Greetings and welcome!

We have the big Memorial Day weekend coming up so there is some stuff to talk about.

First up- The great awakening of the plant kingdom is well under way. In the past week the leaves on trees have emerged or continued to grow. The ferns are coming up. Just about everywhere that you look there is something with new leaves, new flowers, or something changing. The cherry trees are in bloom as are the marsh marigold, trillium and countless other plants large and tiny. It is a pretty cool time of year for the plant kingdom. The star of the show will probably be the trillium. They are really starting to fill in the forest floor.

The insect world is alive and well. One place that I went to this week had plentiful gnats and a few mosquitoes. That wasn’t my experience working outside at my house or the GF’s house this week, but that could easily change tomorrow. I have had some wood ticks, but bug spray on my shoes and pants have kept most of them away. Bring Repel. I use the Sportsman’s 40% DEET and it has worked very well for me over the years, including some really heavy mosquito populated areas. A passing thought.. don’t forget about Fido. Make sure they are up to date with their Frontline or other flee/tick treatment.

I have been watching the weekend weather forecast for over a week now. At first the model was showing a stalled system with all weekend light rain. Not good. Thankfully that all sped up and we are seeing the three days of light rain during the week. That is wonderful. Not only will the whitewater rivers be at excellent levels for rafting and boating, the rain will significantly help with the fire danger.

When I looked a little while ago I saw a summer-like setup where the weather looked pretty good as far as not having a significant or organized system affecting out area. What we have instead is the impossible to predict setup where daytime heating could stir up a storm in the afternoon if conditions line up just right. As the weekend progresses the chances for rain increase. Sunday and Monday are a question mark as the next organized system approaches.

The bottom line? Plan for a nice weekend but be ready for a surprise rain storm to pop up.

One other weather note, Friday night we are expecting clear skies and a low of 42. If you are camping bring warm clothes and sleeping bags. Saturday night and Sunday night look nicer with a low of 53 and 63 respectively.

For high temperatures we are looking at about 70 Friday and Saturday, 80 Sunday and 87 Monday.

I tease at the bar that you know that someone is from around here if they have the following items in their truck.. A t-shirt and shorts, long pants and a sweatshirt, a light jacket, a heavy jacket, Repel, and an umbrella. There is a very good chance that you could use all of them in the same day.

As far as events this weekend I am not all of the way up to date. I know that there is a brat fry at the Lakewood Super Value store, but I need to track down when. The same goes for the flea market at the Crivitz museum. There is live music each day or night at Rustic, but again I need to track down dates and times. One of my GF’s friend’s bands is playing Saturday night, Zoomie & the Sonics.

I need to track down when the Silver Cliff memorial services are. The Crivitz and Middle Inlet services are on Monday and details are listed on the Crivitz event site below.

Over the course of the weekend there is live music at Lil Tipsy’s in Townsend, Gateway Bar, Uncle Mikes, The Rustic, and Woody’s. Lil Tipsie’s has a major act, Vic Ferrari, Friday night.

Anyway, here are the event calendars for Crivitz and Oconto County.

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

RJB

By Ray B