Click Bait...
...around Rockport and Fulton.
Photo Safari
Looking for some of the fabulous Texas costal bend avian wildlife.
But all we found flightworthy was this.
A nice little park on Copano Bay, by the airport.
Copano Bay.
And then Los Comales for dinner. Yum.
Egrets, Boat-tailed Grackles...
... whistling ducks, kiskadee, etc.
Boat-tailed grackles, which his and seem to spit when perturbed.
Lunch (oysters, shrimp, etc) in paradise—Paradise Key Dockside Bar and Grill.
Sunny, Warm, and Windy
Shorts and t-shirt weather, and even then shade felt good. Nice way to segue out of winter. Shopping, walking, bike riding, shrimp for dinner, basketball. Had to spray all the salt and road grime off my bike but after that bike riding was great—going one direction. (Almost impossible the other way.)
On a different note, Bri has provided links to a couple of videos of the recent Nite nationals.
Here's one:
And here is another:
If Only Pax Could Fly...
...we would take an airplane.
Long drive. Not fun but we got it done. Now for some relaxing.
Roots, Talks, Walks, and Flying Fish
Big day in Little Rock.
Bear uses the dog door into our place to visit from time to time. (NB: This is the same rug we have in whitewater, only much nicer.)
A bit of downtown Little Rock, which really is quite a small town.
The big line waiting to order at the Flying Fish in downtown LR.
The restaurant's wall is covered with trophies, including these.
Late breakfast at Roots, a funky but fabulous pace just a block from here. Line out the door when we arrived and still there when we left an hour later.
A long walk around the neighborhood (the historic Governor's Mansion neighborhood), mostly built in the 1880s and now transitioning from run down to rehabilitated, maybe even gentrified someday. At the convenience store at the corner of Broadway and Spring Street a long, animated, discursive conversation with Amexem Alumuur (of Morian Temple Services) about ethnicity, evolution, and human origins. We both had a good time.
A short drive and then a good walk along the west bank of the Arkansas River (Murray Park). And then dinner at the Flying Fish, downtown (10 minute drive) of catfish and shrimp. Once again a long line—the place somewhat reminiscent of Snoopy's south of Corpus Christie on Mustang Island.
And, sometime during the day we came to the realization that we are just one block away from the place we stayed at on our way home last year. Duh. (Our current place is much nicer.)
Halfway House
Rode a chilly north wind south. Six inches of snow and 12 degrees when we left Whitewater. Snow showers, sometimes heavy, until well south of St Louis. Only 40 WJJDegrees in Little Rock, although the trees have leaved out and the azaleas are starting to bloom.
Now ensconced in an 1882 carriage house in old Little Rock. A remarkably nice place—spacious, well appointed, lots of comfortable furniture, two bedrooms, two baths, a well stocked kitchen, and a big fenced-in garden-yard where Pax and Bear (a cute Yorkie) can pal around.
Snow Birds
Getting set to hightail It south.
Pax is already keeping a close eye on all the exits.
Spring Time
Six-thirty and there's still plenty of light? Yes, we have sprung ahead, but the sky has clouded over and an east wind has come up, still carrying the recent chill. All that adds up to a Winter Weather Advisory—possibly seven or more inches of snow overnight and into tomorrow.
While we have light, we don't quite actually have spring. This is the kind of March I remember—the kind of March when southern locales beckon.
However, Bri and Tony had a great time at the Nite national regatta in Escanaba, where they acquitted themselves well. (more imagery later).
Unbirthday and Iceboat Update
Qwerty
Bri and Tony at the Nite national regatta on Little Bay De Noc off Gladstone, Michigan. Thirty-five boats. The guys will not win hardware, but they are doing well and having fun. Cold and windy there today—and here, too.
Milwaukee Bound
Brief stop at Fox Point, then with Ab, Kate, and Will on to a tacquira on Milwaukee's north side. After dinner Mimi and I trekked another block south to Boswell Book Company where Dan Egan was speaking about his just released book The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. Overflow crowd, suggesting the Great Lakes are a topic of wide iterest.
Post Windy
Almost calm.
This is where we didn't walk yesterday—our normal route through the park.
And here is where we walked today. Last time here the prairie was shoulder high. Now ashes. Quite sure it was not burned during the gale.
Pax had his annual checkup today, in preparation for travel south. He is in perfect health, weighs a half pound less than last year (hard to believe), and according to two Veterinary Technicians and one Veterinarian, just about the best all-around dog they have ever met. I agree.
Quilt Works and Tree Farm
Just trying to keep from blowing away. Gusts to 60 mph, almost enough to sweep a two-footed walker off his feet. Four-foot, however, just thought it was a blast and was cranked.
Lots of tree pruning going on—and something unimaginable happening out on the big lakes.
Closer to home, the big, two-sided tapestry that will hang between posts on the upper level of Kagawong house as an acoustic aid, is coming together...
...and looking good. What a vast amount of work, except, supposedly, it's fun.
