Old Ghosts and a New Species

Sometimes I get tips, suggestions on where I might catch a new fish species.  Of course the easiest way to do this is to launch a boat and range far and wide, but I'm trying to place a geocache near each new species catch site, so we are mostly talking bank fishing here.

I had a hot tip on a species called "Mooneye".  I've been after this one for years.

On the way down to the site I passed a really old cemetery.  Said to be haunted.

Old stones.  Felled by time, but still trying to preserve memories.

And then on with the fishing.  On about the second cast up came this guy!

Yes he does have weird eyes, but this is a Sauger.  And is a new species for me.  So of course I had to work it up for a Strange Fish geocache.  This cache container is not fish shaped - this would be a tough one to do - but does contain a handy guide to help folks tell the difference between Sauger and their close cousin the Walleye.

Strange Fish #13 - Sauger

State Championship 2025

Compressing a 32 team robotics competition into one day is no small feat.  The organizers did an excellent job.  

Stepping into the event as it was powering up I immediately got the feel of robot season.  I guess it is not buried too deep in my awareness.

Team 5826 got off to a strong start, with our first match being a resounding victory.  We were, albeit briefly, ranked number one in the state.  Ah, but this was an elite level competition.  When your robot works perfectly you might win, depending on who you are paired against.  When your robot has glitches, you won't.  As the event wore on our robot started to show its age/complexity.

We did end up playing in the elimination rounds.  As alliance selection works in a serpentine fashion there is actually some mild benefit to being ranked below mid range.  We were picked by the number two seeded alliance.

But after a brief playoff run we were out.

Lots was learned.  Essentially we have gone from a fun but unserious program to one that has climbed about halfway to the top.  We can see the highest limit of what can be done....but the slope above us is steep.  

This was also a chance to say farewell to some really outstanding seniors.  The post Covid rebuild of team 5826 has brought us our greatest successes, and these kids deserve the credit.  Where we go from here; how the team gets "built" for the third time......?  Well, these questions can wait a week or so.  Its not just the robot that is tired.

Silly side note.  A pit area near us had a cute lil' robot dog.  I'm thinking Hank would have gone insane seeing this in person....

FIRST Robotics 2025 - Off to State!

Next year FIRST in our state is switching formats.  Instead of very large "regional" competitions there will be slightly smaller District comps.  More of 'em, and as they are all in-state, with less travel costs and bother.  Then the top teams on a District basis get invited to a State tournament which could qualify you for Worlds.

It's mostly a good thing.  Although when I'm chin deep in organizing a local event next year I'll feel otherwise.

In any event, to get ready for the new system there is an official State Tournament this year.  I guess you could put an asterisk next to it as there is no Worlds qual involved.  But braggin' rights....

5826 did make the cut of the top 32 teams in the state.  Interestingly, and pleasingly, it was the two Awards we won that put us over the top.  Judges Award and Gracious Professionalism.  On top of a solid second tournament it was sufficient.

So, its off to State for us.  For the first time, and one hopes, far from the last.

Supposedly there will be a live stream HERE on Saturday.

Jacob Marley's Dog

 

How to explain that picture?

Well I had a spot I wanted to fish.  It was known for a species I've been trying to add to my list for years.  But I had the dog with and would have to tie him up.  There was a busy road nearby.  In fact there was a bridge with a highway worker on it.  We had a nice chat.  

I tied Hank to a tree, affording him shade and a nice view of the river.  I was maybe 20 feet from the end of the rope.   Attending to my angling I was bothered by his plaintive yipping, but after a few minutes it stopped.  Good.

Then the kid working on the bridge said: "Sir, your dog is up here."

Sigh.  Well, the rope was old and I figured he just snapped it.  Re-tied.  He somehow did it again.  I really wanted to fish this spot and it was too sunny to put him in the car for long.  Double tied rope.  He broke free again.  I had some fresh paracord with me.  It also failed.

I left the dangling shreds attached.  I think he looks a bit like Jacob Marley's ghost, who wandered Eternity - or at least Dicken's Christmas Carol - with chains hanging off him.

In Marley's case it was a mark of his sins.  Greed and Selfishness.

Dogs don't exactly have sins.  But virtues taken too far can become negatives.  Marley started out with commendable thrift and prudence, but took things too far, out over the dark edge.

Hank has the virtues of dogs.  He is unshakably loyal and friendly.  He wants to run free and sniff things.  I understand.  But it can be a pain in the rear.

--------------------------------

Addendum.  On the return swing of this trip up north I had a new dog containment system.  This time a plastic coated cable thing.  While attempting to fish a different spot I gave him a bit of side eye and caught him trying to chew it.  So I don't think his previous escapism was pure Hank Power.

Sir Edmund Hillary's Dog

 The property we bought for fun and hunting came with several nice and very new deer hunting stands.  That is about 15 feet up a ladder that looks to be at about a 60 degree angle.

Hank loves to visit, its the only place we let him run free off leash.  He rolls in stuff, waters other stuff, barks at mysterious noises.  He regarded the tree stand with suspicion.  When I went up to have a look around, he stood at the bottom and barked like mad.

When he stopped barking I got suspicious.  When I turned around....sure enough, he had found a way to scale that ladder.  He was very pleased with himself.  When I started to go down the ladder his expression changed.  Yes, this was yet another situation he'd gotten himself into with no exit strategy!

The Roman Province of Caput Caseum (Wisconsin)

I'm just about ready to ditch Facebook, for reasons I'll get to in a bit.  But I'll actually miss some of the silly interactions with actual (endearingly silly) people.  As opposed to interactions with Slop AI content generated by uninteresting people.

One such discussion had a fellow claiming, and I guess he was serious, that carvings in a local brewery cave were perhaps ancient in origin.  Aztec maybe, but I bet I could have talked him, her, or it, into Roman.  The entity used as its argument "Hey, you were not around then, so all you have is what people have told you!".  Nonsense, but refreshing.  Even charming.

So I feel very confident in identifying this pottery shard as Samian.  It popped up when I turned over our community garden patch.  Somehow the Romans MUST have crossed the Atlantic, lashed the slaves enough to row a galley all the way up the Mississippi and the Chippewa Rivers, took a turn up Duncan Creek, then had a picnic before presumably expiring from exhaustion and implausibility.

Hey, you were not around back then.  So you can't prove I'm wrong!

For my sane archaeology friends I must confess, the illusion only works when you look at this side of it.

Vindolanda Dig - Follow up

For those who followed my adventures at Vindolanda, here's what the last two weeks have revealed:

Of note, the video starts on the site of the mysterious Post Roman "thing".  It's hard to say, but it rather looks now like one building, and without obvious connection to the mysterious curved wall off of the front of the barracks.  Just what was going on there in the post Roman times?  Mention of a coin and its possible help in dating things seems a bit premature.  If it is a typical late Roman coin they stuck around for quite a while. 

Of course I'm going from available information, and don't want to speculate too much.  Perhaps future updates will show more.....

The late blacksmith shop I finished Period III in is not mentioned.  This could either mean they've seen enough and want to preserve/conserve things.....or that the ground is still rock hard despite some rain and it just can't be further explored yet.

Stay tuned....

Trail Cam Photos

We seem to have a fairly diverse critter population up on the new Land.

A tom turkey guarding a little patch of food stuff we scratched out to make the spot more enticing for photo ops.  The deer seems intimidated.

A cute little owl!  You only see one of his glowing eyes because he's looking over his shoulder.  Owls are very good at that.  As this is a little patch of clover we started it's likely he just scored a mouse.

It's well into spring now, so you can start to tell the bucks from the does.

Last time we were up Hank was running around like a Wild Dog.  He stopped to roll around in what I tentatively identified as coyote droppings.  Next day this was on the trail cam...

We've also had a black bear wander through, but it did not show well on camera.

You'll note that all these pictures are from just one spot, and at that, one of the most open and frequently trafficked by humans.  Who knows what is lurking deeper in the forest?

England 2025 - The Usual Odd People

Offered with minimal commentary.

Now, you might be wondering why there is no "Album Cover" photo this year.  It is after all a long standing tradition that we pose moodily for the camera in the fashion of some 70's band.  

Well its like this.  Half of the "Anaerobes" decided to spend the in between Saturday going to a big tattoo show in Newcastle.  It was rather..........well, I don't know exactly what it was but this was part of the entertainment there:

Yikes.  Could it be that the Anaerobes will split up, with one branch going sort of "Death Metal" and renaming themselves Anoxia?  Lots of flames, almost as much as on that 60th birthday cake, Pete!

England 2025 - The Usual Odd Sights

Wrapping up the trip to England.  I took fewer pictures than usual.  After 18 years of visiting the same place perhaps fewer things catch my eye.  But still.....

On arrival we usually make a trip to Tesco, which is a bit like a British Wal Mart or Target.  The last several years we've run into some of our digging pals who are on the same schedule.  Anthea, they were clearly expecting you!  Security nets and tags on all the gin.

And of course the usual product double entendres were to be found.

Our accommodation is next door to an interesting pottery.  Zombie Chickens and ceramic tractor tire planters.

Things in this very old part of the world change.  Or don't change depending on your perspective.  On my morning walk into the site I pass a crumbling ruin of a cottage.  I don't know how old it was, but this year there was almost nothing left except this.  Weirdly the metal hook looks nearly identical to a Roman one that I dug the next day.

Northumberlandia - Now that's a Big Girl

No doubt you've heard the expression "Coals to Newcastle".  They used to mine a great deal of coal in the area back in the day.  Which left a bit of a mess.  Some years back an open pit mine just north of Newcastle was tidied up in a rather distinctive way....by making the world's largest nude figure out of 1.5 million tons of rock and mine tailings.  Behold Northumberlandia, the Lady of the North.

I've seen her from the air when approaching the Newcastle airport.  Although she is posed somewhat demurely, you can't help but notice those 100 foot tall....er....mounds.

On our recent visit several members of our band of adventurers went in for a closer look.

And of course.....

That's Sue, our excavator-novelist.  She has a history of doing cartwheels over various landscapes.  While far from being a Prude, she did at least show Prudence in not attempting to careen straight off the giant nipple and down into the Cleavage below.

I don't get to use my Larger than Life tag very often, but the Lady of the North deserves nothing less.  

Vindolanda - Benches of Memorium

As you walk in the western gate of the Vindolanda site you go past several benches.  Nice shady spots for people to rest, especially on their way back from visiting the site.

But they are more than that.  This one has a bit of text across it that reads:  HE CAME. HE DUG. HE LOVED.  A PASSIONATE VOLUNTEER 2006-2018.  I like that.  There is also a little bronze plaque.

This got me thinking.  I'm sure there was an arrangement whereby the Trust that runs the site put this up after a donation by the Lutz family.  So.....what would I put on "my" bench?

How about this:

Perhaps I'd up the game a bit more.  Wooden benches are nice, but a few seasons back something was unearthed from the bath house site.  Behold, one support from a Stone Bench!

I'm still excavating with most of these folks.

Now I realize that the inscription will puzzle some people.  That's unavoidable.  Badger Trowelsworthy both is and is not me.  He's an alter ego, so if you want to be picky about it, I'm real and he isn't.  He of course insists that the exact opposite it true, and frankly there are times he almost has me convinced.  More on the old scoundrel HERE.  

Bollards

We've gotten pretty accomplished at using public transportation in England.  It helps that the bus runs in front of our pub/accommodation, with the train only a few hundred yards away.  I have never been willing to drive in the UK.  It's the "wrong side of the road" thing along with the narrow twisty roads full of interesting things to be looking at instead of what I should be.

From the window of the bus we saw this.  And as it was only a mile from home base I had to go back and inspect.

These are traffic bollards, sturdy posts on the edge of roads.  Just in case a distracted, careless or American driver comes by.  They are of course outside the village school.

A nice union of form and function.  I suppose the fact that the tip of the pencils is red is just for that added bit of safety, not a reminder of papers to be corrected!  They look sturdy.  I bet they'll still be standing when students no longer know what a pencil actually is!

Vindolanda 2025 - Jet Lag Recovery Week

Back home safely after a trip with eerily efficient connections everywhere.  Walk up, get on.  It will be a few days of mild mental and physical impairment, but circadian rhythms will be lulled with naps and flogged with strong coffee.  Time for a few follow up thoughts and pictures of May 2025 in eerily sunny Northern England.

I kept forgetting to post a picture of this nice floor tile with a pair of 18 century old fingerprints in it.  It was handy to keep our finds bag stationary in windy conditions, but said bag got pretty stable with the large number of pottery shards we were pulling up.  Oh, and a fair percentage of an 18 hundred year old cow.

