Tomato

Our tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. That pleases my Land Girl, who can then do her land girl activities of putting up produce. That, and the tomatoes are finally catching up with the peppers. Usually, are peppers and tomatoes ripen about the same time, but not this year. She commented that it is nice to be able to put up some of our garden produce.  Prior to this, some peppers were canned, and beans and carrots frozen. 

Some tomatoes

The tomato plants are well loaded with tomatoes and due to some critter that gets in and eats near ripe tomatoes we need to pick the tomatoes when they have some green, and have them ripen off the vine.  We tried placing them in paper bags, placing them in a cool basement, and now we are trying them in the sun.  The internet gives plenty of advice, some of it contradictory. We tried the basement since one source said that cool temperatures ripen tomatoes.  Our day light, for August 26, is about 13.5 hours, which is about equal to what we saw on April 12.  Daylight hours are getting shorter, and night usually means cooler temps. We are still in the dog days of summer. The meteorological summer ends next week. 

Tomatoes

Today, Land Girl finally had sufficient tomatoes for canning.  We had some frozen, and most she used had  ripened over the past days (in various experimental forms) from those we picked over the past week.  With her years of land girl experience, she correctly guessed 7 quarts of home-made tomato sauce from the available tomatoes. She had our large pot almost overflowing with tomato sauce. I suggested she let it cook down more before adding even more tomatoes (that were thawing) and she said she has done this more times than I have; the implication was clear that I should keep my mouth shut.  She used peppers and some spices, such as basil and parsley harvested from our garden. I grow Mariana hybrid tomatoes which are supposed to be for sauces and canning as it is a meatier tomato, but this is the first of the many years I have grown them, that Land Girl found them to be nice and meaty. I start the plants from seed in the second week of March.  

Our summer squash has not been very productive this year, so we have not had to really freeze any zucchini or patty pan. Varied animals, probably turkeys with groundhogs, took out my winter butternut squash plants at a young age.  I replanted with the remaining few seeds, understanding it may have been too late for a crop. Looking at the plants, I realize it is now too late as they are fruit on the vine are not near ripe with less than one month remaining in the growing season. 

Our Herb Garden

We had an abundant crop of lettuce and other greens this year, with the heat finally taking its toll when we got back from a camping trip in July. I now have another crop, for the fall planted, and it may be ready to cut in a week or two. We look forward to fresh garden greens. Fresh produce is the best result of vegetable gardening.

What can beat a gardener down is the weather, diseases or pests.  This year it has, generally, been hot and dry.  We have had some large rains. I have watered the garden a few times, but changed my method this year from that used in the past.  In the past,

I used to use a soaker hose, but that produced inconsistent results in the garden, plus it is difficult to set around the plants as they mature. Using a garden sprinkler tends to require a good length of time since the water sits on leaves and takes a while to get through the plant vegetation and the mulch layer. I mulch with leaves left over from the prior fall, which are used on flower beds, and some pulled off in spring and piled for use on the garden.  By this time of year, the mulch is nearing soil. I watered by taking the hose and turning it part way on and allowing water to flow at the base of each plant. I would move to another plant and back again until it appeared sufficient water was at the base of each plant.  It takes time, but it is probably easier on the water bill, with less waste.  With this method I can avoid water on the plant leaves which can lead to diseases. 

Land Girl making Tomato Sauce

With the varied diseases and pests it can take some work to get fresh produce.  I have not used a chemical spray for pests or diseases on the vegetable garden, and I cannot recall the last time I used a organic spray to control disease or pests. Some vegetables, such as kale, are supposed to be very good for you, but are on the dirty dozen list. I grow my kale organically, and hence, I think mine would not make the dirty dozen list with pesticide or herbicide residue. Another component is vegetable selection, I no longer grow cauliflower since the cabbage worms seem worse in that plant than in broccoli.

Gardening exploded last year during the start of the Covid pandemic. It makes for a good activity in which you can see results. Albeit, at times there may not be such good results, as with the animals eating my butternut squash plants, or my brussel sprouts plants.  Last year my brussel sprouts produced, and come this time of year were eaten clean, leaving only the long tall stalk as a memory of what could have been. Yet, I keep gardening, because we like the fresh produce. That and Land Girl has something to keep her active--like making and canning tomato sauce.

No Near Normal

For about two and one-half months, Dane County did not require masks indoors. On June 2, 2021 the local public health department allowed the then in-place order to run its course. This, was a few weeks after CDC guidance had suggested that mask wearing was no longer required.  Although the CDC continued to recommend that the non-vaccinated wear a mask. I am not sure how many non-vaccinated would follow such guidance, unless they have a health issue prohibiting them from getting the vaccine. As of Thursday, August 19, 2021, masks are once again required indoors in Dane County. The near normal is now more distant than it was a couple months ago. 

The recent mask indoor requirement came a few weeks after CDC guidance suggested that all persons should wear masks indoors, in higher risk areas. For probably a week or more Dane County, has been in a high risk area.  It is interesting, in that in Dane County over 70% of residents have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Of course, the percent of those eligible for a vaccine would be higher. than 70%.  As more and more persons who are fully vaccinated encounter the Delta variant, they get ill, although the level of illness is said to be not as great as those who did not get the vaccine. My spouse and I have been wearing our mask indoors since the August CDC guidance came out.

Dane County, WI Covid Dashboard, 8/16/21

The mRNA vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, which required two shots, will be requiring a third shot at eight months from your last shot. The one shot J&J vaccine, which received emergency approval later, is still under study. A recent news report stated that the Delta variant is as present in a vaccinated person as in a non-vaccinated person. That means that the vaccine, while helping you perhaps not get as sick, the disease is as present in a vaccinated as non-vaccinated person. Meaning, it is as spreadable from a vaccinated person as a non-vaccinated person. That is why even vaccinated individuals were asked, and now in Dane County ordered, to wear a mask. To avoid spreading it to the non-vaccinated.  Besides wearing masks, my wife and I try to limit our exposure by avoiding indoor places unless essential. I was surprised how long it took Dane County to make it mandatory. In another piece of news today, while not giving numbers, the story indicates that break-through cases have more than doubled in Wisconsin between February and July. A break-through case is where one is fully vaccinated and they still get the virus. The public, beyond elderly and health care workers, were generally not eligible for the vaccine until probably late March. I had heard that at one point the CDC was not tracking break through cases. I would hope they have changed their mind. The State is also now starting to provide Covid numbers by vaccinated and non-vaccinated.  Just over 53% of Wisconsin residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. As of July 2021, data (per 100,000 persons) from 8/18 about 125 cases of Covid were for those vaccinated, and 369 for those not fully vaccinated. Hospitalization rates for the not fully vaccinated track slightly higher than the case count, with 4.9 for those vaccinated compared to 18.2 not fully vaccinated. You are ten times more likely to die, per the stat, if you are are not fully vaccinated, as compared to a person fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated is two weeks after your last shot (for two dose shots).

July Case Count in WI (per 100,000 persons)

The funny thing is the individuals who have refused to get vaccinated are those who probably promote a certain level of individualism. They have, in part, made it so those those of us who are vaccinated should (in Dane County now required) wear a mask indoors--to protect the non-vaccinated. Per the CDC announcement earlier this month this action was taken to help protect the non-vaccinated.  I find some irony in this situation. Many leaders, including Pope Francis, recognized the importance of the vaccine.  In January of this year the Pope said, "I believe that morally everyone must take the vaccine. It is the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others." At the same time, the Pope had this to say about those not wishing to receive the vaccine: "There is a suicidal denialism that I would not know how to explain but today people must take the vaccine" (Quotes are from this article.) 

What I was really hoping for, last spring, was that by this time of the year we would be at the old normal, being able to eat-out inside a restaurant, not having to wear a mask indoors. Not having to worry about what you touch. Yet, now with a combination of the Delta variant, the decreasing efficacy of the vaccines, and the those who have chosen to not get vaccinated, we are going backwards. Case counts are increasing. For example, Dane County now has many more persons infected with Covid than last year August when my son got married in a small 16 person attended wedding last August. Fortunately, today, so far, Dane County does not have limitations on gatherings as they had last year at this time (25 persons for outdoors).  That they do not have limits on indoor or outdoor gatherings is probably due in part to those of us who have been vaccinated, and Covid fatigue.  

At this point, unless Covid starts to burn itself out, I wonder if we are nearing a new normal of masks and regular shots. I would say herd immunity, but I am not sure how herd immunity works with all the variants that pop up. Then there are those that refuse to get vaccinated, who make reaching herd immunity (if it is possible) difficult to reach. Never before, as far as I know, that vaccines have so quickly been created, and here we are with almost half the population hesitant about getting vaccinated. I don't really hear talk about reaching herd immunity anymore. The supposed worst variant, lambda, from Peru, is in the United States, and (according to a study from Chile) is said to evade vaccine antibodies; hence the vaccine is not effective against lambda. Hopefully, the booster shot will be designed to better protect us from the lambda and other likely to come variants. In the meantime, I am waiting out, once again, the no near normal. 

