Rubbed Off

If my work as a planner for over 35 years taught me anything, it was that development, more often than not, is controversial. Particularly when near existing development. In most cases, the development would end up occurring anyway. Good plans can help to ameliorate the negative effects of a development. You have to follow your plans and ordinances. Yet, people still have a mantra of being a NIMBY, Not in My Backyard. There are times when NIMBYism can be useful.  A few issues in McFarland have been generating a great deal of controversy. My wife has been active on some of the issues, and one in particular I think my discourses on planning over the years was actually absorbed or rubbed off on her.

I always thought my discourses were, if I was lucky, going in one ear and out the other, or perhaps bouncing off like a pickle ball. To my surprise she paid some attention, which pays dividends in her activity on the McFarland Community Facebook page.  The project she in which she is what the village terms a "commercial development" projected for the east side of the village near Siggelkow Road. In town, much of Siggelkow is primarily a residential street, albeit four lanes for a good section, the section shared with Madison. In part it serves as a dividing line between McFarland and Madison. As a former planner, terminology can be both truly expressive of a use, but also euphemistic. For example, the commercial development they are talking about is not retail or service, but rather a large warehouse. Both fall under "commercial" in the Standard Industrial Classification Code (US Treasury Dept), but that is a wide range. I believe when most people her commercial they think of retail, restaurants and small service sector, like a bike repair or computer repair business. People have been asking for more commercial in McFarland, and this is how the village board responds. I don't think it is the commercial the lay population was looking for. Another example, is how the term business park came into use rather than industrial park; industrial tends to have a negative connotation, business a more favorable connotation. 

When most people think of commercial a 790,000 sq ft warehouse with 79 semi-truck docks would not fit their definition. So it is that the village leaders use the term commercial to describe this use. The better description would be warehouse, but they keep it broad and use a less obnoxious term to make it more palatable. This 18 plus acre building would be located on a 69 acre site, with an additional 167 acres available for industrial and business uses. One person, who has studied this, indicates that the east section of Siggelkow would see 50 to 100 semitruck trips a day. Apparently according to the developer, Interstate Partners, over 500 semi trips are estimated each day. This is based on a similar facility in Sun Prairie. The developer seemed proud of the semi traffic number as if more semis means more revenue for a village.

From TID 7 Project Plan
purple is color used for industrial, 
but the plan calls it business park
In my mind, business park is an entity,
Industrial, commercial, warehouses, etc are uses
This shows the euphemisms at play

One former village board member, which I believe was attempting to justify the decision for such a large use in the village, noted that there is no way to predict how some one will travel. The wife, rightly wrote back that it occurs all the time by traffic studies which estimate not only number of trips but their distribution of direction on to main streets. The study may not say how I, as an individual will travel, but it will say what a subdivision of 20 homes will produce in terms of trips (about 200) and how they will be distributed. The larger and more broad based, the more likely to have better accuracy. She properly noted that the 50 to 100 semi truck trips noted by that one man would have a negative effect on the single family homes adjoining Siggelkow Rd. Now, I do not know where the guy got his numbers, or if the village had a traffic study accomplished, but if not it should have been required, first at the large scale level when planning a business park and second at the micro-level with this one use, and how it integrates into the larger picture. 

The powers that be like to point out the tax base that will be generated and that people in the village say more commercial is needed. The issue is whether the use is the right place. In fact, the village may be better off with a light industrial development than a large warehouse as the warehouse produces more truck traffic. To benefit the development, the village is looking to create a Tax Increment District (TID).

With a TID, one needs to weigh negative impacts against its benefits. Generally, the test is that the development would not otherwise have happened but for the TID. TID's will typically take 12 to the maximum 20 years to pay off. I have long questioned whether a municipality ever earns back its payment as it provides services for the life of the TID which are subsidized by the other taxpayers. In basic, a TID is a defined geographic area (district) and any additional tax revenue (tax increment) from the date of creation goes to that defined geographic area. For example, say a municipality has a 200 acre TID created, and put in streets, sewer, water, storm water, and private utilities to serve that development. Perhaps they also granted a land write-down or other method to entice a specific development. Let us say they issued bonds, for the cost of those improvements in the amount of $20 million, and for twenty years to pay for those expenses. A couple new buildings are built, and in year 3, as an example, the tax base has grown from its base by $20 million. If the mill rate is $20 per $1,000 valuation, the district receives $400,000 to put to its expenses and debt. So it goes, until all costs, including debt, are paid. Sounds good, right? So what is the problem? The problem is that development pays for police, fire, road maintenance (snow plowing) or other municipal services on the base amount (predevelopment amount) for the life of the TID, other than what was the value at creation. And, more often than not such development happens on farmland, which has a low value, as it is based on production of corn not on its relationship to factors such as an urban area. Hence, if it takes twenty years to pay the debt off, that means for twenty years the vast majority of costs are been borne by the other taxpayers. It is a taxpayer subsidy to the TID area. Or, corporate welfare. Further, within that twenty years there are added maintenance costs, street sealing as one example, that costs more than a typical annual of snow plowing and street sweeping. In fact, by the end of twenty years, the roads may already, or be close to, a milling up and repaving the streets. My residential cul-de-sac was repaved after about 30 year, so you can imagine the need for a street that sees a great deal of semi traffic.

Further, there will be added costs outside the TID. Road repair, if not expansion may well be required. Semitruck's do more damage to a roadway than several cars. The Asphalt Institute estimates the damage of one five axle truck is equivalent to 1,750 to 2,950 passenger cars (midpoint is 1350)! Another source has the road stress of a truck to a car being 10,000 to 1. A different source, indicates that eighteen wheelers cause 99% of the damage and pay only about 38% of the cost for repair. 

The decision on whether or not to allow a TID is by the local municipality and the joint review board--comprised of municipal member, school district member, vo-tech member, county member, and an at large person recommended by the municipality and voted on the four members. I served on several joint review boards in my time with Fitchburg. 

It is nice to see my wife so engaged, and that my words of many years did not bounce off like butter in a hot Teflon coated pan. As for me, this was my life for a long time, and at this point, I need not be so engaged. With my words having rubbed off, and her added ideas, she made a formidable argument against the warehouse and the TID. 

Marl Lake

It is one of the twenty-two interconnected lakes making up the Waupaca Chain-o-Lakes. Marl Lake is also at the top of the chain. But, its most impressive aspect is the deep blue-green water. As one writer on WI River Trips noted, "the water quality is clear throughout the chain and near perfect on the upper lakes". The upper chain is also enhanced by the fact that they are small lakes (in surface area), meaning the main use of the smaller water bodies is by silent sport enthusiasts, paddling and swimming. The spring fed lakes, per the River Trips article, are often termed the finest set of lakes in Wisconsin. Marl Lake is only 14 acres of surface area, but is 60' deep. 

Marl Lake, from pier at Whispering Pines Park

On a recent camping trip at Hartman Creek State Park, we biked from the campground to the state Whispering Pines Park located adjacent to Marl Lake on three different days. From the entry of the Hartman Creek Campground, it is a short 2.5 mile bike ride, on varied and diverse surfaces from pavement to dirt can take one from the campground to the Whispering Pines Park and Marl Lake, nestled below towering pines at the head of the Waupaca Chain-o-Lakes.  A number of homes are about a third of the lake shore, but the Pope State Natural area adjoins the side opposite the homes, and add in the Whispering Pines Park, and the vast majority of adjoining land is public, which provides the forest view. The Pope State Natural area stands in contrast to the almost fully developed shoreline of some of the lakes, particularly those larger lakes in the lower chain. Cabins built at a time before public access was really a concern, have morphed to large homes in many cases. Hence, there is little public access to the chain, and for use, only two boat landings exist on the six small upper chain lakes. A tragedy of the commons, so to speak. The Whispering Pines area was privately owned although it served as a public park; it was later deeded to the state. The lack of access to much of the system means those few places of access, like Whispering Pines, get significant use. Marl Lake also has a boat launch, one of two on the six lakes on the upper chain.

After our first visit this year to Marl Lake, on a Monday afternoon, we then biked northeasterly on Whispering Pines Road and then mainly south on County Q to Scoopers Ice Cream Shop, where we both had a nice sized single scoop dish of Cedar Crest Ice Cream. After enjoying a delicious treat of Wisconsin made ice cream, we then biked back to the campground. We also visited Marl Lake on Tuesday morning about 9:30 am and were pleased to have it to ourselves for about 20 minutes or so. Wednesday we arrived 15 minutes earlier and some joggers were part way through their jog and jumped in the water a few times. Then the traffic really hit. 

Tuesday morning photo of the lake bottom
before the crowds hit

Part of the problem with access, are not just homes, but also geology--the lakes are glacial kettles and are spring fed, with no outlet. Marl Lake is connected to Hartman Lake by a small creek, that is never really navigable. Given the nature of glacial kettles, many of the lakes have steep sides, including Marl Lake. The steep sides limit access, but many homes are built at the top of the slope. Glacial kettles are formed when a block of ice breaks off the glacier and gets buried with debris. Insulated from warming weather, the buried ice will eventually melt forming a kettle. However, it is not the kettle that makes this lake unique so much as the underlying geology. 

Marl Lake is not only the name of the lake, but the name is derived from a type of lake, mainly described by the sediments that are on the bottom of the lake. Marl is a geologic condition mainly due to limestone. What occurs is that the springs bring in calcium carbonate from the limestone, and when dissolved these minerals they "bind-up" dissolved nutrients such as phosphorus which otherwise can lead to excessive algae growth (Marl Lake plaque).  This leads to the intense blue and green color when plants and algae suitable for hardwater "create a stream of calcium carbonate particles during the day due to photosynthesis and the particles drop to the bottom of the lake." During the day, the water and these particles absorb all the light rays from the sun, "except for the blue-green light which is reflected back and this gives the lake its startling color"--that blue green. The color is not evident during the cold weather months when the plants are inactive. In the winter it is just another lake color. The 1914 report noted that "Also, the color of the water is the same as that of typical marl lakes, being a greenish blue in the shallow water and a darker green in the deep water." The color is related to the plant growth and the sun reflection or absorption. 

