Arrowwood blossom and friend

Received a note from Librarian Trevor.  June is Pride Month and the main office of the consortium our local library belongs to features some LGBT+ books on the website.   They received a message stating such "scandalous" information should not be promoted by public libraries.  The message ended with "How will you answer to God?"  Trevor asked all of the volunteers that if anyone came in and wanted to discuss anything concerning Pride Month to refer them to him or, if he wasn't available, to take their name and contact information and he would handle their inquiries as soon as he could.   There was another year when some people got together in an attempt to ban LGBT+ books in the consortium.  I agree w/ our library motto: Freedom to Read.  Free to Learn.  Free to use.  I'm not about to limit what someone else chooses to read.  (Though, in honesty, I do make fun of Harlequins a/k/a Bodice Rippers.)

 Tick count 7.

Still shedding some winter fur

Check in w/ the cardiologist after being zapped earlier in the month.  First they took an EKG and the cardiologist was happy that my heart was still in normal rhythm.  Now comes the process of weaning me off the drugs they threw at the problem.  She gave me a schedule to get rid of one of the drugs.   After I'm off that I'll go in to check that nothing has changed before we tackle the next one.

I haven't been receiving utility bills from a company since January.  I called  the help desk for the third time.  Each time they look into the issue, say it's with their billing department,  be patient.  They assure me my account is not overdue and in fact I have a credit on the account.  I have done what I can:  I've alerted them that they aren't billing me, they admit it is their billing department's problem and not me, my account is not in arrears.  Guess I should shut up and allow them to give it to me for free.

Washed clothes and hung them on the line to dry.  Hadn't noticed around 4 p.m. that storm clouds were coming in until I saw the rain drops on the window.  The rain wasn't hard and was very short lived.  Decided to leave the clothes on the line since I still had another four hours of sunlight.  After our constitutional, I took the clothes off the line - all dry.  I love this time of year!

Doe and Fawn

I can understand why birds extend all of that energy to migrate to the Northwoods each year: lots of different berries throughout the season, lots of seeds of various kinds,  lots of insects,  lots of green cover, much milder temps.  (Of course they leave because the winters here aren't so accommodating.)

Cool enough that I decided to sit on the deck's sunny side.  I'd brought along treats to toss to the dog, water for me,  sunglasses, camera,  phone, the portable disc player, and an audio book of Shakespeare's sonnets.  I realized when I started listening to the sonnets it would be helpful to also be able to read them at the same time.  Brought out my annotated Shakespeare Vol. II where the sonnets are printed and also footnoted.  Once I was settled,  I saw a doe in the meadow had popped her head out of the tall grass and... a fawn was with her!  First fawn I've seen on the property this year.  She was OK w/ me seated far away on the deck but when Whip came around the corner the doe and fawn took off.  Whip was too preoccupied w/ watching for me to toss a treat to even notice.  Sonnet XVIII started about that time.  "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"  Somehow apropos I thought.

Tick count 12.

Ox-eyed Daisy

 

Excerpts from the Sheriff's Report:

1:16 a.m. - 911 call for someone possibly in caller's house.  Caller on second floor can hear noises coming from first floor.  Caller asked to leave the house.  He refused.  Wanted police to enter using front door code.  Residence cleared.  Reporting party states he had been seeing UFO's.

2:16 a.m. - Walk-in complaint from male wanting to speak with deputy about a homeless young man living in a van in his yard.  Male reports his daughter is allowing a 13-year-old boy to stay at his shared residence.  Boy is dating his granddaughter.  Boy was kicked out by step-father and frequents complainant's residence.  Complainant was asked to call law enforcement with boy's information for follow-up.  Male will begin eviction process of his daughter.

2:41 a.m. - During traffic stop, officer observed passenger putting cans of alcohol in his shorts.  Breathalyzer conducted result of .01.  Male passenger issued a citation for underage alcohol and given a ride home. Officer notified parents.

2:59 a.m. - Officer on patrol saw three males in parking lot.  Due to issues at the park, the officer made contact.  One individual stated they were just smoking and going to have a three some.  Nothing out of the ordinary observed.

7:15 a.m. - Walk-in complainant states his sister-in-law has made defamatory statements on Facebook about him having sex with farm animals.  This is not true.  He wants it to stop.  Reporting party doesn't have Facebook but someone else brought it to his attention.  He spoke with district attorney who referred him to the sheriff's office.

