They keep coming, and coming, and coming. By September you have pretty much have had your fill of zucchini, and other summer squash. Most would prefer not to see one again, but of course the following late spring, you have once again planted zucchini knowing that you have at least one crop that will produce. By this time of year you may be wishing for a frost more to get rid of the zucchini plant than to tone down the mosquitoes.

Two over-sized patty-pan squash

Left unattended for too long zucchini will get as big as whiffle ball bat. They get so big, JK Rowling missed the mark by not having a zucchini be the big club to fit into the giant hands of Hagrid’s half-brother Grawp in the Harry Potter series. Daily trudges to the garden are necessary to keep zucchini in check. Although, under the giant leaves they become hidden where they are difficult to notice and then they reach a size disproportionate to your desire. But, you can find a use for them, whether it is in baking bread, or cubing or cutting. This is where my wife has developed a new found love affair for zucchini. She purchased a spiralizer that can take normal sized (if there is such a thing) hunks of zucchini, and she has even done this to patty-pans, to create small noodles. I have to agree they are quite tasty, at least the way she prepares them. She has well expanded her repertoire for cooking summer squash that she actually enjoys the challenge of using this ever abundant crop. I have to say her culinary preparation of the summer squash family has had the effect of expanding my waistline. As one example, she has improved upon a recipe of oatmeal zucchini bread. I enjoy the bread which I love to, much to her chagrin, slather with peanut butter.

I need to admit that I have been an enabler for her cooking of zucchini. When I was in the library last week I happened to see a cookbook sitting for all to see titled The Classic Zucchini Cookbook. This book offered 225 recipes for zucchini and all types of squash. With zucchini being ever present I was surprised to see it not only so visible on and end cap display, but that it was still there. Perhaps it proves my thesis that all others are by now tired of zucchini and cannot wait for the first frost. An on-line search showed eleven copies in the South-Central Library system for just this one cookbook. She was as excited as teenage girl receiving seeing her rock idol when I showed her the cookbook. I think she wants to get a copy to add to her cookbook collection. As of last Sunday, she has made three recipes from that cookbook.  Three vary different dishes. Who knew you could get such variety with zucchini.  All were quite good.

Omelet made with zucchini with other garden vegetables

As fall begins to set in our summer squash crop will produce less and less.  This week we pulled the zucchini out, due to disease, and the patty-pan will likely follow in the next week or two, provided we do not have a frost.  I harvested the last zucchini for the season this past Sunday.  The days are shorter and the garden is in shade shortly after the Packer-Bear game kickoff.  Not much sunlight for a productive crop, even if it is zucchini.  For many recipes you cannot use frozen zucchini. Frozen will not work in her new toy--the spiralizer. I suppose a benefit of the spiralized zucchini is that is healthier than eating flour noodles. On the other hand, eating all that zucchini oat bread, while tasty, is probably not all that good for the body.  I can, however, justify eating it by knowing that she took the recipe and cut out some of the fat content.  The nice thing with zucchini bread is it can be made with zucchini that had been frozen.  As fall approaches and our zucchini supply has now come to an end, my wife will need to content herself with either purchased zucchini or regular noodles. As inventive as she is, however, perhaps she will spiral up some other vegetable to replace a noodle. That than gets to the question, can one ever have too much zucchini? 

Nature's Bounty

A recent post in late August discussed the beauty of our natural world and the awesome wonders which nature, or the handiwork of God, presents.  The wonders of nature are but one aspect of God's bounty.  There is also another aspect, and for which we all need to give thanks.  That is food.  Even in the increasingly secularized nation of today 44% of the United States continues to say grace, a prayer if you will, before a meal.  Our life as inhabitants of the earth depends upon water, food and shelter. Three key aspects to every animal on earth, but most important to humans.

Some of the tomato crop ready for processing

We have changed our cultural pattern to such a degree that not living with heat or indoor plumbing is roughing it, conditions which would constitute blight and make, at least in many parts of the United States, a building uninhabitable. People, at least many that we consider civilized, have evolved from hunter-gatherers to a people many of which today do not know from where their food comes.  The nation lost its path, and its connection with agriculture.  Enter the grow local movement which is now increasingly popular, if not near hip.  It is rather funny that growing food has once again become a thing to do.  Mediocre restaurants use the term to drum up more business on the idea that locally grown is better and healthier.  I was at a Madison Fire Station today, and they prided themselves on their own site produced vegetables.  It is not uncommon to hear of foods contaminated by some source or another being recalled. Spinach and lettuce are often culprits. Hence, the idea of local food is to know where your food is grown. Nothing can be more local than the food one grows with their own hands.

