Weird Shopping - More Pandemic stock ups

One of the things I'll remember from the great Covid pandemic - assuming I'm around to do so - will be the weirdness of grocery shopping.  As straying from your fortified bunker is viewed as grave peril trips to the store have been less frequent, for greater amounts of supplies, and somehow more anxiety producing.  This from someone who does not much care for shopping under the best of conditions.

Recently we made a run to Aldi.  This is an odd chain of stores.  It's a German company with 10,000 stores in 20 countries.  They are of course clean and efficient.  And the quality of their goods is pretty good....if more than a little peculiar.

Aldi typically has a mix of brand name and generic knock offs.  Also a wide selection geographically, with lots of European influences.  Maybe with a few concepts that don't translate well across oceans.  Here's a few oddities, things that caught my attention instead of being helpful to the Quartermistress General in her work.

This was in the cheese department.  Flavored Goat Log Assortment.  I wonder if this is a big deal in Germany?  Putting it through Google Translate it comes out as: "Aromatisierter Ziegenstamm".  Which actually does sound better.  Also in the cheese department was this product.  Am I the only one who saw the name and had a horrific vision?

Without even leaving the cheese and sausage cooler there was also this gem.  These are American products so I can't blame language or cultural difficulties for the oddness.  

That's a Jackalope.  And some kind of large, obese, flightless bird.  In slapping together a link I was amazed to learn that creatures akin to Jackalopes appear in natural history books as far back as the 13th century!  These were likely normal rabbits infected with a papilloma virus that caused them to grow large warty growths.  Yep, just what I want in my lunch.

The saddest find of all was in the kids cereal section.  There have always been choices between brand name cereals and generic knock offs.  Not, mind you, in the sugar content which is impressive in both.  No, it shows up more in things like how fast you have to eat it to avoid it turning into a disgusting brightly hued sludge.  Oh, and the art work is better on the real versions.

Here is brand name "Lucky Charms", a concoction that I enjoyed on occasion back in the day.  Lucky the Leprechaun has been modernized a bit.  

Manic little imp, isn't he?  This wretched stuff was launched back in 1964 when a General Mills exec experimented by adding chopped up "Circus Peanuts" to conventional sugar bomb cereal.  It has been an enduring success.

But oddly, there was an attempt in the mid 1970's to replace Lucky with an absent minded magician called Waldo the Wizard.  The concept was dutifully test marketed....weirdly being very popular in New England but in the rest of the US, not so much.

It was decided to just make Lucky cuter.  Get rid of any implication that the leprechaun might be holding out on you with respect to that whole pot of gold thing.  Ease up on the "Oirish" accent that in a less sensitive era was code for "Aye needs a drink badly m'lad"  The Wizard vanished.

Or did he?  Here in the starkly lit aisles of Aldi have I found the otherwise worthless copyright image of Waldo the Wizard?  Or is it just a grim vision of what Lucky will look like on the day that his dipsomaniac life style, raging diabetes and true age become manifest?

Back to the Woods

It was F. Scott Fitzgerald who said that there are no second acts in American Life.  I guess there are exceptions though.  In Wisconsin there is a very detailed analysis of white tail deer populations and of the annual harvest through bow and gun hunting seasons.  If there are still a lot of deer roaming about a short four day "second season" happens.

Lest you judge this heartless, the deer population is carefully managed for good reasons.  White tail deer were once much less common.  In the 19th century we logged off the northern half of Wisconsin and covered the southern half with farms.  Effectively the state became a giant feet lot for deer.  Left to their own devices there would be more deer starving in the winter.  Or smacking into cars year 'round.  Oh, no doubt the modest extra boost to the local economy is a minor factor in the extended deer season.  For what it's worth there are other little special seasons for muzzle loaders, youth hunters and so forth.

This time I'll be hunting on my own, just the Better Half back at the cabin for support staff.  Actual real life has more influence on my kids than it does on me.  In addition to employment they also have to figure in minimizing any possible Covid exposure in the lead up to Christmas gatherings...

