weather

[kurt]

What has helped too are the Zebra Mussels (although it tanked the island Walleye fishing).

Truly. There's areas of Lake Michigan where I can see the bottom in 75' of water nowadays.

The problem is the damn mussels have taken out the bottom of the food chain; all the phyto-plankton are reduced in number or gone completely in some areas.

We all know what happens when you cut out the bottom of the ladder; it collapses. That's pretty much Lake Michigan nowadays; it's a collapsed ecosystem.

That doesn't mean there isn't life, but it means the no more walleye or the fish we're used to. It means invasive alien species like the Baltic River Ruffe, or the needle nosed gar, alewives, etc., that move in, and radically alter the whole shebangabang.

But, you knew that stuff already.......

The Great Lakes basin is a fascinating microcosm of what we're doing to the rest of the planet. It was a self contained robustly fecund ecosystem, now it's not.

[Erby]

Not me, Jim. It's her creativity and desire that make it happen. I just fetch and carry and follow the black lines with my jig saw. The ideas, the initiative, the hardest work is all hers.

I sure do like the looks on the faces of the neighborhood kids and adults when they see it though!