Althouse: Today at Lake Wingra...

April 29, 2016

Today at Lake Wingra...

... we saw some sandhill cranes:

Feel free to talk about whatever you want in the comments.

49 comments:

Lewis Wetzel said...: Those three are so well lined up, one shot from a 410 could take them all out.
A single 410 round is about $0.40. Hamburger is about $4.00/lb.
Wonder how the cranes taste?
This is, after all, how we weigh things, after Obama, liberal arts transfer student from Occidental, singlehandedly saved the world economy.; 4/29/16, 5:53 PM
Anonymous said...: 41 years ago today, we were lifting friends off rooftops in Saigon to keep them from reeducation camps or worse.

Saigon, 29 April 1975.; 4/29/16, 6:30 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/29/16, 6:32 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I gave birth to a healthy baby girl today and we are stuck in the hospital until tomorrow. Very grateful for my wonderful husband, a fantastic nursing staff, modern medicine and especially my sweet baby.; 4/29/16, 6:42 PM
Meade said...: Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Pants! Enjoy your rest.; 4/29/16, 6:50 PM
Hagar said...: Has any nation'[s military, other than the American, ever apologized for hitting the wrong target?; 4/29/16, 6:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Hagar said...

No, and we have even apologized for hitting the right target. See Hiroshima...; 4/29/16, 7:01 PM
Big Mike said...: @Misplaced Pants, may I add my congratulations to you on the happy event. Ahead of you lies nights with minimal sleep due to feedings that feel as though they're round the clock, being so tired you can barely spell your own name, changing diapers, cleaning up vomit, and comforting a child who needs comforting. Later on will come tearful scenes when you try to explain to your daughter that she should not dress for middle school as though she was fired from the cheapest brothel in town for dressing too sleazy, and more angry tears yet when you explain why a teenaged daughter should be home when you have told her to be home.

And then she'll get married and make a grandmother out of you.

And it will all be worth it in the end because she will be wonderful, and you will be so proud. My best wishes to you both, and to your husband, who is lucky to have a wife like you and a lovely daughter to twist him around her pinky finger.; 4/29/16, 7:03 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Congratulations, Pants.; 4/29/16, 7:25 PM
Etienne said...: Find your pants so this doesn't happen again!; 4/29/16, 7:28 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/29/16, 7:41 PM
Mark said...: Congratulations, Pants.

Those cranes will likely be on the nest soon. We find they mostly go silent before and for a few weeks after the new ones are born, we miss them calling over the Pheasant Branch at our back windows.; 4/29/16, 7:56 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Congrats, Mis Pants!; 4/29/16, 7:59 PM
steve uhr said...: Sure they're not storks?; 4/29/16, 8:00 PM
tomaig said...: What cool (and BIG) birds...Since you said we could discuss anything, I will posit this...The Peregrine Falcon is the coolest, most bad-ass creature there is.

Saw this nature show about peregrines (narrated by Tom Selleck?)...momma peregrine on her nest, warming her new babies...a small group of pelicans - big, slow, not a threat to the falcon chicks at all - came flapping along a bit too close to the nest for Mom's liking....she scrambles, quickly soars hundreds of feet aloft...and proceeds to dive-bomb these poor pelicans right out of the sky. One after another, she comes slamming into these lumbering birds and knocks them either into a spin or just flat out smashes them into the sea. The pelicans never knew what hit them. Then mom calmly returns to the nest, ever vigilant.

Bad to the bone, those peregrine falcons....; 4/29/16, 8:12 PM
JCC said...: Misplaced Pantaloons -

Congratulations on the new baby.

Go out and buy a rocking chair. Best thing ever for a colicky/crabby/hungry baby and late nights, especially for Dad. Bonding and reading or snoozing.

Sandhill Cranes have another cry too, which sounds vaguely like the honk of an old car horn.; 4/29/16, 8:22 PM
Paddy O said...: Congrats to the whole Pants family! Thanks for sharing with us! Make full use of that nursing staff while you can! :-); 4/29/16, 8:22 PM
Hagar said...: @Coupe,
Those do not count any more than the Israelis apologizinng for sinking the USS "Liberty."

I am talking about a voluntary apology, apology, as Whoopie might say, and even going as far as disciplining the individuals involved though the cause of the mistake apparently was just fatigue and excessive reliance on the technological gizmos furnished to the crews.

And this is not the only case; this is something the Americans do that makes them different from just about everybody else.; 4/29/16, 8:26 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Children are a gift from God, a business friend once told me. He was correct.; 4/29/16, 9:08 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: Sometimes we see them on the farm in GA. They are huge.

Pants, much joy. Be glad to hang out in the hospital for a day. I wish you, the father, and the new baby all the family joy there is in the world - and there sure is a lot!!; 4/29/16, 10:19 PM
HT said...: Can we get a SEAL team to free Don Siegelman?; 4/29/16, 10:24 PM
Dude1394 said...: As I get up in years I have become more and more a bird watcher. Also after reading Michael Crichton's book Micro...I really, really respected what it might be like to be a bug encountering a blue jay for example. Not good, NOT GOOD.

Pretty amazing animals.; 4/29/16, 10:24 PM
David said...: "Wonder how the cranes taste?"

Some refer to them as the flying rib roast. I think they are still illegal to hunt in Wisconsin.; 4/29/16, 11:30 PM
walter said...: Hard to Trump birth..or pants.; 4/30/16, 12:22 AM
David Begley said...: Congrats to the Pants family. But she must really love the Althouse blog to check in.

And those Sandhills Cranes are lost. They belong in Nebraska. Way too far to the east.; 4/30/16, 1:03 AM
Jaq said...: Thanks to Roughoat for recommending "The Sabres of Paradise." It sure looks like the source material for Dune, and by extension, Star Wars (IMHO). In return I recommend "Nathaniel's Nutmeg" which is a history derived from ships logs and explains why the Dutch empire traded Manhattan for a tiny island in the South Pacific called "Run." It's just a great book. I read Bryson's Shakespeare and he was going on about early performances of his plays outside of England and he was wrong, as it had been performed by sailors on British ships, the first time, IIRC, on a trip around the Horn of Africa.

THere is a great scene about a true story encounter with Ninja Pirates too.; 4/30/16, 5:41 AM
Jaq said...: Short version is that the Ninjas brought knives to a gunfight.; 4/30/16, 5:43 AM
Jaq said...: "The Light Sabers of Paradise"! I crack me up...; 4/30/16, 5:58 AM
Rusty said...: Congratulations Pants. Children are the best. To have a child is to know joy.; 4/30/16, 7:02 AM
Rusty said...: Blogger David Begley said...
Congrats to the Pants family. But she must really love the Althouse blog to check in.

And those Sandhills Cranes are lost. They belong in Nebraska. Way too far to the east.

Not at all. I first noticed them flying along the Fox River(Illinois) about 30 years ago. They show up around the middle of march. I understand that they are legal to hunt in Texas. (what isn't?); 4/30/16, 7:09 AM
Saint Croix said...: I suspect the Obama presidency is what gives Donald Trump the courage to run as a Republican. He knows in his heart that he is a thug and a pimp and unsuited for the White House. While he is a millionaire, he knows that he is white trash and low class. I imagine all of his life people have been putting him down. The man has no manners and invites ridicule. He ran as an outsider in 2000 because he didn't feel good enough to run in a real political party. He didn't have the confidence in 2000. Now he does. Why?

Because Obama is in the White House. "If he could do it, I could do it!" says Donald Trump to himself. He has absolute confidence that he is better than Barack Obama. I sense in Donald Trump almost zero reflection or serious thought about himself. He's a man of action who throws himself into things. But he doesn't reflect or dwell on his mistakes. Or even admit to making mistakes.

People talk about Trump being a populist or a demagogue. What we might also think about is his lack of class. He is rude and crude. And so a lot of rude and crude people think, "he is one of us!" I too am rude and crude (often!) But I have an almost instinctive dislike and distrust for Donnie, Little Baby Satan, the man who never asks God for forgiveness. He is certainly a different personality type in the White House.

While Donnie denies being a racist, I think his white skin gives him confidence. "If that black guy can do it, I can do it!" So President Obama, who represses and controls his id very much, has opened the door to a low class white guy seeking the White House. If our political race is Caddyshack, Rodney Dangerfield has just joined the club. Liberals (and Republicans!) thought that the Obama administration opened the door to other racial groups. Obviously a hispanic could get in the White House, right? Or an Indian or a Chinese person or a woman. But the Donald Trump candidacy reminds us of all the white trash in the world. White trash who feels excluded and left out and not allowed in the club. This is a white trash campaign. If he's elected, it will be a white trash presidency.

You know how Republicans joke about Obama's record on race relations? I love this tweet. My favorite part of the Obama era is all the racial healing. Yeah, you suck Obama. You were given a huge gift, and you squandered it, jackass. And I do not look forward to all the racial healing in the Trump administration. He is not the high road. He is the low road. Get thee to church, Baby Satan. And I am not voting for you.; 4/30/16, 7:43 AM
CStanley said...: I'll add my congratulations (shouldn't it be the "Pantless" family?)

Anyway, enjoy this sweet time. Your daughter shares a birthday with my eldest, btw. 22 years old yesterday.; 4/30/16, 8:14 AM
CStanley said...: When I think of Sandhill Cranes I recall lengthy trips to the FL panhandle from our home in New Orleans, in the late 70s, when construction of I-10 was halted due to court battles over the sandhill crane nesting areas in Mississippi.

Dad used to call them Whooping Cranes, because we had to wait for the road to be built until after the birds were finished making whoopie.; 4/30/16, 8:20 AM
JCC said...: SAndhill cranes are a Federally protected migratory species. Better not get caught hunting them.

We see them in Florida in the winter a lot, and occasionally all year.; 4/30/16, 8:25 AM
Jaq said...: While he is a millionaire, he knows that he is white trash and low class. I

Who the fuck do these white trash think they are anyways? It's almost like they think they deserve a voice in our democracy!!!

