A Butterfly Day.....

Today was a lovely summer day in Port....not too hot and the humidity we endured yesterday disappeared overnight. We expect the coming week to boast temperatures in the nineties with increased humidity so I enjoyed walking around today while it was comfortable. Fenway and I did Rotary Park first thing this morning and then a mile-round-trip up the bike path just before lunch. That walk turned out to be our butterfly walk.

There were dozens of monarchs everywhere....they were exploring the spotted knap weed and small asters that seems to have replaced the hillside full of Dames Rocket from a few weeks ago.

There were lots of small white cabbage butterflies floating by on the breeze....

And I spotted a new one! At least the Summer Azure is a new butterfly to me....with the blue color coming out for the summer months.

And I noticed the beginning blooms of orange spotted touch-me-not....one of my favorites. They will attract a lot of insect activity in the next few weeks.

"Our" path changes every day and it never gets old as Fenway and I walk up the familiar path. Yesterday we successfully spied the doe with her spotted twins coming up from the stream and into the field across the way. She could have been right next to the path every other time we walked the walk recently....because unless she moves she's completely hidden. 

A butterfly day.....nice!

Silent Signals....

Other than announcing when he hears someone near our front door Fenway is not a very barky kind of a dog. That's one of the reasons we chose this breed when we had to downsize from a boxer to something a bit smaller. But when he has his eyes on us, we need to keep our eyes on him. He is not the kind of guy who goes to the door and whines when he needs to go out....or barks or gives any noise-kind-of-signal at all. Ever since he was a puppy he would basically just look at us.

When he wants someone to pay attention and play with him he simply looks at us.

If his thinks it's time for dinner.....he looks at us.

And if you happen to be resting or reading or not paying attention he will get up-close-and--personal and look at us.

When he's finished playing or resting or doing his dog things for the day he sits and looks at us as if to say "Hey - it's bedtime which means one short walk and THREE cookies in my bed!"

Ahhhh Fenway, our frosty Bostie....we love your looks!

A Drive North......

Yesterday we left Port Washington and drove a bit north to Algoma. We started out along the highway and then continued along a two lane road to reach our destination. It was a beautiful day with some light rain popping up once in awhile.

As we merged onto Route 43 I quickly began to notice stands of trees that lined the road....the trees that had zero leaves. Many of these black silhouetts were bordered by trees in full leaf.

Were all of these trees dead? Were these ash trees that have been hit so hard by those beautiful emerald green invading ash borer beetles? Were they all going to come down or would some recover? While they stood out in a dramatic fashion against the sky, they didn't look "right". They looked "sad".

I know we've had a lot of ash trees taken down in Port so I realize this scourge is moving through our area.  How can such a beautiful beetle cause such destruction?

The view reminded me of the vast numbers of trees we saw in Yellowstone wiped out by mountain pine beetles.....whole mountainsides empty. Will this be Wisconsin's future? Fewer trees? A change in our landscape and a change in our area's food chain and ecology? If so, it was very evident along our drive yesterday.

Mother Nature making some adjustments but I wonder....why?

Tall Dark and Handsome......

We take an early walk before the humidity starts creeping up. Fenway and I head toward Lake Michigan and turn north to walk the path along the shore. Much stopping and starting as Fenway re-claims every tree and bush along the way. And as we approach the culvert where the stream by the bike path empties into the lake I spot it.....the beautiful great blue heron that sometimes patrols this small patch of shoreline.

I stop for a quick cell phone shot and he is not disturbed as he watches for fish moving in the shallows.  So we continue on our way. Just at the end of our walk a scent reaches me through the breeze.....the soft pink wild roses are in bloom and their perfume fills the air. I stop to stick my nose in a bloom.

My walks around Port Washington....never a disappointment.

My Bad.....

So Fenway and I walked the bike path again yesterday.....and suddenly summer is here. We enjoyed about a two-day spring, but now Port boasts warmer days. We noticed additional wildflowers along our way.  A happy daisy.

Bunches of buttercups and some common fleabane. Followed by beautiful smooth hydrangea bushes in bloom.

 

I spotted my first beautiful big tiger swallowtail flitting down the path in front of me before disappearing into the brush.

And then, remembering something that popped up on the internet last week I realized that I wasn't enjoying flocks of phlox....these pink/white/light purple beauties coating the side of the path and the hill were Dame's Rocket. Darn....an invasive weed. Now if I was working with a manicured flower garden I would pull them.....but this is "open space" and they look pretty. So I'll leave them alone and wait for the phlox that will bloom later in the summer.

He Can't Run For President.....

A few days ago a story from 2011 popped up somewhere on my feed. Melania Trump was being inteviewed by Joy Behar (now that's even hard to imagine!) and Joy was asking her about her husband's obsession with President Obama's birth certificate.

During the interview Melania went on to echo "her husband's birther arguments nearly verbatim, denying the authenticity of the former president's certificate of live birth....The mother-of-one tends to avoid publicly denounce or support her husband's political beliefs and she told GQ in 2016, "No one will ever know"....What we do know is that she was vocally supportive of the birtherism campaign in 2011, when she asked host Joy Behar:  "Do you want to see President Obama's birth certificate or no?"And she responded, "In one way, it would be very easy if President Obama just show it because it's not only Donald who wants to see it - it's American people who vote for him and who didn't vote for him."

I just dumped the article.....but it popped into my mind today after I cleaned a file in my desk drawer.  I can't remember what I was looking for, but I found a xerox copy of the State of Illinois Certificate of Live Birth for our son, Todd. Our first born arrived on January 23, 1969. The form was witnessed and signed by Stanley T. Kusper, Jr. Cook County Clerk and the copy was dated March 11, 1974. I don't remember why I needed this copy, but there it was in my file.

Now I seem to remember some of the ridiculous birtherism "kerfuffle".... with then candidate 45 pompously declaring that a certificate of live birth was not the same as a birth certificate and therefore was not acceptable.

I guess I better call Todd and tell him he can never run for President of the United States.....thank my lucky stars.

Out There Somewhere....

Our son, Todd, lives in Washington State north of Seattle. He has always loved the outdoors! And years ago he found the perfect job. As Natural Resources Director for the Samish Indian Nation he is charged with preserving, protecting and restoring natural resources important to Samish Tribal Members for now and future generations. He leads a team as they monitor the environment, protect and restore their lands in marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments. He oversees projects that include a wide range of activities from stormwater monitoring, plant and animal population studies and climate change analysis to full scale beach and river restoration projects and marine debris removal. In other words, Todd gets to spend a lot of his work time outside surrounded by the beautiful nature of the Pacific Northwest.

So what does he do on vacation? He goes kayaking in his sea kayak. That's where he is this week - somewhere north of Vancouver, Canada circling islands and paddling through channels. He's with a group of like-minded adventurers and I'm sure he's having a great time. There is no cell service so we can't talk to him to see how it's going, but one of the adventure trip leaders has some kind of app that let's her post the route. So we go on line once in awhile and watch the red dots extend from one island, around another and then on to another. 

I can't help but wonder about the weather and the waves and the campsites....and can't wait to hear some details. From tramping through the woods near our home in Nashotah when he was in grade school to exploring Canadian islands.....Todd's adventure continues.

He's out there somewhere......