Cutting up to make tomato sauce

I guess you could say that my wife and I have been part of the grow-local movement long before there was a grow-local movement.  We have had a vegetable garden for the 24 summers of which we have been married.  Our garden does not receive the sufficiency of sunlight that it should as neighbor trees shade it about halfway through the day, but yet we find some success.  However, planting of a second garden a half hour drive away gets much more sun and productivity.  For example, an eggplant in our garden may produce perhaps two or three, while the more distant one with its higher level of sun, and what appears to be better soil, produces ten or more.  The distant garden is relegated to plants which can wait a week to be picked.

Tomato sauce being cooked

Some crops need picking every day.  A good example, is tomatoes.  Tomatoes need to be picked in our home garden every day.  One reason is that we have some varmint which takes a bite out of the ripe tomatoes, so we need to pick the tomatoes just before prime.  Lucky for us, tomatoes ripen off the vine.  Pests and varmints are a bane to more than Mr. MacGregor. Of course it is difficult to refer to a cotton tailed bunny a varmint.  I planted my first garden here at my home on a Monday 24 years ago.  You are probably wondering how I know it was a Monday, but it was not a journal, but my work life.  I woke up on Tuesday morning to find that about half my plants were just plain missing.  Because of a Tuesday night meeting, I could not go out and get fencing; that would have to wait until Wednesday.  By Wednesday, there were no garden plants remaining.  Darn, those Tuesday night meetings.  The fence would go up to help project the seed rising from seed.  It was a double whammy since many of plants I had started and nursed from seed in my basement.  I had to go out and buy the tomatoes, broccoli and other seedlings.

The results of Saturday canning

But, plants mature and they need to be harvested and eaten or preserved.  I try to space out broccoli, but it does not matter--they all come at once.  Sometimes you want a good amount of produce at once, like when you want to preserve food--such as tomatoes.  But, some things we would prefer, such as broccoli, to come over the course of a few weeks.  Peppers seem to behave better than broccoli, while they arrive later in the season, they seem to spread themselves out; plus they can last longer on the vine before having to be picked.

Pears being cooked down in both the dutch oven and the stainless steel pot

Perhaps a more difficult part is the work entailed in preserving the food. There are two ways we preserve food, freezing and canning.  Since we do not use a pressure cooker, we are limited in what we are able to can.  We have frozen over 15 quarts of green beans this year.  We took this on with team work cleaning, cutting, blanching, bagging and freezing the beans.  My wife has the more difficult task, as she does most of the canning.  Cutting, cooking and canning has been much of her task this early part of September.  She has made salsa, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, as well as canning tomatoes.  Giving the term labor to Labor Day weekend, she toiled over ten hours combined between Saturday and Monday canning.  It is one thing to can in front of a hot stove when it is 70 degrees outside, but temperatures pushing 90, and high humidity make it something else.  AIr conditioning could not keep up with her level of activity.  Besides canning the above this weekend, we also picked, cooked and canned several jars of pear sauce--think of a sauce made with pears instead of apples.  But what we mainly can is tomatoes, or the varied aspects which use a tomato base (salsa, for example).  I used to plant about 40 to 45 tomato plants, but we are now grow about half that number.  Yet, we still get plenty of tomatoes, and so her canning will continue, regardless of the number we are able to give away to friends or coworkers.

Canned tomatoes and pear sauce

It certainly is easier picking, cleaning and storing squash or potatoes.  Yes, some may go bad over time, but we have found a method to clean squash that allows us to have butternut squash from last year saved into October the following year.  We may lose a few, but at least some crops are easier to preserve than others.  Our freezer would not be sufficiently sized to freeze all the tomatoes, or pear sauce.  My wife and I make quite the team in our gardening and preserving.  Yes, some things are in her own purview when it comes to canning.  Not only does she prefer it that way, but I think she wants to keep me away from a knife so as to avoid a trip to the ER.  She did, however, let me cut up a good share of the pears.  I, on the other hand, have the work at the front end planting and tending the seedlings as they arise in our basement, and in planting, mulching, thinning and weeding the garden.

Of course, you may not want to pop a fresh cayenne pepper in your mouth

Tomorrow we will be picking more tomatoes, and that of course means more canning for my wife.  When that ends it will be grapes.  Fresh produce is a wonder to behold, and when you grow it yourself you can eat a fresh carrot just washed out of the garden, a handful of just picked (I mean just picked) raspberries, or a sugar snap pea right off the vine.  All, plus other fresh crops--onions, radishes, lettuce, produce a great tasty sensation.  When eating these fresh fruits and vegetables you can not help but think of what toil and sweat can produce when you nurture to bring about nature's bounty.