BTW, Did Trump pay you to write that?; 4/30/16, 9:04 AM
David said...: JCC said...
Sandhill cranes are a Federally protected migratory species. Better not get caught hunting them.

It's legal to hunt Sandhills in numerous places. The latest I read is 15 states. Apparently Wisconsin is studying having a legal hunt but no decision yet. They are no longer an endangered population, and the farmers will tell you (accurately) that a decent sized flock of them can pretty much eat up a field.

Stay tuned.; 4/30/16, 10:00 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Saint Croix, I subscribe to your analysis of Trump's candidacy.; 4/30/16, 10:28 AM
Saint Croix said...: thanks Bob!

Who the fuck do these white trash think they are anyways? It's almost like they think they deserve a voice in our democracy!!!

I have no patience for people who define themselves in a racial manner. Typically racial demagogues rely on race to identify who "their" voters are. Who are the Trump voters? We have no idea. There are black, brown, and yellow people who are voting for Trump, Jews and atheists and Christians who are voting for Trump. The man is running as a thug and/or crime lord. It is quite common for the Trump voter to say something like, "Vote for Trump and you will be rewarded!" I want to ask that voter, how is that Donald Trump knows who you are? How will he reward you? How does he know you are a loyal Trump stooge, as opposed to one of the anti-Trump brigade? Did you swear the loyalty oath yet?!

Simply being a Republican, or a white-skinned person, or a man, says nothing about whether you are a Trump-stooge or an anti-Trump. So the opportunity for graft and "getting mine from the government!" are quite limited. Who is Traditional Guy and how (and why!) will Donald Trump reward him? Answer: there will be no reward. Donnie has to deny that he's a racial demagogue. So how are we to find and reward the Trump faithful in his ostensibly color-blind vision of a new world order?

Well, the crips and the bloods would suggest you adopt a color T-shirt like red or blue, so people can identify what team you are on. And hey, I think brown is still available!; 4/30/16, 10:55 AM
Fernandinande said...: Bob Ellison said...
Saint Croix, I subscribe to your analysis of Trump's candidacy.

It was an interesting example of psychological projection.; 4/30/16, 10:59 AM
Saint Croix said...: St Croix, you are hard to follow here.

I think Donnie is using racial code words and dog whistles, like Nixon used to. But it's mostly xenophobia, not the classic racism. The bad guys are different. It's not black people or Jews. It's illegal aliens and Muslims. It's a very authoritarian-style.

People who like Donnie really like him, in a fanatical way, like sports fans. The word "fan" is short for fanatic. They see government as a team sport. We're all in this together! It's delusional and quite stupid. This is not a football game. Individual votes aren't important. But the collective vote is very important and sometimes disastrous for a society.

Race is irrelevant. It's always been irrelevant. It's fucking pigment. If it wasn't race it would be some other damn thing, like right-handed people and left-handed people. The only book on race that's really worth a damn is The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss.

Crips and Bloods are gangs of people with black skin. They had to adopt red shirts and blue shirts to show which team they are on. That's because pigment doesn't work when both sides are filled with African-Americans.

Maybe I should have said "tribal" instead of racial. Donnie is very tribal.; 4/30/16, 11:34 AM
Saint Croix said...: Christians can be very tribal. I'm in the Christian tribe. I self-identify as Christian. I didn't used to, I was embarrassed by the word and the true believers. But now I am part of that tribe.

Christ seeks to minimize the tribal effect by instructing us to love our enemies. Which is hard, by the way.; 4/30/16, 11:41 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Illegal aliens and Muslims are, at a minimum, breaking the law or advocating violence against those not of their faith. The idea that Trump is inventing these "others" for political purposes shows a laughable remove from reality.; 4/30/16, 11:43 AM
mikee said...: Here in Austin, Texas, we get a goodly number of overwintering Great Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets, but the Sandhills generally ignore us and hang at the Gulf coast, along with the Whoopers. Elitists.; 4/30/16, 2:13 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Most Trumpsters are political children. It's fun and easy to be angry about something. Why not just be angry without knowing what you're angry about?; 4/30/16, 2:39 PM
Jaq said...: It's official then, proles should not vote.; 4/30/16, 4:43 PM
Saint Croix said...: A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.; 4/30/16, 6:02 PM
Rusty said...: I found some morels and half morels whilst walking the dog this morning. So I got home an made an omlette with the aforesaid shrooms in it. It was delightful.
So. What I'm saying is; morels are late this year.
They were greys.; 4/30/16, 6:03 PM
Jaq said...: A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest

You mean like dog whistles everywhere aimed at other people but only you can hear them? Or the perfect little racist you constructed yourself (OK, with the help of lefty media) inside your brain you use to consult oh what other people "must be thinking"? It's like Yogi Berra's saying: 'If I hadn't of believed it, I wouldn't have seen it."

But go ahead and disregard this possibility. After all, the first rule of common understanding is "Reject first! Ask rhetorical questions later!"; 5/1/16, 5:05 AM
Jaq said...: A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest

Or "People just don't understand that I know what's best for everybody!"; 5/1/16, 5:06 AM