USING TIME WISELY

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

For several weeks now we've been home and indoors much of the time, for reasons having as much to do with weather as anything.  There's still plenty of raking to do, and other spring yard work, should the temperatures warm up.  Last night, the 20s brought skim ice in this corner of the harbor, and shaded ponds and hollows are still iced over.  Looking across the harbor now in the late afternoon we see snow squalls, brief, intermittent, but enough to discourage us from getting back to that yard work.

One activity I've done more of this winter is carving.  I can go to the basement and, while listening to a book on CD, design, carve and, depending on the project, add color paints.  The time goes quickly and it's soon late afternoon.



 I use a basswood board, trace my design using carbon paper, and begin making small wood chips.   Ten, 20 or more hours later I reach a point where I've done enough, the detail is what I hoped it might be, or I just get tired of the same theme and want to move on.  Maybe it's time to write, walk or take a nap instead.



There is no time clock structure to my day, these days.

Shown is an example of an early stage in carving the voting piece. The concept uses old-style voting booths with curtains, but with the modern-day addition of voters wearing face masks for protection against contracting or spreading the coronavirus.

The long lines of Wisconsin voters we saw on April 7 on TV, snaking down the sidewalks and around the corner in very unpleasant weather, amazed me.  Citizens displayed an unbelievably strong desire to vote, despite challenges that included the lurking danger of corona virus infection.

I began with a couple of ideas for a caption, spoken by the lady at lower left:

1).   "I think he's confused.  He asked me, 'Who should I vote for?' and I said, 'Just vote your conscience'."

2). "We've been standing in line since 8:00 am."

3.). "Shouldn't he be wearing a mask?"

Still in the early drawing/concept stages, I asked for help.  Daughter Evy quickly responded with these:

4).  New virus symptoms discovered at polling center.

5).  A new Write-in this go-round.

6).  Polling centers lure in voters with full rolls of TP.

7). If the candidates look like crap, sound like crap, and smell like crap, it's probably crap.

8).  Politics have taken a real dump lately.

     Thor got in on the fun one day later with his suggestions:

9).  "Aren't they glad we didn't vote by mail?"

10).   "Participating in this process is just so liberating!"

11).  "What can I say?  He always speaks truth to power."


Maybe you have other suggestions?  Let's hear them!

And now, before closing, I'll post a close-up of the previous piece, a summer beach scene titled, "Norskies at the beach."

I was inspired by a story the late Dr. Rod Johnson told me of his childhood on a Minnesota farm when he and a brother visited an old Norwegian bachelor who lived in a one-room shack.  Inside, in one of the dark corners, was a huge pile of empty sardine cans.



Enjoy these days while they last!  -  Dick Purinton

CATCH-UP TIME

Still, cool morning on Detroit Harbor

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

The air is decidedly fall air.  Cool days with high pressure, and ever cooler nights.  Time to get caught up with items at work and at home, including some loose ends with this blog.

A few days prior to the Labor Day weekend I swept cobwebs off the Moby Dick and ferried Jim and Kathleen Morris to Detroit Island where they met Dr. Rod Johnson and his friend, mason and all-around handy assistant Dave Schmelzer.  Rod lives on the tip of Detroit Island known as Richter's Point where at the turn of the last century there was a fishing village of considerable activity.  A number of fish tugs moored there and their owners had cottages and sheds nearby, and a place to process fish.  At one time, according to Rod, there was a small railway to move the net boxes and the carriers of fish from the dock to a concrete block processing building.    In the ensuing century, the wooden structures have fallen in and rotted to the ground, but certain of the cement buildings and revetments are still there, even after some vigorous bulldozing by Ed Anderson as he began to develop lots on Detroit Island in the 1950s.

Rod, who has spent summers for the past 25 years on Richter Point, east of the Ferry Dock, moors his steel ketch to the old fishing dock.  Underneath that dock - or should we say, a major underpinning for that dock - is a cast-off boiler from a steam-powered tug, along with other cast iron parts.   While rummaging on the beach years back, Rod uncovered a cast iron piece that must have also come from a steam tug.   When asked my opinion, I thought the piece he showed me was a steam engine, but then I waffled and thought it could be a steam-powered water pump.  The only identifying marks are on a small brass plate:  5 x 3 1/2 x 5 1/2, which must refer to the bore sizes of the twin pistons.

Jim and Kathleen Morris with Dr. Rod Johnson.
Dave Schmelzer in background.

This will likely be an easy challenge for any steam engine buff out there, so let's hear from you!

Kathleen is the Director for the Jackson Harbor Fishing Museum, and following Rod's offer to donate this piece of old machinery, she and husband Jim (who came alone to handle lines and help move the piece from shore to pontoon boat) joined me to inspect this piece.   Rod estimated it might weigh in excess of 400 pounds.   The four of us wheeled it across planks spanning the difference to the Moby Dick's deck, where we took a few photos to remember the occasion.  (photo shows the piece alongside the Jackson Harbor museum.)

Motorcycle Trip Shortened

I've often thought that planning and looking forward to a trip is almost as good as the trip itself.  In the case of a planned motorcycle trip to North and South Dakota, which we began September 6, the morning following Labor Day, planning proved to be the primary reward.

After 415 miles that first day - perhaps a bit long of a ride - Mary Jo experienced vertigo before we

Steam engine, or steam powered
water pump?

checked out from our hotel, about 15 miles northwest of Minneapolis.  After recuperating for the remainder of the morning, and being hesitant to continue on, much less get back on the motorcycle again, we turned around and returned as far as Wausau, then home the following day.  There will be other opportunities, we think, to make this trip, even if by car.

A bonus, of sorts, is that when we arrived home the weather was quite nice, and with Mary Jo still not feeling 100%, I rededicated my efforts at painting our house.   In the next five days I pretty much completed that task, with only storm windows and a small amount of trim left to do.  This was a good project to put behind me as I think more about having to pick up fallen leaves at our home on Main Road...still for sale, still without serious interest from a buyer.  

Big Tree Search Continues 

Still fresh from a trip to Plum Island where we sought large hemlocks to measure, and found a Door County champion, I motored over to Detroit Island late one afternoon with friend Steve Schwandt.  I knew of a cedar not far from the boat landing, near the graveled road that winds its way southeastward through the island.  At one time, we had property near this tree, adjacent to WDNR land where the tree actually grows.   

Using my rough estimations and measurements, this cedar does not appear to be the largest in Door County, but it might be within the top five measured trees on a list kept current by Roy Lukes.  This tree, which appears quite healthy, owes its girth to the unusual slant of the trunk, and the fact its location is inland and well-protected from brutal winds that can pound the shoreline.  Steve Schwandt, who is 6'5", gives a good comparison of size standing next to the tree.

  - Dick Purinton