Looking at lake bottom from end of pier, notice 
how the water color becomes more green in deeper water

Marl Lake is a small water craft haven. Kayakers, canoeists and now paddle boarders will put in and paddle the upper chain. Many will stop at the dock along Marl Lake, scattering their water craft along the shore, or tying them in the water to the dock such that they dominate the landscape. It gets heavy use. There is no beach at Whispering Pines, just a fishing dock, with a sign that no swimming activities are recommended, but many swim. The water is about 3' deep just off the edge of the land, and over 8 feet deep at the end of the pier. The T-shaped pier is a fancy for sunbathers. I think I counted 12 water craft at one time pulled up on shore or tied in the water by the dock. No dogs are allowed, but that does not stop people from letting their dog run free on the dock and near shore. After we departed Wednesday morning, I went swimming at the beach at Hartman Creek and noted that there were as many people on the dock or shore at Whispering Pines as at all of the 350 foot length of the Hartman Creek beach. 

Plaque at the Marl Lake, by bike rack
I took much of the geology and water color in
the post from this plaque

To get there, many drive, a good number arrive on watercraft, and a few (like us) bike. One family group split it up with some arriving by water craft and others by car and had lunch at the picnic area on top of the slope. Another group had three wooden homemade water craft--two canoes, and a kayak. Of course, you get also sorts of people like the older gentleman who said the water was warmer in the top 3" than below. He must have said it five or six times, such that when he left, some swimmers, although swimming activities are not recommended, were making fun of his constant comments about the top 3" of the water. Of course, the water is generally cold what you would expect--it is a spring fed 60' deep lake. In fact, I find the water in Hartman Lake rather cold and wonder if it is colder than some lakes I swam in up north in June and July. 

Marl Lake is a gem within the waterway and ecosystem of Wisconsin. Sanitary sewer system for the homes along the lake shore I am sure has assisted water quality in the region. The marl, with its high calcium carbonate, was once mined out of the lakes and deposited on farm land in the region, as a fertilizer. People have learned much over time, and luckily, the mining does not seem to have damaged the lake.

When I walk in the water by the dock I do not sink, but the surface is somewhat spongy. The consistency of the lake bed, at that location, is like walking on a bike path made of crushed limestone on top of a sponge. If I get several feet away from the dock I can sink a foot or more in the limestone colored "muck." It is almost difficult to pull your foot out. Limestone gives us building material, forms caves, and gives us hard water. It also gives us the unique color of the marl lakes, due to the interplay of minerals in the water, the algae and plant growth, and the sun. We then marvel at nature's creation of color and its interplay in our viewshed.

Time Passed

It was a partly cloudy and warm morning, with a welcome strong wind that helped to dissipate the heat. I was on a gravel road looking northwest up a gentle slope of predominantly corn to a highpoint. On that highpoint, a good half mile distant from where I stood I saw a farmstead surrounded by tall evergreens and deciduous trees. The interplay of sun and shadow, as the clouds passed the sun to my back, provided a metaphor for life in this generally non-descript area of Iowa. An area that time seemed to have passed by. 

View of A. Pitzenberger Farm, 1 Aug 2024

I was looking at land my great great grandfather, Andreas Pitzenberger, an immigrant from Austria, had purchased from the US Government in 1859. I turned around, and with some struggle I could make out the two steeples of the Catholic Church in St Lucas Iowa. Founded in 1855, the parish likely was attended by Andreas and his family, although the present church was constructed in 1914. I was taken back in time, to a different age. As I looked to the farmstead, on that warm first day of August, with the wind whipping the pages in a binder that had maps and other family information, I imagined what Andreas would have been doing on a Thursday morning over 160 years ago. His crops growing, I pondered whether he was tending a garden, or contemplating the harvest of his Irish Potatoes (1860 IA Ag census). Had he, I also wondered, planted some of those trees as a break to the strong Iowa winds which to this day continue to sweep over the Iowa prairie? Standing there as the corn swayed in a melodic manner I got a look into a time long past. A time of hard and difficult back-extensive work, but also with a sense of fulfilling purpose for an immigrant people cultivating life in a foreign land.

Top portion of A Ptizelberger Land Patent
from US, 1859.  Source: BLM

A couple weeks ago, the wife and I took a trip to Winneshiek Co, Iowa. Thursday, August 1, we spent about six hours doing what I refer to as a genealogical tour of the locations of my Pitzenberger side of the family. I should say, I spent, she spent the six hours being bored. Winneshiek County is located in northeast Iowa, its north line borders Minnesota, and it is the second Iowa county west of the Mississippi River. Much of it is part of the driftless area, which they take great pride to present. This may be one of the only areas of significant topographic relief in Iowa, so well that they should take pride in its undulating topography. This post is not to discuss my genealogy tour and what we did and see, as much as the cultural and social geography present in the area. I had mixed emotions. Sad for the people who struggled and toil, today, with this land to make a living in ventures which always seem to be on the edge due to economics and weather. Sad to see an area that time seems to have forgot. Yet, there was also some relief to see a part of the area of my ancestors still little touched by modernity and sprawled development. 

Part of farmstead discussed above. 1 Aug 2024

When I look at my Hovel line ancestral village of Ratiborova Lhota, Bohemia (family traced back to at least 1585) and compare the Cadaster mapping of the first part of the 1800's to air photos of today one notices little change. It almost seems that way for the 140 to 150 years of these towns. We spent Wednesday afternoon in Decorah, the county seat, and the night at a hotel in everywhere USA in Decorah. Decorah had the requisite fast food and Kwik Star (Kwik Trip brand) convenience store. Thursday we headed southwest to Spillville, which has two defining features: St Wenceslaus Catholic Church, the oldest Czech Catholic Church in the nation, and the Bily Clock museum. After meeting Michael Klimesh, a local historian and our guide of the varied places of my ancestors, we made our way through Ft Atkinson, IA, to farmland east and south formerly owned  by my ancestors. Andreas' farm had a Fort Atkinson mailing address. We then went to St Lucas, a few miles from the Andreas Pitzenberger farm, to Festina where my great grandparents had a general store, and where my grandma was married. We then headed home.

The area we mainly travelled was south of the County seat of Decorah, and in the southern part of Winneshiek Co. Michael Klemish, provided commentary on various historical and genealogical aspects present. Michael is Czech, with a bit of Swiss, and has a great knowledge of the area and is highly involved with some historical societies for which he does varied research. Spillville is Czech, even to this day, while St Lucas, Fort Atkinson and Festina are known for their German settlers and heritage which still run deep. In moving to Iowa, the Pitzenberger's moved to a location with a socio-demographic/economic group similar to what that they had left. The culture of the area was centered on the Catholic Churches which sprung up regularly over about a ten year or so time span in these rural communities. This was not uncommon in the US and today they remain as quilt squares in what is a decidedly unique American quilt. The culture was not so much a melting pot as a  stew with certain cultural features remaining, not unlike chunks of carrot and celery in a stew. 

Our Lady of Seven Dolors Church, Festina, IA
1 Aug 2024

While its physical geography mimics part of western Dane Co, its cultural geography is different. Dane County, regardless of attempts to control, is ever present with sprawl which is gobbling up good farm land as if it were a never ending story. All in the measure of "economic development." When comparing southern Winneshiek to Dane County, it is a tale of two very different places. Dane Co, for example, in just over three years grew by about 14,000 persons, with Fitchburg and Sun Prairie being the fastest growing cities. By comparison, Winneshiek's total population is 19,974. The towns I noted have had little population change over the past 140 years. 

Pitzenberger Communities, population table

Yet there are some similarities, parts of northern Dane Co were also settled by Germans, with Dane and Roxbury or Pine Bluff being the Dane Co version of, say, Festina. The difference is temporal, how time has changed Dane Co much more so than Winneshiek or Fayette Co. (St Lucas is just across the southern border of Winneshiek in Fayette Co.) The former parochial school in St Lucas is now home to the German American Museum and Library. An amazing venture considering how small the town is, but yet this is a clear expression of their values. Further evincing pride of place, the former St Lucas parochial school is being reroofed back to cedar shingles, its original roof style. New windows, will at some point, come to replace the plywood now covering many window openings. There is a resilience and a commitment to the past showing that time can have a preserving effect.

These towns have been affected by the economic revolution and the change in the time-space continuum. As an example, in early years Spillville once had four mills located along Turkey River. None exist today. Products were grown and in many cases processed locally as transportation was by horse and cart, and in some cases rail. My great grandfather Martin Hovel, however, used to take wheat from his farm near Manly, IA to McGregor, IA, across the river from Prairie du Chien for processing with a horse drawn cart. This is a 116 mile trip one way by current roads. Perhaps his wheat was bound by barge to some large urban center for processing in order to feed the growing urban population. 

Mathias and Teresia Pitzenberger
Tombstone, 1 Aug 2024

Spillville, as rural as it was then and today, was home to Anton Dvorak during the summer of 1893. It must have been a place to make his creativity run as during his Spillville summer, he "composed two of his most celebrated and enduring works." (IA PBS) It was the birds, the rolling water of the Turkey River, the wind in the trees that drove his imagination as he walked the river bank.

Rural can be determined by population density, but I believe rural can also be explained based on cultural features, or in this case lack thereof. After leaving Decorah we did not see a Culver's restaurant until Prairie du Chien, WI. Further, after leaving Decorah we saw only one Kwik Star in Postville, IA. Postville is said to be the most highly diverse town in the nation, its major industry a processing plant for kosher meats, has drawn to this once German enclave, Hasidic Jews, Hispanic and now Somali immigrants. Kwik Star (Kwik Trip) and Culver's are two current Midwest cultural icons which are mainstays of suburban sprawl. Suburbia and scattered rural home sites are not highly present in this area of Winneshiek Co. 