8:39 a.m. - Reporting party at their rental property.  They are in the eviction process and paperwork has been served.  He needs to get inside the residence to take pictures of damage for court today.  Tenants won't let him in.  Deputy explained there's nothing they can do until court orders law enforcement intervention.  Tenants still have rights to the residence.  Tenants will be out today after court.  Landlord threatened to kick in the door.  Eventually left.  

10:56 a.m. - Deputy in contact with individuals coming off the ATV trail and closed logging road in a pickup truck.  They walked in four days prior and today one of their dogs couldn't walk.  They tried to carry dog out and decided to drive in w/ truck to get it.  They were warned for operating vehicle in a closed area and allowed to continue to the vet.

11:51 a.m. - Walk-in to file an informational complaint against a contractor she had hired.  Work was not getting done and the cost was continuing to go up.  She fired the contractor.  Contractor threatened to tear out the work he had done if he didn't get any more money.  Deputy made contact with contractor who identified himself with a different name.  He was told he was trespassed from property and handle the dispute in court.  He understood.

3:15 p.m. - DNR offense.  Citation mailed for allowing riding on bow of boat.

8:54 p.m. -  Elderly male stated he won a vehicle and it was going to be delivered any minute and asked deputy to stay while it was dropped off.  Deputy states it was clearly a scam and had been going on for a period of time.  Deputy tried to convince male he was being scammed.  He still believed he had won a car.  Deputy called son who lives out of state.  He and friends in the area have done everything they can to prevent it.  Deputy to make contact with DHHS.

11:59 p.m. - Caller is at his ex-girlfriend's house as they have a kid together.  She took his keys and won't give them back.  Officer in contact.  Female refused to give vehicle back as male is not the registered owner.  Officer informed her that stolen vehicles need to be reported by the registered owner.  Parties are separated for now.  

Gray Dogwood blossoms

My special project for the day was to plant Yggdrasil.  Usually I would have planted it a month ago however, the beautiful new needle growth at the ends of each branch had turned brown and died.  No sense planting a tree that was dying or had an issue that might infect the other trees near it.  I checked for the evidence of pests or infection.  I didn't see any.  Then new needle buds began popping out all over the branches.  The little tree was planning on living.

Neighbor Anita was probably correct.  I'd shocked it.  All of the Yggdrasils spend the winter in a 45 degree building.  They put on new growth much earlier than the other trees planted outside.  We'd had some very warm days this spring and I'd started to bring Yggdrasil out in the daytime but putting it back inside at night.  I'd probably done that too early for the new growth to survive.  

I loaded up Jormangandr with a shovel, spade, can of water, potting soil, a tape measure, and Yggdrasil 2025.  I measured off around 20 feet from the last tree and started.  A brown thrasher kept me company w/ his singing.  Once I'd finished I stepped back to admire my work.  Yggdrasil the Fifth  looked a bit bedraggled compared to it's predecessors but I have faith.

Tick count 2.

Yellow Pond Lily

 

Went in a little early for my volunteer library stint tonight.  I wanted to get my usual duties done before the start of the program at 6.  A few families came in early - either because it fit into their schedule better or they weren't sure of the start time.  That actually helped 'cause I had more time to spend w/ them.  Librarian Trevor had gone over all of the things we were to give each child at last week's training meeting.  Hadn't realized at the time it would be me giving them out.   Did pretty well I think:

• a half-sheet weekly score card where they could keep track of which days they had read (or been read to) for an hour.  Fill in at least two days each week and when they came into the library, they hand in the paper to me, I stamp it, they get the exciting 'spin of the wheel'.
• a full sheet where they can list the books they have read.  Each book read gives them a chance at winning one of the big prizes (on view in the display cabinets) at the end of the program.
• if they are an adult, they get a bingo card which has listed various types of books.  Read books that satisfy a bingo on the card and they can bring it into the library for a free tote bag.  Only lasts for as many tote bags we have available.
• a dinosaur bookmark 
• a pencil that changes color when you touch it.
• if they are an adult, a chip clip which also can be attached to the refrigerator.
• an oversized picture of different dinosaurs the child can color

All children got a 'free' spin tonight.  The 'wheel' is old and cobbled together.  I warned them if they spin so hard that it falls to the floor they forfeit the prize.  This admonition caused the older children to give cautious spins that barely made it all the way around.  The smallest children didn't listen and/or care and spun the wheel so hard it took awhile before it finally slowed to a stop.  Volunteer Carol stationed herself by the bathroom as monitor.  I asked her afterward how it went.  She said she did have to tell some people to wait their turn but they understood and everything went smoothly.   Trevor's headcount was around 50 adults and children.  I had written down the door counter before the beginning of the program and at the end - a difference of 77.  So we had somewhere in between those two numbers for the first day of the program.   Not bad for a rainy night.

Tick count 1.

Mammatus Clouds

One of the projects for today was to ready my t-shirt for the Summer Reading Program.  It starts tomorrow and the theme is dinosaurs.  The kids will see lots of slogans - 'Unearth a Story', 'Velocireader', 'Bookasaurus', 'Wild about Reading', 'Dinosaurs didn't read and look what happened to them', etc.  Librarian Trevor wanted all of us to wear a dinosaur t-shirt of our choosing.  Amazon has a lot of them but I wanted to try something different.  I have a t-shirt I rarely wear 'cause of the color. ( I like teal but heather-teal doesn't do anything for me.)  Thought I'd add a dinosaur applique each week of the program.  Eight  embroidered applique's might be heavy for a cotton t-shirt -  can always add applique's for the last weeks to jeans or shoes I suppose.   Started out w/ the very recognizable T-Rex.  Placement on the shirt became a problem.  Thought I'd put the first one left of my heart.  How to keep it positioned correctly - not leaning too far forward nor sitting back on it's tail - became an issue.   Finally decided that even if it was crooked, this was for kids enjoyment.  I don't  plan on wearing this t-shirt around town afterward.  As it happens, after I had ironed it on both sides, I'd done a good job at getting it exactly where it should be.  Could hear the approaching thunder storm by the time I hung the t-shirt up in the laundry room to cool down.    Whip and I went out on the deck.  She played a game of find-the-treat-Susan-throws and I watched the clouds blow through w/ the backdrop of deep thunder.   When the rain started we both went inside.  Every few hours another storm would blow in and we would go outside to greet it.   Of course, I had taken a shower before the first storm:  Always face the possibility of losing power w/ clean hair.

Highbush Cranberry blossoms

Awoke to the sound of a gentle rain on the roof.  The forecast was right!  Just in case it did rain I'd mowed the lawn and all of the trails yesterday.  Nice to know that task is done if the rest of the forecast for rain all week turns out to be correct also.  Walked out onto the deck.  Even w/ a light rain, the rain barrel was now full.  I removed the hose, turned the diverter off, and put a lid on the rain barrel.

Since it was raining, I drove over to Churchville, picked up a coffee, groceries, a garden hose, and lunch.  As I parked my car back in the garage, my phone rang.  Town Planning Commission leader Roger said he'd like to have the Temporary Moratorium on Data Centers ordinance ready by the next Town Board Meeting so he could present it. That's Thursday.  I'd planned on doing that anyway so it was just a matter of moving it up on my priority schedule.   After eating lunch I typed it up.  There isn't much to it - our state allows town's to make a moratorium ordinance of up to one year on anything the town has a concern might adversely affect the community in order to give the town time to research and determine what, if anything, should be done.  Sent it out to the Planning Commission members for review.

It stopped raining before sunset.  Whip and I jumped in Jormungandr.  I'd seen flowers while I was mowing I wanted to get a picture of.  Forgot that many flowers close up at night or on cloudy days like today.  As we headed down a path a doe popped up out of the hay field.  Grass is tall enough that she had been hidden.  Whip began barking and she took off - bound, bound, stop, look over her shoulder at us, bound, bound, stop, check us out again.  Pretty obvious she was saying, "Look at how easy it is to chase me, come on."  Pretty sure she had a fawn hidden nearby.  Would have thought fawns were old enough to be following mom by now.  We drove on and checked out Bifrost.  Was happy to see some weeds growing on top of it.   The area is shady but fortunately weeds will grow anywhere.  Their roots will stabilize the gravel put down last year.

Tick count 11.

Surrealist Clouds

Checked my pulse rate this morning - still normal.

Yesterday Librarian Trevor had a volunteer meeting.  Next week starts the Summer Reading Program and he wanted to go over the paperwork and processes.  One good thing, Coordinator Sarah nixed the idea of young children using port-o-potties.  We'll have to post a volunteer  outside the one working bathroom in the building.  Our community isn't ready for unisex toilets. 

Trevor also said he didn't have a volunteer to work the next day (Saturday).  I used to do the Saturday stint at the library all of the time but that was a few years back.  I volunteered.  My first patron today was a man looking for picture books for an adult.  I showed him our non-fiction section around the area of animals and plants.  Also pointed out the oversized book area.  I figured oversized books are often that way because they are full of pictures.  He checked out four books and a jigsaw puzzle.  I checked out the books but said to just take the jigsaw.  We didn't care if/when he returned it..  (We do have an overabundance of jigsaws at the moment).  A couple of people came in to work on the computers.  Then a mom w/ her two kids.  The young boy (8 years old?)  asked if he could "spin the wheel".  The prize wheel is already set up for the Summer Reading Program but the program doesn't kick off until Thursday.  I gave him the paperwork and explained if he read for two days next week he could have a spin at the wheel.  His mother asked for a second copy for his younger sister.  The kids went into the children's section and came back w/ books to check out.   Both the boy and his sister then found used books they wanted to buy from the For Sale rack.  The boy showed me the book he wanted and asked how much it cost.   "How much do you want to give me?"  We aren't setting prices on sale books this year - more a donation.  "25 cents?" the little boy asked.  "Perfect." I replied and I got 25 cents from him and 25 cents from his sister for her book.  There was something in the boy's eyes that said he wasn't completely satisfied.  "Would you like to spin the wheel - even if you don't get a prize."  That was it.  His eyes brightened and he nodded his head.  Both kids spun the wheel and seemed just as excited about the prizes they might have won as if they had actually received something.  He waved happily to me as they all left the library.  OK ... I'm not really used to children but once in a while they can be adorable.

Checked my pulse rate tonight - still normal.

Tick count 1.

Interrupted Fern

Neighbor Anita and I drove over to the hospital for my 2 p.m. check in.  I was picked up by a nurse almost immediately and went in to the room where they would do the  cardioversion procedure.  I was to be the last patient of the day - the last of the week.   The nurse asked the usual type questions, attached a lot of electrodes and I could hear my heart beat.  If my heart had converted back on it's own to a normal rhythm, no need for this procedure.  Nope - not a steady rhythm.  The nurse went off to let the doc and anesthesiologist  know.  Since I couldn't go too far w/ all of the wires hanging off me I amused myself w/ trying to make the heart beats either speed up or slow.  Thought of riding in the Preakness.  Nope.  Pretended I was on death row and just waiting for a lethal injection.  Nope.  Thought of sitting in the grass (after tick season of course) w/ the dog watching clouds go by.  Nope.  Tried making each part of my body relax.  Nope.  Thought about our president - maybe raised my heart rate a bit.  The anesthesiologist came in and told me what to expect.  He asked if I had any questions.  I asked how to make your heart rate change and he told me to tense up and the rate would go down.  He left to get something and I tried it.  Nope.  My arms were put atop pillows since they didn't want them to smash into the guard rails when I got zapped.  The anesthesiologist put a roll of gauze between my teeth so I wouldn't bite anything.  The doc came in. put a pad on my chest and another on my back.  Suddenly he was taking off his gloves and the anesthesiologist  was removing the oxygen tube from my nose.  Somewhere in there they had zapped me once and my heart had gone back into a regular rhythm.  All I have as proof that it happened is a slightly sore spot on my chest where the patch had been placed.  (Wonder when they removed it?)  I checked my brain function by going through some of my fav lists - star names by alphabet (you know ... Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Castor, Denebola ...), Chinese Zodiac, South American countries and their capitals.  I didn't seem to have any difficulty recalling so  the anesthetic had worn off pretty quick.   Anita drove me home.  I checked my pulse rate later - still in regular rhythm.  Hope it stays that way.

Chokecherry blossoms

As the next step in getting my heart out of A-Fib, the hospital cardiology department called me about three weeks ago to schedule zapping me.  She said their earliest opportunity was on Friday, June 5 in the afternoon.  OK by me.   She said a nurse would call me ahead of the appointment to tell me what medicine I should not take that day, remind me no eating, which door at the hospital to go to, etc.  She also said she would set up a follow up appointment w/ my cardiologist about a week afterward.  Within a half hour of getting off the phone I'd gotten a text from my regular cardiologist's office confirming a follow up appointment date and time.  Earlier this week I got another follow up text from my cardiologist's office reminding me I had an appointment w/ her in a week.   This morning when I took my pills I wondered if I should have taken them all.  I hadn't received any communication w/ the hospital about tomorrow's appointment.  I didn't even have anything in writing or on-line verifying there was an appointment.  I waited until after 10 a.m. and called.  Eventually was connected w/ the hospital's cardiology department.  A nurse very slowly described precisely what I was to do tomorrow.  She talked so carefully I felt like she thought I was senile.  After the call I wondered if I was acting elderly - you know - demanding, wanting everything done immediately.   Nothing else for me to do but call Sister Connie.  "They talked to me like I was old!" I whined to her.  "You're over 70, you know."  she laughed.  She went on and agreed w/ me that the hospital could have contacted me earlier than they did.  Even if she was just placating me, I felt better.  Thinking about it, I'm probably not getting more difficult w/ age.  I've always been this way.

Tick count 5.

A Wild Rose

 

Mowed the back trails again.  Found one of the bird houses had been tipped over and the tree swallow eggs within taken.  My guess is a coon.  The house was still attached to the pole so the only access to the insides would have been through the opening the birds use - too small for a bear but probably not for a coon's hand.  I hate putting up bird houses that become feeding stations for the carnivores of the area.  

First meeting of the Town Planning Commission since February.  At that time, Chairman Roger had asked us to look into ordinances for Data Centers.  I have been searching but couldn't find any in my state.  I checked w/ the state towns' association which gives guidance in these matters but they had nothing to add.  Found suggested things to put into an ordinance but no ordinance template itself.   Our town is rural so we don't have any area marked as an Industrial Park.  A Data Center would need to be in an Industrial Park where there are facilities for water, power, and safeguards for the surrounding community.  The team decided to create an ordinance to put a moratorium on the county rezoning any part of the town for a year while we work out what we want to do.  The only up-side we talked about w/ having a data center in the town is we might be able to get taxes off them for road improvement or to make an emergency fund. 

Tick count 8.

Hawthorn blossoms

TV Commercials:

We've all seen the ad w/ a robot on a car assembly line going amuck.  The operator says they need someone who can code in COBOL to fix it   It never fails to remind me of my IT days.  Even back then we didn't use it for programming robots.  COBOL was a business processing language: readable and platform independent.  It is true, though, that if a program is working, companies won't spend the money to have it rewritten into something more up-to-date.  Even when they no longer employ anyone who knows the language.

I can't imagine why I'd buy Liberty Insurance.  I often see their commercials featuring an emu or the Statue of Liberty in the background.  For the entire commercial there will be only one sentence  pertaining to their product - often that if you buy more policies w/ them, it will save you money.  If that's the best they can come up w/ as a reason to use them,  I'll pass.

My hearing must not be great since a health insurance commercial has a woman emphasizing that people they insure "...aren't a dollar sign.  They aren't just another customer.  They are a NUMBER."  Figured no company would make an ad stating the absolute truth so I watched the commercial again and pretty sure she is saying "They are a MEMBER."

Tick Count 1.

Buttercup

I drove back home the long way past open fields.  They had been tilled but there was just a slight sheen of green over them.  Tiny corn shoots were emerging in rows for as far as I could make out.  

I haven't seen a fawn yet but have seen some does that look like they have hidden fawns in the deep grass.  Whip was nosing around in the meadow and I saw a doe coming up on her stiff legged.  Figured she was about to charge Whip so I whistled for her to come.  Later Whip and I went out in Jormungandr.  I stopped to take pics at Gorgeous Gorge when I saw another doe running up one of the paths, ears alert, checking out where Whip was running around.  Called the dog back again and the doe disappeared.  It's a good thing that I put Whip's shock collar on her.   I haven't needed to use it this year but if she actually found a fawn, I doubt she'd come back to me w/o a little encouragement.

Tick count 5.