So, back to the woods.

I started the day with a great plan.  A stand was set up overlooking a promising trail.  I had made a lightweight gun rest out of various "stuff" from the robotics stockpile.  I had the scope zeroed in on where the deer should be.

It totally did not work out.  A nearby cabin that is never occupied this time of year, was.  I suspect its a Covid telecommuting situation.  The deer were put off by this and even if I had spotted one I'd be reluctant to disturb these nice neighbors with artillery fire.

So for the evening hunt, another approach. 

Down the road a little ways is a parcel of public land that is adjacent to a former golf course.  The local gentry, actually a very prominent family of industrialists, bought the golf course and just let it revert to nature.  I think this is some combination of tax write off, laudable interest in land conservation...and an excuse for them to have some great hunting land all to themselves.  Really, there's deer eating former golf course grass right out in the open.  And overlooking it all there are several swank hunting stands.  Here's one of them.

Very deluxe, as you'd expect.  I've known people who hunt in such splendor to actually take naps, listen to podcasts.  Maybe they check their emails and run their business empires.  Well, this is just the other side of the fence dividing private and public land.  On my side I've set up this hillbilly deer stand:

Just a cheap folding chair, one my wife was encouraging me to discard.  I put a few strips of orange fabric up to help me find it in the dark.  And to show it has not been casually dumped.  

For the evening hunt I sat there in comfort.  I could see deer munching contentedly off in the distant safety of the golf course.  As light was fading I was surprised by two deer that just materialized somehow 50 yards away from me.  I never heard 'em.  But I did see them. 

I am not at this stage of my hunting experience a great marksman.  But I'm able to report that I did make a clean shot dropping my deer about 20 feet on the proper side of a large NO TRESPASSING sign.

A fun day and a fun experience overall.  With the extra effort I was able to make us 3/3.  This will be the benchmark for future hunts.  I also learned a lot and had a chance to enjoy some quality family time in a year when we all could use more of it.

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Addenda:

1. It has been pointed out that in dim light that folding chair looks like the biggest white tail deer butt in the world.  I should have, and certainly shall, cover it with orange before its next deployment.

2. I dragged the deer out of the woods myself, the better part of a mile.  That's why I'm not wearing orange in this photo.  I was pretty warm by that point and had shed a layer.

3. This is a "nubbin buck".  That counts as antlerless.

4. The history of deer population numbers is more complicated than I made it sound.  I'm still studying past numbers.  But current numbers are robust.

5. I'll be giving a program - alas virtually - for the local Learning in Retirement group in March. I'll post a link if anyone else out there is interested in taking up deer hunting in their "over the hill" years.

Freezing for a good cause.

When your grandchild wants you to come do something with him/her it's really a no brainer.  You do it.  After all, the opportunities are finite.  So.....I got to go along ice fishing.

For my friends from civilized parts of the world this means you go out onto the frozen lake, drill holes in it, put down lines and wait for something to happen.  Or maybe not.  You typically sit on overturned five gallon pails.  This by the way is another odd little facet of Midwestern American life that few outsiders experience.

There are various ways to fish.  We were using "tip ups".  These are spring loaded lines with bright orange flags.  When a hungry pike grabs the minnow and starts running with it, the flag goes up.  You slip and slide across the ice to try and reel him in.

It's been many years since I've done this.  Truth be told I find it much less enjoyable than summer time fishing.  There's lots of sitting around.  And it's cold.  Also in the early part of the season it's a little scary.  The ice has only been forming for a couple of weeks.  It's thick enough, so I was assured, but it makes creepy groaning and grinding noises.  Also, you see way too many cracks and fissures.  And ominous sights like this:

In the end of course it was all uneventful. Both for us and for the fish.

Forgotten Brewery Caves - History, Geology and Mushrooms

No locations post today.  But I recently had a chance for a quick peek into a brewery cave that I'd known about for a while.  This was an odd one with more than the usual number of interesting features.  My main interest was to determine if it was a bat hibernation site which proved not to be the case.

