Road Toads
But not a bad trip. 12.5 hours, with, as usual, the last half hour being the hardest. Yard, as usual, overgrown. Hot and humid—not acclimated.
Team Carter Bay...
...so called anyway.
Forced to shoot a selfie.
Bob, Narasim, and on the right, barely, Therese. Also in attendance but not pictured Dr. Roy.
Although we hosted, Narasim brought lunch, a delicious chicken curry.
Long and interesting discussion about the future of the Carter Bay property and the possibility of making it a center of environmental ed. and stewardship training and practice.
Now packing for tomorrow’s travel.
Perfection Is Impossible...
...but it’s an interesting goal. And so today we took advantage of perfect weather to go after little annoyances, and items well down on the to-do list. Lots of variety, which is fun, plus the weather was perfect.
These beauties didn't flower last year.
To start things off, Pax got his third bath in 24 hours, this time after a rubdown with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap.
One Of The Finer Things In Life...
... is sitting on the screened porch, with a morning cup of coffee, in a thunderstorm—watching and listening as the rain comes raining down.
The new downspouts got their first test, and performed well.
The storm was brief, but powerful enough to wash away the memory (and other stuff) left behind by all the caterpillars; to perk up the garden; and to rejuvenate the beleaguered forest. And then, shortly after noon, we were treated to another storm. And then, a bit later, an hour or so of just moderately steady rain. Who could ask for anything more?
When the sky finally cleared, the wind came roaring in—a full gale from the west.
A few minutes before supper cook-time Sue suggested a trip to the marina to check the boats. That was a bright idea. Conditions rough in the harbor, with considerable bouncing and chafing. But with extra lines, and variouis readjustments, we feel confident all will be well until the wind subsides.
Scourge Diminishing...
...but much of northern Ontario denuded. Billions of of caterpillars, most of whom will not survive, thanks to birds, parasitic flies and wasps, viruses—and me. I've been sweeping the concrete entry porch three or four times a day, and with each sweep I dispatch dozens. Nature is astonishing.
Sunny, warm, and very dry. A good hard downpour would be appreciated by the gardens, the forest, and every road and path covered in caterpillar fecal pellets.
Skunked
And the aroma lingers.
Sue was upstairs typing away; something about the proper use of semicolons, I think; as Pax and I were coming back from our usual walk, which consists of hiking the Lane down to Murray and Elaine's and then treading back on the path through the woods to Tyson's, and then home; except that I arrived home before Pax, in itself and unusual event these days, only to hear Sue shout from above that she smelled skunk; this, of course, causing me to about-face and whistle for the dog, who, several minutes later, came home filthy and bedraggled with his tail between his legs, and seriously aromatic; which, naturally, sent us into emergency skunk drill, which, however, we found to be a bit rusty though quickly updated by an internet search suggesting either peroxide or vinegar mixed with water and dish soap—a solution clearly at odds with the common folk wisdom which touts the efficacy of tomato juice—which we applied liberally prior to Sue taking him into the outdoor shower for a good wash; and while this would seem to have been the best course of action...he still smells.
Home Waters
Heliotrope back in Kagawong. Fine sail from Gore Bay, in spite of an east wind. Motor needed only through the channel. Trip completed in 4 hours. Mark and Wolf as compatible crew. Much thanks to Sue for transportation, and a fine packed lunch.
Another Night Out
To what was billed as a fundraising concert, in and for the old, defunct church at the top of the hill which is being repurposed as a performance venue.
Good turnout. No comment on the music.
Boat and Bunkie, Bunkie and Boat
In a bit of a rut, though not a bad one. And, the boat is ready to sail. Coming to Kagawong on Sunday.
Under construction but coming along.
The Boat That Liked To Float
I’m always impressed by how perfect Heliotrope looks when back in her element. Like she was made for it.
GLIC and Boat
First actual in-person meeting of the Great Lakes Islands Coalition Manitoulin team this morning. Beginning with a bit of breakfast at the Anchor Inn (with conversation), and then our first monthly conference call as a team. Just four of us, all told: Alicia (Expositor editor), Josh (instructor of First Nation history at Kenjgewin Teg), Joe (retired professor of entomology), and me. Rather fun...and the number one item on our action plan is getting a few more active members.
Sue headed for the boat well before I got back from that, but eventually, the two of us finished up al the boat work necessary prior to launch.
Divide and Conquer
Sue to the boat, me to the bunkie. One of us got more done than the other.
Chilly, with clouds.
Have a caterpillar, we've got plenty.
Big Boat...
...being prepped for launch.
Note the nice cradle.
Heliotrope cleaned, and the topsides waxed and buffed. Launch scheduled for Friday.
Chilly, drizzly morning giving way to cool, mostly cloudy and extremely windy day. Perfect for boat work.
Michigan/Huron is way up—way, way up. Fraser beach is no longer—water coming up almost to the road. Remarkable change from 2013. I would be tempted to say that the water is high enough, except I know that the level of the Great Lakes is delicate and fragile. I've still got my "Stop the Drop" hat, and I plan to hold on to it.
Fire in the stove last night and tonight.
Chilly and Damp
A little big boat epoxyfying and bunkie batten painting before the rain came, what little rain there was.
Sunset over Bayfield Sound, on the way back from Burpee/Mills last night.
Caterpillars still falling out of the sky and crawling everywhere. Also now, midges at the beach, mosquitoes on the Lane, and deer flies starting to assert themselves in every sunny place. Luckily, a variety of dragonflies have also shown up.
Dinner Dance...