Table Comparing Dane Co, WI
to Winneshiek Co, IA

There are a few scattered homes in Winneshiek, but not near as many as in Wisconsin. In Dane County, it is hard to find a farm without at least one or more non-farm homes built at its edge, in a woodlot or a hilltop, proving the adage that the definition of an environmentalist is one who already as their house in the woods. Hilltops, in this part of Iowa, were not for a wealthy persons house, but a woods or cornfield. My wife, taking time out of being bored, commented that she had never seen so much corn in her life. Few restaurants existed, and if they were present they were local. The main businesses seemed to be mechanics and welders. We had lunch at a bar in Festina in which the most valuable piece of equipment was the big screen television playing the Olympics. As my wife said, it is not a bar for a lady. The ladies restroom was denoted with word "Peaches" on the door, and the men's with the word "Bananas".  Of the three towns and the hamlet, Spillville has the largest population, but we did not see a restaurant in that town, although Fort Atkinson has a restaurant called "The Fort". Spillville, being Czech must have a bar or more. 

St Wenceslaus Steeple, Spillville, IA
1 Aug 2024

It appeared that sewerage treatment for the communities is handled by treatment lagoons. Spillville's sits next to a park where one can camp. St Lucas had large dumpsters which residents would deposit their recyclables and garbage. In Spillville, garbage is picked up. It is not like they are without some, what we in the planning world called urban services.

These communities were created in a time before the car became famous, a mode of transportation that  has lessened the space-time continuum. The internal combustion engine also affected the developments of these towns so that it seems as if time has passed by. At about five to six miles apart the towns became small mercantile centers for the farmers. Festina already had a general store when my great grandfather Mathias Pitzenberger and his wife, Theresia, opened their store in 1890. Demand for goods was increasing as the rural area was dominate in 1890. The mercantile trade area must have been rather small, and certainly not the population it takes today too be supported. For some reason these small general stores make me think of Oleson's General Store in "Little House on the Prairie." Similarities are evidenced in rural Bohemia or even Forest County, WI with former small logging or mining towns spread about six to seven miles apart on Hwy 8. Foot and horse travel was the basis for much of the nation's original settlement pattern. Railroads then brought another.

Andreas and Maria Pitzenberger
Tombstone, 1 Aug 2024

Winneshiek Co. was first settled in its northeast section by Yankees who then moved and made room for Norwegians. German and Czech Catholics settled in the south and portions of the western parts of the county. The heritage is evident in the Catholic churches and related cemeteries. The area is heavily Czech by Spillville, and German by St Lucas, Festina, and Fort Atkinson. Spillville has St Wenceslaus Catholic Church, which is Czech, and a Catholic church for the Germans just outside of town toward Ft Atkinson. It is said that all the graves in the Our Lady of Seven Dolors cemetery in Festina have German surnames. Looking at Spillville its iron crosses and names give credence to a heavily Czech population, not to mention a dealer of the iron crosses lived in Spillville. When one walks the main path that splits the Seven Dolors cemetery into two parts, one side by the path contains the graves of premature born babies, or infants who died, a testament to the fragility of life. Each of the community's Catholic Churches also, for a time, had a school associated with it. The one in Spillville, now named St Theresia of Calcutta (originally St Wenceslaus school, it was renamed by a priest who did not care what the parishioners thought, and a year later he was gone but his chosen name lives on) is still operating. The language used in the Festina parish school was high German until the advent of WWI when it switched to English. My grandma Pitzenberger spoke both German (high) and English. Her mom, Teresia Kamen from Bohemia, spoke Czech, but given the time, dominance by the Austro-Hungarian Empire with German as its language, likely may have known German, and her father, from Austria, would have spoken German. 

Part of St Wenceslaus Cemetery, Spillville, IA 1 Aug 2024

The defining characteristic of Winneshiek County is farmland. Being in the driftless area of Iowa the hills and valleys and small towns are reminiscent of the rural area south and east of LaCrosse, WI. Both off the beaten path, although more so in Iowa than the area south of LaCrosse. In Dane County, WI, on the other hand, too often farmland is viewed as holding land for development, yet Dane Co is one of the largest agricultural production counties in WI. Dane County's farmland value is said to be less than that in Winneshiek Co, where they seem to understand that good farmland is important to their agricultural lifestyle. Nationally, the agricultural lifestyle has been disappearing since about 1910 to 1920. Farms are often operated by mega farmers. It is said Bill Gates is the largest owner of farmland in the US. Chinese investors, however owns more than Gates does. Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan once said that we value things we like and important to us. Iowa, quite literally, values farmland as important. I doubt Ray Kinsella would plow under Iowa corn to make a baseball field today.

