May 2023

Wednesday May 10th, 2023

Greetings and welcome!

Here we are on May 10th and the green explosion has not gone off yet. Shocking, amazing, surprising!

There was a horticulturist guy on TV this morning that said that our late greening of the land was because the soil temperature was too cold. He explained that the soil temp needed to be above 40 degrees for stuff to really grow. We had that stretch of 80s for a week that got things started, but then we has snow and 10 days of cold that locked it right down.

When I was out walking the dog yesterday I was surprised that we weren’t farther along. The trees have their very first leaves emerging from the buds, but they are very tiny. Some of the soft hardwoods like cottonwoods are starting to fill in leaves, but they are the leaders of that. The grass is greening up nicely. The dogwoods and cherry trees are now in bloom. Where is the rest of the plant kingdom?

We had a 76 degree day yesterday and most of the week looks like it will hold similar temperatures. That should get things moving. I would expect big changes in the days ahead.

The ATV trails open this weekend. A few people have been around riding the roads, which is legal, but the trails don’t open until Saturday. I would normally expect a crazy busy weekend for opening weekend, but it is Mother’s Day this Sunday. That may cut into it a little. If I were still in the bar business I’d still be ready for a busy weekend.

I took the Mrs for a ride up in the northern county forests last week to see how spring is progressing. I now understand why the ATV trails don’t open until this weekend. Some of those roads were still a little muddy with frost-out mud and a couple were a little dicey in spots. After this week all but the most sheltered spots will have firm ground. We did find a couple of places that were deep enough forest and so sheltered that they still held snow.

There are no upcoming events that I have seen for this weekend other than some Mother’s Day buffets. The Sportsman’s Cafe has one that seems reasonably priced compared to the others.

The nice weather has me working like a mad man on my outdoor stuff. I have a new to me RV that I am trying to whip into shape, the house, cars, and lawn mowers all need love, as does the pontoon boat. One of my goals is to get the small fishing boat into shape and actually go fishing during the bass and panfish spawning seasons. In my 22 years here I have made that once. May is always so busy that I just never get there. As I have said 21 times… this year is GONNA be different… We will see..

The one thing that has changed with the spring is that our wonderful variety of song birds are back. People are reporting seeing the gross beaks, orioles, hummingbirds, and I saw a pair of goldfinches chasing around the other day.

The deer are still common along the roadsides but it isn’t completely nuts like it was for the past few weeks. As the green plants away from the roads grow more they will be less of a problem.

People on Facebook have been posting a lot of black bear pictures. They are out and they are hungry. There are no berries or grubs for them to eat yet, so bird feeders and garbage are their primary food source. Be wise about how you manage those or you will likely have visitors.

I am off to get the day under way. Have a great week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Tuesday May 2nd, 2023

Greetings and welcome!

We have had a particularly crappy stretch of weather since our last visit. Yesterday morning we woke up to enough snow to make the roads slushy and the ground white. The snow was from a cut off low pressure system that slid out of the jet stream and sat over northern lower Michigan (The lower U.P. if you will..). As it sat there and spun around for 4-5 days it brought us rain showers, temperatures in the 40s, and a really relentless wind. This is a common occurrence in May, but usually it comes between about the 10th and 20th.

The winds were brutal. For the past few days we have had steady winds over 25 and gusts that went close to 50mph. If your garbage cans blew away check with eastern Pennsylvania to get them back.

The general greening of the land has been put on hold while winter was hanging on. I think that I only heard the spring peeper frogs once in the past week and there was almost nothing for emerging plants and bugs. I have a hunch that when temperatures get back to normal or even above normal late week that is all going to go off like a firecracker.

The opening of fishing comes this weekend. I would expect much below normal water temperatures. For the past week we have been about 20 degrees below normal temperatures (about 60F). Having 3 or 4 days of that wind with 40 degree temps will suck the warmth right out of the lake. There is no ice on the lakes at all, so launching won’t be a problem. Some years the lakes have still been iced over. That went away two weeks ago when we got into the 80s.

I did manage to get back into Lake X and my secret camping spot last week, but just barely. There were still some frost-out mud spots that would not have been passable only days before. The really deep woods secret spot was not an option yet.

Last night I was checking the Marinette County Forest web site for an ATV trail opening date. A lot of people are chomping at the bit to get out riding. There was nothing. Later on I got the news that I was looking for. The trails will open on May 12th.

I ran into this little gem while I was looking though..

U.S. Forest Service – Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest motorized trail re-openings will be delayed until May 25, 2023 due to weather-related safety concerns.

Due to safety and resource concerns caused by lingering snowpack and high water in areas, the re-opening of trails in the CNNF will be delayed until 5/25/23. Precautions are being taken to ensure trails are re-opened safely.

USDA FS : Flambeau ATV/UTV Trail, Park Falls District.

I am not sure if that applies around here too, we are a long ways from Park Falls. I will try to track that down. Most likely the railroad grade along 32 will still open when the rest of the Oconto Co trails open, but i don’t know for sure, nor do I have a date for them opening.

The recent weather has been driving me crazy. Like everyone else I am dying to get outside and work on my fishing boat, the new to me RV motorhome, the house, and a million other things. None of those things is going to happen at 40 degrees on a rainy day in a howling wind. Cabin fever is wicked strong around these parts.

Time to wrap it up. I am off to go and let my doctor practice on me a little and I don’t want to be late.

Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB