Great Lakes Views

Plunging Into A New Year

2010-01-01T12:18:00.009-06:00

I missed seeing the ball drop down in Times Square ushering in 2010. I was indulging in a different New Year’s Eve tradition. For the past few years, we have stayed at home, cooked a nice dinner, and then watched a movie in our own living room. Our selection this year was an exciting, fast-paced adventure and 11 AM Eastern Time came and went before we realized it. At midnight Central Time, I think we were already in bed.

We have another tradition for New Year’s Day. For the past few years, except for last year, we have watched the Polar Plunge in Lake Michigan. Last year the event was cancelled because the ice build up along the beach on Simmons Island was too thick. You can see pictures that I posted about the non-event on my entry from the beginning of January, 2009.

Today, in spite of temperatures in the mid-teens and winds of 20 mph or greater, making the wind-chill factor below zero, the event took place, and we were there to watch. It seemed to me that there were fewer people this year and I think those who did go in the water, stayed shorter times than in the past. The three boys at the right were the first in the water – first out, too, I think.

In order to get the Tee shirt that says you took the plunge, you have to get your head wet, so participants did and then ran out very quickly back to shore to wrap up in warm blankets and don sweat suits. The whole event took under five minutes, and I can’t say I was sorry. My feet were getting cold, but not as cold as those who left their flip-flops in the water.

After watching the plunge, I was ready to get back inside to spend the day doing not much of anything – yet another New Year’s Day tradition. I tip my ski cap to those who entered Polar Plunges everywhere today. I hope they are sitting in front of a warm fire now, sipping hot cocoa, and telling tales of their adventure. Happy New Year to them – and to all.

Great Lakes Views Top Ten List

2009-12-29T14:20:00.001-06:00

With only three days to go until the beginning of New Year, lists abound. Everyone seems to be joining David Letterman by composing Top Ten lists, and this year its even worse because not only are the lists for the past year, they are being composed for the entire first decade of the Third Millennium. Although I am not usually a slave to fashion and do not usually feel the need to follow trends, I have been thinking about what would be Great Lakes Views Top 10 for this year.

Should I pick which posting were most important? If I did, Number One would probably be about Asian Carp, which I wrote about at least three times. Running a close second would be posting about the $475M set aside by the EPA for Great Lakes Restoration projects and third might about The Great Lakes Compact.

Should I pick which posting I enjoyed writing most? I would be very hard pressed to do that but up at the top would be the week I was guest writer on Great Lakes Town Hall or my meeting with Loreen Niewenhuis, the 1,00 Mile Lake Trekker. But I also loved writing about my trip to Point Pelee on the Canadian Side of Lake Erie and my excursion to a few spots on Lake Huron. Boy, now that I think about it, I had fun writing all my posts – if I didn’t I wouldn’t have written them, so there is no top ten here.

Maybe I should include a category of which postings got the most hits. I use a meter from Site Meter which gives me some basic statistics about visits (individual hits) and page views. It also tells me if my readers got there via a search engine and if so what they asked for in their search. Using those statistics, it surprised me to learn that one of my most accessed pages was found by asking “Is Water Alive?” Another popular search was “Great Lakes Shipwrecks” and yet another was “Niagara Escarpment”. Anything with Kenosha in the search, like fishing, the harbor, or the Chrysler plant, got a fair number of hits, too. I realize that many of these brought readers who wanted something other than my blog, but still, they got to me, and so they count in my statistics.

My absolute peak day for readers was the day I posted about Governor Doyle closing the all University of Wisconsin campuses early this month because of the blizzard in Central Wisconsin, even though several of the other campuses could have easily operated. That posting was picked up by a Wisconsin newspaper service and that’s why it got so many hits. That made this month, December 2009, my top month for page views, followed closely by February 2009.

Site Meter tells me the location of my readers, too, and it is fun to see where they are located. Most are as close as Milwaukee and Chicago; the furthest have been from New Zealand, Norway, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. A few were from places I had never heard of and had to look up in the atlas.

The more I think about this Top Ten List thing, the more I think I won’t bother to make one. What I really need is a Top 109 List. That’s how many posts I made this year and for me each one was a winner, each one deserving of special mention. But then again, I am not exactly an objective judge, am I?

A Few More Pictures

2009-12-27T19:23:00.011-06:00

Not much to say today, but here's a few more pictures of winter in my neighborhood. Hope everyone is safe and warm.

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful

2009-12-24T15:27:00.006-06:00

Actually, the weather is not all that frightful, but it is windy. Gusts are about 25-30 mph and expected to pick up even more later tonight. But with the temperature about 35 degrees F, we have rain, not snow. It’s a lot worse in other places.

I snapped a few pictures of the lakefront this afternoon, but photos don’t tell you what it feels like or sounds like to be out there. It feels – well, wet. And windy. And, it sounds – well, loud. I have to ask myself how it is I could not get up to see the sunrise earlier this week at the winter solstice, but I could stand in the rain and take these pictures today. The answer probably has more to do with the time of day than the weather. I readily admit, I am not a morning person.

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, have a happy and safe holiday. For those of us who don’t, have a dry and snuggly stay-at-home day.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame

2009-12-21T15:28:00.001-06:00

What do Asian Carp and the Salahis have in common? Well for one thing, they are both gate crashers. In truth, only carp DNA has crossed the barrier erected to keep the fish from invading the Great Lakes, but the carp and the crashing couple had their 15 minutes of fame this month and for a few days both were headline news.

Then there was Copenhagen – another 15 minutes of headlines. Did anything real come of all the talk over there? Maybe, maybe not, but like the Asian carp, climate change is more than a media event. It’s an ongoing problem. It’s not going to be solved with one, or even a series of meetings and neither is the problem of invasive species. It’s easier to deal with the immediacy of the White House party invaders – security will be beefed up and a few people may be fired, or put on administrative leave, but then the problem will be solved. However, we will probably still be arguing about carp and carbon emissions long after the Salahi’s are just another playing card in Trivial Pursuit. (Do people still play that game?)

There is no headline news about the Great Lakes today- unless you want to count the $13M the EPA allocated for fighting those carp late last week. There are no beautiful sunsets to write about either, and even if I had gotten up to the sunrise on this day of the Winter Solstice, I wouldn’t have seen anything. Thick clouds masked the annual event, and so I don’t feel bad that I was still in bed at 7:20 AM. It’s gray, cloudy, and very dull around here, not a great time to be writing about the Great Lakes. However, I have confidence that will change, maybe even tomorrow.

So, what about that Tiger Woods, anyhow?

Happy Anniversary to Me

2009-12-15T11:50:00.001-06:00

December has always been a month with significant dates for me. Besides holidays, there are birthdays, including my own, and other life cycle events. This year I add a new milestone to my December calendar. Today marks the first anniversary of Great Lakes Views.

When I began this blog a year ago, I set out to educate myself about the Great Lakes, and I did. Besides learning facts of this region, including geology, ecology, and biology, I learned about all the organizations, institutions, and associations that care deeply about it. I also met some great people, on-line and in person, who share their expertise and passion. However, mostly what I learned, which is so often the case when you start to really study a topic, is that there is so much more to learn. So for now, I plan to continue writing and studying about the Great Lakes.

Some of my readers have been with me from the beginning, when I put my literal toe into the blogging waters with It’s Day One. Others are new readers and may want to check out my explanation of why I write this blog. It was from my second posting and is called Great Lakes Gal. And if you don’t want to see where I was a year ago, that’s okay, too. I tabulated this morning that I recorded 162 pages (not including photos) and over 50,000 words. That’s a lot to go back and read, but if you want to – fine by me.

By the way, today marks another anniversary. 218 years ago, The Bill of Rights, the first Ten Amendments to the US Constitution, went into effect. Among those rights are Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Our forefathers could not have imagined the Internet and the challenges it would present to those freedoms, but they knew in a free country you should be able to express yourself without censure and suppression. You may or may not like what I write here but I am grateful for the freedom to write it.

This and That Again

2009-12-13T11:31:00.004-06:00

Temperatures were back up to normal range for mid-December again yesterday. The sun was shining and this flock of geese decided that they didn’t need to fly further south yet, so they held a convention on the harbor yesterday afternoon. I watched them for a while. The reason I think it was a convention is that at first they were all gathered in one spot, as if for the opening address, then they swam around before breaking up into smaller groups. Eventually some of the geese flew off. I wonder if they told their boss that they stayed for the whole meeting.

A few days ago, I wanted to take a good picture of our dog Burlee. I wanted to use it to make some tee shirts for some little girls I know who love our dog. They don’t have a dog of their own at home, but they think of Burlee as their dog so I wanted to give them something with his picture on it. Where does one go to take picture if you live where I live? You go to the water, of course.

Burlee was nice enough to sit still for a few minutes instead of exhibiting his perpetual sniffing behavior. Quite majestic looking for a pug, don’t you think?

Last, about this weather thing. I commented the other day how the snowfall here was so different here than it was in Madison WI. Well, my friend in Buffalo reminded me that that’s what happens there, too. In North Buffalo, where she lives and where I grew up, this past blizzard left two inches of snow, as compared to the two feet south of the city. Someone else reminded me of phenomenon of microclimates in other areas, too.

Perhaps my mention of politics and weather can be taken a step further. I could say that like politics, all weather is local. We all try to look at the bigger picture but when it comes right down to it, it’s what happens in our neighborhood that counts most.

Snow Covers Wisconsin- Mostly

2009-12-10T17:07:00.002-06:00

“Are you socked in?” That was the question I had from friends and family this week following the snowstorm that hit the Midwest.

“No, we weren’t,” I answered. Here along the lakefront we did not have more than an inch of snow. Winds, yes. Bitter cold, yes. But not much snow.

Why? The answer is the same reason that we are cooler by the lake in the summer. That great big body of water out my window has a major impact on weather. Right now water temperatures are in the high 30’s or lower 40’s, and the heat emanating from the water warms the air. Okay, not too much as it has been in the single digits all day but just a mile or two west of here, its even colder and they had much more snow. For those of you who don’t know Wisconsin geography, Madison is about 75 miles west of Lake Michigan. That’s why they were hit with 18 inches of snow and we got one inch.

Even if you don’t know the geography of our state, you would think our governor would. Yesterday Gov. Doyle closed all state offices, including all branches of the state university, because of the weather. So UWM in Milwaukee and UWP in Kenosha/Racine were closed even though we didn’t have a blizzard. Hmm. Things like this make for political fodder. Elections are won and lost by such decisions. Remember Chicago in the winter of 1978-79? Michael Bilandic lost his position as mayor because of how he handled (actually didn’t handle) the snow and cold that winter. Snow in the Midwest equals politics. But it doesn’t matter for Jim Doyle. He’s not running for governor again anyway.

Back to water temperatures. When I went out about 10 AM – in the car, not walking – the harbor looked like a giant cup of hot tea. It was steaming. I didn’t get a picture a) because I didn’t have my camera with me and b) because even if I did, it was 3 degrees outside. But if I see it again, I’ll try to get a picture. It’s pretty cool.

A Fine Kettle of Fish

2009-12-03T09:22:00.009-06:00

I don't mean to harp (carp?) on Asian carp, but everyone else is so why not? You can read about it everywhere. Check out Great Lakes Blogger for example. Dave Dempsey is always right on top of Great Lakes issues and has a lot to say on this one.

But I did want to tell you about a statistic I just heard on the radio. You may know that officials are dumping a poison into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to kill the carp while the US Army Corps of Engineers fixes the electric barrier put up to prevent the carp from getting into the Great Lakes. So far the poison, which is theoretically not toxic to humans, has killed only fish other than carp. But it is estimated that up to 200,000 pounds of fish could be killed by the poison. The fish will be removed from the canal and sent to landfills.

What a fine kettle of fish this is. Can you imagine the aroma wafting from the landfill that gets the haul? And why do I think this is just another futile effort to stop the carp from entering the Great Lakes, at the expense of other fish and perhaps people, too. And poisoning any water at any time with any type of lethal agent seems like a bad idea for any reason.

I also wish the Army Corp of Engineers had a better reputation for solving problems instead of creating them. But alas, my wish list for the Great Lakes just continues to get longer.

Wisconsin Scientists on Climate Change

2009-12-09T12:13:00.002-06:00

With the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) meetings in Copenhagen this week, and "climate-gate," global warming and climate change are in the news all over the world and Wisconsin is no exception. Yesterday a group of 113 Wisconsin scientists delivered a letter to Wisconsin Senators Feingold and Kohl and Wisconsin’s Congressional Delegation urging them to support federal policies to combat climate change. The opening section of letter states “The science now convinces us that calls for immediate action are warranted to avoid the consequences of global warming on Wisconsin’s economy and environment, including the Great Lakes.” The four-page letter goes on to explain ways that global warming will have social, economic, and ecological impact on Wisconsin.

The full text and a list of signatures can be seen on the website of the Environmental Law & Policy Center.

Both our senators have expressed concern about the so-called “cap and trade” bill, the Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill. Several of our representatives are strongly against it. They are concerned about how it will affect industry and jobs here.

I can understand Senator Feingold’s concerns that the United States cannot reduce carbon emissions without the support of other countries, but other countries can’t do it without the support of the United States. The concern about jobs is valid but a study called Job Opportunities for the Green Economy: A State-by-State Picture of Occupations That will Gain from Green Investments, which says that over 100,000 jobs would be added to Wisconsin payrolls in what are considered green jobs.

Because I usually agree with Senator Feingold, I wanted to understand his position better and so I spent a few hours this morning reading the pros and cons of this bill. I wish I could say I understood it better; it really is a complicated issue.

But I also read the text of the letter by the Wisconsin scientists and when it comes down to a position statement, I have to go with the scientists. Although my two senators still have my vote, so do these informed scientists of my state. Read the letter, do some research of your own, and then decide for yourself. Then, let your representatives in Washington know where you stand.

By the way, here in Wisconsin burning coal is not the only emission that increases carbon dioxide in our air. Those cows add a lot, too. As a lover of cheese, milk, and ice cream, I am not sure where I would vote if it comes down to reducing carbon emissions from dairy cows.

Great Lakes Cyberspace

2009-12-07T13:59:00.002-06:00

When I started this blog about a year ago, I knew I wasn’t the only person interested in the Great Lakes, but I had no idea of the vast network and numbers of people who care about it, too. Over the course of this year, I have learned about the politics, ecology, and culture of this wide area. I have learned about the issues, organizations, and people who care about preserving and protecting it.

This morning I learned that one of the best blogs about the Great Lakes would be ending. In today’s posting on Great Lakes Blogger, Dave Dempsey tells us he will be shutting down his blog, probably permanently. This saddens me because I will miss Dave’s posts. He has kept me informed about the issues facing the Great Lakes. He has steered me in the direction of Great Lakes art and culture. Without it, I am not sure I would have read Jerry Dennis’s wonderful book The Living Great Lakes and it is because of a posting of Dave’s that I have a book about (and by) Women of the Great Lakes on my holiday wish list.

Writing a blog is a weird thing. Unless someone posts a comment to what you write, you don’t really know who is reading your work. Is your post just going out in the vast cyberspace never to be seen again? Or is someone looking forward to your every word and just not saying so? Who knows? Yes, I have a meter on my site and yes, I check the statistics, but I am not sure how meaningful they are. When it tells me someone has been on my site for 5 minutes and read 5 pages, have they really read it, just looked at the pictures or did their finger accidentally hit the arrow key to scroll through five pages and then got called away to the telephone for five minutes?

Maybe Dave feels the same. I am not sure why he will not be writing his blog anymore (he doesn’t say) but I hope we will still be reading him on Great Lakes Town Hall. That is another wonderful site that I check frequently. Dave is one of the founders of that group and now one of its moderators. His posts are always worth reading – whether on his own site, the Town Hall forum or in the books he has written. Thanks, Dave for a good run.

By the way, any and all comments are appreciated on this site. It lets me know you are out there. If you want to comment just click on “Comment” at the end of the post. If you want to send me an email through this site, click on my profile, and under my picture (which my husband took last winter at the Florida Keys) you will see a link to send an email.

Thanks. I look forward to hearing from you.

At 100 and Approaching 32

2009-12-01T16:50:00.004-06:00

What does that cryptic title mean? It means that this is my 100th posting for 2009. In a little less than three weeks, I will have been writing this blog for a year.

Approaching 32 means that it is almost winter and lake temperatures are approaching 32 degrees F. Although water temperatures in the Southern Lake Michigan region today average in the mid-40’s, and we still have a long way to go before ice forms, there are reminders that winter is coming. Here in Kenosha we are part of two media markets and get both Chicago and Milwaukee TV and radio stations. Last night in both markets, with all the important news that could have been reported, winter parking restrictions were the lead stories. Prepare for winter, that’s the media message.

Another reminder is that at 4 o’clock in the afternoon it is starting to get dark. The picture above was taken at sunset today, which is 4:19 PM. The one to the right was taken at 4:29 PM.

Sunrise today was at 7:01 AM and I was actually up, but not out, before it got light. Perhaps some morning before December 21 I will manage to get out to take a picture of the sun coming up over the lake, but that will also depend on cloud cover, wind speed and air temperature. Perhaps seeing the sunrise will be my personal challenge for the month of December. Perhaps. If so, that would be a first.

Great Lakes Accent

2009-11-25T10:24:00.003-06:00

“She was ready for his voice by that time, too: the flat, metallic nasal sound of the Great Lakes with its clear hard r’s and its absence of theatricality. Dull normal. The speech of her people.”

My people, too. That line comes from Hairball, a short story by Canadian author Margret Atwood. I never thought of such a thing as a Great Lakes accent, yet Atwood described what people from Buffalo to Chicago to Green Bay, Wisconsin sound like. I’ve lived a few places other than the Midwest so my accent is not quite that bad, but when I was growing up in Buffalo I had friends who went to the baynk, said thaynk you and ate cayandy. I had a dog but some of my friends had kyats.

I googled “regional accents in the US” and learned indeed there is such as thing as a Great Lakes accent. Phonologists define the accent as Inland North dialect of American English. It is essentially "standard Midwestern" speech. According to Wikipedia, if you speak that way, you are in the company of some notable personalities including Jim Belushi, Dennis Franz, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Suze Orman, Bob Seger and my brother-in-law Jerry.

When I was younger, my Canadian cousins would tease me about my “American” accent. They, like Atwood, are from southeastern Ontario, also in the Great Lakes. But I guess Canadians have their own sub-variety of the accent. It’s usually pretty easy to tell a Canadian by the way they talk, eh?

You can learn a lot more about the accent, including its Northern cities vowel shift if you are interested. For me, I will just say I know a Great Lakes accent when I hear it, thanyk you very much. It’s not exactly music to my ear but it does feel like home.

Happy Thaynksgiving to all. I am thaynkful for friends, family, food, and many other things, including diversity. Life would be boring if we all sounded the same.

Where's Waldo's Boat?

2009-11-23T19:38:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was sunny and warm for November and I took this picture in the morning. You can see that all the boats are out of the marina. Today, temperatures were still a little above normal but skies were once again grey and cloudy. I haven’t looked at the statistics but I am going to guess that November in our area has the lowest amount of sunshine of any month except perhaps March. And even though sunset is technically close to 4:30 PM, it is dark before four. No wonder people have started to put up their holiday lights already. We need some brightness.

So where are the boats?

Here’s where they are, wrapped in their finest shrink wrap, waiting for spring. Seems like they’re all dressed up with no where to go.

Everyone is Talking About Asian Carp

2009-11-21T17:10:00.002-06:00

As the Asian carp get close to the barrier erected to keep them out of Lake Michigan, the story of their migration has also moved from amusing You Tube videos to serious NPR reports. In the last few weeks, these ugly invaders have been making headlines in newspapers, magazine and on TV. I even found myself having a conversation about them at a social gathering this weekend. Were it only true that increasing the public’s knowledge about these ugly fish could stop them from getting into our precious Great Lakes water and eating all the other fish.

