2015

Thursday May 21st, 2015

Greetings and welcome!

I am sorry that I missed last week, I am a little overwhelmed with work again this May and a lot of things have been pushed aside.

A lot has happened in the great outdoors in the past two weeks. The grass is well past needing to be cut and into too long territory. The undergrowth in the woods is getting thicker and you can see less and less distance into the woods.

The cherry blossoms have come and gone, but have been replaced by many other flowering bushes, plants, and trees. The trillium are flowering and seem to be having a good year. I went to Rhinelander the other day and was wondering on the way home if I had seen a million or a billion of them. Everywhere I looked the forest floor was littered with them.

The forest canopy is starting to fill in nicely. There are a lot of shades of light green on distant hillsides, punctuated by the dark green conifers sticking out. It isn’t quite as dramatic as the fall show, but it is still very scenic. In the past few days the oaks have been adding almost a yellow green as their early leaves emerge.

The spring awakening isn’t lost on the insect world. I have been seeing a variety of moths already. The past two weekends the gnats have been a bit of a bother, and the wood ticks were present and accounted for.

The ‘gators (mosquitoes) are hit and miss. A lot of areas have few if any, but golly if you get into a cloud of ’em you will know about it. It is almost like being in Canada where we called the sunset The Hum. I have Repel 40 on the shopping list and you should too. You might not need it at all, but if you do it will be $5 well spent.

Traffic on Hwy 141 north of 64 has been a little hairy lately. They are putting in passing lanes and they replaced a bridge just north of Crivitz that required a detour. It all added up to 16 miles of construction between Wausaukee and Hwy 64 that had flag (wo)men, one lane traffic, and some long waits.

Thankfully the construction will stop for the holiday weekend before resuming. The DOT will try to have construction wrapped up for the weekend by noon Friday statewide.

The truckers will be happy that they finished the bridge north of Crivitz. The detour had them taking 64 into Marinette and 180 north to Wausaukee before rejoining 141. It was about a 40 mile detour that took an extra hour for sure. That will be open by noon Friday.

Construction will resume again Tuesday on the passing lanes and other construction on 141. It might be unpleasant now, but the passing lanes will be a blessing later. They will be between Crivitz and Wausaukee and again south of Crivitz between there and the 4 lane.

We have had a wild week for weather. Tuesday night clear skies and a Canadian air mass brought us low temperatures of 26 overnight. With the days struggling to reach 50 and some wind, it felt a lot like March early this week. There was a good layer of frost on the windshield a couple of mornings too. Looking at the weather forecast we could see frost again tonight.

More than a few people were scrambling to cover or bring in new plants for the freeze. I have learned the hard way over the years that as tempting as it may be, I don’t start plants in the ground until June 10. Even then a clear night and a cold front can get a little too close to the danger zone.

The weekend looks a lot better. Friday looks clear and close to 70. Friday night could go into the high 30s, so bring the good sleeping bag. The clear skies that will bring the cold should also bring some good stars, so that is a mixed blessing. Saturday the NWS is predicting sunny and 73 with only a little wind.

Sunday we will see increasing clouds and a high around 70. There is an increasing chance of rain in the afternoon. Sunday night and Monday look wet as a pretty good sized storm brings rain that will last into Tuesday.

Fire danger is only at moderate today, much better than it was a few weeks ago. There is still a lot of dry plant material from last year’s growth and we haven’t had much for rain this week, but it is not tinder dry anymore.

In events..

It IS Memorial Day weekend so let’s start with those services.

In Silver Cliff the local VFW post will be having their observance Sunday at 10am followed by a picnic at 11.

In Crivitz they will be having their Services at the Crivitz Cemetery Mausoleum starting at 10:30 am. There will not be a parade this year. In case of rain they will be moving the service to the Elementary School.

I also read somewhere that Mountain was having a Memorial Day observance and picnic, but I am unable to locate that article at the moment so I am not sure if it is Saturday or Sunday.

Sunday from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm 16th Annual McCaslin Lioness Faire.Silent auction, crafters, book sale, spin the wheel and children’s games, including a bouncer. Food, pies and refreshments available.

Red White & Music Festival
Crivitz Community Veterans Park
Saturday, May 23, 2015 – 11am-11pm
Flag Raising & National Anthem at 10:45am
Live Music, Burgers, Brats, Beer, Wine & More!
Free Kids Activities 11am to 6pm
Music by: Save the Wooly Mammoth, Bourbon Cowboys & RPM
Proceeds benefit the Park Improvement Project
For more information visit us on Facebook
Event brought to you by FAB Events, Falling Waters Winery & Witts Piggly Wiggly
Please, no carry-ins

Whitewater rafting will be a good time this weekend. On the Peshtigo River I consider anything above 300cfs to be the fun zone and it is 365 right now. It hasn’t fallen under 300 yet this year, and I don’t expect it to over the weekend.

