A Peek-A-Boo Buck!!

After twenty years of Vermont's annual rifle deer season, I finally got one this year. A four point, hundred and twenty pound trophy, a long time in the making. It was weird on two levels; actually getting one, and getting it the opening morning. It ended my season the earliest ever!

I started my morning about an hour and a half before dawn. It was a twenty minute walk into my stand, and I startled a whole flock of roosting turkeys along the way, when I walked under them. Startled me pretty good too at first!

Got to the stand, climbed up and got myself harnessed in. All situated and waiting about an hour before shooting time. Leaves plenty of time for things to calm down and all. So I hoped.

The sun came up and wildlife was everywhere! Owls made their last hoots, flocks of geese flew over. The turkeys I disturbed on the way in came walking by behind me, as well as another flock in a far off field that were talking up a storm. A Pileated woodpecker flew by, and one very fat squirrel ran up the tree across from me. About then the crows started landing in the corn field next to me, and within a couple minutes must've numbered a couple hundred. The noise was astounding!

About then rustling leaves behind me alerted me to something behind me. I saw two deer go run into the field and then cut back into the woods. I got my scope up, and the first one was bald, no horns. Second one was coming right at me, and stopped dead behind a large maple tree at twenty-five yards. I was leaned right up against the tree, looking through the scope as he peeked from around his tree. All I could see was the main beam, with what looked like maybe a nub?? Darn, a spike.....but still, he wouldn't come out from behind the tree.

Ten minutes went by of this, until he shifted his weight to his other leg. When he did, he turned his head and I saw the second horn on the main beam. I put the crosshairs on his vitals and dropped him. After a hour drag out, I got it checked in, and had it hanging.

Best Shotless Hunt Ever

Went out duck hunting the other morning, it was a very foggy day, and calm. Warm though, not a bad day overall. After I got the dekes set, about 10 min before shooting time, I had two otters swim by the blind at about a hundred yards. They were diving for clams and then coming up and swimming on their backs.

About a half hour later a very large bird of prey appeared overhead out of the fog. The wingspan was huge, I knew it was an eagle instantly. It was so foggy the white head of the adult was invisible in the fog, and it looked like there was a headless bird flying around!

Another twenty minutes passed, and out from the fog beyond the decoys appeared a Canada goose. But even in the fog something wasn't quite right, the beak was too long, and the neck too short. It came to about forty yards beyond my furthest decoys and I realized it was a Loon. Made a few more passes by the dekes, and dissappeared back out into the fog.

I ended the day with two drake Mallards landing out of range, a Goldeneye flying very high overhead, and two more unidentifieds that I got to circle back once. All in all not a bad day. Wish I'd had the camera though!

Mill River Falls State Something

Can you think of a place along Vermont's town of Georgias' shore where it’s forested and there are no cottages in sight? A place seemingly unspoiled by development where waterfalls lead to the shore of Lake Champlain . Somewhere you can stand in the shadows of tall trees while wetting your fishing line. I can, quite simply Mill River Falls is a natural paradise.

In the hundreds of times I’ve driven by it, I never really thought that much about the place. It was just always this bridge over the road that a bunch of people parked around. Occasionally I’d see a fishermen scoot across the road with a pole and bucket. It’s a relatively small area that contains a lake floodplain ecosystem, old river oxbows, mature trees, and about 1800 feet of shoreline. The Lake Champlain Land Trust press packet quotes Rod Vallee of Georgia as saying that “ Mill River Falls is one of the most important natural areas left in Georgia . ”Thanks to the diligent work of the LCLT and Georgia Conservation Commission the public will always be able to access this site.

Future generations will forever be able to access this property as it is one of Vermont ’s newest additions to the list of state lands. “We had discussions with Anna Neville about conserving her property stretching back seven years before she generously donated her land to us in 2003,” states Chris Boget, assistant director of LCLT. He continues, “We retained a conservation easement and donated the land to the State of Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.” The Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation website lists the 35 acre parcel as Mill River Falls State Forest .

The area provides more than permanent recreational opportunities for paddlers, hikers, fishermen, and hunters on Lake Champlain . It is habitat for many different creatures at different times of the year. Mill River is one of only a few places where Steelhead, or lake dwelling Rainbow Trout, are known to spawn. Four rare plant and three rare fish species call the Mill River Falls home. Large dead snags provide nest sites for wood ducks and mergansers. The marshes in spring are productive fish spawning and feeding areas. Mill River Falls is abundant with wildlife habitat.

When I first visited the place, two fathers had spread their kids out on the banks with fishing poles. Rock Bass and Pumpkinseed were biting today, the crappie action hot the day before. I rounded a corner in the trail to see fresh deer tracks, and was overwhelmed by the bird calls in the canopy above. It seems the place has enough to please everyone, except for parking.Right now everyone has to pull off on Mill River Road or next to the bridge. The LCLT website says that a sign and better parking are in the works.

Access is a bit hidden, one has to walk a bit down the Pines Road a couple yards to access the trailhead on the right. What a splendid place for a short stroll it makes. Apparently the only question remaining with the property is what to call it. The LCLT lists it as a natural area on it’s website. Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Forest, Parks, and Recreation lists it on their website as a state forest. I figured I’d ask whether it will be a state forest, park, or natural area. The folks at FPR told me to get in touch with their forester, the people at LCLT referred me to the same person. So I got in touch with Gary Sawyer the State Lands Stewardship Forester who said, “I don’t know what designation the Mill River Falls parcel will receive.” With natural beauty abound, Mill River Falls will forever remain publicly accessible, whether it be state forest, park, or natural area.

Carleton's Prize or Arnold's Mystery?

So for those that don't know there is a very small (about an acre or two at best) island in Lake Champlain off the southern tip of the town of South Hero. It rises vertically from waters edge up sheer cliffs to a 30 foot plateau. Called Carleton's Prize, it sits between two larger islands, Stave, and Providence. Its been so named since the revolutionary war when the Governeur Generale of Canada, Sir Guy Carleton brought it to notoriety.

As local lore goes the morning after Benedict Arnold escaped from behind Valcour Island with what was left of his small fleet, it was very foggy on Lake Champlain. Not believing the Americans could have slipped by them in the dark (which they did), the British patrolled to the north and east searching. In the heavy fog they sighted a ship and summarily lined up and pounded it with their cannons. Of course once you begin firing blackpowder you can't see what you're shooting at.

After a half hour to hour of not being fired back at, either a breeze came up or the fog burned off. It was then the British realized they had not been firing on a ship.This distraction is what allowed Arnold to escape to the shores of Addison county where he then proceeded to burn his fleet to prevent capture. Local lore goes further to say that local Islanders felled logs and floated them out and were then hoisted on the small island to look like masts. I dismiss this as there is no way anyone on the islands could have been in contact with Arnold's fleet, or known their plan to escape.

The problem is only one book I've ever read about Arnold or the Revolutionary war confirms this. No less than a dozen others completely fail to mention "Carleton's Prize". They all say the British fleet sailed down the lake after Arnolds fleet. Talk about a project for Art Cohn and the others down at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. All we need to do is find a few cannonballs to confirm the story. To think, Lake Champlain has kept this mystery to herself even to this day.

Moose Bog and Trout River, Adventures With Dill

So for some odd reason I got to thinking about all the times I'd been to Moose Bog up in Ferdinand. It's my favorite kettle bog, which is basically a pond that has a floating mat of sphagnum moss around its edges. The middle is the open water of the pond. These are actually one of the least safe type of bogs because of lack of tree roots throughout. I'll never forget the first time here, it was a college field trip for natural history of Vermont and the pitcher plants had turned purple from the frost.

There was also this guy in class whose name was Dill, and he was from New Jersey. Dill was a good guy, but a notorious clutz. Our prof. gave us all a lecture on bog safety, encouraged us to go explore. He gave one stern warning though. "Don't go out to the edge of the bog and start jumping up and down." Those of us who had bog trotted before knew bogs were spongy, and we could bounce a little bit to make plants nearby quake as well. A kettle bog is a bit different in that, when you walk out to the edge and bounce, it creates waves along the edge of the sphagnum moss. I was right in the middle of trying to take a picture of an otter swimming across the pond when all of a sudden I heard a shout, and then yelling.

