Solstice Fires

Posted on December 22, 2013 by paulmozina

I checked the weather during the taxi ride home from the airport and knew that I was meant to be at The Springs for the winter solstice. Wikipedia informs us that the word solstice comes from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still) but it neglects to explain that it stands still for three days and how this astrological fact is at the core of Christianity.

“It appears as though the sun has been moving toward the south and growing smaller every day, but on the evening of the winter solstice (typically December 21st or 22nd), this comes to an end. On December 22nd, 23rd, and 24th the sun does not rise closer to the south as it has each day in the previous six months.

Instead, the sun will rise in the exact same location; it is without movement. The sun is considered dead for three days. There is a three-day period when our savior, the King of kings, the son of God (the sun god) is dead. The new sun is born on December 25th, rising on the horizon and advancing toward the north as it begins its new life and the days begin to grow longer. In fact, above 66.5 to 67 degrees latitude, the sun will actually disappear from the horizon during this three-day period.” Astrotheology & Shamanism Christianity’s Pagan Roots by Jan Irvin & Andrew Rutajit (video version here)

It was this book along with Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason, that helped me understand religion and liberate myself from it. And what does the word mean after all? It comes from the latin religare: to bind fast. No wonder tyrants and empires have used it to divide and control people.

How can one replace organized religion? Leo Tolstoy explains it at the end of Anna Karenina in a conversation between the noble landlord, Levin and one of the peasants who works for him:

“Oh, well, of course, folks are different. One man lives for his own wants and nothing else, like Mituh, he only thinks of filling his belly, but Fokanitch is a righteous man. He lives for his soul. He does not forget God.”

“How thinks of God? How does he live for his soul?” Levin almost shouted.

“Why, to be sure, in truth, in God’s way. Folks are different. Take you now, you wouldn’t wrong a man….”

The thought of actually living in truth for my soul excites me like it did Levin, but I’m just as likely to fail at it as he was.

Lots of wet, heavy, snow was predicted for the night so I seized the day and burned brush piles in the areas marked in red below.

My first stop was on the cut-off trail.

The freezing drizzle from the previous day made the piles a little harder to start but I managed to get the 25 in this area lit by lunch time.

From there I went to the area along the main trail between signposts #1 and #2…

… and I got 15 more piles going.

As I was lighting the last pile, John and Sue Hrobar stopped by to share exciting news. They report seeing trout much more frequently than in the recent past and Sue was startled by a pheasant that was lurking under the marl pit bridge. John told me the DNR had been there (on Saturday, December 14th) installing bio-logs in the river just a little upstream from where I was burning brush piles on the cut-off trail (see blue stretch of river on the map above). I hastened to check it out!

This is a continuation of the excellent work they did back on June 30th.

Nicely done! Mike Kuhr, from the Southeast WI Chapter of Trout Unlimited, added a comment to my last post referring to the work they did on the river with the DNR and I completely missed what he was talking about, responding with a non-sequitur from Taj Mahal’s “Fishin Blues“.

The solstice fires, driven by northeast winds, still burned brightly as I departed.

See you at The Springs!

Blazing Buckthorn

Posted on December 14, 2013 by paulmozina

I love lingering by a fire on a winter day, especially when it’s fueled by buckthorn!

One of the things about volunteering at The Springs that gives me the most satisfaction and joy is the opportunity to go with the flow of weather, phenology or whimsy and do exactly what I think is right for the moment. The sweetest part is becoming cognizant that I’m in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. Sometimes it makes me burst out laughing.

Yesterday was one of those times, and a last minute adjustment to take advantage of calm north and east winds turned out to be a great choice. Dick Jenks joined me and happily suggested that our timing was good as snow was expected soon. He brought along a sawbuck he made that we plan use to cut up buckthorn logs. We are trying to work out something with the DNR to make the buckthorn available to campers at Ottawa Lake for a donation. Donations aside, I was glad to see that someone has already picked up the buckthorn logs we stacked near Hwy ZZ last week.

Our goal yesterday was to burn all the brush piles in the area near Hwy 67 marked in blue below.

We were wildly successful, and lit 61 piles, extending along the trail on both sides north of our initial target area. We started at the old hotel site and soon had all the piles there going.

Later…

Then we moved just north of the old barn site to light the next batch of fires.

The wood was dry and readily took the flame.

It was overcast and you could feel the snow coming. “I watched the fire the grew so low…”

Pati and I are taking a short vacation in Oregon; I’ll be back before the year ends.

See you at The Springs!

p.s. Consider participating in the State Natural Area Volunteer Program event on January 18th. You can sign up for notification of future events here by subscribing (SNA Volunteer topic is at the bottom of the list).

Spring Flames

Posted on December 11, 2013 by paulmozina

Spring Flames — sounds like the title of a romance novel. My love for The Springs was aflame yesterday in the form of 42 brush piles that, driven by swirling, mostly westerly winds, flared bright and hot. The conditions were good enough that I had no ambition other than to light as many fires as I could.

“God gave the day, God gave the strength. And the day and the strength were consecrated to labor, and that labor was its own reward. For whom the labor? What would be its fruits? These were idle considerations– beside the point.” Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Book 3 Chapter 12

Based on the age of the brush piles and the wind direction, I picked the north side of the Scuppernong River as the target for the day.

Here are a couple perspectives from the trail just in front of the old barn site.

The view from where I drew my sled.

The winds became more consistent as the flurries stopped and the sun broke through, and the times I had to go back and relight a pile decreased. At some point every pile burst into a flare that swirled with the wind and always got my attention.

I changed out of my sweaty clothes and bundled up for a walk whereon I soon met Ben Johnson. He joined my stroll and our conversation made the time and steps fly by, as we enjoyed the beautiful winter sky.

See you at The Springs!

We’re Not Alone

Posted on December 9, 2013 by paulmozina

Our reasons for dedication to the land vary like fingerprints. Perhaps it is inevitable, although we may think it’s a free will choice, and it may be the happy synchronization of love and career. In any case, I’m heartened by more deeply recognizing the commitment so many people have to nurturing the land.

Jared Urban, with the DNR’s Natural Heritage Conservation Bureau, helped me understand the challenges that they face to secure funding and the necessity for grant writing (and winning) to realize their goals. That prompted me to review the DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES 2013-2015 BIENNIAL BUDGET PROPOSAL to get a better idea of where the money comes from and I became aware of the increasing dependence on the Conservation Fund, which now accounts for 42.8% of the total budget (see pages i and ii in the budget proposal document above). My respect and admiration for the people who work at the Wisconsin DNR is always increasing yet, I’m confounded by the contradiction I cannot resolve between this fact and my antipathy for government in general.

Recently, I’ve been getting consistently excellent help from volunteers like Dick Jenks, Andy Buctha and Ben Johnson and I’m learning a ton from their different perspectives. Dick just introduced me to the Southeastern Wisconsin Invasive Species Consortium. I had no Idea this well-organized and dedicated group existed and I hope to work with and learn from them as well. They recently awarded my spiritual father, Mike Fort, with their Sweat Equity Award.

So, it is with boundless joy that I look forward to every day I spend at The Springs, knowing that I’m not alone, and that by the continued efforts of so many people, we can make the restoration of our planet inevitable.

Yesterday, Dick, Andy, Ben and I piled freshly cut brush near the entrance to the buckthorn alley.

We tried to pile as much as we could before the snow fell and almost got it all.

Ben and I took an abbreviated walk around The Springs, as I had a date with my parents back in Milwaukee. I’ll bet it looks beautiful today with a fresh coat of 2-3″ of powder!

See you at The Springs!

The Inevitability of Buckthorn

Posted on December 7, 2013 by paulmozina

People I meet at The Springs often ask: “Where did IT come from?”, referring to the buckthorn that grows there in dense thickets. I go only halfway attempting to explain it’s origins and uses leaving off the underlying causes and powers that be.

“History is the life of nations and of humanity. To seize and put into words, to describe directly the life of humanity or even of a single nation, appears impossible.” Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace Second Epilogue, Chapter 1

The reasons given for why buckthorn was imported leave unexplained the causes that put into motion the people who brought it here. In a recent post I claimed to have “been to the mountaintop“, and I just returned from a new and thrilling literary mountaintop, “War and Peace“, that has given me new insight as to why I get out of bed at 5:30am on a cold winter morning to cut buckthorn.

“As with astronomy the difficulty of recognizing the motion of the earth lay in abandoning the immediate sensation of the earth’s fixity and of the motion of the planets, so in history the difficulty of recognizing the subjection of personality to the laws of space, time, and cause lies in renouncing the direct feeling of the independence of one’s own personality. But as in astronomy the new view said: “It is true that we do not feel the movement of the earth, but by admitting its immobility we arrive at absurdity, while by admitting its motion (which we do not feel) we arrive at laws,” so also in history the new view says: “It is true that we are not conscious of our dependence, but by admitting our free will we arrive at absurdity, while by admitting our dependence on the external world, on time, and on cause, we arrive at laws.”

In the first case it was necessary to renounce the consciousness of an unreal immobility in space and to recognize a motion we did not feel; in the present case it is similarly necessary to renounce a freedom that does not exist, and to recognize a dependence of which we are not conscious.” Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Second Epilogue, Chapter 12

I see now that it was inevitable that I should do battle against buckthorn. Growing up as the fifth of ten children I became acutely aware of the difference between justice and arbitrary will. From the war on drugs to the 9/11 wars, my perception of injustice inflamed me to impassioned protest; alas, to no avail. Thus the opportunity to fight the injustice of an oak woodland choked by that miscreant tree, has inevitably led me to direct my thwarted love for justice to fighting invasive species. And now I am hooked on the immediate, positive, feedback I get from destroying buckthorn. Yes, I’ve learned to love my servitude; I have no choice.

I was compelled by space, time and causes to cut buckthorn at The Springs this past Thursday and Friday (Dec. 5-6) and it seemed there was no choice but to cut at the buckthorn alley. Thus, driven by forces beyond reason and consciousness, we gassed up chainsaws and transformed a thicket (see the area marked in blue below).

Here is how it looked before Dick Jenks and I started cutting and Andy Buchta started piling.

And here is the view Wednesday after we quit.

As I tried to warm up in my truck, Ben Johnson arrived and we had a most agreeable time touring The Springs and dreaming out loud.

Colder weather was forecast for Friday so I stopped at REI on the way home to pick up some hand and foot warmers. Then, after a quick dinner of rice and beans, I went to the basement to clean the equipment and sharpen the chains; I had no choice.

Friday we were back at it again and Dick told me of his youth growing up on a dairy farm, giving a brief history of the demise of the family farm, which was inevitable. Dick didn’t need any hand warmers; he grew up on a farm.

The views below are: looking north towards the Ottawa Lake visitor center, looking east, and looking southeast down the buckthorn alley.

And after…

I was prepared for the cold and not surprised either by the beauty of the setting sun, moon, planets and stars.

Inevitably, during the winter I often have the place to myself, and I appreciate that.

See you at The Springs!

Sunny Burn

Posted on November 30, 2013 by paulmozina

Just like mountaineers climbing higher, then descending only to climb higher still, we begin acclimatizing to the winter season with a longer and longer periods of cold punctuated by balmy warm days like we had today at The Springs.

There was still a bit of snow covering the ground and we thought it would be safe to burn some piles. We started just west of signpost #1 where the views into the prairie start to open up. Here is what it looked like before we got started.

Dick Jenks fueling his machine.

We kept a close watch on the first batch of fires as there was strong breeze blowing in from the southwest.

After these fires had calmed down, we proceeded to light the piles along both sides of the buckthorn tunnel. Despite the fact that the buckthorn had been cut only 2 months ago, it was relatively easy to start it burning. Here is how it looked after we got 22 piles lit.

Dick and I cut a bunch of buckthorn as the brush piles burned. It was a warm sunny afternoon and Pati came out to pile brush along the cut-off trail for a couple hours. Then we relaxed and strolled the trails absentmindedly missing the sunset, which seemed to happen faster than usual.

It was a wonderful day.

See you at The Springs!

Thanks for The Springs

Posted on November 27, 2013 by paulmozina

I think I know what Martin Luther King meant when he said “I’ve been to the mountaintop!”

Yes, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord” too. That’s why I do what I do. Since my first backpacking foray into the mountains 25 years ago I’ve seen some beautiful places and literally been to the mountaintop. Many days and nights in the back country taught me to see the lay of the land and filled a wellspring of unforgettable images within me. At The Springs I have a unique opportunity to shape the landscape and manifest my vision. It’s slowly becoming reality and the best part is sharing the creative process with other volunteers who have also “been to the mountaintop”.

The last two days I’ve been slashing and burning at The Springs with Dick Jenks and Andy Buchta. This was Dick’s first time working at The Springs and Andy was back again after his initiation last week. I really enjoyed their company and appreciated the way they “got after it”.

Tuesday we worked along the trail on the northeast section of the loop near signpost #13 and an old cranberry bog.

Dick getting some licks in.

Andy piling brush.

We laid down a lot of nasty buckthorn and opened up the views.

Later, Pati came out to join me for a walk just in time for a snow squall. It dawned on me that tomorrow would be a great day to start burning brush piles.

The next day (today/Wednesday) I was back with my propane torch and Dick joined me to help work the piles.

They were relatively easy to light and we had 21 going in a little over an hour.

Note the buckthorn crowding around the burning piles.

Borrowing a technique used by Mike Fort and the Friends of Lapham Peak, I cut a dozen or so huge buckthorns that were very near the burning piles and we threw the brush right into the fire. Then I cut a whole lot more but it seemed like we barely made a dent in the thicket.

Andy arrived shortly after noon, returning to the area we worked on Tuesday, and finished piling everything we had laid down there.

This past week has been our first taste of really cold weather this season and I’m getting used to it and looking forward to Winter.

The Indian Spring.

Steam rising from the Scuppernong River.

My favorite time of day!

See you at The Springs!

Three For All

Posted on November 23, 2013 by paulmozina

The coldest day of the Fall season put us on our mettle. Ben Johnson and Andrew Buchta coincidentally converged with me for their first volunteer adventures at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail. I met Andrew at the DNR Volunteer appreciation lunch and Ben contacted me via this website. I should have gotten pictures of these hard working men in action poisoning stumps and piling brush.

It’s a good thing we were working right at the main parking lot on Hwy ZZ because it was a frigid day and we had to defrost the tip of the stump sprayer in our vehicles numerous times, even though the mix was 50% marine antifreeze. We eventually figured out that closing the nozzle after each use kept the tip from freezing up. Ben followed behind me with the sprayer and that was a very efficient way to go. I was amazed at how much we were able to cut, poison and pile. Here is how it looked before we got started.

We cleared so much ground that I ran out of stump poison and sharp chains! There were many dead slippery elms and aspen amongst the lively buckthorn. Check out the excellent results!

I’m looking forward to working with Ben and Andy again!

Pati had an intense work week and came out to join me for a walk after her last client. We bundled up against the cold wind and just caught the sunset from the Indian Campground on our way around the loop trail.

See you at The Springs!

Geoengineering the Scuppernong

Posted on November 15, 2013 by paulmozina

I love to look at the sky. Big Sky Visions, that’s what draws me out to the Scuppernong River Habitat Area.

Recently I noticed that my vision was blocked, even dimmed, by what I speculated where chemtrails.

Are chemtrails real? My big sky visions were obstructed again the past view days I spent piling brush at Ottawa Lake, to the point where I had to document what I was seeing and try to dissipate the cognitive dissonance clouding my mind. I even called the Waukesha Sheriff’s dispatch asking them to take a look.