Meanwhile, I've started a Kentucky Coffee Tree tree farm. (It is one of my favorite trees.) Thanks to the wind quite a few pods were dislodged today from the mother tree over in Starin Park.
The pods are tough, woody, and filled with a gooey jelly, which is somewhat toxic. The multituidinous, ravenous squirrels hereabouts clearly leave them alone.
I think the Kentucky Coffee Tree, with its rough bark, twisted branching habit, and alternate, binately compound leaves is unusually handsome.
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From Wikipedia:
The Kentucky coffeetree is believed to be an example of evolutionary anachronism. The tough, leathery seed pods are too difficult for many animals to chew through (in addition to being poisonous) and they are too heavy for either wind or water dispersal. It is thus believed that the tree would have been browsed upon by now-extinct mammoths and mastodons which ate the pods and nicked the seeds with their large teeth, aiding in germination. This behavior is seen among African elephants eating Fabaceae relatives in Africa. Because of this, its prehistoric range may have been much larger than it has been in historical times. Today, in the wild, it only grows well in wetlands, and it is thought that only in such wet conditions can the seed pods rot away to allow germination in the absence of large herbivores.
Let me know if you would like a tree or two.
March Winds...
...roaring.
See the moon?
Six Flags?
Getting brushed backwards.
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The fundamental question is: Do citizens of a democratic state have the fundamental right to the highest quality of health care, regardless of income or any other discriminating factor? If the answer is yes, then for-profit private insurance cannot serve as the core enabler of that universal right. If the answer is no, then that democratic state is enabling its own demise, particularly when the greatest amount of wealth in human history is available to the state. This is not socialism, it is a fundamental expression of equal citizenship, for the highest quality of health care, like education, is a universal right regardless of income or other discriminating factors. Or so it seems to me.
Scudding Clouds
Gale warning on Lake Michigan. Line of thunderstorms heading our way after a warm and windy day‚ a day spent on sewing on one hand and computer work on the other, not to mention dog walks.
Which side are you on?
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Dear Senator Baldwin and Supposed Senator RoJo and Supposed Representative Senselessbrenner:
Asian carp pose a serious threat to the Great Lakes' ecosystems and economy, including the $7 billion fishing industry. The leading edge of the Asian carp population advanced over 60 miles in 2015. Existing barriers are not effective against juvenile fish, and larvae have been found less than 50 miles from Lake Michigan. Stopping their progress is an increasingly urgent imperative.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working on a Feasibility Study for carp defenses at Brandon Road Lock and Dam at Joliet, Ill. The lock is a logical choke point location to install Asian carp control measures to stop the fish from moving closer to the lake.
Last week he Trump administration indefinitely delayed release of the long-awaited plan. This is unacceptable.
The damage done by carp in the Great Lakes will be significant in Illinois, but it will be catastrophic in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and New York. Carp will be especially damaging to our Canadian neighbors for whom commercial and recreational fishing along with the whole range of recreational activities that depend on the Lakes make up a significant portion of the economy.
I am asking you to take the most aggressive actions necessary to get the Feasibility Study released immediately and then to provide sufficient funding for the construction of Asian carp control measures based on its findings. Perhaps working with Senator Stabenow would be a good place to start.
The Great Lakes are a unique and priceless resource, essential to the quality of life and economic wellbeing of those of us who live around them. They need to be protected from Asian carp, a most nasty invasive species.
Sincerely,
Back In Time
At Aztalan.
How did you get in there?
What's that almost at the top of the mound?
A native American village on the banks of the Crawfish River, with a surrounding palisade and several large ceremonial mounds. Occupied for about 400 years before suddenly disappearing around A.D. 1,300.
Perhaps the most important archeological site in Wisconsin. Aztalan was an offshoot of Cahokia (Illinois), one of the greatest cities of the world back about 900 years ago (bigger than London). People got from Cahokia to Aztalan by water—up the Mississippi, then up the Rock, then up the Crawfish, to a fertile spot where they grew corn, beans, and squash, fished the river, and hunted the surrounding woods.
We explored the palisades and climbed the mounds.
But of course, only after a fine breakfast at modern day Amalia's.
Open Water
Lots of chilly wind, but from the south.
Recently finished reading The Martian, which, while not great literature, is a very good story filled with good science, inventive lateral thinking, and clever problem solving. Interestingly, quite a number of high school science teachers have tried to use the book in class, only to be stymied by the occasional bit of rough language. The publisher, having got wind of this, recently issued a revised edition in which all the "*&^%$@!" words are replace by "dang" and "dratted."
Obviously, if you were abandoned alone on Mars, with little likelihood of survival, you would be more inclined to say "*&^%$@!" than "dang." But still, it is good that this book can now be part of the high school scinece curriculum.
Tonight, after a supper of tamales and pastel de elote (in prep for our Texas trip) we are gong to watch the film version of The Martian, and we have ear plugs if the language gets really bad.
Pizza Party
With our little neighborhood group.
Followed by Sequence.
Chilly but bright, with the wind swinging south.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asian carp pose a serious threat to the Great Lakes' ecosystems and economy, including the $7 billion fishing industry. Existing barriers are not effective against juvenile fish, and larvae have been found less than 50 miles from Lake Michigan. Stopping their progress is an urgent imperative.
A plan for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Ill., was set to be released a few days ago by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, an important step toward finalizing a project that was expected to call for barriers at that key choke-point on the Chicago-area river. But this plan has now been put on hold by the Trump administration.
The reason for the stoppage is resistance by corporate interests (tug boat companies) in the Joliet, Illinois, area, assisted by their anti-environmental right wing Republican allies. The damage done to the Great Lakes by Asian carp will be relatively minimal in Illinois, but will be devastating in other states, and especially bad for Ontario.
I see this not just as a possible invasion by a murderous fish but an actual attack on the livelihood and quality of life of the people of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes are priceless. Carp would devastate them.
Another example of ugly, wanton, thoughtless vandalism.
Fox Point
Hanging out with Will and Kate.
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"If people retreat into private life, if critics grow quieter, if cynicism becomes endemic, the corruption will only grow stronger. Laws intended to ensure accountability or prevent graft or protect civil liberties will be weakened."
"How To Build an Autocracy", David Frum, The Atlantic
The Next Four Years-Milwaukee
Lots of organizing going on in Milwaukee.
And, of course, Abby has been a significant part of it. And now, she has been appointed director of the Ambassador Program for the Democratic Party of Milwaukee County. Look out Milwaukee County.
Much of her involvement, and some of my ever so limited involvement, has been through a Facebook group called The Next Four Years Milwaukee, which now has about 7,000 participants. Below is something I might post tomorrow. The statements were written by me following George Lakoff's design. The slogans were contributed by Alex, a member of NFY-M.
Some of Lakoff’s key points are:
Voters vote their values. These values are brought into consciousness, and then politics, by mental frames.
Frames are the mental structures that shape the way we see the world.
Framing is about ideas. Ideas have to be in place in people’s brains before words, slogans, or soundbites make any sense.
Progressives have better ideas, but conservatives have been better at framing.
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1.A. Education and health are investments in people. They are wise investments because they produce a functioning society and a healthy and efficient workforce.
1.B. No education, no jobs.
2.A. Education is a freedom issue—without it a person is not free.
2.B. Knowledge is freedom.
3.A. Public education made America. It brought individuals together to form a nation and gave them the freedom and skills to succeed.
3.B. Public Education is National Security.
4.A. Vouchers and charter schools discriminate, often perform poorly, monetize learning, and frequently fail—all without accountability.
4.B. Public education is not for profit—vouchers are.
5.A. Ignorance is a weapon used to permit violence.
5.B. Ignorance is a weapon.
6.A. Unions got rid of sweat shops and child labor; unions made the middle class.
6.B. Unions create safe working conditions and living wages.
7. Taxes buy civilization. Failed states don’t have taxes.
8.A. Private enterprise depends on public infrastructure.
8.B. The private depends on the public.
9.A. The Constitution applies only to human beings, not corporations.
9.B. "We the people," not "We the corporation."
10.A. Only people have freedom of speech, and money is not speech.
10.B. Money chokes freedom of speech.
11. A Public universities are gold mines bringing huge economic benefit to their states and an improving quality of life to the nation.
11.B. Public Universities create jobs.
12.A. Every American has the right to control his or her own body, without government subjugation.
12.B. Our bodies, our doctors, our decisions.
13.A. We have only one planet—if we kill it we kill ourselves.
13.B. No regulation, no oxygen, no living.
14.A. Corporations have dangerous and increasing control of our lives.
14.B. The USA is no longer for sale.
15.A Corporations shift costs to, and borrow benefits from society, the natural world, and future generations, and this steadily diminishes overall prosperity.
15.B. Taxes shouldn't pave Wall Street.
16.A. Freedom, fairness, human dignity, equality under the law—these are American values worth fighting for.
16.B. Money shouldn't buy justice.
17.A. Regulations protect people from poison, discrimination, and exploitation.
17.B. No regulation, dirty water, dirty air, and dirty food.
18.A. As Americans we have a right to water we can drink, air we can breathe, and food that is healthy and safe.
19.A. Our economy should make possible broad prosperity, not just extreme wealth for an elite few—providing a better future for all Americans.
19.B. Regulate greed, and we all are freed.
20.A. As Americans we demand government not by corporations but of, by, and for the people.
20.B. Ban professional bribery: end lobbying.
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From George Lakoff:
“Progressive thought is as American as apple pie. Progressives want political equality, good public schools, healthy children, care for the aged, police protection, family farms, air we can breathe, water we can drink, fish in our streams, forests we can hike in, songbirds and frogs, livable cities, ethical businesses, journalists who tell the truth, music and dance, poetry and art, and jobs that pay a living wage to everyone who works.”
“Progressive activists…are American patriots, working with unselfish dedication towards making a better world.”