I turned to my left to see a group of students rushing toward the edge of the bog. Yep, Dill had disregarded our prof's warning. Went right out to the edge, and jumped up and down. The howling was Dill, who had broke through the mat of sphagnum, and was in the bog literally up to his armpits. There was much cussing involved as everyone had to take pictures, before pulling him out. Soaking wet, and smelling very bad, Dill was blessed with his own seat in the van on the way home.

Now, same natural history of Vermont class, different field trip. This time our prof. had taken us to Montgomery to sample invertebrates in Trout River. It was before the bridge was damaged in the flood, and posted signs went up everywhere. This was my first time here, and I had heard great things about the river. Pretty easy task, those with rubber boots turn over rocks, while everyone else sits downstream with sampling nets waiting in the current. I had never realized how much life there really is under the rocks, so this was a real eye-opener.

This trip is also when I began to take an interest in fly-fishing.It was late October, but the weather was cold and breezy. Our prof. advised us to be careful, as the rocks along the edge are slippery. Yep, you guessed it. No sooner had the words come out of his mouth when a loud splash came from from the back of the group. Followed by a couple more splashes as Dill struggled to get back up.

This probably should've ended the excursion, as nobody wanted to deal with hypothermia setting in. A quick survey revealed between everyone we had enough dry clothes at the van for Dill to change into. Instead of heading back, Dill already wet, stumbled down the middle kicking things up as he went along. We emptied our nets into sample jars and skeedaddled, out of there quicker and with more samples than we probably would've had otherwise.

Vermont: Paradise For Rockhounds

For such a small geographical state, Vermont has a very complex bedrock geology. As such, a very diverse mineral and stone industry arose in Vermont as economic deposits were worked throughout the state. The sheer diversity of resources that have been extracted from within the earth in the Green Mountain state is astounding. The following is the best I can help with affixing a mineral resource to a certain geography. By no means is it all inclusive, but is helpful in finding your own samples.Serpentine is supposedly a good luck rock. Found in Lowell, and Eden, Vermont, it is a dark green rock, sometimes called green marble or verde antique. It is related to the minerals that are found in asbestos, mined here beneath Belvidere Mountain. There are defunct copper mines in Corinth, Vermont. This was where a majority of the North’s copper came from during the civil war.There is one farmers field in Barton, Vermont which yields amethyst crystals, but no one knows whose. Barre, Vermont is still known for its thriving granite industry. The Rock of Ages quarry is internationally known. Ludlow, Vermont is home to talc that they use to make Johnson and Johnson baby powder. 80% of J&J talcum powder is from Vermont. Plymouth, Vermont was the scene of a brief gold rush after the one in California. The farmers decided instead of prospecting they could make more money going back to being farmers. This town also has garnets in some bedrock. Garnets form 1600 feet straight down where there is greatly increased heat and pressure.Proctor, Vermont is known for its white marble, which continues to be extracted today. Fair Haven and Castleton, Vermont have many slate deposits, especially around Lake Bomoseen. Button Bay State Park, in Vergennes, Vermont is famous for its clay concretions called “buttons” and fossils. Charlotte and Shelburne, Vermont have deposits of so-called Zebra Marble. Really a black slatey shale with white veins of calcite, sometimes called picture rocks. This is because of their tendency as the rock is worn over time to reveal “pictures”. All one needs is imagination, and time. Stowe, Vermont has a rock formation ironically called "stowe formation" that has huge inclusions of fools gold (iron pyrite) which is present in a graphitic phyllite. Colchester, Vermont is the home of our only Jasper mine. Red stone with metallic hematite in cracks and fissures throughout.Milton, Vermont has Dolostone, which was quarried on the right of the last turn before the straightaway to Sandbar State Park. Most of the stone removed was used to fill the causeway between Milton and the Islands. South Hero, Vermont has fossils such as those at Lessors Quarry owned by UVM. Grand Isle, Vermont has an old railroad grade that goes through it where coal can be found where it fell off a rail car. Same for many other locales in Vermont.Isle La Motte, Vermont is the home of the Fisk Quarry. This is where the black marble in radio city music hall comes from. Swanton, Vermont is home to a particular type of Red Dolostone commonly called red marble. The one and only quarry has been the subject of recent fraud activity.

The Lake Carmi Bog, A Black Spruce Woodland Bog

Bogs are a wetland, kind of like a floating sponge. Sphagnum moss is what makes up the sponge and provides a place for flowering plants and trees to spread roots. I’ve heard #’s of acres for the Carmi bog’s size between 160 and 230 acres. A bog is a type of peatland. Peatlands form where decomposition is slow and typically moss (peat) accumulates.
New layers of moss, shrubs, and trees grow where other plants have died and been pushed further down underwater into the peat. The bog is a sterile environment where no bacteria grows and nothing breaks down because of the acidity of the water. The sphagnum moss in the bog gets its nutrients from rainfall, which it replaces with hydrogen ions giving the water its acidity.
The Lake Carmi Bog was formed in a shallow bay of the lake after the last ice age 10,000 years ago. The bog at Lake Carmi is a state natural area, and is classified as a black spruce woodland bog. Named for the dominant older growth vegetation, these trees inhabit cold air drainage sites like the bog, and our highest peaks, such as the krummholz on Mount Mansfield. The discoloration of the water in bogs is tannins that together with the acidity preserve most anything that goes into a bog.
Ancient peoples have been found preserved in Europe, and a book from 1000 AD was recently discovered in Ireland. Peat harvested from bogs is used as fuel in Ireland still, and to fire electrical plants in Russia. The Canadians drain and chop bogs to be sold in the USA as peat moss for the horticulture industry. The reason that a woodland bog is the safest to walk in, is there are so many trees and shrubs that have overlapping root systems to support the weight.
In the Lake Carmi bog are carnivorous pitcher plants. Because the bog is so nutrient poor, this plant has adapted to feeding on bugs to get the energy it needs to produce flowers. Two berries also in this bog, are high bush blueberry, and small cranberry. The two tree species are Black Spruce (looks like x-mas tree) and Tamarack. There is also heath, rhodora, Labrador tea, sheep laurel, bog rosemary, and hares tail cotton grass.
Major threats to the bog both relate to a changing water table. If a beaver were to dam and flood the bog it would alter the environment. If the bog were drained, or water level to drop, it is at risk of fire as the dried peat will smolder. One of a peatlands most important functions is to store rainfall and slowly release water into the watershed. There has been recent work with using peat lands to treat wastewater.

Note:

Going to pull some of my favorite posts from my defunct blog in case they look familiar to anyone. Back from 07-08.

Get them all in one place, and may delete the blog after that, we'll see.

Hottest Peppers in the WORLD!!

So I managed to grow some Bhut Jolokia's in containers this year. The "ghost" pepper from India that's something like a million scoville units. Got the seeds off e-bay last spring, supposedly so hot, one drop in chili will make it unable to be consumed by the average person.

My goal was to keep the seeds of the earliest peppers so I can breed a shorter season variety for here in VT. The hope anyways. A perfect pepper, a little goes a long way, and I can dry the blemished peppers to use for hot pepper soap sprays on bugs next year.

After suffering from severe blosson drop, I repeatedly hit them with blossom set spray, which worked like a charm. Finally they came into it..... Doing well though, as good as the habanero's and red savina's anyways! Not bad for way north of where they're native to.

Micro Food Plots

So I went out in the woods the other day with an iron rake and some seeds. I had gotten a bunch of seed from X-mas tree shops this spring when it was half price, and had turnips and lettuce left over. Had myself a micro food plotting adventure.

So I walked around the woods and field edges in a circle a hundred to two hundred yards around my treestand. I raked over anthills and dropped some seeds. I raked back dead branches and leaves, and dropped seeds. I finished up walking inbetween the rows of a nearby corn field raking up soil and dropping seeds.

The deer were pretty thick in the area anyways, but I'm pretty confident now. I was planning on using the stand for rifle season, but am thinking about a strong presence during bow season. This might be the year for a deer with horns!!

LATE BLIGHT!

Finally happened, seemed like it was inevitable. My garden got the late blight that's been going around Grand Isle County. Sprayed them with "organic" copper spray, delayed a bit.

Reverse Legislation Allowing Longer Trucks On Route 2!!

I think all Islanders should be severely disappointed with the recent passage of legislation allowing larger tractor trailers to now use Route 2 through the islands. First, who had the idea to use Grand Isle County as a means for large trucks to bypass the weigh stations north on I-89? Did this start from the governor, his staff, or a legislator? Secondly who felt that it should not be made public to the residents of Grand Isle County before it made it into legislation? Thirdly was there any debate of this issue before passage of this legislation?

An extra seven feet on a trailer may not seem like a big deal, but it is. That is extra weight and storage space. Depending on the load being transported, seven extra feet can be a lot more weight bearing down on Route 2. It’s not in that great of shape right now, and more, larger, heavier trucks will only lead to more deteriorated conditions. Did the state allocate more money and time to be spent maintaining Route 2 as a result of this bill’s passage?

Route 2 through the Islands has very narrow shoulders and many chokepoints where it is the only north and south road connecting the towns together. Can you imagine an accident on the Sandbar, Drawbridge, Birdland, or North Hero/Alburg bridge blocking traffic for hours upon hours for cleanup and container transfer? Or having to backtrack around St. Albans to get home or to work by the interstate? Even worse, in summers with the high traffic volumes and use of the sides of the road by bicyclists, pedestrians, horseriders, or fishermen, this is an almost certain recipe for human roadkill. Did the state budget for more money for local responders and law enforcement as a result of this bills passage, or does the burden fall on our shoulders?

Then there’s the amount of extra space that these trailers will have to transport materials. Not really a big deal if god forbid an accident does occur and an extra seven feet of baby diapers goes flying all over Route 2 right? But what if instead it’s hazardous materials, even as seemingly benign as fluorescent light bulbs being transported? Thats an extra seven feet of mercury phosphate powder and broken bulbs that our volunteer emergency personnel will be exposed too, have to work around, and potentially get into Lake Champlain as contaminants. What if something worse is being transported?

We should all be severely disappointed that this legislation made it past, or was snuck by Representatives Johnson, Trombley, and Senator Mazza. This is the very kind of thing we send them to Montpelier to watch out for and keep us informed about. I hope for their future careers as representatives of our Islands community, they did not know about this beforehand. I encourage all Grand Isle County residents to contact their representation and the Governor, and demand that they immediately begin working to reverse this legislation, and make it their priority for the 2010 legislative session. If they continue to fail Grand Isle County, remember in November.

Here's What I've Got Growing On....

....In the garden.

Actually I've got two veggie gardens going on. One traditionally planted in rows at my grandfathers house, the other is raised beds intensively planted at my house.

Tomatoes; Golden Jubilee, Dr. Wyche's, Free Tibet's, Black Prince, Sungold, Strawberry Husk
Hot Peppers; Cherry Bomb, Jalapeno, Habanero, Red Savina Habanero, Bhut Jolokia (first try)
Italia and Black Beauty for Sweet Peppers. String beans in yellow, green and purple. Sweet, Lime and Lemon Basils. Okra, Dill, Sage, Lavender, and Mammoth Sunflower. Super sugar snap peas.
Turnips, Radishes (almost gone by), Nantes Coreless carrots, Parsnips, Three types of heirloom Zucchini, Swiss Chard, Bunching onions, Red, White, and Yellow Onions. Black seeded simpson lettuce, and two salad mixes, Italian and French. A couple of sugar baby watermelons, and a vine peach for good measure.
Lastly I have some horseradish and yukon gold potatoes in five gallon buckets. These have done amazingly well.

Been super busy staying on top of the weeding, top-dressing with fresh compost, and keeping the soil turned up. The work is paying off though. The Tomato plants are knee high and flowering, the sunflowers are waist high. In spite of the almost two inches above average of rain for the month of June, things are proceeding well. Looks to be a lot of freezing, canning, and dehydrating coming up soon!

Almost Forgot....Horse Poop and Roads!!

To The Editor,

I had some interesting events occur in succession a couple days ago and it really got me thinking. I met a person riding their horse down the side of Route 2, so I slowed down till I was past, and kept on my way. Didn't really think about it until I counted six piles of horse poop on the side of the road in one trip to Isle La Motte. The kicker was the following night when I walked past a bulletin board at a local store on which someone had posted a notice saying it was the law to slow down for horses, and photocopied text from some Vermont Statute.

I must admit I was ignorant of this law before. I slowed down out of respect and not wanting to be the cause of somebody being bucked and hurt. I never understood why someone would choose to ride on the road with a horse when there's so many other places. I guess I've always thought of horses as for riding on trails and in fields if they weren't being used for work or competitive events. It must be hard to ride horses though with so much land posted to horse-riders, hunters and everyone alike.

Still, those piles of horse poop really got me thinking. It wasn't just because they have the potential to spread the seeds of invasive plants, or be vectors of disease. I'm a bicyclist in addition to being a motorist, and those piles of poop take up a good portion of the bike lane. The reality is you have four choices on a bike; swerve left into traffic, swerve right and risk the ditch, try to jump the pile, or plow right though. Not really a lot of options, but the question is, why should a bicyclist have to choose?

So I found horse manure catchers for sale online, they go by all sorts of names. They use them for horse drawn carriages, and events like parades, fairs, birthday parties, etc. They were a bit pricey ranging from fifty all the way up to eighty-five dollars. More spendy than I thought but worth the price to help keep Island cyclists from risk. Would those horse riders who choose to share the roads with motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists please consider purchasing some? You're friends and neighbors in the islands would sure appreciate it.

Anyone Like Free Stickers??

I know I haven't sat down and written for awhile, just haven't really had time......soon though!
Been going full tilt now that Spring is here, getting all the gardening done. Weather has just been SOOO difficult. Almost frost the AM of June 1!!

So got a juicy something to hold everyone over for a bit.

Not all these e-mails work, but copy them inot an e-mail list and send away. Ask something liek if they send out stickers? Above all be polite, but like 3/4 of them will send some your way. Probably about 1/4 will ask for a SASE, but who cares, you'll be inundated by the rest!!
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Spring Is Here, Busy, Busy!!

Wow, this month flew by! Been hunting Wild leeks and fiddleheads, in addition to trying to get a garden going. Tried some trout fishing (no luck), did a bunch of Bullhead fishing (lots of luck).

Spring has sprung! The grass has turned green, the bloodroot are blooming, the trillium are almost there. The crabapples outside the office at work have leafed out, and are about a week from blooming, and tomorrow a bunch of camoflaged hunters take to the woods in search of turkeys.

I love spring. I'll write more soon, got some interesting stuff going in the garden this year (a sneak preview; the two hottest peppers in the world!!).

Know Your Island Neighbor

Spring has finally arrived, and once again the Champlain Islands are alive with the sounds and sights of migrating birds. Soon maple sugaring season will draw to a close and neighbors will open their homes to welcome the warm weather. Eventually various sizes and shapes of flowers will burst forth on the landscape. The change of the seasons is an exciting time, and also one for reflection.

For some Islanders this was certainly a hard winter. It’s on everyone’s faces and minds, and evidenced further by the foreclosure and auction notices in this very paper. Now is the time to talk to neighbors and see how they faired, especially the elderly. Did they have enough heat, food, help with chores, or rides to the doctor?

Ask now, and talk things through while it’s still fresh in the memory. A little foresight can make a big difference in the lives of fellow Islanders. We all like to think things will suddenly get better, but it will most likely be a more gradual transition to good economic times. By talking to each other and finding out issues now, we have a lot of time to work through them, as solutions don’t come quickly.

By knowing the challenges our fellow Islanders faced this winter, we can better plan how to help them during the next. Every little bit helps, and little things go along way. Could be you have a friend or co-worker who’s cutting down a tree and is looking to get rid of the wood. Maybe you have some extras from the garden to can or dry. If you’ve got some extra freezer space you could even freeze some fish you catch in a block of ice. It could be as simple as clipping coupons to give away, or sharing a trip to the grocery store with an elderly neighbor.

Not so long ago it was our sense of community that set us apart. A time when neighbors helped neighbors, whether it was getting in the hay before the rain, watching the kids so someone could run a few errands, or an electrician offering to wire a town building. In your own way, do what you can to help your neighbors and make our Islands a better place.

Holy Smoker!!

So on a recent trip to that mecca of low budget consumer spending K-mart, I bought something that thoroughly excites me to use, and totally worth the $5 I paid for it. I love to grill and finally bought myself a smoker box. It’s awesome, just a small metal box with holes that sits on the grill while you’re cooking. It works phenomenally!

So I started using a box of mesquite chips that I bought in the store, and it imparts a wonderful smoky flavor into the meat. You just soak the wood chips in water for about a half hour before putting in the box on the grill, and voila; smoke. The best part though, is I can make my own chips to use in the smoker. My father cut down an apple tree in his yard, so I can take a couple of the smaller pieces and use my hatchet to make chips. Way cheaper than buying them for $5 a bag!

Even better though, I can also make my own hickory and alder chips, and experiment with other types of wood to see what I like best. I know where there’s a Butternut that just dropped a branch, and suspect that might have a good flavor to it as well. Not bad, a $5 investment, that I can refill for free……pretty happy about it.

My Wife, The Love Of My Life; Part I The Proposal

My wife and I met while working at nearby Vermont State Parks. We were actually friends for quite awhile before we began dating. However I suspect this was just because she lost my phone number at the end of the summer, or at least that's the story she sticks too! :)

Anyways, fate intervened, and lo and behold one day I'm heading into Dick's Sporting Goods to get new line for my fishing poles, and there was Ashley. Outside with her mother and little brother checking out puppies some guy was selling out of the back of his truck in front of the store. Not oblivious to the signs of neglect, she snapped up one of the Weimeranner puppies and took it home. Izzy has been a fixture in our lives since.

Ever mindful of the fact she was the boss of the flower beds at her park, I slowly gained her confidence to be able to relocate a couple apple trees to better spots, and work on beds without her supervision. Important to note I was allowed a free hand with the raised beds we used for veggies. So any free days I had were spent in the park of my future wife, puttering in gardens, and fishing, while waiting for her to get done work or have some free time.

I had been planning to ask her to marry me for awhile, the issue was the ring. In the non-summer season I worked as a teachers aide, and didn't have a lot of money saved up. Still I was able to slowly and surely over time, build up what was for me a small sum. Then one day after pay day I had a lucky break. I had just deposited my check the day before, and not spent anything. There I was sitting reading the paper and I saw that a jewelry store in St. Alban's was going out of business and was selling off their stock at 40-50% off.

Oh the timing! I shot down to the office, and lied to the secretary that I had forgotten about a dentist appointment, and had to go, but I'd be back in a couple hours. Pathetic lie, but I'm not very good at that, and it served it's purpose. I got to the store and checked out their ring selection. I knew which one it was as soon as I saw it, but looked at all the others to be sure. Still kept coming back to the first one that caught my eye. It was a Marquis cut diamond, and I just liked it so much more than any of the others.

So I bought it, and kept it in my pocket. I held onto that ring for about a week waiting for the right time. Just seemed like whatever I thought the right moment to be would never come, and that ring was burning a hole in my pocket. So one day after she got out of work I decided to force the issue. There's a promitory at her park, a beautiful point that juts out into Lake Champlain on the inland sea (where we'd later be married). I knew this was the place, but how to get her there?

She got out of work and I met her on the porch. It was a cruddy day, gray, drizzling, and Ashley was just glad to be out of work. It had been a long day, a not so good day. I asked her if there was anything I could do to make her day better, and she said no. That's when I knew it was time. So I asked her to go for a walk out to the point, and she looked at me like I was crazy.

"It's raining," she said. But I prompted her to go get her rain jacket and come with me. We got to the point looked around, and she started to head back. Thinking fast I took the ring from my pocket, opened it up, and set the box on a piece of bare ground covered with flat shale rocks. Knowing no park ranger can resist the urge to pick up trash in their park, I said "hey someone left something over here." She came over and started to say someone left their ring. Then I explained it was her ring, and asked her to marry me, to which she replied yes.

Little over a year later we had a pig roast with our family attending, and were married on the very spot she picked up the ring.

Act Locally, Think Nationally

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that we live in trying times. Many of us go to work everyday, just glad to be employed. Wanton for even a brief glimmer of hope, we are bombarded with bad news constantly. The worst part is that there really is not a lot your average citizen can do about such enormous issues.

An Islander really can't affect the outcome of national health care, debt, recession, and the economy going down the toilet. Let us not be overwhelmed by this, and instead act locally and think nationally. Going beyond our own frugality, we can simply help our own members of our Islands community in their struggles.

Local food shelves will surely see need in this year and the next. Anything that's donated would be a blessing for those who receive it. I like many others don't have extra coins to spare, and donate neeeded canned goods. But this doesn't mean we can't help, there is much opportunity for Islanders with some spare seed, soil, and time.

For those who've never gardened before, start now. If you've got a south facing window, a packet of tomato or squash seeds, and a couple small cups of soil you can help. No garden space? Got room on your porch, step, or walk for a bucket or two of soil? That's all you need.

No soil? Just talk to your local farmer about his pasture, Stuff your old buckets or containers 3/4 full of last years dried cow patties. Top off with some topsoil (if you have it) or a 50/50 mix of beach sand and organic matter like compost or very rotted wood. Put in a sunny spot, and water daily and you're on your way!

If you're an established gardener, consider tilling up more, and enlarging your garden. Start a couple extra plants, or try something new that keeps for a long time. Remember all those zuchini and summer squash that you couldn't give away last summer? Pick them smaller this year, slice them up, and dry them in the oven. Done this way they'll keep all the way till next summer!

Islanders will never solve the issues that face the United States. We barely stand a chance of affecting how Vermont weathers this economic storm. We can make a difference here at home in our own community, amongst our friends and neighbors. I implore all, please try.

Lawn Sale Crock Pot

A couple of years ago my wife picked up a couple crock pots at a lawn sale. A smaller one she donated to the Park Interpreter at Burton Island State Park to use for candle making with the kids. The other, a much larger one, we kept for our own use. It has removable stoneware and a plastic lid, and paid something like $10 for it.

Well we have certainly got our money's worth out of it so far; countless soups, chili's, stews, and roasts. It's so handy to get all the ingredients the night before and either start it then or put it in the fridge for the night (depending upon what's cooking), and start it in the morning before leaving for work. Not even kidding, when as of recent it's been getting used 2-3 nights per week. It always comes out tasting great.

Some potatoes, onions, carrots, maybe cabbage and some on sale meat, works like a charm every time. I freeze a lot of ingredients from the summer garden, and toss those in as well. A sprinkle of chopped chives, shredded russian red kale, and hot peppers adds a lot to the stews and soups. There's also the dried ingredients from the dehydrator as well; tomatoes, summer squash, zuchini.

It's funny, as of late I've been walking through the aisles of the grocery stores telling myself, hey I can make my own of this and that expensive ingredient. Just as interesting is when I'm watching PBS's Create channel on TV, and I have all the ingredients they're using between my freezer, and pantry. Martha Stewart watch out!

No, Not Dead....

Just sit in front of a computer for 8+ hours a day at work. Not that I don't have schiznat to say, but hard to take up the keyboard when I get home. I'll keep at it though.

Where Have All The Salmon Gone?

Wow, not a salmon to be found at my favorite fishing spot yet. Makes me wonder if the alewives in the inland sea have something to do with it? Used to catch at least one a day, but haven't even had a flag on a tip up trip yet. Matter of fact, haven't caught anything more than a handful of perch.

I'd think it was me, but I saw the derby results from the last two years the other day. Only one was entered in two years out of a possible ten. At least a couple Brown Trout bit for someone, as they can be entered in the same category. I guess I'll have to broaden my horizons, and find a new spot.

Broad lake maybe? Just like to catch something anyways. Dunno, I'd like to make it to the kingdom to give Willoughby a try. A majority of the state record Lake Trout have come from there but it's such a deep lake! The fish could be anywhere.

Another spot I got interested in this winter was Waterbury Reservoir. It's the first year it's been full in about seven years since they began work on it. The edges that reflooded contain brush that grew up, and all the bigger fish hang out there waiting for the schools of smelt to swim by. Not only can you fish bass through the ice there, but the State stocked it with thousands of trout this year. Very tempting....

A Sad Day In Vermont

It's not often a journalist so willing to ask the difficult questions comes along.

Never cared what people thought of him, but had that fire in person and in print.

Peter will be missed.