Althouse: Tiny-house boat a sunrise.

December 10, 2020

Tiny-house boat a sunrise.

At first, I thought it was an ice shanty out there...

... but there's no ice.

If it's a houseboat, it's a tiny-house boat. It looked pretty out there in the morning light.

29 comments:

Rusty said...: Somebody's duck blind.
Hope they had a good season.; 12/10/20, 8:30 AM
Howard said...: Love the golden hour light; 12/10/20, 8:34 AM
Achilles said...: What a day to be a free man.; 12/10/20, 8:34 AM
Howard said...: Hey Rusty if you're shooting ducks from a floating duck blind like that do you have to have a Portuguese water dog to retrieve the birds?; 12/10/20, 8:35 AM
Howard said...: Good morning Achilles it's nice to see you. Freedoms just another word for nothing Left to lose. Nothing ain't worth nothing but it's free. Better than nothing is a high standard.; 12/10/20, 8:36 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Duck blind!

Didn't know you could duck hunt on Lake Mendota.; 12/10/20, 8:37 AM
rehajm said...: Everyone is upset about this, but I assume, given who it’s named after, that this is an award for killing people and getting away with it.>; 12/10/20, 8:39 AM
Rusty said...: It was probably anchored at some point. It's difficult enough to hunt from an anchored layout boat. Per regulations the owners name and address have to be visible on it somewhere and you're supposed to have it off the water at the end of the season. So somebody's getting a fine.; 12/10/20, 8:42 AM
Lance said...: I thought it looked like an ice shack, but duck blind makes more sense.; 12/10/20, 8:42 AM
Rusty said...: Ann Althouse said...
"Duck blind!

Didn't know you could duck hunt on Lake Mendota."
I don't know the Wisconsin regulations. It may or may not be legal. It won't be the first time somebody's poached.; 12/10/20, 8:50 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I have heard distant gunshots when I'm in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. Have never seen a floating thing on the lake like that. It looked really pretty to me, so I like the idea that the tiny house movement has hit houseboats... not that I see houseboats on Lake Mendota. If you could just live in a boat floating on Lake Mendota, wouldn't the shore near the university be cluttered with houseboats?; 12/10/20, 8:53 AM
Achilles said...: Lance said...

I thought it looked like an ice shack, but duck blind makes more sense.

Seems like it could do both depending on the time of the year and conditions.; 12/10/20, 8:58 AM
tcrosse said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/10/20, 9:04 AM
tcrosse said...: An old Madison chum had made a study of riparian rights which allow us to moor houseboats on river banks. Is Lake Mendota considered a fat reach of the Yahara River?; 12/10/20, 9:05 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Lance said...

I thought it looked like an ice shack...

Doesn't look like WI DNR allows duck hunting on Lake Mendota, but does allow fishing. So I suspect the above is correct.; 12/10/20, 9:13 AM
RigelDog said...: It's 2020--probably a tornado appeared from nowhere, sucked up someone's cabin, and deposited it in the lake. Could be worse. Could be raining.; 12/10/20, 9:35 AM
Wince said...: I get the concept of a camouflage duck blind: it obscures the hunter while the blind itself blends into the woodland back ground.

But wouldn't ducks get the hint eventually that a conspicuous floating house has a tendency to open fire on them?; 12/10/20, 9:46 AM
Fritz said...: Howard said...
Hey Rusty if you're shooting ducks from a floating duck blind like that do you have to have a Portuguese water dog to retrieve the birds?

That's what Labrador and Chesapeake Bay Retrievers were bred for (and standard poodles, too, for that matter). I think Portuguese Water dogs were bred as ornaments.; 12/10/20, 9:51 AM
tcrosse said...: I think Portuguese Water dogs were bred as ornaments.

They were bred to help fishermen.; 12/10/20, 10:22 AM
Joe Smith said...: "...but there's no ice."

Details.

Nice light.; 12/10/20, 11:01 AM
Tomcc said...: Another attractive scene, thanks.
Duck blind or shanty: only one? It just looks out of place; very distracting.; 12/10/20, 11:13 AM
gspencer said...: That's where Al Neri keeps his work.; 12/10/20, 11:34 AM
Michael K said...: It would be very unusual to have a floating duck blind. I have seen blinds that were large barrels anchored in a swampy area. The shooters are dropped off and returned by boat. Retrievers like Chesapeake Bay or Labs retrieve the ducks.

Most blinds I have seen are on dry land next to water. My father was such a good shot that I have seen him collect a half dozen ducks "pass shooting" as they flew over where he was cooking hamburgers. He would go off to the middle of the island to cook breakfast. Hunters would show up from all over the island from the smell of the food. He usually had enough for all.; 12/10/20, 11:35 AM
Achilles said...: Wince said...

I get the concept of a camouflage duck blind: it obscures the hunter while the blind itself blends into the woodland back ground.

But wouldn't ducks get the hint eventually that a conspicuous floating house has a tendency to open fire on them?

It would probably take a generation or two of ducks.; 12/10/20, 11:50 AM
rhhardin said...: Rush pronounces risible as a rhyme to sizable. The trouble with advanced vocabulary books.; 12/10/20, 12:30 PM
gilbar said...: rhhardin said...
Rush pronounces risible as a rhyme to sizable. The trouble with advanced vocabulary books

That's how I'VE always pronounced it; i had to go online to see how you wanted it to done
The trouble with having a reading vocabulary bigger than your listening vocabulary; 12/10/20, 2:03 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: at least, for now, it wasnt Chinese junk floating by

Oh! Hey-- Never say 'NEVER'!

Vaccine Whistleblower Found Dead After Saying She’d Never Commit Suicide

From Vaughn’s Facebook page: “I’ve NEVER had any thoughts of taking my own life, not once, ever. Even before I had my son. I have a huge mission in this life. Even when they make it very difficult and scary, I would NEVER take my own life. Period. I have NEVER been on an anti-depressant nor been diagnosed as depressed – don’t believe it if you ever hear anything like this.”

Now-- what would prompt a whistleblower to say something like that?
And why are those type of statements seemingly made more frequently?

Brandy Vaughn didnt kill herself; 12/10/20, 2:08 PM
Rusty said...: Wince said...

"I get the concept of a camouflage duck blind: it obscures the hunter while the blind itself blends into the woodland back ground.

But wouldn't ducks get the hint eventually that a conspicuous floating house has a tendency to open fire on them?"
They learn pretty fast. Water is their safe place so they'll learn to avoid landing close to shore or any large floating object.; 12/10/20, 2:15 PM
Michael K said...: But wouldn't ducks get the hint eventually that a conspicuous floating house has a tendency to open fire on them?"
They learn pretty fast. Water is their safe place so they'll learn to avoid landing close to shore or any large floating object.

Most duck clubs don't allow hunting on weekdays on the theory that ducks will stay away if there is lots of shooting.

As for landing close to shore, have you heard the term "Good weather for Ducks?" That means the weather is so foul, cold and windy that ducks seek shelter closer to shore. There is nothing worse for duck hunting that a pretty day.; 12/10/20, 3:19 PM