Up North

While taking a quick trip to the north woods this past June, the weather was cold and unsettled. For the duration of the trip it was mainly rain with highs in the low 60’s. Spring or fall weather, but definitely not what one would expect in mid to late June. But, that seems to be how the weather goes in the northern part of the state, if the sun does not come out, the temperatures do not rise. While Camping in July a number of years ago at Pattison State Park, the trip was nothing but clouds, rain, and you guessed it cold weather. I think the temperature never pushed above the mid 50’s. While in the north woods this past June, my sister and her husband were beginning a one week vacation and she commented to our nephew, who lives in the north woods, that she was hoping that the one week of summer they experience would be present for their vacation week. Given the clouds and cold that Sunday, chances were slim.

Wren Falls, in the middle of somewhere

This comment came to mind while my wife and I were camping up north in the middle of August. For a good half of the trip the weather was cold, cloudy and rainy. Even the sunny days were so windy that a chill was present, perhaps a harbinger of the coming autumn. Thus, is the contradiction of up north. In the north woods, trees had hints of turning their leaves, down south only distressed trees were starting to turn. We visitors to the north tend to wear shorts and short sleeve shirts. Natives seem to wear long pants and long sleeved, if not flannel, shirts. Flannel is in fashion in more than Minnesota. Up north provides a different culture from that in the southern part of the state. Here we see businesses watering their lawn, up north we saw businesses, mainly milling operations, watering their log piles. Down south deer and turkeys are now rather common, up north it is deer, but also loons and bears. Down south we have pedestrian crossings, up north near Clam Lake they have elk crossings. Down south our Madison lakes are choked with weeds so that, as an acquaintance of mine commented, they have to “mow” the lakes. Urban and agricultural use have flooded our waters with phosphorus and nitrogen, just to mention two of the pollutants.  Plants that bloom in the south, such as Indian Paintbrush, in early July, are blooming near Clam Lake in mid-August.  Down south you may need air conditioning, even during the night; you generally do not need air conditioning in the north woods; even on hot days it seems to cool down in the evening. After all the sun is no longer in the sky, and as shown by the first paragraph—no sun no warmth.

Maple leaf near Wren Falls

In the north woods on a cloudy day with rain you can visit water falls. Down south on a rainy day you may be in a museum. Each area of the state has its own distinct methods and systems, some being more enjoyable than the others. Of course, if want to grow a garden most warm weather crops will do quite nicely in the southern part of the state, but in the north woods you likely will need a green house for some warm weather crops--think squash and peppers. On our recent camping trip I was surprised to see some dairy farms up near Ashland, perhaps the lake effect moderates some of the temperatures because seldom do you see field corn being grown north of Highway 8. While hay is grown, they likely do not get the number of cuttings that are prevalent in the southern half of the state.

Indian Paintbrush in our campsite

In the southern part of the state most local roads, thanks to the dairy industry, are paved. Not so up north—most are gravel, if not dirt. Roads seem to lack much truck traffic but the truck traffic they do have moves fast and splays stones on to your car breaking the windshield. Yes, that happened on our camping trip on a newly chip sealed road with its multitude of pea gravel. However, the biggest difference I noticed was in traffic management. While a state highway was being slurry sealed on a 10 mile stretch we needed to wait about one half hour to advance beyond the man with the stop sign. I had never seen a lead “patrol” car to follow before in all my years of driving in construction zones, but there it was up north just east of Mellen. Perhaps we had just missed the lead car when we arrived, but even though travelling on the non-chip sealed side, the patrol car speed never got up past 25 mph on the state highway. A new driving experience. Down south, the traffic backup for such a long wait would have been, well let us say, catastrophic--the area would have been shut down, even with more route opportunities. I will not even touch on the slang or the accents of natives to the region.

Mom Bear

The north woods is not a state of mind, it is a state of presence in a geography,both physical and cultural, that is rather distinct from its southern brother. Each part of the state has unique contributions. The north is dependent upon the agricultural and economic power of the southern part of the state, the southern part likes to vacation, hunt and fish in its northern part, not to mention the use of some of its resources. Urbanization powers wealth.  Years ago, the north felt disconnected from the south, and there was talk of that area combining with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a 51st state called Superior. It would have been superior in trees and lakes, but definitely not in population, economic output, or other measures of civilization. There is nothing wrong with each being dependent upon the other as long as one side does not take the other for granted. As for me, I take a look at the weather tonight, and in McFarland at 8:30 pm it is 78, while in Clam Lake it is 66. As humid as it is, Clam Lake appears pretty good right now. The larger question is question is how many more blog posts I can get out of our camping trip to Clam Lake?