I saw a poll on the blog Great Lakes Echo asking what you think about DNA from Asian Carp being found beyond the electrical barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which is supposed to keep the fish out of the Great Lakes. The fish aren’t there yet, but apparently, their DNA is. I cast my vote for “ Unsurpised. It was inevitable they would get in”. Other responses were angry, saying that the invasion could have been stopped by earlier action. There are a variety of responses to choose from, but so far at least no one has checked the box that say, “What’s an Asian carp?” But then again the readers of this blog are not a random sample of the population.

By the way, on the same blog you will find another quiz that you may find more amusing. The title of that one is: Which Great Lakes Invasive Species Is Your Former Significant Other?

It’s been so long since I have had a Significant Other other than my current significant other (aka my husband of 40 plus years) I won’t bother to take that quiz, but some of the choices might be quagga or zebra mussels, sea lampreys, and alewives. Do you think there is such a thing as an ale husband, too?

Fly Me To The Moon

2009-11-15T11:03:00.000-06:00

The Sea of Tranquility may be a sea after all. It’s been all over the news this week that contrary to previous reports, there is water on the moon. Indications from LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite), the satellite that was deliberately smashed into the moon a few weeks ago, are that there is a significant amount of water underlying those lunar craters.

In response to the findings, astronaut Buzz Aldrin said, “This is a welcome confirmation of what we have long and confidently suspected, but it does not suggest a commercial Gold Rush, or make that a Water Rush, to the moon." Maybe not, but I can’t help but wonder how long it will take the people of the water-poor Southwest to contact NASA. That may be good news for us in the Great Lakes region as developers can now look toward the moon for water to keep lawns green and swimming pools filled instead of using our Great Lakes water.

That is said a bit tongue in cheek (although it is a tongue that thirsts for water and a cheek in need of continual moisture). More importantly, the presence of water on the moon opens up the possibility of further exploration of the moon and the rest of the solar system. As stated on the NASA website:

Just like on Earth, water will be a crucial resource on the moon. Transporting water and other goods from Earth to the moon’s surface is expensive. Finding natural resources, such as water ice, on the moon could help expedite lunar exploration. The LCROSS mission will search for water, using information learned from the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions.

In time we will discover about the moon’s water- how much there is, what kinds of impurities it contains, what it tastes like, and more, but it is fascinating to learn this about that big ball that floats above our earth. Will they also discover that the moon is really made of cheese? That would mean one less thing to transport across 93,000 miles, and one can easily live on water and cheese. I wonder what effect that would have on the Wisconsin dairy industry?

Water and Evolution

2009-11-11T16:53:00.009-06:00

I look out at the expanse of water in front of me and try to imagine it gone. Seems impossible, doesn’t it, and yet vast bodies of water have disappeared from the earth, or at least have been substantially diminished in size. It can happen.

What makes me think of this today is the PBS Nova Series, Becoming Human. The three part series, two of which have already been aired, reports on recent findings about the evolution of primates to Homo sapiens. They ask the question why did our ancestors start to walk upright and what caused their brains to grow.

Anthropologists concentrate their searches in eastern Africa, in the Great Rift Valley. What I learned is that millions of years ago there used to be a huge freshwater lake in this now arid part of the African continent. The water levels of that body of water fluctuated, due to periods of excess rain and drought. This is proven in the geological layers by the presence of diatoms, unicellular organisms that only exist in water. Scientists think that one of the ways that mammals adapted to this climate instability was by increasing the size of their brain.

The water levels of the lake outside my window fluctuate, too, but not that dramatically. Here’s an excerpt from the November 6 report on Great Lakes Water Levels as posted at Great Lakes Observing System website:

Water Level Conditions: All of the Great Lakes remain higher than their levels of a year ago. Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario are 3, 12, 8, 6, and 1 inches, respectively, higher than their levels last year at this time. The water levels of Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron and St. Clair are expected to decline by 2 inches over the next month. Lake Erie and Ontario are expected to decline 1 and 2 inches, respectively, over the next 30 days. Over the next several months, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan-Huron and Lake St. Clair are forecasted to be above their water levels of a year ago. Lakes Erie and Ontario are forecasted to remain near or below last year's levels over the same time period

Still, it makes me wonder what changes will take place in our species as our own climate instability progresses. And yes, I do believe our climate is changing, although I also believe climate has always changed. But the rate of change has increased and been influenced by us Homo sapiens and our larger brains, as well as our cars, our factories, our plastic bottles and myriad other modern inventions.

Evolution is an ongoing process, but how will humans change in response to an unstable climate? How will we adapt? Will we have bigger brains instead of bigger cars? Will be go back to walking on two feet instead of driving on four wheels? Will our feet be bigger? Our arms longer? Our skin thicker? What do you think?

The picture at the right has nothing to do with evolution, but I wanted to share it. It was taken last weekend at the Japanese Garden in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens , which I think is a highly evolved and beautiful place.

Sal, The Erie Canal and Me

2009-11-05T10:40:00.002-06:00

I’ve got a mule and her name is Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.
She’s a good old worker and a good old pal,
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

We’ve hauled some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal and hay
And we know every inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo*.

Do you know that song – or is it only known by people who grew up in New York State?

I am still reading Jerry Dennis’s book, The Living Great Lakes. For several chapters Dennis wrote about places on the Great Lakes that I do not know much about, but now I am back to reading about familiar territory as he sails the eastern basin of Lake Erie, through the Welland Canal, into Lake Ontario. He is writing about what I used to call home. I have never seen it from the perspective that Dennis and his crewmates were seeing it - sort of from the inside out, that is from the water to the shore. I have seen all these places from the shore to the water. I don’t know “every inch of the way” but I do know a heck of a lot the places he is seeing from the ship. Buffalo, The Niagara Peninsula, Toronto, Rochester, even the Welland Canal all are an integral part of the first 23 years of my life.

But when I got to the part about the Erie Canal, I admit I was stumped and had to look up some information about it on Wikipedia. I learned in grade school that the canal connected Albany at the Hudson River end to Buffalo at Lake Erie, making it possible for ships to go from the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes. Yet Dennis and his crew enter into the canal, which is rarely used anymore by commercial vessels, at Oswego, New York. What I found out was that almost a hundred years ago the Erie Canal became part of what is now called the New York State Canal System, which includes other canals such as the Oswego Canal, which connect to the Erie Canal at Syracuse. The whole thing is now part of the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor – which is part of my favorite government agency, the National Park Service.

The Erie Canal today is probably a lot like the I & M Canal which connected Chicago to the Mississippi River. Both are primarily recreational areas now. I have walked and biked the I & M several times and yes, have the stamp in my Parks Passport. Along the path are historic houses, trading posts and other remnants of a bygone era. When I walk it, I think that a mule named Sal would soon be poking her head out from behind the thick trees that now line the canal. But Sal was a New Yorker, so probably not.

And I am a New Yorker too – no, not the kind that inhabits the pages of the famous magazine by the same name, but rather the kind that had to remind people that there is more to New York State than Manhattan and Brooklyn. And that there are lots of trees in the state. It’s not all sidewalks.

Later this afternoon my husband, also a New Yorker of the same variety as I am, and I are flying to New York – both the city and the state - to spend a few days and to attend a wedding. I will not see the Erie Canal, but I will probably see Canal Street. Does any one remember the old song about walking down Canal Street? Actually, it’s probably best if you don’t, at least not the version I learned in grade school.

By the way, the official name of Erie Canal song is *Low Bridge and it was written in 1905 by Thomas S. Allen. Thank you, Wikipedia. I guess I have to send you another donation.

No Silver Lining?

2009-11-03T20:22:00.004-06:00

I just finished knitting socks for my husband that are made of an Icelandic wool and alpaca blend. These socks are special because I think I may have met the sheep that produced the wool. I bought the yarn at a Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival earlier this fall. The socks are going to be really, really warm this winter, which is good because my husband's feet get really, really cold. However, his feet don’t sweat, so I don’t expect the socks to get smelly, but if they did, I learned this morning in the NYT Science Section that adding silver to fibers like those used in socks can keep them odor free.

I suppose I knew that silver was an antimicrobial – after all, I do have a degree in Microbiology, but I never thought about socks and silver together. It appears that by adding a few nanoparticles of silver to textiles, the bacteria that cause unpleasant odors are eliminated. Nanoparticles, in case you don’t know, are very, very small. Picture a hair’s breadth and divide it into a trillion pieces, and you have a nanoparticle.

However, you might want to think twice about those odor-free socks because silver is not only toxic to bacteria – it’s pretty much toxic to every living thing. And remember that things like socks and clothing have to get clean. What happens to the silver when those items go through the wash? Does it go down our drains, out into our streams and our lakes, into our fish? How will effect our environment?

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, a program developed by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Pew Charitable Trusts has issued a 72-page report called Silver Nanotechnologies and the Environment: Old Problems or New Challenge? The report says there are now over 235 products ranging from toothpaste to towels, cosmetics to clothes, appliances and paint that contain silver. It may be that some silver containing products are environmentally safe but it may also be that we just don’t know enough yet to say. Fortunately, there are people a lot smarter than I am who are thinking about this.

So here we are worried about invasive species like zebra and quaaga mussels, sea lampreys and alewives when sweet smelling socks may present just as much of a problem to our water. It seems that even smart new ideas come with a cloud. And does that cloud have as silver lining – a silver lining that’s safe for our environment? That’s the question.

Shipwrecks and Skies

2009-11-01T10:59:00.008-06:00

I couldn’t sleep last night so I picked up my book and began to read. I found it a little spooky that here I was, just after midnight on November 1, beginning a chapter that was subtitled “The Gales of November”. It is part of Chapter 7 of Jerry Dennis’s book, The Living Great Lakes. Dennis is a wonderful writer and in this book, he primarily tells about a trip he took through the Great Lakes on a sailboat, but weaves many other stories about the Lakes into the volume as well. He does indeed bring the lakes alive with his excellent storytelling and vivid descriptions.

This morning when I took our dog out for his morning walk, although the clock said 9 AM, my body felt like it was later. I guess even though I hadn’t gotten to sleep until well after 2 AM, the change to standard time was in my favor and I woke up refreshed. But it was still quiet outside and except for a few other walkers, Burlee and I had the marina pretty much to ourselves.

I snapped a few pictures of the emptying marina. Most of the boats are out of the water and by next week, even more will be gone. The geese are probably happy as they now have the water to themselves. As I was walking, I noticed that the sun, which had been shining earlier in the morning, was already waning and clouds were coming in from the southwest. So much for a sunny beginning to November. But it reminded me of something I had read last night in Dennis’s book that had to do with November, changing weather, and ships. I will quote the beginning of Chapter 7:

November is the deadliest month. Ask any sailor. It’s when the lakes still embrace some of the summer’s heat, but the air above has turned to winter. A meteorologist for the National Weather Service once calculated that on average the greatest difference between the temperature of the lakes and the temperature of the air above them occurs on November 10. That differential causes the remaining warmth in the lakes to be sucked into the air, releasing energy and creating wind.

Dennis goes on the tell of huge number of ships that have sunk in the Great Lakes on or around November 10 – the most famous but by far not the only one being the Edmund Fitzgerald. So it is a good thing that all those boats are coming out of the water. I wouldn’t want there to be a local version of The Tempest (remember that Shakespearean shipwreck tale?).

Fortunately the winds of November did not come a night early and Halloween here in Kenosha was clear and dry. The night before I took this picture of the sky from my balcony. It seemed that the sky was turning orange in preparation of the Halloween.

Fading October

2009-10-29T10:57:00.005-05:00

October is usually one of my favorite months, but this year, October forgot to come. Well, actually it did come, but it brought with it an abnormal amounts of rain and cooler than normal temperatures. More often than not, the jeweled colors of autumn, gold, ruby and jade, were displayed on a backdrop of gray skies and rain.

It was no different in North Central Texas where I spent most of last week. Several evenings during my six-day stay were spent listening to thunder and watching the radar to see if we would get five inches, or five tenths of an inch, of rain.

The day after I came home, I took a walk, hoping to catch the last of the fall color. I walked past the old Southport Lighthouse and snapped a few pictures of bare trees. Closer to the beach, the trees still had some color, but somehow an image kept coming to mind. It was that of an old woman, who in an attempt to keep up appearances, dabs bright red lipstick on a pale face. Somehow, both the image of the old woman, and the half-naked trees, made me a little sad and sorry that October had flown by so quickly.

After my walk, I spent some time catching up on the blogs I follow. I saw that Loreen, the 1,000 Mile Beach Treker, will be spending a week in the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. Cool. The restoration at the Southport Lighthouse is almost complete and I have heard that in the spring will be open for visitors. Maybe they will also have a visitor/volunteer program as the one at Grand Traverse that Loreen is doing, but I won’t apply. Too close too home. Maybe they have one at the Key West Lighthouse. If they do, I’ll apply for February. Why do I think I won’t be the only one?

Changing Seasons; Changing Topics

2009-10-20T14:44:00.008-05:00

This morning at the YMCA where I exercise, the gym was unavailable because they were holding the Third Annual Disability Resource Fair. The participants could partake in yoga demonstrations, chair massage, and a variety of physical activities. Those who were able could try the rock-climbing wall. A Championship Wheelchair Basketball Team from UW-Whitewater was scheduled to perform later in the afternoon.

As I watched the attendees, some with their own attendants, from my view on the treadmill I marveled at the good cheer in the building today. The crowd seemed to be mostly teenagers and young adults and their disabilities covered a wide range. But almost to a one they had big smiles on their faces and seemed so happy to partake in this outing. And so did the people who accompanied them. I saw several people with digital cameras taking pictures of the various activities, especially those attempting the rock climbing.

I had thought I would write today about the change of seasons. The leaves are almost at their peak color in this part of Southeastern Wisconsin and yesterday I took some pictures of trees in my neighborhood. I am posting a few but the truth is they are not nearly as inspiring as the people I saw this morning – those with disabilities and those that were there to help them.

Several of the houses I passed on my walk yesterday are decorated for Halloween. Here’s one of my favorites.

A Hydrological Highway?

2009-10-14T10:29:00.005-05:00

Is Hydrologic Highway too much of a mouthful? Does Water Wonderland sound too much like a water park? How about the Aquatic Escarpment? And why speculate about what to call the Great Lakes Basin other than the Great Lakes Basin anyway?

My brain storming for a clever name was prompted by a report of a presentation yesterday at University of Wisconsin Parkside. The speaker at the Executive in Residence Series of the UW-P School of Business and Technology was Richard Meeusen, CEO of Badger Meter. Meeusen, commenting that Wisconsin is becoming a leader world wide in fresh water science, said that, "Wisconsin has the opportunity to be the Silicon Valley of water technology".