When I arrived at the Ottawa Lake entrance on November 13th I noticed some jet contrails in the sky to the south and east, and when I got to the walk-in campsite 335 looking out over the lake to the west and north, I saw the sky full of contrails.

I tried to focus on the task at hand…

… but the contrails fanning out into huge clouds, that significantly blocked the sun’s rays for hours as they drifted south, stirred my response-able-ness and I called the Sheriff. Deputy Spak insisted on coming out to talk with me and arrived a few minutes later with two other sheriff’s deputies in two vehicles. We had a reasonable discussion about it and they provided me with contact information for a DNR Conservation Warden, who I am following up with. They suggested the clouds were “normal” exhaust vapors crystallizing in cold air and I begged to differ as we all conceded that none of us were expert enough to speak with authority on the matter.

I strive to be a reasonable person and the research I have done into this issue over the last few days has helped me understand what I think is the core issue at hand: global dimming. The pollutants we release into the atmosphere are blocking the sun’s rays and, whether the three types of contrails:

) Short-lived, non-persistent contrail (SLNPC),

2) Persistent contrail, non-spreading (PCNS) ,

3) Persistent contrail, spreading (PCS)

discussed here are the result of “normal” jet exhaust vapors or intentional geoengineering, the end result is global dimming. There is robust debate ongoing as to whether or not the contrails we see are normal or, the result of more aggressive solar radiation management techniques, which include dispersing toxic aluminum, barium and strontium into the atmosphere.

I wondered about this as the sun went down over Ottawa Lake.

I love the big sky and returned to Ottawa Lake yesterday to pile more brush. I hadn’t noticed the contrails yet…

… but when I got down to the wetland I saw them again. I wanted to focus on one in particular and see how it evolved.

The winds were blowing strong out of the southwest and the contrail from this jet billowed out into a thick ribbon as it passed over my head.

The long cloud at the top of the picture below is the contrail from the jet shown in the video above.

I pondered the question all day while piling brush until my back started to give out and I was reminded of my old shoulder injury.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that I received the SHADE motion picture dvd anonymously in the mail a few weeks ago. It looks at geoengineering from a geopolitical perspective.

It would take a miracle for me to prove that the contrails I saw the past few days over the Scuppernong River valley were “normal” or something more sinister. In either case, they did significantly block the sun and I think this impact is unacceptable.

I tried to ignore the contrails in the sunset…

See you at The Springs!

Return of the Three BrushCuteers

Posted on November 11, 2013 by paulmozina

It’s been almost a year since the Three Brushcuteers joined forces to fight the thorny invaders of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. “All for one, one for all!”, they cried as they stacked the fallen enemy in neat piles along the trail just north of the old barn site (see recent post). Porthos, aka Lindsay Knudsvig, looked sharp in his tailored waistcoat and matching brush pants. Aramis, aka Rich Csavoy, although deeply religious, said the buckthorn didn’t have a prayer. Together we resolved to avenge the insult made by the buckthorn against the mighty and glorious oaks of the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

Here is what the battlefield looked like before we engaged the enemy.

As we worked, Aramis reminded us that it was 50 years ago that our king was slain in Dealey Plaza and, apparently, there is a new web of lies in the form of a digitally remastered video that purports to explain the path of the “magic” bullet. Athos, aka Paul, being immune to romantic feelings about the matter, dubiously viewed this conclusion based on the cold hard facts, e.g. the conclusions of the United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations and years of research into the matter. Unfortunately, the powers that be refuse to release thousands of pages of documentation. Why?

A last look as we left the battlefield.

Then we headed over to signpost #2 to reposition the railroad ties that had been dislodged and dragged into the brush.

Aramis, grabbed a couple loads of oak firewood before heading for home and Porthos and I took a stroll around the trail reminiscing about the many battles we fought at this “world class” site. There is tons of firewood, including well seasoned oak, piled at the worksite and all are welcome to come and take it. You might want to bring a chainsaw, and tools to split wood, to the location to facilitate harvesting.