For those following the story here over the past two weeks, the end of session video overview might be enlightening.  We had an extended version of this as our end of session site walk.

The daily walk to and from the site was delightful.  With some necessary twists and turns it is about two miles there and a bit more coming back by a different route.  Plenty of hills, beautiful scenery.  I saw rabbits, pheasants, deer.  And of course, these guys.  

More ramblings of a written variety in the days ahead, probably becoming more coherent around mid week.

Vindolanda 2025 - Day 10 and Last

In the past my final day at Vindolanda was one of frantic troweling.  Surely that elusive find that had been taunting me all session was just another scrape away!  But no more.  I enjoy the last day, tidy things up, make everything nice for the next crew coming in on Monday.  It was in fact a minimal finds day....but again with the magnificent weather we've had the entire two weeks.

A few bits of scrap metal.  Iron, and as shown here, bronze.  You recognize this stuff by the green tinge in the soil around it.  I tell newbies to look for the color of motel swimming pools.

Iron can be trickier as there is plenty of low grade iron ore around, leaching into the soil  But sometimes you can squint and see interesting things.  Here's what you see when somebody leaves a sandal on the floor 1700 years ago.  Just the ghosts of the hob nails.

And of course pottery.  I have to remind myself that when I started out it was very exciting to get a nice bit like this.

Work this session was spread out across a wide area, so the end of session trench talk was very informative.  For instance, the mystery post Roman "blob" might actually be two adjacent collapsed buildings.  Next session will sort it out.  Hopefully.  I'll update when they do.

And so another digging season ends.  We'll see if Fortuna, or more likely KLM, brings me back again.

Vindolanda 2025- Day Nine

The area I'm working is looking more and more like a metal shop of some sort.  Some bits of metal working tools have appeared, including a fancy S shaped hook I found.  Just the thing to suspend a crucible over a fire.

The central feature, perhaps a forge, is looking majestic.

One nice thing about excavating structures on the ramparts is that they are more likely to be conserved, reinforced for visitors to see in the years ahead.  We are chasing walls here and there, but might have not one but two entrances to the structure.

I found several fun metal things today, alas not at liberty to post them.  But there's always other things turning up.  Here Pete mugs for the camera with a massive cow jaw he found!  Nice teeth.

And of course there are nails.  Large ones, small ones, all sorts of nails.

The session before us had a rather noteworthy find, a phallus carved from jet.  I'm told it got noticed widely including on some late night US TV show.  It does get you looking at things in a different light.  As Sigmund Freud might be paraphrased, when is a nail just a nail?

Hmmmm...

And a slightly longer Hmmmm.....

Spoilers....just nails.   One more day of digging tomorrow.  If post digging celebrations preclude posting I'll catch up when I can.

Vindolanda 2025 - Day Eight

First off, apologies for teasing with respect to the big circular structure I was on last week.  It is turning out to be larger than expected, and will require a fairly major effort to properly excavate.  I shall update when feasible.

I did not contribute to that effort today, as I was assigned to a new area.  To the Ramparts, Comrades!

Ramparts are the earthen berms inside the fort walls.  Sentries can stroll about, looking down with disdain at any potential interlopers.  In this case the bucket loader adjacent was a welcome addition to the team.  It saved us an unpleasant barrow run.

Although ramparts are made of packed clay, and as such have a bit of an ill rep among excavators, they were actually a spot where lots was going on.  Guy stuff, mostly.

Roman forts were not all stone, there was still a lot of wood around.  So cooking, at least for the common soldiery, was done on the ramparts.  Guys barbecuing meat.  You find lots of bones.

There also seemed to be, at least in our area, some kind of metal recycling going on.  Guys taking out the trash.  Plenty of scrap iron and the odd bit of bronze.  My friend Pete found some some especially good bits and is here hoisting the "staff of recognition" to site in a small find.

His side of the trench was more productive than mine.  I got bits of pottery and one teeny, tiny 4th century coin.  We don't know what the value of these little critters was, but you find them often enough to assume that when people dropped them they said "Qui Curat" (Who cares!) and kept going.

Bits and bobs.  A chunk of amphora tossed away 18 centuries ago and still where it landed.

More reports from the Ramparts tomorrow.