Short and admittedly incomplete history.  Civil War vintage, various destructive fires and frequent changes in ownership, a shutdown for Prohibition and a modest post-Prohibition revival.  After the brewery went under for good the cave was used to grow mushrooms for a while in the 1970's.  Given the several phases of the business I was expecting to see 1860's original features, modifications for the brewery's heyday in the 1870's and 80's, maybe a little from the "lost years" when it would have likely just been storage space, then some remnants of the mushroom growing project in the 1970's.  Here we go...

Probably the original stonework arch with later brick addition.

Clearly there was some modern cement added when the cave was put back into service roughly 50 years ago.

Here is a "backwards look" view that shows the various phases well.  I do note just a few of the white dots that annoy me so much with cave photography.  I've taken to carrying a small light with a sort of gentle glow.  This seems to help a lot with photo quality.  Stirred up dust also may be a contributing factor.  This cave was damp so there was none of that going on.

Stone and brick work notwithstanding this is essentially a rock excavated cave.  Many such were expansions of existing caves and niches.  This particular cave went back 40 feet or so, then took a 90 degree turn into this room.  The ceiling has had a big chunk peel off and fall.  There is a lot of mineral dissolved in the water that drips continuously from the roof.  It is forming little stalactites and flow stone formations.  I'm not sure what is reflecting the flash off that back wall.

Another look back view.  Along the left wall are the crumbled remains of wooden shelving as well as what appear to be deteriorating bags that may have contained peat moss.  These must be remnants of the mushroom growing operation.  The orange extension cord looks a bit newer but who knows.  The asymmetry of the cave with respect to the archway is pretty odd.  I wonder if once they got the excavation underway they found harder or softer stone that influenced the direction.

An interesting cave.  The condition of the back room is a bit dubious but overall this one is in good shape.  Always fun to find a cave with odd features that make me think.

Still, it would have been nice to find another bat "hibernaculum" - that being the places they hibernate in - I think my count of new ones I've found for the DNR stands at five.

Tree Shaped Tombstones - Marshfield Wisconsin

Here's a couple of Tree Shaped Tombstones from Marshfield Wisconsin.  The town by the way is mostly known for its big Clinic/Hospital.  This cemetery is conveniently across the street.

Difficult light conditions on this photo.  I can't always choose the time I pass through a distant community.

Occupational monuments are always interesting.  Any guesses on this one?

Here's a oddball.  It is made of some harder, lighter colored stone.  So not the usual limestone but some kind of granite.  And it is also a bit of an "occupational" monument.  Note the crossed cannon and ammunition?

The gentlemen reposing here was a certain Ernst Schmidt.  

Schmidt was born in Dresden and immigrated to the US in 1860.  He enlisted in the Union army specifically the 2nd Wisconsin Light Artillery.  After serving for just over a year he was transferred to reserve status in September of 1862 due to disability.

Post war he lived variously in Michigan and Wisconsin at one point running a hotel and later a "mercantile" business of some sort.  He seems to have taken lasting pride in his military service.

Snappy Times at the Hungry Mouse Cafe

I have a general live and let live attitude towards nature.  Almost all the fish I catch get released.  Bats that find their way into my home are gently escorted out.  When chipmunks become a garden nuisance I safely live trap them, take them across the river and release them.  I think they race me home.

But I do draw the line on carpenter ants and mice when either is inside my house or our up north cabin.  Ants will eventually eat your building.  Mice, well there's Hanta Virus, the fact that they harbor deer ticks that carry Lyme disease.  And all those little droppings.  Everywhere.

So it's a running battle.  One in which my grandson is a loyal foot soldier.  Mice outside:  good.  Mice inside: trap 'em.

Recently he spied the likely entry point from garage to domicile and we happily worked together to seal it off.  Since then there have been no mice caught in the house.  But they seem to still be present in the attached garage in abundance.  

We had a puppy visitor recently so had to do something other than strew traps about randomly.  We decided to modify a cardboard box as The Hungry Mouse Café.