The intelligentsia and elites in the nation often seem to discount people in our nation's rural areas. The elites view them as parochial, out of touch, if not deplorable. The values and way of life of the rural cohort are downplayed if not degraded. I have to say, I looked somewhat out of place at the bar in Festina. No area is static, but it seems that these small towns are close. And, change that is occurring, depopulation in many cases, is not good. Time may have passed by these small Iowa communities in terms of service and retail icons (Culver's and Kwik Trip) so common in everyplace America. Their small, old downtowns, now predominantly empty or with many former storefronts now put to noncommercial uses, harken to an age when business was along a main street, and where people walked rather than drove. When persons valued a locally owned shop tended by a merchant who was a neighbor. These old values represent an America that is long past. These values are as fleeting as the wind over the corn growing on the sloped fields of Iowa's driftless area. 

Shorts

Summer weather brings about wearing of shorts. Distressed jeans, where there are tears in the thighs and knees when purchased seem to still be an "in-thing", and I have written about how my distress in jeans comes about naturally, that is through wear, not requiring to be bought that way. I have had to depart with another pair of shorts this summer, meaning, I may need to buy some for next year.

Left leg side.

The shorts I had to throw away, as my wife said they were not worth patching again (I counted four patch spots) were actually pants I used to wear for work and as they aged and worn for too much for work, the wife made into shorts. My seamstress has decided on her own accord, without consultation with the client, that enough was enough. I guess that counts as an executive decision on her part. 

Right leg side

Shorts tend to be longer now then when I was a teenager. Today, they often hang below the knee. What occurs, is that when bending down the shorts get caught on the knee, the fabric wears and then you get a hole, or rip in the fabric. It begins small and then can get bigger, when not properly attended to early, and then they don't pass the Land Girl test and need to get thrown out. I wonder if the added length is purposeful for the shorts to wear out earlier and then need to buy more. A sort of planned obsolescence. 

Land Girl has taken my advice and shortened some of my daily wear shorts hoping that will solve the problem, so they may be at the knee, but not below it. We will see if my theory is correct, that long shorts wear out faster due to bending and kneeling down.

Left back pocke

The first known shorts were likely worn by the Nepalese army in the 1880's. Over time styles and trends have changed. I have a number of cargo shorts, with tons of pockets. Cargo shorts may be out of style, but I really don't know. I kind of like them. I am told that my style is 20 to 30 years out of date. That makes me say that I am a head of style, because my style will be back in. One example, when a teenager, fifty years ago, I wore horn rim glasses, which are now back in style. They were not so much back then. I tended to break a good number of eye wear (as they are now referred to instead of glasses) frames, and my parents wanted a pair that was more durable. Hence, I ended up with horned rim glasses. I don't think they survived my breakage capabilities. Land Girl is constantly surprised at my ability to break something (like her new water bottle).

Top part of front

Apparently, whether glasses (eye wear) or shorts, things I wear and use are not meant to last. The wife says I am too rough on items. I am not sure how I can be rough on shorts, but my activity apparently does have a deleterious effect on the fabric of pants, shorts and even some shirts. As I write this I have a holes and stains on a UW Bookstore T-Shirt I obtained at the start of the 2012 fall term when one of our kids went to the University of Wisconsin. I guess that too will go to the trash or to be used as a rag. Clothes wear out, and at times they are hard to part with.

Oh, Weather!

It seems that with all of the fancy and expensive equipment weather forecasting is still more an art than a science. This year, areas that were predicted to receive, as close as a couple hours to the rain event, less than half an inch received 2" or more. This occurred a few weeks ago at my house. Rain is highly variable. Two weeks ago we had rain events on two consecutive days of 1" and .9" yet areas north of Madison did not receive rain. Oh, Weather! Is about all one can say.

In a significant contrast to last year, when it was particularly dry, this year it has been wet. The local newspaper reported, for the Madison area, that the 76 days from May 1 through July 15 was the wettest on record. Which is saying a great deal for what is normally the wettest time of the year. During that period, the area received 21.85" of rain almost twice the normal amount. Further, only 30 of the 76 days, so well less than half, did not receive any precipitation. There was an anomaly, as from May 14 to 18, was the only five day period without a day of rain. Meaning, that we really had no dry spells. 

2022 photo by author

Weather predictors like to use averages, but sometimes we are at one extreme (last year drought) to the other (really wet this year) and I suppose the average of the two is about normal, or perhaps more precipitation than normal. I like to call myself average, as I am about average height and weight, and probably near the top of the bell curve in terms of intelligence. I guess being at the top of the bell curve means I can go either way, like rainfall.

