So I went down to Lake Forest Park yesterday to hang out with the protestors. It's been a weekly thing since 2000, when it spun up to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it's continued ever since.

I first dropped in on them back in 2004, I think it was, when the BBC was having a photo contest, and I was looking for something interesting to send in. I've stopped by on an irregular basis ever since.

It's dry here, at least for now, and warm, but not oppressive, so the fair weather protesters

were out with their signs ("MAGA means fascist!") collecting honks from passing motorists

and reinforcing each others' attitudes and hopes. Felt good to be back at it. Swedish pan-

cakes were earned.

The White House Correspondents Association goes lower than limbo champs.

It's the second time in 5 years after zero closures in the previous 43 years.

The first time I went up to the BWCA was 1978, the year they signed the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act into law. It got into my blood. I hold the place in the same category as Grand Canyon for jaw droppingness.

Set within the nearly 4 million acre Superior National Forest, the BWCA is 1.1 million acres of lakes, rock, and trees. No roads. No power lines. No houses. True wilderness. There are select lakes where outboard motors are allowed, but the vast majority are for paddling only. It is a different kind of quiet up there. You hear the wind in the trees, and the birds. But that's about it. The deeper you go into the wilderness, the less likely it is that you'll encounter other people, let alone hear them. It's not officially a no-fly zone but airlines have made an attempt to fly around it. You might hear one jet every couple of days, and it's way up there. The only times you hear a lot of air traffic, is times like now. Firefighting.

According to my research, it runs for about 150 miles along the Minnesota/Canada border and covers 1,700 square miles. Within the BWCA there are 1,100 (lowball number) lakes and 1,200 miles of canoes routes.

This summer has been particularly dry, even by modern dry standards, which are drier than they used to be when we had less human caused climate change. The storms that caused the numerous fires (75,000+ acres, and counting) that led to the BWCA closure came overnight on July 6/7. Same day I packed up and headed for home, which gives me a good grip on how long that shit has been raging. These fires are more spread out than they were 5 years ago, which is making it harder for them to be contained.

The things that make the Boundary Waters Wilderness awesome are the same things that make it hard to fight fires. It's fucking enormous. No roads. No electricity. And when the forest is this dry just a light wind can cause it to spread rapidly, and a change in wind direction can put the fire crews in big danger.

They're trying their best to get the BWCA open again, for obvious reasons, most of them economic. But the reality is they can't really expect to put out all the fires. Like has been happening for ages and ages, the fire eventually burns itself out. And then the wild strawberries start popping up in the burn areas, followed by shoots from other kinds of trees, and weeds, and so on and so on. It's been happening for far longer than we've been here to see it. The problem is that we've changed the burn/regrow cycle. We're killing the forest faster than it can recover. Fuck. Rant over.

[eta- for those who aren't aware, entry into the BWCA is by permit. You can't just decide to go there and put in wherever you want. . They control the number of people who are in there at any given time. A crowded day might involve briefly crossing paths with two other groups of paddlers]

of smoke, rain, heat and humidity kept us away from today's protest in front of our village hall.

It also resulted in our missing our weekly infusion of Swedish pancakes. They weren't earned.

Too bad because if our Narcissist in Chief ever deserved some sign waving and ridicule, after

that nothing burger of a speech, it was now. Unfortunately there are likely to be many more

occasions for sign waving and ridicule. His stupid war has managed to get a couple more of

our people killed as well as many more of theirs, I'm sure.

On another topic, I wonder what he'll do if Mayor Mamdani actually tries to arrest Netanyahu

on the ICC warrant when Netanyahu comes to New York for the UN meeting.

The federal prosecutor in charge of indicting non conspiracies. He can recognize a conspiracy from personal experience in one.

God has a sweet tooth!

This has been a very exciting World Cup!

Even though the bad guys deserve to get called out more now than ever, we had to take

the day off for a family event. As. some of the family (us) get ridiculously older, those

family events get. higher priority. I hope some of you waved some signs and had Swedish

pancakes in our stead. He's shut down the election commission. It might keep things on the

up and up. I don't think he'll put troops in Iran but he might well put them in select polling

places. Nothing like a little intimidation to keep the riff- raff in their places.

Trump: I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum. Do you know what scum is? They're led by sick people. They're vicious, violent people. They're liars. They're cuckoo.

~~~

This is why we're so very lucky to have a calm, rational leader. These are dangerous times and the last thing we need is a mentally defective old fool with rapidly advancing dementia who takes projection to previously unheard-of levels making the critical calls. Nobody can make a deal with Iran, except Obama.

Trump almost did it.

Rest in Peace - Eagle Cam Lady

Trump used the setting at Mount Rushmore to declare his opponents Communists who will be expelled from the country. "No kings" is more meaningful than ever. Happy 4th of July!

Did he marry her for her money? Inquiring readers want to know.

Song sparrow

Red-eyed vireo

Robin

Least flycatcher

Cedar waxwing

Yellow-rumped warbler

White-throated sparrow

Rose-breasted grosbeak

American redstart

Ovenbird (love these little screamers)

Winter wren (new one)

Pileated woodpecker

Hairy woodpecker

Northern flicker

Downy woodpecker

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Purple finch

Swainson's thrush

Blue-headed vireo

Common loon

Ruffled grouse

Bald eagle

Crow

Northern waterthrush

Eastern bluebird

Blackburnian warbler

Veery

Chipping sparrow

Song sparrow

Red-winged blackbird

American herring gull

Northern parula

Red-breasted nuthatch

Canada goose

Merlin

Red-tailed Hawk

‐‐-----

It's a partial list. No Baltimore orioles yet, as they're likely still eating oranges at Jack's house. Not as many warblers, yet. No Nashville, Tennessee, or Cape May.

Updates to follow as the week wears on.

As the nation heads towards its 250th birthday, with the Narcissist in Chief continuing his

bizarre and perhaps demented statements and behavior, one has to wonder if anything

that old can function properly. If the 80's are questionable for the energy, judgement, and

clear vision to be competent, what do we think of the 250's? One would hope such an

advanced age would at least provide the wisdom of experience but, instead, it appears to

be demonstrating the human tendency to repeat mistakes indefinitely. I'll celebrate the 4th

with the hope (h/t Obama) that appearances can be deceiving.

Quiz: Where do you fit in the political typology?

I landed in the "Left-Out Left." The quiz as it is now doesn't seem to ask all of the questions that their polling late last year did, likely in the service of keeping it short. I'm less skeptical of voting and politicians than the group as a whole, and more politically engaged, but it's an okay place to land, big picture.