As you can see it has two doors and considerable decoration.  The little brown ovals are drawn on mouse droppings.  We figure they'd just follow the trail right on in.

This was originally a box of "Cheesecake" frozen treats, which seems a nice bit of advertising.  Note the five star rating and the peanut butter pie.  Note also that there are three loaded mouse traps inside.

So how did it work out?  Well, I came back a few days later and found a full house.  Looks as if a very wild time was had after hours at the Hungry Mouse Café!  Ugh...what a party.

Update.  Since I wrote the above, we found a little niche that the mice must have been using to gain entry.   With that blocked the number of mice caught in the garage went to zero.  Oddly, two weeks on there was a single mouse caught in the house.  I figure he was a lone survivor who had been wandering in what must have seemed to him an empty post rodent Apocalypse.  Mice are not particularly deep thinkers but he must have wondered:  "Hey, in all the stories I've heard its us and the cockroaches who rule after the humans are all gone.  Now, they are still here and I'm the last of my kind.....what gives?"

Deer Camp 2020 Observations

I moved to small town Wisconsin in 1985, which means I've already lived here most of my life.  On arrival I was bemused by the cultural importance of Deer Hunting Season.  Guys talked about it for a month in advance.  There were many events billed as "Lonely Doe" or "Deer Hunting Widow".  Mostly craft shows but I remember there being a few that featured male dancers!

It seemed like harmless fun and a good male bonding exercise.  Oh, there were a few down sides.  Because the process of scouting, prepping the hunting shack, bow hunting, gun hunting and so forth took up several weeks you'd be well advised to not have any carpentry, plumbing or other trades oriented work that needed to happen in November.  Or maybe even late October.

2020 was the year when our tribe started hunting together.  It just seemed like it was time.  This is a year when so many other traditions are under siege.  Family reunions, Trick or Treating, Thanksgiving and soon, Christmas....all cancelled or under shadow.

I enjoyed spending time with my sons.  I with the Big City lad could have stayed longer.  Contrary to my expectations that Deer Camp would be raucous and sodden, we all imbibed in moderation and went to bed early.  Mostly we just talked about hunting and general trivialities.  Occasionally more profound matters snuck in around the fringes.

There's two basic modes to hunting in Northern Wisconsin.

Morning Hunt.  You are up in the dark.  With a goal of being in your stand a half hour before official sun rise this involves creeping through pitch black woods.  You have a small flashlight and where necessary a few marker flags have been placed.  Its eerie, and you sense you are being watched.  Nature does not seem entirely conquered when it is just you, one lone human quietly sneaking through the dense forest.   

The first moments of daylight are crucial.  You squint out at vague shapes wondering which are bushes and which might be crouching deer.  When official hunting hours start you usually can tell, as distant booms roll across the woods.  Somebody is having better luck.

After a few hours it is too light for the deer to be casually out strolling, so you climb down and head back for lunch.

Evening hunt is the mirror image.  The walk in is sunny and the paths easy to follow.  There's no particular need for haste or stealth, its a good time to ponder over tracks or maybe just to sit on a stump a while and enjoy.  But eventually you climb up into the stand.  As the sun dips below the tree tops and under the crest of the hill the woods grow dark and mysterious again.  I found this a difficult time to hunt.  You know the deer are going to creep out just as the light fails.  But that's also the hardest time to see for a clean shot.   The walk out at the end of an evening hunt can be tricky.  Once I had to power up the GPS to find my way home.

Several things did surprise us.  There were a lot more people hunting in our immediate area than we had expected.  Perhaps we are not the only family feeling a loss of community.  Both hunting and fishing license sales were up in this crummy Covid year.  Taking off a mask and breathing fresh pine scented air was delightful.

I'm hoping this is just the first of many deer camps.  There's another generation that wants in as soon as possible.  We also might consider inviting a few guests in the future....any of my UK pals who want to REALLY see a different part of American life, come on over in late November.

And specifically to my UK friend Anthea.....I'm guessing we could still find one of those Lonely Doe exotic dancer nights around somewhere!