The ground has now become saturated from all the rain, it is now to the point that it was also reported that there is sufficient moisture to withstand a drought. At a recent MMSD meeting, it was reported that the sewer treatment plant is now treating about 50 million gallons a day (mgd) as compared to the normal 40 to 41. Last year it was about 38 mgd, and some months was as low as 36 mgd. To show the saturation of the ground, that one day we received the 1" in my rain gauge, the treatment plant, which sits less than four miles (as the crow flies) northwest of my house, the plant noticed an increase in less than one hour time. A fellow commissioner who lives north of Lake Mendota noted that earlier this summer, the lake saw a 2" rise in water level in less than six hours, which is a good deal of increase for a lake the size of Mendota. Interestingly, the only no-wake zone on the Madison lakes so far this year is in a bay that is part of Lake Monona (how much the suck the muck campaign, which you can read abut here, contributed to better stream flow to get water out of the lakes quicker, I do not know but Mendota's lake level is still at least 2" high). Increases in flow to the plant occur from a few things: first, water in basements which water goes to the sanitary system by the floor drain, second, people who have illegally connected sumps to the drain system, third, (an likely the main issue) is what we refer to as I/I, or inflow and infiltration. When the water table gets equal to or above a sewer pipe bad joints can leak into the pipe (water seeks the easiest path, so it acts like drain tile) and it also can get water through manhole covers when streets or other location get too inundated with water. This goes for all sewer pipes from some laterals, to local mains, to major interceptors. These are main causes of the 10 mgd a day flow more than normal. 

The worst effect on the treatment plant, or sanitary sewer overflows, is when a large storm occurs in the region and inundates the sewer system and sometimes the lift stations. The main effect on lift stations is a power outage. The district often has two different power feeds to each lift station, but a couple years ago a storm knocked power out of both feeds to one station and an overflow occurred. We have increased the number of portable generators from 1 to 2 and upgrades of most pump stations we now add a generator. This provides resiliency to the system. One storm this year saw several pumps go without power, and the crew hauled portable generators between pumping stations to avoid overflows. Empty one well, take it to another station to empty that one, and later go back to empty the well at the first one, and repeat. Fortunately, the storm was late at night, during low flow.  

High flow also causes water levels in nearby wetland and low areas near my house to become even more inundated with water. This affects habitat for animals, and in particular, the deer. As we did in the wet events of 2007 to 2008, we have seen more deer damage to our plants, and perhaps even ore so than what occurred in those years, as we have tried to diversify our flower plants. With the deer this year, we have only managed to diversify what they like to munch on. Before 2010, they had eaten hostas, tomato and pepper plants, lily of the valley, roses and violets. This year they have eaten cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, anemone, Maltese Cross, morning glory, milkweed, lilies (two types), hosta, violets, calendula, roses, hollyhock and violets. Many they just mowed off a couple feet off the ground, meaning they really chose not to bend down. They are not so much Bambi as they are giant rabbits, eating many things, and leaving droppings like they were Christian Watson dropped passes.

Meteorologists at times seem as good as predicting amount of precipitation as Watson is at catching a pass. A recent article by two meteorologists (WI SJ 7/29/24) admitted as much when it said "Meteorologists would generally agree that summer is the most challenging time of year for making accurate rain forecasts." I like the use of the word accurate, which makes me think that they think other than summer their forecasts are accurate. Thunderstorm development is difficult to predict in the warmer summer months. When you hear isolated thunderstorms that means a 10% chance of 0.01" of rain, while scattered means a 30% to 50% chance. Widely scattered is 20%. The same article notes that if you have outdoor plans, and there is a 10-20% chance of rain you should have back up plans. Funny, until forecasts this year, I would have thought you were pretty safe at a 20% chance. I should know otherwise, because when we camp we are like Morton salt, it pours. 

As can be seen, extreme rainfall can have some consequences, other than flooded basements, or washed out roads. There is always some type of consequence. The saying, "oh, weather" certainly applies.

Potty Time

A recent camping trip brought out a few snippets of going potty. Every creature has to deposit their waste somewhere. Bodily waste generally comes in the two forms of which we are all familiar. The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District serves about 430,000 persons in 24 communities, cities and villages and some town special sanitary districts. On an average day about 40 million gallons of wastewater go to MMSD.  Showing the effect of water conservation methods, and loss of Oscar Mayer, this is about the same average daily flow as thirty years ago. 

MMSD treats both grey and black water. Grey water is from washing, so think sinks, showers; black water is urine and feces otherwise known as toilet water. Our  small camper has both grey and black water tanks. We have not used the blackwater tank, that is the toilet. I have not built up the courage to use it and empty it. I have an extreme level of confidence that the poop geyser in RV, with Robin Williams would be tame compared to what would happen to me. You can see the RV scene here. I have no doubt my geyser would "reach for the sky," as if I met Woody and to "infinity and beyond" as if I were Buzz Lightyear. Heck, it may become a constellation that will have astronomers wondering where it came from for years. 

Something more pleasant than a pit toilet building

State regulations at campgrounds require that grey water be dumped in the toilets. The wife fills a gallon milk jug with the grey water we use to wash our dishes and when gets near full she dumps it in the pit toilet. The nearest toilet at most places we camp is a pit toilet, and in fact we seldom camp in campgrounds with flush toilets. One can be fined for dumping grey water on the ground, but quite frankly, I have not seen another person carrying a container to a toilet building. I doubt they take it home with them. Some campgrounds have a dump station, but others do not. Grey water is not as dangerous, so they say, as black water, and some places grey water can be used for irrigation. I suspect the large chicken plant (Brakebush) between Endeavor and Westfield sprays their waste water from a large irrigation system, as I have seen it and smelled it. It is not a pleasant odor. 