On the Menominee River I like it over 900cfs and anything over about 1,500 starts getting really fun. It is running at 1,900 right now, and has been around 2,200 all week.

Either river will be a good choice this weekend, so call Kosir’s and reserve your spots.

I think that is the list for tonight. Have a good weekend and thank you very much for visiting!

RJB

Thursday May 7th, 2015

Greetings and welcome!

It was a warm and windy day today. We saw low 80s but the wind tempered that a little. We had sustained strong winds and gusts that had to go into the upper 30s.

The rain hasn’t made it here as of dinner time. Yesterday looking at the storm it was this massive river of moisture pumping northward and drenching the central Midwest. I couldn’t see how it could miss us with the wide coverage and heavy rain. The storm also caused 50 tornadoes and some areas saw flash flooding when over 6” of rain hit them. Thankfully that was hundreds of miles away.

It does look like we could get some rain for tomorrow. The storm is pretty played out compared to yesterday’s version, but there are still some lines of rain and storms heading this way.

When I was watching the clouds at lunch today I could see that thunderclouds were starting to form, but the tops were being sheared off before they could grow into anything meaningful. The surface winds were stronger than mid-level winds, and the cloud tops were being dragged behind or sheared off before they could grow into a productive rain cloud. If they were going to go severe like the storm did in the plains states I am ok with missing out on the rain.

Once the storm passes we are in for a little cooler weekend. There is a chance of rain lingering into early Saturday and another chance later Sunday. The filling in the middle should bring a decent mid to upper 60s weekend.

The green word is definitely on the grow. The early week rain brought rapid growth and changes that were visible daily. A lot of trees are getting first leaves, and the grass really took off. The cherry trees are in bloom, and the maples have gone from dropping red flowers to forming helicopters and the first leaf buds. Some ferns have sprouted, and more are on the way.

There have been a few deer up by the road, but less than last week by far. I think that as more land greens up the road is less attractive. I have not seen as many turkeys as I did in April, but I did see one strutting in a freshly planted field yesterday.

That is about it from here. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Monday May 4th, 2015

Greetings and welcome!

It was indeed a beautiful weekend. There was some wind, but that was ok, it was  a warm wind and it helped to keep the bugs down. The bug of the week was the gnat, and they were out in force at my house. Like I said the wind helped.

I also kind of had it coming. I was mulching the leaves with the mowers since they were so nice and dry, and apparently that stirred up a few gnats. The grass didn’t really need cutting, with the exception of some of the more aggressive crabgrass, but it was good to mulch up the leaves and thatch and give the new green grass a little light.

The grass has greened up, but the green explosion of all of the trees and ferns and underbrush has not started yet. The maples are dropping their red flowers. I am seeing first buds on some bushes ( pussy willows?) and the ferns are close to bursting forth.

I think that the lack of rain has slowed the greening down a little. I usually look for things to green up about May 10th, but with the early departure of the snow and warm weather in the past few weeks it probably would have started by now with normal rainfall.

We had a good storm last night. There was some lightning, a few wind gusts and some rumbles of thunder. The first thunderstorm of the season made a good show. It also brought almost 3/4″ of much needed rain.

There is a small chance for rain mid- week with the best chance for Thursday and Friday. The weekend looks dry with highs in the mid to upper 60s.

Fishermen had mixed results last weekend. I saw some nice walleyes taken and some people were getting skunked. One person  reported seeing the first snapping turtle up laying eggs. That is pretty early, but we are about a week ahead on spring this year.

I also recall from my younger days that I had good fishing when the turtles are up. It is probably time to tune up the boat and hit the lakes.

Time for me to get back to work..

Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday May 1st, 2015

Greetings and welcome!

It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! The weekend is finally here!

Today the ATV trails open, tomorrow fishing opens, and the weather forecast still looks like a great one!

-Fire danger- Yesterday the DNR moved the fire danger to Very High, only one step from the top level- Extreme. Their web site said that all open burning has been prohibited. While strongly discouraged, you can still have a campfire for cooking or warming.

When I went by the DNR station in Wausaukee yesterday the fire crews had the trucks out, the bulldozer was loaded, and they were dressed in turnout gear. I’d say that it is serious.

I saw my first wood tick the other day. I had it coming making firewood and working in tall grass, but it was a landmark. Guys that work in the woods said that they had them a few weeks ago. I am guessing that the dry conditions are keeping them in check at least a little, I only had that one.

Fishing should be better than average for opening day tomorrow. The water temperatures are well ahead of normal. When I was outside yesterday afternoon the moon looked like it was about 7/8 full, another good sign. Good luck anglers!

Time to make the donuts..

Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB