Exciting Week in Lodi

We were having a perfectly boring week of social distancing. Then all hell broke loose. I have a neighbor who makes bad choices from time to time. He’s a real nice guy when he isn’t drinking too much or driving too fast.

Thursday morning, he was allegedly doing both.

Somehow, his vehicle hit a utility pole, two cars, and a house. The car ended up on its side just in front of an old man’s living room picture window. The old man was sitting in his living room and could have been killed if the vehicle had bounced differently. My neighbor walked away uninjured. I mean that literally. After the accident, he walked away, across the street, through some back yards, and into the woods which eventually connects with his own property.

We had a front porch seat for the manhunt, which included half a dozen law enforcement vehicles and drones. They caught him just before dusk. Before it was over, we had cop cars driving at a fairly high rate of speed up and down our driveway.

I hope he gets the help that he needs. Being his sixth OWI, I won’t hold my breath.

The Bars Are Open

I spent some time this past week getting the Scamp ready for camping.  Temperatures in the twenties seem to be done for the year.  For me, that meant installing a new water pump, running some fresh water through the plumbing system, and clearing a clog in the kitchen sink.

While my head was underneath the rear seat bench and the kitchen cupboards, most of the Wisconsin Supreme Court had their heads up somewhere else.  The conservative majority voted 4-3 to invalidate Wisconsin's safer-at-home order.  There is no back-up order. The Republican Legislature wanted a work week's delay to negotiate a new order with the Democratic Governor, but the conservatives on the court said, nope.  

Did I mention that one of those justices was voted out of office this spring?  His replacement isn't scheduled to start yet, so his vote was the deciding one. The newly elected justice isn't allowed to vote yet. Not all of the conservatives went along with the right wing judicial activism.  Justice Brian Hagedorn refused to vote along with his fellow conservatives, writing a scathing dissent:

"The rule of law, and therefore the true liberty of the people, is threatened no less by a tyrannical judiciary than by a tyrannical executive or legislature,” Hagedorn wrote. “Today’s decision may or may not be good policy, but it is not grounded in the law.”

Immediately after the majority's decision was announced, bars started opening in Wisconsin--many of them abandoning social distancing.  It is true that Julia's optometry school friends accused her of being in the photos of crowded bars that went viral from Wisconsin. It is not true that we will be in the bars anytime soon. 

Also, as soon as the order was set aside, Annie's Campground near Gresham, Wisconsin posted that things were back to "real normal."  Annie took the further step to ban masks in campground buildings.

"Here's the line up for May 15-17: Beautiful Weather!!!!! Masks are NOT allowed in the buildings for safety sake. They are viewed as a robbery in progress and will be handled that way. 

 

Friday night fish fry, fisherman's platter, shrimp, homemade pizza, pub mix, specialty drinks at bar $3 (Sanitizer and Summer's Not a Bummer Hummers), and more appetizers. 

 

Saturday: 0900-noon is @Starla's Concealed Carry class at the pavilion, no equipment needed... she is a fantastic instructor..."

 

There are very few virus cases in the Gresham area--yet.  Wisconsin's petri dish experiment will undoubtedly now include people from hot spots in Chicago and Milwaukee joining in with like-minded people in northern Wisconsin.  You have to be careful what you wish for.

Some of Wisconsin's larger urban areas immediately implemented their own stay-at-home orders.  Madison's order doesn't expire until July.  Here in Columbia County, no order is in effect.  Some people are complaining that many businesses are not immediately re-opening, but apparently not everyone thinks that things are back to the real normal yet.  Cases are back on the increase, even in Columbia County, due in part to increased availability in testing. 

 

We continue our boring lives here, scanning the interwebs for chances to get away in the Scamp.  National forests, state parks, and the Kickapoo Reserve remain closed.  There are a few municipal and county parks opening up campgrounds, but they aren't an upgrade from my spot on the top of the hill at home.  

 

The view outside the Scamp windows shows that my fruit trees are blooming.

 

Apple Tree

Cherry Tree

 

For my outings, I took a road trip about an hour away to pick up my monthly fresh milled flour and some eggs.  We played around with the idea of joining a CSA (community supported agriculture) share for weekly fresh vegetables this summer, but decided that the cost was more than we wanted to pay.  We'll have a small vegetable garden instead.  After having trouble accessing flour for my weekly sourdough bread, I did come across a CSA for fresh milled flour from organic heirloom grains.  The monthly cost wasn't too bad, and it gives me a chance to take a drive once per month to a different part of Wisconsin.

 

 

On the way back, I stopped near Prairie du Sac for eggs from pasture chickens.  The lady had some duck eggs for me to try as well.  They were surprising good, so I'll be getting more of those next time.  The price was the same as chicken eggs ($3/dozen), but the yolks are much bigger and richer.  

Justin celebrated his 20th birthday this week.  We had a small party in the driveway with strawberry shortcake.  Julia's dad and stepmom were also in attendance.

 Julia goes back to work one day per week, starting Monday.  The plan is to go to two days per week in June.  I had a bad virus nightmare this week. Hopefully,  nothing similar happens during waking hours.

The Seasons They are a Changin'

Come gather 'round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'"

(Bob Dylan,"The Times They are a Changin')

Spring is busting out all over Wisconsin, and you can see it in the changed behavior of people.  At least, that's true in our rural county, where corona virus cases have not dramatically increased over the last couple of weeks. Columbia County has increased from 27 cases to 32 cases in the last week or so and has held steady at one death for at least a month. Lots of people are out and about, not wearing masks, hoping that everything goes back to normal soon.  On the other hand, the state of Wisconsin has seen increasing deaths:  from 24 on April 1st to 374 on May 7th. 

The Democratic governor extended the shelter in place order until May 26th.  The Republican Legislature is working to get that order overturned.  With a conservative majority, the Wisconsin Supreme Court seemed sympathetic to the Republican arguments.  The Chief Justice commented that the recent outbreak in Green Bay is among meatpacking employees, not "regular folks."    

As for me, I'm not encouraged much by the politicians or judges on either side of the aisle. That isn't to say that politics and policy aren't important.  I was a political science major before law school.  I'm very much aware of how money and power influence laws and policy.  Policy decisions will influence the final death count.  Political choices will partly determine who will be the winners and losers in the future economy. 

I haven't seen any evidence that an effective treatment or vaccine is coming anytime soon.  Without a cohesive national policy, a lot is being left up to the individual states and individuals themselves.   On a personal level,  Julia has decided to go back to work for one day per week in mid-May.  Eye health is important. A number of precautions will be taken to keep patients and doctors safe.  I don't see any way that it's going to be as safe as sheltering in place, but she feels like it's time to get back to work.  She is still scheduled to retire at the end of December.  That day can't come soon enough for me.  I can easily live on a little bit less in retirement.  But I don't think it's about the money for her.  Julia just isn't quite ready to be done with work.

 Hike on the Ice Age Trail

Wisconsin State parks are open again for day use.  That lets some of the pressure off of other trails.  This week, we went back to Slack's Road and hiked to the Merrimac Ferry and back again.  We didn't pass anyone on the trail and saw only two other hikers and no other dogs. 

Wild flowers are making appearances with the warming weather.   The orioles, grosbeaks and hummingbirds are also back.

Wood Violets

Dutchman Breeches

My personal prediction is that things are going to get much worse before they get better, as we start to open up again.  But you know what?  The geese don't care about my predictions. And neither does Callie.  Nature just keeps going on, as though nothing has changed.  Being in nature makes me feel better--at least for awhile.

Humans can't necessarily see what's just beyond the bend, but we are blessed/cursed with the intelligence to plan for it.  Hope is a positive emotion but not a plan.  We live in interesting times. 

Moving Around

This week was a spectacular week for travel.  First, we traveled to Whitewater, Wisconsin to move Justin out of his dorm room.  We were supposed to have done that back in mid-March, but we received an exception because Justin is high-risk.  Mixing him in with a bunch of college students, recently returned from spring break, and their families, as everyone rushes to move home, wouldn't have been a good idea.

So we were able to move out with no one else around this week.  It's not like they needed the dorm room.  The place was deader than a graveyard. Justin is taking an online class this summer.  We have no idea if the dorms or the school will open in the fall.  Refunds for the food service plan and dorm rental have been slow.  The university is in tough financial shape. 

Yesterday, Allie and I drove to Milwaukee to start moving stuff out of her apartment.  Allie's lease is up at the end of July, but she didn't bring home enough underwear and socks to make it until then.  As it turns out, we brought home a little more than I was expecting:  six big tote boxes, a large suitcase and assorted other containers.  Poor Callie barely had room in the bench seat of the truck to crouch on the way home.

Early in the week, we had some cold nights, but we still spent some time outdoors.  The DNR is reluctantly allowing small warming or cooking fires with a prohibition against all other burns. A small warming fire was just enough to take the edge off, along with S'mores.

Keeping a close eye on the Fire

Allie burning a marshmallow

You wouldn't like it.

Today's excitement was a grocery run for curb-side pickup at a large Sun Prairie supermarket, Woodman's.  We were running out of some hard-to-find items that aren't available locally, including the frozen fruit mix that I use for our morning smoothies and my Kombucha.

Yes, I'm still making fermented tea on a weekly basis.  I gave up on the ginger flavoring, which required making a ginger syrup from diced ginger and sugar.  Our local store was out of ginger for weeks, so I started substituting a few frozen berries from the berry mix.  The process is a lot easier and provides the Kombucha with a lovely flavor and color.