...with octogenarian swing band. And square dancing to the tune of a great fiddler.
Parthenogenesis,
or spontaneous combustion, or perpetual motion, or something. Sweep the concrete entry porch free of caterpillars, look the other way for a minute or two, and then at least a dozen of the little varmints will be crawling around where you just swept. Do they spring out of the concrete fully formed and ready to crawl? Whatever the case, it shows Mother Nature at her most profligate.
Lilacs
Walkabout. An underlying Pattern Language type of concept for this house was that a person should be able to walk completely around it without problem. I remember spending hours on the treadmill at cardiac rehab walking around the imaginary structure.
And, to some extent, the idea was realized, except that the route took the walker through the screened porch (and two banging doors).
Doors will bang no more. The new walkabout deck de-necessitates the porch route. And, it is going to make the hanging of winter plastic ever so much easier.
Quite likely, also, to cut the time it takes grandkids to race around.
Tropical Storm
T.S. Alberto made landfall on Manitoulin this morning. Damaging wind, but no damage here except for the top half of a big poplar between our driveway and Viewpoints. The downfall missed the Lane, so is probably of little concern. Enough rain to satisfy the herbs and newly planted tomatoes, but nothing of hurricane proportions.
Photo by Sue
The storm temporarily diminished caterpillar numbers, but by afternoon, when once again warm and steamy, caterpillars were not in short supply.
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The Expositor asked if I would comment on the Foxconn water diversion. So I did:
It was close. But last week, on the last day of possible objection, the environmental law organization Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA) in Madison, WI filed a legal challenge to Racine, Wisconsin’s request to divert 7 million gallons a day out of the Great Lakes basin.
Racine wants the water to supply a factory under development by Taiwanese electronic display manufacturer Foxconn. Almost all of the factory’s site lies outside the Great Lakes basin, and so the diversion would seem to be in violation of the Great Lakes Compact.
In spite of objections by citizens, environmental organizations, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initative, and the states of New York and Illinois, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approved the diversion request last April. This is not surprising in that the DNR has been stripped of its scientists and its mission of science-based permitting by “tea party” governor Scott Walker.
MEA says that its legal challenge was “essential, as Wisconsin’s approval of the Lake Michigan water diversion requested by Racine tests the integrity of the Great Lakes Compact by ignoring a key requirement of the historic agreement entered into by the eight Great Lakes states and enacted into federal law. This mistake must be corrected to defend the Great Lakes Compact and to protect our magnificent Great Lakes in the near and distant future.”
The majority of the 7 MGD of water requested for transfer out of basin will be used to supply Lake Michigan water to one single private industrial customer, Foxconn.
The MEA legal challenge says that “the Wisconsin DNR disregarded and unreasonably interpreted a core Compact requirement that all water transferred out of the Great Lakes Basin must be used for public water supply purposes, clearly defined as ‘serving a group of largely residential customers.’”
I am grateful that Midwest Environmental Advocates has challenged the Foxconn diversion request. I think the residents of Manitoulin, and Ontario, should also be appreciative and supportive. Water diverted out of Lake Michigan is also water diverted out of Lake Huron. And the Compact, designed to prevent diversions, is only effective if it is enforced and protected.
Two years ago the Ontario government went meekly along with the approval of the Waukesha, Wisconsin diversion. I tend to think it’s unreasonable to expect much future diversion opposition coming from MNRF.
Although there should be.
Peter Annin, the author of Great Lakes Water Wars, is working on a new edition of his book, and he foresees continued and intensified demand for Great Lakes water as the warming climate intensifies the west’s great thirst. If a Trans Mountain pipeline can be built to transport oil, certainly a mid-continent pipeline could be built to transport water from Lake Superior to Arizona.
The Compact is a bulwark against diversions, but it’s a fragile one. Thank goodness for Midwest Environmental Advocates. Perhaps it would be prudent for the people of Ontario to send a little support their way: http://midwestadvocates.org.
Raining Caterpillars
Stand near any tree and you will hear a steady plopping of things falling to the ground from up above—like big rain drops. But don't stand there too long or you will be covered with inch long caterpillars. I've never seen such an infestation. The buggers are everywhere. Any creatures who fancy caterpillars on the menu (if there be any) must be living high on the hog; it's like manna from heaven.
Afloat
First sailboat on the bay.
Andrew (who is dock manager this year), along with Patrick and Bruce helped raise the mast, and it went up quickly and simply. Maybe we have it figured out.
And here, Pax and I are on our morning walk (he's getting a little ahead of himself).
And in poop news...
We are having a caterpillar infestation again this year and the poop is raining down—countless black specks coating every horizontal surface. (I remember sitting on the deck at Pinebox some years back and actually listening to the rustle of falling feces. Probably the same now.) Furthermore, Pax and I have on our beach walks discovered that yellow swallowtail butterflies and gulls have a kind of symbiotic relationship; we have observed, a number of times, singles or clusters of the the insects gathered around gull droppings apparently slurping them up.
And in pollen news...
The water along the shore is beginning to look like yellow paint, thanks to pine pollen.
Even Hot Up North
To Taylor Sawmill to order more battens for finishing out the new bunkie. This is going to be a nice big extra bedroom, and grandkid rumpus room. But more battens!? I thought we were done with battens. Cripes.
The mower got started, the "grass" got mowed, and the dog got washed. But it was too hot for anything more. What a rapid transition from too much ice to too much heat. Looks like the splits arranged in front of the stove will have to be moved back outside to the firewood rack.
Not a bad view from my "writing" table.