Poms

 It was the night of August 9, and we had turned on Netflix. Taking a break from the crime show, "Blacklist", my wife decided to put on the movie "Poms". This was an interesting choice since, on August 11, today, my Land Girl officially moved to the senior citizen category.  As she joins the ranks of seasoned citizens, it is well to recall that a typical 65 year old, say a couple generations ago, looked (and probably felt) much older than a typical 65 year old today.  I may be prejudiced, but Land Girl looks and acts much younger than her age. After all, she eats her corn in a rotational fashion, so does not follow the standard curve. The average age of death for US Citizens had been on the increase, albeit showing a plateau, until the past 12 to 18 months where it decreased due to primarily to two factors, the Covid pandemic and the opioid drug overdose epidemic.

Piers Gorge

What never declines is age.  From the day of birth we all grow older. While watching Poms, I laughed at a few different scenes, mainly those that played on senior stereotypes. My (then) soon to be seasoned citizen, commented that given my issues (feet) I should be careful, as we may headed to a senior citizen community. It did not really stop my laughing at the stereotypes. In the movie a group of older ladies form a pom squad, where they end up competing in a pom competition against a bunch of young girls. They fit into the over eighteen category.  As one woman judge at the competition said, the over eighteen was not meant to mean people that old. The lady who formed the group dies of ovarian cancer and the group continue as a fund raiser for ovarian cancer research.

Stream at Piers Gorge

In any event, the movie was not soft on senior citizen stereotypes, and it did produce varied laughs, at least out of me. Land Girl, of course, made another comment, that in a year and a few months, I too will be a senior citizen.  That does not mean, I can laugh at myself, and if I fit a few senior stereotypes, while I guess I am normal.  After all, stereotypes tend to be based on recurrent observation. 

Piers Gorge

Since Land Girl is now able to compete in a senior pom competition, perhaps the use of the term Girl is outdated. Although, I don't think Land Mam has the same ring as Land Girl, so I will stick to the what has the better ring. In any event, her constant motion, beautiful red hair, and other traits, certainly make her look, at least in my eyes, as much younger than the full fledged senior citizen age which she has now, by sole reason of passing a day, obtained. 

July 2021, Evening

I well know that aches and pains can make one feel older than they should feel, and perhaps that is why the ladies in Poms need to be given credit. Their pains seem to vanish as they did the pom movements. The Rhea Perlman characters shoulder pain appeared to vanish upon lifting the pom. Stereotypes are meant to give us laughs, and Poms did a great job of allowing me to snicker, all the while at least having some semblance of a nice story line. 

Sweet Corn

I have always liked sweet corn. The Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Festival in the later part of August was a dream come true with it sumptuous, large, thick ears of corn, with deep kernels, slathered in butter and an umbrella clothes line pole with salt shakers hanging from its cords, rather than clothes. My nephew likes to hear stories of my eating sweet corn at the Sun Prairie Corn Fest. He also likes the way I can pack the ears into the now required small tote. However, as good as sweet corn can be there are different ways to eat the corn.

Grilled Corn, Hovel Family Picnic, 2014
T Hovel photo

In eating an ear of sweet corn, I tend to move in a typewriter type fashion, eating along the length of the ear of corn and then repeating. My wife says I eat from right to left. My wife, on the other hand likes to eat around the ear of corn, and she does this left to right. This is called the rolling pin, or rotary, fashion.  There is also the hunt and peck option, which is not in any way orderly, so leaves a good number of kernels untouched. I did a little research on ones habit of eating corn, and found that at one food site they took a poll of their workers and found that 23 of 39 eat in typewriter style.  They did not say how many are rolling pin or hunt and peck. I eat corn, as one site describes, in the way most people eat corn (I am not sure what poll they based their information on). Quite frankly I was rather surprised as to its description, not about me, but about my wife. Us typewriter style eaters were described by the web site "Art of Doing Stuff" as follows: 

If you eat your cob straight across like a typewriter chances are you’re pretty stable. You fold your clothes when you put them away, own a Golden Retriever and can generally be counted on to pick your spouse up from the airport on time without challenging anyone in the parking lot to a cage match.

You’re eating corn the right way. The way almost everyone eats corn.

Anyone around who’s watching you can relax and enjoy their day.