Meuseen is not alone in recognizing the role that Wisconsin has come to play in the water sciences. Last week Gary Wilson wrote an editorial for The Great Lakes Town Hall called “Milwaukee Rising?” Here’s an excerpt of what Wilson said:

The University of Wisconsin's Milwaukee campus is home to the Great Lakes Water Institute which bills itself as "the largest academic freshwater research facility on the Great Lakes." Research and education are its prime focus, both critical disciplines in the water age.

The International Joint Commission, the U.S. and Canadian body that advises the two governments on boundary water issues, just cited Milwaukee (and Toronto) as a "success story" for its wastewater management and acknowledged its "well-designed and long-term plans."

Milwaukee's daily newspaper, the Journal-Sentinel, has dedicated significant resources to Great Lakes coverage. This in a difficult period where most papers are scaling back on environmental reporting.

You can read the entire editorial and the comments it prompted on the Town Hall website. I would have included a note about the exhibits at Milwaukee’s newest museum, Discovery World, which make learning about water fun. I would also have cited Governors Doyle’s proposal to allocate for establishment of a School of Freshwater Science at UW-M. $240M.

Fortune for all, it’s not just in Wisconsin that water issues are finally taking a front seat. It’s happening all over the Great Lakes, and although I would like to see Wisconsin prosper from water technology, the truth is that the more Great Lakes cities and states involved in the effort, the more the effort will succeed. Maybe my old hometown, Buffalo, could reap some benefit. From what I hear, they could really use it.

If you can think of catchy name for our area, which can summarize in a slogan the high-tech efforts in freshwater science, let me know. But whatever that name is, it certainly is better than The Rust Belt, our previous title. How about Aqua Fresh? Oops, I think that is already taken by a toothpaste. Sorry.

Saving Treasures on American Samoa

2009-10-11T17:42:00.002-05:00

The other day in my posting about the National Parks, I asked the question of how the National Park of American Samoa had fared during the recent tsunami wave that struck the South Pacific. Today, in an article on the National Parks Traveler, I learned that it did fairly well. The headline reads “Restoration Efforts Show National Park of American Samoa Artifacts in Better-Than-Expected Condition” .The article explains that many of the artifacts were rescued from the water that inundated the Visitor Center and removed to safer locations.

As a novice weaver, I was particularly interested to learn that some of what was saved is examples of traditional Samoan weaving. Over the past two years, I have a developed a greater appreciation for the craft of weaving as I slowly learn to weave myself. I would really like to see the restored pieces some day – and add another stamp to my National Parks Passport.

Simmons Island Beach and Art

2009-10-08T14:16:00.004-05:00

The only way that Simmons Island Beach and Art are related is that I read articles about them both this morning. I am still a newspaper reader, and although I find lots of good information on the internet, I still like to read the newspaper.

The second topic first. Art. A few days ago, I wrote about ArtPrize, the art competition currently taking place in Grand Rapids, MI. The Arts section of the New York Times had a story about the exhibit and although Mary Gillis, the artist I was featuring was not included in the piece, it is still worth looking at slide show of some of the other installations. In addition, it’s always nice see something in the NYT about art in a Great Lakes State. Art does happen west of the Hudson River.

The other article was one of local interest. The headline in the Kenosha News read, “City Looks to Enhance Lakefront.” The City of Kenosha wants to draw more people to the lakefront, especially because so much of the current commercial development is in the western part of the city. Some suggestions for increasing the number of visitors, which is estimated to be about 20,000 per month now, are to improve the railroad station ( I am not sure that will do anything toward this goal but I agree it should be done), streetscape designs along the main thoroughfares entering the lakefront area, and better marketing.

Mayor Keith Bosman would like to see more traffic on Simmons Island and its beach. As a frequenter of that beach, I know it is under utilized, although in the past few years, the number of beach goers has increased. This year doesn’t count because the weather was cool, but I think there are ways to improve use of the beach.

For one, it could be cleaned more often, and more waste containers provided. The city has fixed up the historic bathhouse a little and there are now restroom facilities and a foot washing station – but I am not sure how many people know about it. The city has also made it difficult for anyone interested in opening a concession stand. The one year that one was open, people purchased snacks there, but this year it wasn’t there.

Why is North Beach in Racine so popular? Could it be that it is clean, has concessions, washrooms, has adequate parking and a great children’s playground? Granted, the sand beach at Simmons Island is smaller, but the park is not. I don’t think it would take much to improve attendance but you have to give people a reason to go there. On a hot summer afternoon, a significant number of cars in the Simmons Island parking lot sport Illinois license plates. What do the people of Illinois know that the people of Kenosha don’t? Or are the people of Kenosha all up at the Racine beach?

By the way, the Simmons Bedding, for whom the island was named, also made the New York Times this week. The company, which has changed hands many times since leaving Kenosha, has declared bankruptcy. The NYT article is a good analysis of how this happened to Simmons as well as many other companies. It’s not a pretty picture.