The requirement to dump grey water in the toilet got my wife wondering why there are no regulations against males urinating in the woods. I suppose there may be rules, but nothing is posted to that effect as there is for grey water management. After all, she reasoned, if grey water is bad, so too must be urine. Of course, she finds this totally unfair, as women seldom have the opportunity to just pee in the woods. In any event, it would be hard to police, just as dumping grey water on the ground is hard to police. There are fewer rangers in state parks and national forests. Even busy state parks one hardly ever sees a ranger.

Sunset

But, potty time extends to more than just a camping trip. On our way to the campground we stopped at a Kwik Trip at about lunch time on a Sunday. The Kwik Trip was very busy. I filled the car with fuel, and the wife went in to use the restroom. I then went in to use the restroom, and noticed a line of about four women standing outside the door. The men's room, as I went to use the urinal, did not have a line outside or inside the restroom. When I went to wash my hands, there was a two person deep line in the men's restroom so I must have arrived at the proper time, as I did not have to wait. My wife noted that she waited in an inside line at the woman's restroom. When leaving the men's, I noticed about six women in line for the women's restroom. The line included a mom with two girls, say about 6 to 8 years of age. Another woman was joining the line at the time to make it seven. One girl says to her mom, "Mommy, our restroom has a line, but the men's doesn't." Her mother simply responded, in an exasperated voice of a mother worn out by a long road trip, or having to yet wait in another line for a bathroom: "Welcome to life as a female." Of course, the exasperation in her voice may be blaming her husband for having provided the X chromosome which resulted in her having to take two girls to the bathroom.  

I have seen women use the men's room, and I believe someone suggested to a woman who joined the the line at Kwik Trip to do just that, and she responded she would not like to put up with the smell. This begs the question, how does she know it smells bad? From her male partner or husband, or had she used a men's room before? Men are not necessarily good aims, and the ammonia-urine smell in a well used restroom can get pretty strong. As can the smell of #2. I cannot blamer her. But, I don't know if the women's room smells like roses.

I did notice that the men's room at this Kwik Trip had two urinals and two toilets. My wife reported that the women's room had three toilets. She then, of course, rightly noted the lack of potty parity. She feels that women should at least have equal, if not more fixtures than the men's room. Women, however, do not have prostates that can get enlarged and hamper urine flow, which may then result in an excruciating long time at a urinal. Further, a male's urine has to travel a longer distance, through a system designed more for procreation than urination. 

Of course, there is a problem with the women's line, depending on location it makes it more difficult for a man to get to the men's restroom. Or, think of little boys who need to quickly get to the restroom, while doing what my wife calls the pee pee dance. 

Little girls and women on the other hand seem to have to have no issue. Have you ever seen a little girl do a pee pee dance? Do females have larger bladders, or did the process of natural selection weed out the females who cannot hold their pee? I may never look at potty time at a Kwik Trip in the same way again. 

Snake Bite?

 Last week Thursday, while I was at two meetings which took most of the morning, my wife got involved in varied land girling activities. If there is not something in the yard or house for her to do, she invents something to do. Idle hands lead to no good in her minds. She is known for reorganizing what she had organized. This time, while land girling in a flower bed, which involved pulling out some weeds, looking at deer damage, or dead heading flowers she may have gotten a snake bite.

Snake in yard, May 2024 photo

We know we have had a garter snake in the yard, which you can read about here, but had not seen it for a month or more. Research shows that garter snakes can bite. The vegetation in the flower beds and garden is much thicker now, so perhaps it is better able to hide, and with warmer weather perhaps the long reptile does not need to sun itself on our slope in the yard, soaking up the rays so to speak. I doubt the snake uses sunscreen, so perhaps its need for vitamin D outdoes its risk of skin cancer. I am not sure if a snake can get skin cancer, but a garter snake will shed its skin two to three times a year, maybe in doing so it sheds those nasty cancer cells too.

Snake in yarad, May 2024 photo

Doing what brings her joy, playing in the dirt, Land Girl, aka "the Wife", was involved in the flower bed fresh up. She did not notice a bite until she was at the raspberry bed and saw blood on her forearm, which at first she thought maybe red raspberry juice. But, no it turned out to be blood. She cleaned her wound, as only a nurse can do, and found two small puncture marks, that could well fit that of snake bite. There are no plants with thorns that could make sure a wound. To date, she has not developed symptoms of a poison bite, which makes me think it was the garter snake and not some poisonous snake that found its way in the yard. Luckily, the punctures do not itch, did not swell, or turn a different color than her natural white of her under forearm.

Snake in yard, May 2024 photo

When anyone is working in the yard one has to expect the unexpected, bug bites, hitting an errant piece of metal, or a nasty thorn, coming across poison ivy, or now even a snake bite. Land Girl is alright for the wear, and she has not slowed down in her land girling activities.