2017

 

I would say I am stable and dependable, although I do not own a Golden Retriever. I think my wife would take issue with the last comment.  I think she has a hard time relaxing around me, wondering what I may do next. She, however, is the one that has trouble sitting still.  I can hear her now when she reads this. What does that website say about rolling pin, or rotary, style eaters? My wife, the rolling pin style eater of corn on the cob is described as:

If you eat your corn around the cob in circles it’s a clear indication you could go rogue at any minute. You’re a hippie, a wild child, maybe even an artist. You’re basically immoral and everyone watching you knows it. YOU have parking tickets. Unpaid parking tickets. And you probably drank kombucha when everyone still thought it was a poisonous alien life form.

But you’re not a complete lunatic.

2017 Corn Fest.  Back in my day
paint brushes were used

The complete lunatic style is relegated to the hunt and peck type who have no discernible pattern to eating corn on the cob. But, back to my wife. What is rather funny, is that my wife is likely the greatest rule follower and organized person I know. Her going rogue is about as slim as the Pope not being Catholic (although Traditionalists in the Church may disagree). While she has some artistic talents she is not a hippie, although perhaps she was a wild child in her youth, but I doubt it. I doubt she ever got a parking ticket. She did, however, go rogue just today.  She seeped tea, for iced tea, in more water than the recipe called for, and diluted with less than the recipe called for, but in the end, since she is a rule follower (at least most of the time) she and the recipe ended with the same amount. Taht would, for her part constitute the amount of rebellion in her soul. The part about drinking kombucha is straight on, she was an early human life form to eat the alien mass. The scoby looks like an alien life form, and of course now she enjoys kiefer grains. Maybe, just maybe she has this repressed wild side that is fermented (pun intended) in her choice of cultured beverages.  

Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Festival
2017

Now, the scientist in me, says don't rely simply on one source, so I also looked at a website called Food 52. 

Old-Fashioned Typewriter:

If you eat your corn from end to end, then rotate it and repeat, row-by-row, you're probably a neat freak—and you're among the majority of the Food52 staff: 23 of the 39 respondents claimed affiliation with Team Typewriter.  John M. de Castro, a psychology professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, hypothesized that that typewriter-style eaters "live orderly, methodical lives and may be more prone to obsessive-compulsive disorders" (I'm pretty sure he was at least half-joking).

2017

While I tend not to reach the end make a slight rotation and go back from where I started, as I most always tend to eat from one direction to the other, such as right to left, it is nice to know I can claim to be a neat freak, although that may be more difficult to prove. We do fold clothes, but I tend to stuff them in the drawer my wife as Kondoized.  I was called OCD one time after I told my brother I rearranged the buoys at the swim beach to be near evenly spaced. I do like to clean my ear, and leave hardly any partially eaten kernels.  In regards to rolling pin eaters, this site is more generous, or tame, in description, and avoided loaded language associated with rebels and being rogue, as noted in the earlier description.

Rolling Pin:

aka Rotary Method

You're interested in the columnar nature of the corn cob, not its length. Psychologists surmise (again, half in jest) that the rotary method is "favored by creative, artistic, right-brainer folks." While the typewriter-style makes your progress enormously apparent, the rolling pin-style may obscure your accomplishments.

Others have very thought-out reasons for choosing the rotary-method: "My reasoning is this," says Eric Nager of The Christian Science Monitor: "freshly cooked corn is not uniformly hot. It cools more quickly on the edges. By eating around on the edges first, you create natural hand holds and then can proceed to eat around to the center, which cools last."

Knowing my wife, perhaps the cooling of corn is the reason in which she eats corn the way she does. Logic and artistic types seem rather at odds to me. She is a very logical person, as I hear about regularly, so she must have some logic in what is otherwise her suppressed  rebel, rogue personality. She is a red head, so I should not be surprised if she has some rebel tendencies. I guess one can both be logical and have a rebellious side as a means of expression, in defiance of their logical side. If typewriter style eaters, as is seemingly suggested like the length of the ear, is there another aspect to all of this?

US Sweet Corn Consumption by year and pounds
Source: Statista, accessed July 30, 2021

While eating sweet corn is a staple of Americana, showing how the nation is changing, over the past 20 years US Sweet Corn consumption has declined from 9.2 pounds per capita in 2001, 2007 and 2009 to just 4.7 pounds per capita in 2020. Given the trend in reduction of sweet corn eating, I am not sure it is fully related to the pandemic in 2020 (lack of festivals), although its slight reduction from 2019 may be. It may be related more to a health conscious population avoiding the high sugar content of sweet corn. 

