American Waterways

Designed by the world famous architect Louis I. Kahn, Point Counterpoint II has been the waterborne home of the orchestra since its construction as a Bicentennial project in 1976. The streamlined, 195-foot long, steel vessel is equipped with a 75 foot wide stage, the roof of which is raised up by hydraulic lifts at performance time. The stage area is spanned by an acoustical shell, and is equipped with a permanent pedestal seating designed by Japanese sculptor Yasuhide Kobashi.
The entire ship is a floating gallery that showcases this summer contemporary art and crafts from the America's. A woodworker from Maine handcrafted the oak tables that are set into the ship's office and galley; the Finnish artist Eino Ruutsalo created the kinetic light sculpture that forms one wall of the art gallery in the lower deck.

American Waterways Tour

The American Waterways Wind Orchestra performed its blend of pop and classical music to the waterways of Sturgeon Bay this weekend in a free concert on the Harbor.

Hundreds of young musicians have performed with the Wind Orchestra over the years and over 400 works by contemporary composers have been commissioned and played by the group at ports all over the world.

Fish Creek Wisconsin

Daylilly Days

Illinois Beach State Park

Waukegan Community Garden

Bottlebrush Buckeye from seed

Japanese Beetles collected in a Mason Jar

I have collected all the beetles that I could see at dusk in a jar. They are happy in there for now with a few rose pettles and did not even try to escape. I wonder how many more I will find tonight.

Japanese Beetles are here

Last week I released Preying Mantis in one bed and there seem to be less Beetles than in the bed where no Preying Mantis were released. Today I dusted the roses with diatomaceous earth and 6 hours later the Bettles still seem to be thriving, eating and multiplying inside the flowers. Now at dusk, I will try to pick them off one by one and see if there is a fresh army of Beetles tomorrow. The Beetles seem to prefer pink rugosa over all else. Not many beetles were found on the meidiland, pavement, or knockouts, maybe because they are hybrids.

July 11 Volo Bog

This afternoon we visited the Volo Bog. A very interesting place that we plan to spend more time investigating. The sidewalks are floating wood planks and the bog was created by glaciers that stopped in this spot 12,ooo years ago. The glaciers started to melt about 6,000 years ago and created a 50' deep pit that filled with glacier water. The silt and vegetation that have collected there are the uniques "bog" situation. This unique development has been designated as a Natural Historic Landmark and is now protected by the National Historic Sites Act of 1935.

July 10

Persimmon Coffeecake