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Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Watch Dog

From the earliest days, from the time when wolves slunk into the circle around the fire and made a compact with primitive Man, there has been an understanding.  We give them food and scratch their ears.  They warn us of danger.



Hank takes his job very seriously......

I especially appreciate the bit at the end where he looks to me for approval after defending me from Frosty the Snow Man....


Well, I guess he's trying.  So I keep up Humanities end of the bargain.  Here's Hank and his rowdy pal Reba.



Monday, November 27, 2023

Deer Hunting 2023 - Sounds of the North Woods

I've called it a year for deer hunting.  Oh, unless I get antsy and decide to try the "second chance" season in early December.  I've spent a lot of time up in trees looking at....other trees.  Deer numbers apparently are way down this year.  We had a nasty late winter storm that was hard on the critters so this is not a big surprise.

The woods have been quiet most of the time.  Oh, I've heard some gunshots but not as many as most years.  Some afternoon to early evening sits I have not heard a single report.  But I have heard other interesting things.

My first morning out for instance.  I was creeping to my stand in the pre-dawn darkness.  The woods were still and mysterious.  Until I touched the ladder of my stand.  At that point the flock of turkeys that was roosting in the tree took off in all directions while making prehistoric sort of squackings and screeches.  I'm not saying that's why I have not seen a deer from that stand all season, but turkeys are basically Mother Nature's Car Alarms.

On another early morning walk in I heard something that was both creepier and more encouraging.  Coyotes howling to each other in the distance.  A reminder that the dark woods really do not belong to Man.  In the past when the predators have been in chorus the deer were up and moving.  But alas, another morning with no sightings.



Eventually the standard hunting spots were abandoned in favor of backup sites.  On yet another predawn mission I crept along a river bank with an elaborate climbing stand strapped to my back.  I'd never actually set one of these up alone, much less in the dark, so when the sun rose and gave me a pleasing vista I was happy.  Until about 7:30 am when rock music started blasting from somewhere over the hill.  7:30....c'mon people!

As it happens the site was across the river from the headquarters for "Birkie".  This is a ski race but they use the course for other things.  Evidently this includes a day after Thanksgiving "Birkie Turkey" bike and running race.  The music must have been the Warm Up before the race started.  It was close enough to be annoying - and who knows what the deer thought of it - but not close enough to make it out.  I think it was some kind of generic 70's "RAWK".  Scrawny exercise fanatics really like their fifty year old rock 'n roll.



Oh well.

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Three Generations On the Hunt.

Monday evening in the woods.  My son toting a Climbing Stand for grandpa to use.  Then he and my grandson were off to sit in a double stand we have at another site.  I had a pleasant evening watching a river.  They wrapped it up early having only seen one deer at a range too far for a first time youth hunter to consider....



Monday, November 20, 2023

Deer Hunting - Opening Weekend 2023

A strange Opener.   We made elaborate plans....only to have them go out the window.  One hunter had to bow out due to family obligations.  Another, although feeling ok, had been recently ill and had a positive Covid test.  This was a deal breaker for yet another hunter with a new baby at home.

Also, the weather was weird and warm.  And....deer numbers are down due to a late winter storm in April.  Do these sound like excuses?  Perhaps offered by someone who had not even seen a deer?*

Yes.

There are more hunters in our little patch of the woods.  On Opening Morning a kid had a stand set up just up the deer trail from my favorite spot.  Not a problem really, its public land.  But he shot two deer (this is legal, one buck one doe) that should have been strolling down the path to my stand.  Various other minor set backs cropped up later in the weekend.  A glitchy gps.  A solitary hunter who for some reason decided to park himself directly in the shooting lane from my favorite stand.  (I let him have the area, public land again, but when I went past hours later I noted he had moved again.  He just seems to be wandering around scaring the deer to no purpose).

Ah well.  My oldest son got a deer.  We will have another go at them tomorrow.  But definitely a sub par hunting year for us.

View from a tree stand number one.  The shadows make it look like I was thirty feet up!


View from a tree stand number two.  One morning I had a stand where, in theory, I would shoot across this river at unsuspecting deer on the other bank.  In theory.

A positive Covid test poses a few challenges for a host.  The young couple had their dinner and beverage out on the screen porch.  They seemed pretty happy.


We'll see what Monday has for us.  As the pictures show the weather has been ridiculously nice.  This has been pleasant but deer actually prefer gloomy weather.  This bright sunshine has not been helpful.

Guess that sounds like another excuse.

____________________

* Technically I have seen deer.  But either outside of legal hours or in places I can't shoot 'em. They are out there....my grand daughter noticed four of them loitering outside the cabin and banged on the window to get them to move along.  Sigh.



Friday, November 17, 2023

Orange Sunset

Opening Morning of Deer Hunting awaits.  The other hunters and support staff are all in route, but at present its just me and the dog as the sun sets on Friday evening.

I've been up for a few days already.  It has been nice and quiet but there are a few things to attend to before the official opening of Deer Camp.

Trail cams need to be consulted....


A nice buck, probably an 8 pointer.  If the next thing the camera snapped had antlers they'd look like a chandelier...


I was not scowling because of my last round of target practice.  I was out at about 100 yards and looking straight into the sun for these shots.  I'd call it 4 for 4.


When you miss the bullseye both left and right, up and down it means the rifle is sighted in nicely. Its the rifleperson who is at fault.  But this should suffice.

Dog loves it Up North.  He sniffs at, I presume, coyote dribbles.  He barks at squirrels.  He rolls around on his back and then stretches out in a pose I call SuperDog.


Note the blaze orange flag on his leash.  I don't think anyone would take a shot at a deer that small but you never know so he stays on leash and flagged.



The Bay Theater

I've developed a degree of interest in vintage movie theaters.  Once commonplace they are becoming rara avis.  On a trip to Ashland Wisconsin a few weeks back I ran across this gem. 


Behold The Bay Theater.  And while it does not exactly overlook Chequamegon Bay of Lake Michigan, you can see it from the corner.  You can find a thumbnail history at Cinema Treasures.

In the first half of the 20th Century the not particularly large town of Ashland had four movie theaters of which The Bay, built in 1937, is the only survivor.  Here's what it looked like in 1963.  A fancy, substantial front paired with a rather more workaday main section.  The wall of the latter currently has a nice mural of area military service men and women.


Once a single 650 seat theater it has now been split up into six screens.  That allows them to show a variety of features.  When I walked past on a drizzly afternoon there were parents bringing small children in for a matinee.

I hope they read the signs carefully before selecting which room to enter......



Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Little Robots Pushing Things

Barely controlled chaos with middle school kids driving little sumo style pushing robots.  My elaborate three on three format went out the window when we had both equipment failures and a last minute scratch.  Hey, the equipment is twenty years old, so not surprising.

But two on two or three on two matches both worked quite well.  Kids found that having one less robot getting in the way actually kind of hindered them.  There was some good driving and some of the matches were pretty exciting.  When they can carom that big green 5 point ball in at the last minute that's really fun....


 Everyone seemed to have a pretty good time.

"Vintage" robot T shirts as prizes.


During a break for field reset the high school team's competition robot grabbed a few things for show then lead the families of the middle school kids back to our workshop for a look at what we assume will be the future for many of them.



Monday, November 13, 2023

The Return of Machines Behaving Badly......

It's been a long time.  Too long.

A couple of decades back I started a DIY robotics class at the middle school.  "Machines Behaving Badly" involved 24 kids in 6th - 8th grades each building a 3 pound combat robot out of scrap materials and unrealistic expectations.  It was immensely popular.  When the modern age came along and sign up was on the internet it once filled in 90 seconds.

The rules were the essence of simplicity.  No flame throwers, no hand grenades, and no live animals.  Two minute matches, double elimination with the Final having a degree of Finality as there usually would be a waiving of event rules.  No time clock.  No judges to rule on performance.  Thunderdome Rules.  Two Bots enter, One Bot leaves.

Ah, good times.  The degree of enthusiasm and creativity it generated were the foundation of the high school FIRST team.  The proposed 20th anniversary Machines Behaving Badly Smash it All Grand Finale Event was supposed to happen in 2020.  It was done in by Covid lockdown and post Covid my robotics energies have since been directed in other directions.

But this year the Robot School students finished their major project a bit early so I decided to give them a treat.  Lets revive Machines Behaving Badly.

Oh, not in its most exuberant form.  No weapons, this will be a pushing match only and held on a table top instead of our enclosed arena.  But it is an opportunity to merge the Old Ways with a bit of FIRST format.  So, three versus three, red versus blue and with a complicated bit of gameplay that requires both individual driving skill and thoughtful cooperation.

We started out with just a few robots pushing things around on a small table...


Then moved up to FIRST robotics style 3 on 3 matches, Red versus Blue.  The goal was to push objects of variable difficulty into milk crates for scoring points.


After a few practice rounds the kids did get much better.  But some objects defied their efforts.  From far back in the Combat Robot days I dredged up the little guy who once sat atop our famous robot Turbo Gnome.  He's no pushover....


Tournament on Tuesday.  Should be Nostalgic, Nonsensical Fun.


Friday, November 10, 2023

From the Department of Dubious Ideas

Hunting season opener a week from tomorrow.  This looks a bit sketchy but is actually a nice comfortable tree stand with good stability.  Deer numbers appear down this year but at least I'll be waiting them out in comfort.


Puts me to mind of the Stylites.  If you've not heard of them they were early Christian mystics who spent their lives sitting on top of stone columns.  As they were current in the latter Roman era and into the early middle ages there was no shortage of these sittin' around unused.  

I'm not in official hunting garb in this early November photo.  Starting a week from tomorrow I'll be Stylin' it Stylite Style.......

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Tree Shaped Tombstones - Fairchild Wisconsin

Fairchild Wisconsin is one of many little communities that got off to a good start but never really hit a "boom".  It's a sleepy little place in 2023.  But it has a nice cemetery and must have had a Woodman's lodge of one variety or another.


A nice specimen.  The American Flag in the background and the subtle GAR star lower right are appropriate.  Fairchild was named after a Colonel Lucius Fairchild who lost an arm at Gettysburg but went on to become Governor of Wisconsin.

Here's an oddity.  You see these "Book and Tree" variants pretty often.  But this one appeared to be leaning out at a weird angle...


It's probably just leaning forward and about to tip over.  Glad it did not happen when we were inspecting it.  A few rows over we have one in a more typical, i.e. stable, configuration.


Swell stone carving on this one.  I've seen hundreds of these things by now and they still amaze me.

I'm always trying to figure out stories.  The style seen here with a forked branch is often a married couple.  Commonly there will be one branch on each fork reaching out for all eternity towards its mate.  But here....one name and one branch....


Note the letter C carved into a cut off branch.  That was not the initial of the man buried here.  Was "C" the long lost Love of his Life?  The One that Got Away?  The carved verse is particularly mournful and all about meeting again in the next life.  Alas we can't really know.  But from the various implements down at the base of the monument we do know he was a Woodman.




Monday, November 6, 2023

Pup Peroni meets Papparazzi

Dog has things he likes.  Dog chow, sniffs, walkies, me.  I'm not sure how he'd rank those things but they are all well behind his favorite snack food Pup Peroni.  Hell, they smell so good even I've been tempted but the one time I tried a tasty snack at Dog University I regretted it.

I think the titular Pup even looks a little like Hank.


So I thought it would be fun to duplicate the package art, with a happy bright eyed pup holding one of the 'ronis cross wise in his mouth.   Can we pull this off?


Nope, not even close.  A quick lunge, a juke to one side and he quickly inhaled it.  Blurry action photo in which he's giving me not Adoring Puppy Eyes but a very suspicious sideways squint.



Friday, November 3, 2023

Nutritious Drinks on the House

In the interest of not being an Old Grump I'm going to say something positive about the modern world.  Man, we get lots more fun packages.  Makes sense of course.  Its the internet and Amazon and the decline of in person shopping.  See it, click on it, money you never actually touch flies away somewhere else and minions show up to leave things on your porch.

Sometimes they are real surprises.  Hmmm, this one is heavy.  I didn't order anything like that.

Lets peek inside.....


What you see first is a huge stack of coupons for money off of Ensure.  If you are under say, 60, you might not know what that is.  Sold as a nutritional supplement for Weak and Elderly folk its kind of like Energy Drink for Geezers.  And under the layer of paper....


The good folks at Ensure decided to ship me 12 pounds worth of Nutrition shakes.  They do this on an intermittent and seemingly random basis.

Of course it is because I was a primary care physician quite a few years ago.  They hope I'll hand the coupons out to my elderly patients.  Who gets the actual bottles of stuff I'm not sure.  Interesting the things that still turn up 16 years after I left primary care and 7 since I retired from medicine entirely.  

Or is this not random at all?  Does some devious computer program keep track of retired physicians and send them boxes of Geezer Juice every once in a while?



Wednesday, November 1, 2023

The Dog has Questions.....

Hunting season approaches.  This actually means I'm taking Dog out to some promising locations less often.  I'm not sure to what extent the canine habit of marking everything that stands might influence skittish deer, but a few weeks does seem plausible.  So these photos are from last month.

Something was scraping and scratching here....


"Hey Boss, there's one damned big squirrel down there somewhere..."


It is particularly difficult to take him cross country when his ambition in Sticks is so outsized....


Because he does rather resemble a pint sized deer he'll be decked out in some kind of orange kit during the actual hunting season.  Man, is he gonna be confused if we have the good fortune to have a couple of deer hanging up outside.  The begging I get for an hour leading up to Morning Walk time will pale in comparison....