2017, after eating you need to floss

Sweet corn is part of the bounty of summer, and unfortunately when its season ends, it generally means the end of summer.  Many road side stands sit empty after Labor Day, and then pumpkins, and fall related produce take the place of sweet corn.  Corn, like carrots, lettuce and many other vegetables, and fruits (think raspberries) are better fresh. In the end, my little bit of research has provided a glimpse into my wife, and gives me a different understanding of her. I now have to be extremely careful as she can, apparently, go rogue at any time. 

Unless otherwise noted, photos, 2017 Corn Fest, by Christopher Hovel (I think)

Free-Range Jack

On our July camping trip to northeast Wisconsin, there was one campsite between us and the boat landing. That meant we could hear the variety of activity which took place at that location. The activity varied from swimmers, to fishing, to persons putting in or taking out water craft.  We, ourselves, most of the time took the kayak to and from the boat landing to make it easier to put in since there was not good spot along or closer to our campsite.  The main activity at that boat landing involved two boys, perhaps 7 and 9 years of age who fished there in various parts of the day. These two boys were never accompanied by an adult so they were what we in the planning world called free-range children.

These two boys would fish from the pier.  They could be seen or heard at the boat landing in the morning, afternoon, evening, and even past sunset dark. I never saw them swim. But I did see one jump in the water at the boat landing, and he quickly found out it was deeper than he thought-like up to his waist. They camped on our loop, but near the other end, and they either walked or biked to fish. I think they walked more often than biked, probably because they found walking easier to carry their fishing poles. They never had a tackle box. They fished from the boat landing on the lake the campground is located, and they fished, by biking to the boat landing for a different lake at which the swim beach is located.  I am not sure they ever caught much. the fish in the campground lake are plentiful but very small, at least what a Forest Service fishery technician told me in June.  One day Land Girl and I took the kayak to the boat landing on the campground lake, just a site away from our campsite, so Land Girl could kayak. The two boys were fishing at the time. As Land Girl, who now became a Water Girl (as she was in the kayak), paddled out into the deep blue sea, or in this case a beautifully clear lake with a depth of about 22 feet, I struck up a conversation with the two boys.

Water Girl out kayaking, photo from boat landing

One of the boys was from nearby Armstrong Creek, about 8 miles from the campground, and the other from Fence, which is north of Armstrong Creek. The one from Fence, was quick to point out that was originally from Armstrong Creek.  Perhaps in northeast Wisconsin one has more credibility being from Armstrong Creek, than from Fence. This may be because Armstrong Creek has more than one gas station.  Land Girl and I drove through Fence in June, and we almost blinked to miss it, but I think Fence may have a small convenience store and a town hall. Neither community is incorporated. I think they boys were cousins, or perhaps simply friends.  They camped at the same campsite.  The funny thing is I never saw and adult with them outside of their campsite, so in that sense they were clearly free-range children.  I can picture many suburban moms going crazy at the idea of two young boys hanging around a lake together, without any sort of supervision.  There are suburban helicopter parents who would not let their child go alone to a friends house a block over, much less hang out along a lake.  I thought it was rather nice to see some free-range kids.

Bull frog near the boat landing

One evening, we had finished dinner and we saw the two boys riding their bikes to the boat landing fishing gear in hand.  Running along side, with his legs pumping as hard and fast as possible, and stride as long as he could make it to keep up, was a boy, perhaps aged three, but certainly no more than four, and perhaps even younger than three.  The thing is he had the biggest grin on his face, like he was so happy to be out from under the parents and doing stuff with the big (older) boys. One could not write how happy this little boy looked. They referred to this boy as Jack.  I think Jack was happy as pie, or punch.  Still unaccompanied by a parent or older child, the boys made their way to the boat landing. Now a three year old, at a lake without a parent is perhaps, in many persons estimation too much free-range. I know it would be in mine. Certainly this would be the case to a suburban helicopter mom and dad. But, here it was three boys, who I surmise to all have had ages in the single digits, off at the boat landing and the nearest competent adult, unknown to them both, was a red headed retired nurse. This former school nurse seemed to agree with my interpretation of age.

Eagle in a tree near boat landing

It was not too much later, after their arrival at the boat landing, that we heard some talking and Jack's name being used.  We could not really make out was being said, but the impression was that not everything was alright, and it involved Jack.  As the second most competent adult nearby, I wondered if I should make a way to the boat landing to check on the situation. At that point I saw one of the boys riding his bike from the boat launch and I assumed going back to their campsite.  A few minutes later, he is biking back to the boat landing and yelling: "Jack's Mom says he as to go back."  He arrived at the boat landing, and their was further discussion, and after awhile we could see all three boys, with Jack lopping along, with much less enthusiasm than a half hour earlier, on their way back to their campsite. Jack did not look wet, like he fell in the water, so perhaps he had a potty accident. Or, it could be that one of the older boys egged him into trouble. Jack's sour puss, as my mom used to say, told a tale quite different than the joy-filled look he had as he headed to the boat landing.

The next day, as I went to get more water, I could see the older boys were gone, but Jack was still there, likely with his father.  the minivan was gone, but the pickup was still present. We later saw Jack and the man coming back from the boat landing. Poor Jack, his effort at being free-range did not last long, but that large smile he had on this short adventure and sense of joy as he made his way to the boat landing was a sight to behold.  It showed how much younger boys like to be liked by the older boys, like he belonged and was not longer just a baby. I hope that Jack takes and holds that level of joy as he headed to the boat landing as his main takeaway over the more dour and sour expression as he made his way back to the campsite, at the demand of his mother. 

Free-range children are increasingly difficult to find in today's world, and while having Jack at the lake with two other young boys may seem to push the boundary of free-range children, it was the choice made by the parents. Fortunately, they did not seem to need the service of a trained nurse.  Perhaps children are becoming more free-range than what I provide credit for.  Just this morning, I saw to young children, perhaps younger than the two boys in this story, heading home along our street. I am glad to see that the free-range children still roam the streets of McFarland, and the shores of lakes in northeast Wisconsin. As for Jack, his free-range adventure with the older boys was short, and perhaps someday he will be able to enjoy his own adventures at the boat landing.

Ashen Sky

Last week Sunday, July 18, the Land Girl (my soon to be seasoned citizen wife) and I departed for a five night camping trip to northeast Wisconsin.  As we headed north on a cloudless day, the sky became more and more gray, but it was not clouds that gave this dreary color, but rather ash from the western forest fires. It made for a haze, but a rather brilliant moon and sunset that night. I guess an ash colored sky is appropriate when derived from forest fire particulates. It was not humid, so I could not relate the sky to a haze due to water vapor. However, humor or beauty can be found in many things--activities of people, words of the young, the flora and fauna, and in the landscape itself.

Our lakeside campsite

The long range forecast, for the area, on Thursday was mostly sunny for with highs in the low to mid 80's.  The long range forecast changed and by Saturday there were a few days of rain predicted, along with cooler temperatures. We had a few days where the temperature never got above about 72, and one night it was as cold as 45. But, this is not unusual for weather in northern Wisconsin. One night, the wind gusts, off the lake, which was generally to the east, were picking up our screen tent and so I had to stake it to the ground. The next day, following the evening of strong wind, the sky was closer to a  typical sky blue. The beauty of a baby blue sky was  sight to behold after a few days of an ashen gray.

Shrine to St Hubert
northeast of Goodman, WI

What I learned about those who camp there on this trip was that many of the campers are from the area.  One couple next to us was within 20 minutes, and a couple across within about 45 minutes.  It is heavily used by "locals."  I found this out on a prior trip when our favorite campsite was occupied.  There were people in chairs, and a couple vehicles, but no tents or campers, so I asked if they were packing up to move out that day, and they said they were there for the week.  That Sunday night, I kayaked by the site and it was vacant.  I think they "camped" out at the site for day use.  The ranger only comes a couple times a week, and the I doubt the camp host, if he knew what was going on, would get confrontational.  The camp host does not, from what I understand, know who pays what fee and when. This past trip, Thursday morning, about 8:45 am, a couple pulled in a dropped their pop-up at a site and left.  The site is supposed to be occupied the first night, but they did not do that.  Nor do many who reserve a site for a few or more days, and not show up the first day. By rights, that site should be available on first come first serve basis. 

Leaft at Piers Gorge

We found that the rules are enforced in some respects.  An elderly couple, perhaps about my wife's age, since she will be a senior citizen this coming month, grabbed an unused but reservable site on Tuesday.  Wednesday I noticed a placard about the reservation noting it was reserved for Friday to Sunday. The placard was not there earlier in the day Wednesday, or even Tuesday.  I asked the couple how long they planned to stay and they said Sunday.  I noted the placard having a reservation on the site for the weekend.  Long and short, they talked to the camp host, who said they had to move. The funny thing is the placard was dropped off Wednesday by the forest service, and the last day they were there was Saturday. One cannot reserve a site for the first four days. For example I could not reserve a site on July 26 for the next four nights.  Since they arrived Tuesday, the site had to have been reserved on Monday at the latest, and if the placard was placed Tuesday morning they would not have had that problem. Hence, they moved their site Wednesday morning. 

Loon

Of course, not all is exact for rule following as noted earlier. A site is not to be occupied for more than fourteen consecutive days, but a former camp host was on her third week. She must have gotten special permission.  I guess it depends on who you know.

If you could not find the inch worm earlier, here it
is again, with my wife's blue polar fleece just behind it

We found out on this trip that the best sites, lake front sites, are mainly gone by 1:00 pm. Check out time is noon. Which of course some do not follow. Our first trip to this campground, nearly 20 years ago, we arrived on a Thursday, and no lake site was available, so we choose a non lake site.  By noon on Sunday our loop was empty but for the camp host and us.  A few campers moved in later that day, but not many. Times have changed as it is now rather crowded.

Prayer of the Woods at St Hubert Shrine

With crowds come noise, which is not so bad, except for generators.  The big rigs pretty much all use generators, and a few years ago I contacted the Nicolet Forest Service suggesting they place a time frame on generator operation, but I never heard back. Between the rigs the generators can run from mid morning to about 9:00 pm at night. One person had a generator so loud, that even people who had generators did not like all the noise. The couple who had to move, had a rig, slightly larger than ours, and had a generator, but they had a home made sound attenuation cabinet which dampened the noise. I doubt  a decibel level would work, because no one would be around to enforce it. With more people comes more noise and activity. Noise associated with common camping activities makes sense, but to me a generator goes beyond normal. 

People Rafting at Piers Gorge

The beach at the nearby lake is also much more busy. Flooding at a large nearby lake over the past three years or more had driven activity from that beach, which had its beach and parking lot flooded out, to this small beach. I think many still come. Of course the noise and activity produced can also provide some entertainment. I believe it was Monday night when there were two cars from Illinois at the parking lot. The beach was noisy and heavily occupied by many of our Friendly Illinois Brethern (FIB). It was amusing to listen as two female FIB's headed out in kayaks. Once beyond, and I mean just beyond the swim area buoys, one lady immediately started complaining. It was like this adult woman was a preteen but worse.  "My arms are tired, let's go back!"  "How do you do this?" "I keep going in circles."  My arms are tired, this isn't fun." "My arms are tired." She could not have been more than 2 yards from shore. Too bad the four floating females were not on the lake at the same time, I would have really gotten some good laughs. For the record, as I watched her, you could see she was not going in circles, perhaps veering one direction or the other, but not in circles.  The other ;lady simply commented, to dip one side in and then the other.  I decided to not watch the outcome and went back to the campsite. Two nights later our FIB showed up again, but with a a third vehicle. They were about to sit down to eat at 7:30 pm, and as I walked by the car in a parking lot, a lady was getting some stuff out of the back, and the whole back of the Honda minivan was packed with paper products, soda pop and other such accouterments. I think she was getting more paper plates.

Bullfrog

One never knows what they will get at the beach. Later in the week there were some kids, with parents at the beach. A boy, about two, was in the water with his dad and sister. The mom was on shore. The boy started to walk to the shore, but stopped in water perhaps up just above his knees and loudly proclaimed: "I have to go pee."  The mom asked the boy to come out of the water and she would take him to the potty.  He then asked "Can't I pee in the weeds?" Mom: "No." He then demanded, "Can't I pee in the water?" "No," says the mom, "get out and I will show you where you can pee."  My wife, really enjoyed this exchange. Contrast this, with the inch worm slowly making its way up a thin strand to the fir tree. Poor Archer did not wish to interrupt his water time.

Center of photo is inch worm, seemingly suspended 
in mid-air

Even with the ashen sky and tempered sunlight, the trip was still nice, and the lake water clear and refreshing, except when swimming when it is 50 degrees and then it is warmer than the air temperature.  We took a day trip to Piers Gorge, where we rafted three years ago, which you can read about here. The water was much lower, as one rafting party of the three we say got stuck right before the large drop. It was interesting to get a different perspective on the situation. A few days later we went to find a shrine another camper had told us about, and it was quite the adventure. Most of the trip, but for about a 1/3 mile, was on a trail, with large boulders with large cobbles of say four inch and above rocks plentiful on the route. It would not have been possible with anything less than a four wheel drive that has good clearance. Like a Jeep. The shrine was a nice visit, and a testament to a now fleeting faith among the population. The man who told us about the shrine, was the person who had to relocate his site, and he said the back story was about hunters who were lost, and prayed for assistance, and they came across a small stream. This may be a rural legend, as the story at the shrine is that hunter's used to gather and pray for health and safety and after the day to give thanks. These small shrines are scattered in varied places around the state and represent a part of our history and lore. 

About to bloom water lily
We had our own real life version of the Monet painting

One can find enjoyment in the lady from Illinois not liking to kayak (she must be a real urban girl), or in the scenes of nature presented by a landscape sculpted by the power of water (Piers Gorge), and wildlife (loons, eagles and bull frogs).  But is also found in the flora of wildflowers, or fallen tree leaves (yes already) in a deep red or vibrant yellow. There were also the human interactions with the environment as shown by the shrine in a desolate location at least four miles from the nearest paved road. The ashen sky may be a reminder of the power of nature due to its cause by wildfires (which can have a beneficial effect to the landscape over time) well distant from our location, but being out in nature we can see the beauty, elegance, and the resiliency of mother earth. It is our connection to mother earth, a gift freely given by God, and the beauty and wonders it represents, that is foundational to a proper land ethic.  The ashen colored sky tells part of the story of the need to respect nature. 

If we approach nature and the environment without…openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously.
--Pope Francis, "Laudato Si." 2015

The Secretary

There is a saying that goes, if you want to know what is going on in an office, ask the secretary.  Of course, for the few past decades, such positions are often referred to as Administrative Assistants, or some similar term. A secretary is often an unsung hero in an office situation. They keep the boss, and others, on track, and often have to find information or documents deeply buried in files, which may now be electronic. In the electronic environment of today, they may be the most tech savvy individuals in an office, save perhaps, just perhaps, those in the IT department. Confidential administrative assistants know as much, if not more, than their supervisor. My wife, has taken on the roll of secretary, albeit maybe reluctantly, in our household. To say that she likes the roll, would be an overstatement.

My wife pays the bills, makes lists of what needs to be done, kept the kids and me in line and on time, and makes more lists. She generally keeps her many to-do lists of what we need for groceries or other supplies. Not to mention her lists of what are in the freezer. She needs a list of her lists, or perhaps a spreadsheet to let her know where all her lists are located.  I doubt I could find someone who likes lists more than she does. Her favorite saying to our two boys, when they needed something for school, sports or whatever, was "Who do you think I am, your secretary?" I would be at work early some morning, and would receive a call, about the most recent fire drill, like something one of them needed for school that day and forgot to mention. There used to be a running joke between her and one of my employees, that my wife kept in me in line while home, and the employee did the same while I was at work. It is not as if I am accident prone.

Regardless, of all of her lists and acumen with numbers, and the like she has happened upon a situation that now taxed all her secretarial skills.  As she will soon turn 65 she has signed up for medicare, and has taken on a supplement plan and drug coverage plan. All of the paper work has now arrived and she finds herself having to take care of all of the paper work, not to mention having to go to the bank web site, the provider sites, or whatever, to allow for the required payments. Websites certainly don't make it easy.  She needed chat assistance as to how to set up a direct payment for one account. I am not sure, but I think IT people go to school on how not to set up a website to make something easy. Why it takes so much work to set up something to pay someone is hard to fathom. It is almost like they want you to do it the old fashioned way. By check. For example, to pay vehicle registration online one has to pay a surcharge.  There is not a surcharge for sending it in via US mail, so that is the way I prefer to work the payment. In any event, the wife was getting rather frustrated, and, I believe, her patience was challenged. I suggested that the secretary needs a secretary.  I don't recall any smart a@# comeback, which shows how engaged she was in her secretarial work on these items.

As she was struggling through the paperwork, she said that when I turn 65 she will make sure I do it all myself.  However, she has made it easier for me since we have now gone through the studies of the different plans and the options they provide.  It pays to marry someone older than you. She once made me pay all the bills for a month or two by our online method, so I will know how to do it.  Of course, the bank has merged with other banks, and as a result changed its name and then its electronic systems since I last did this, so now everything is probably different. As she reads this she will come to think it is time for me to be retrained. 

The oddities and challenges posed by medicare and its multiple varied parts, the hunt for advantage or supplemental plans (and hoping you make the right choice), and setting up online payments all pose challenges to a near 65 year old. I am not sure, but I think there is some irony that these challenges hit a person at retirement when they are trying to take things easy, and not get stressed. Hence, why my secretary needed a secretary.  They may have been able to help navigate the varied web sites. For secretaries are often quite good at putting out fires, as my wife did with the kids. Of course, sometimes they like to put fuel onto the fire. If she, the household secretary found this disagreeable, I wonder how I will handle the paperwork and payments.