Bolt Hole Report, October 31, 2010

Temperatures have finally fallen into the normal range..at least since they fell all day long. It was 43 degrees at 6 AM today but just 27 degrees at 6 PM. Both yesterday and today we had some lake effect precipitation. The difference was that yesterday (Saturday) it was rain showers--at least after an early morning flurry, while today it was snow showers.

At least the first half of the week will be "seasonable" with regards to temperatures. It will also be precipitation free until Thursday. Or so they say.

******

Terry came up on Friday evening so as to pick up some beef ($3 a pound for a quarter of a steer could not be passed up) and returned to PA Saturday afternoon.

******

My walks/sits in the woods have yet to produce any venison. Heck, they haven't even yielded a fleeting glimpse of a deer. I'll be out again tomorrow, hopefully with enough fresh snow on the ground to let me know if there is anything out there to hunt and where.

******

Tuesday, I'll leave the Bolt Hole bright and early to return to PA to cast my vote. Then I'll sit back in the evening to watch the returns. I'll be back up at the Bolt Hole on Wednesday morning to give it one last try through the weekend.

College Football: Week 9 Results

As I suspected, both #5 Michigan State and #7 Missouri fell from the ranks of the undefeated this week. Both were playing ranked opponents on the road. And both proved not to be up to the task.
Only Oregon (8-0), Boise State (7-0), Auburn (9-0), TCU (9-0), and Utah (8-0) remain.

[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]

1/1/1 Oregon (8-0) The Ducks wore down #24 Southern California (5-3) 53-32. Is it any wonder everyone talks about the west coast offense but never the west coast defense? The Ducks had a total of 311 yards on the ground with LaMichael James getting 239 of them and 3 TDs on 36 carries.

2/2/3 Boise State (7-0) After defeating Louisiana State (3-5) 49-20 on Tuesday night, the Broncos had the weekend off.

3/3/2 Auburn (9-0) The Tigers remain undefeated after beating Mississippi (3-5) in a high scoring affair 51-31.

4/4/4 TCU (9-0) The Horned Frogs remain among the undefeated after routing UNLV (1-7) 48-6.

5/5/5 Michigan State (8-1) The Spartans didn’t just lose their undefeated status, they were embarrassed by # 18 Iowa (6-2) 37-6. The Hawkeyes’ Ricky Stanzi completed just 11 out of 15 but got 190 yards and 3 TDs.

6/6/7 Alabama (7-1) The Crimson Tide had the weekend off.

7/8/6 Missouri (7-1) The Tigers fell to the #14 Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-1) 31-17 as Nebraska raced to a 24-0 first quarter advantage thanks to Roy Helu’s 66 yard and 73 yard TD runs. Helu also had a 53 yard run in the third quarter as he rushed 28 times for 306 yards.

8/7/9 Utah (8-0) The Utes held off Air Force (5-4) 28-23 to remain undefeated thanks to 5 turnovers.

9/9/8 Wisconsin (7-1) The Badgers had the weekend off.

10/10/11 Ohio State (8-1) The Buckeyes roughed up the Gophers of Minnesota (1-8) 52-10 as seven different players scored TDs including one on a blocked punt and another on a fumble recovery.

11/11/12 Oklahoma (7-1) The Sooners drubbed Colorado (2-6) 43-10 as they set a school record in the air. Landry Jones was 32 of 46 for 453 yards and 4 TDs. The Sooners got another 35 yards in the air from back-up Drew Allen on their way to a 635 net yards offensive performance.

12/13/15 LSU (7-1) The Tigers were idle this weekend.

13/14/10 Stanford (7-1) The Cardinal shut out the Washington Huskies (3-5) 41-0 Andrew Luck had a 51 yard TD run and a total of 92 yards on the ground to go along with a 19 of 26, 192 yard and one TD aerial performance.

14/12/13 Nebraska (7-1) The Cornhuskers knocked the #7 Missouri Tigers (7-1) from the ranks of the undefeated 31-17.

15/15/16 Arizona (7-1) The Wildcats beat UCLA (3-5) 29-21.

16/15/14 Florida State (6-2) The Seminoles fell to NC State (6-2) 28-24 on Thursday night

17/17/19 South Carolina (6-2) The Gamecocks beat the Tennessee Volunteers (2-6) 38-24.

18/19/18 Iowa (6-2) The Hawkeyes routed the #5 Michigan State Spartans (8-1) 37-6.

19/18/17 Arkansas (6-2) The Razorbacks rolled over Vanderbilt (2-6) 49-14 behind Ryan Mallet’s 27 of 44, 409 yard, 3 TD performance.

20/20/20 Oklahoma State (7-1) The Cowboys downed the Kansas State Wildcats (5-3) 24-14.

21/21/21 Virginia Tech (6-2) The Hokies were idle this weekend.

22/22/22 Miami (Fla.) (5-3) The Hurricanes lost Jacory Harris and then the game to Virginia (4-4) 24-19. The Cavaliers tied a school record with five interceptions -- four against Harris' backups.

23/23/23 Mississippi State (7-2) The Bulldogs slipped past the Kentucky Wildcats (4-5) 24-17.

24/NR/24 Southern California (5-3) The Trojans couldn’t keep up with #1 Oregon (8-0) as they lost 53-32.

25/24/NR Baylor (7-2) The Bears beat Texas (4-4) 30-22.

NR/25/NR Michigan (5-3) The Wolverines dropped their third consecutive game, this one to Penn State (5-3) 41-31. Denard Robinson ran for 191 yards and 3 TD in the loss while Evan Royster rushed for 150 and 2 TDs for the Nittany Lions.

NR/NR/25 Hawaii (7-2) The Warriors beat Idaho (4-4) 45-10. Bryant Moniz threw for three TDs on a 27 of 38 for 326 yards night as he became the became the fifth QB to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season. Oh, he also ran for another score.

Bolt Hole Report, October 29, 2010Early Morning Edition

As I mentioned to TenMile in comments to last night's (October 28th) report, I lost phone service not internet service. In the past I would have lost both since it was dial-up connection but in August, I signed up for their DSL service and got a faster connection. Don't know how that works on the old copper lines and it's still slower than the fiber optics carrier we've got at the Aerie--abouth 10x slower--but it's much better than dial-up. The rural phone company hasn't gotten around to running fiber optics which could also carry TV as it does at the Aerie. I hear they're waiting for some kind of gov't subsidies but are shedding customers left and right to cellular phones and the DISH Network. Even if they start running the glass, I'm at the end of the line and will be the last to know about it.

As for cellular phone service,,,,the nearest tower is just over the low ridge to the southwest. If I stand in just the right spot in the yard I might get one bar of service. Then again, my phone is the least expensive and two-plus years old. I carried it with me out into the woods the other day to see if I could get a connection from some of the higher points to the north and east. Nope. Might be time to check out the new phones Verizon offers. That or find a satellite provider.

Sooo....th serivce man showed up around 8:30 PM last night and started tracing the problem back down the line from the cabin. Told me he would call when he fixed the line or come back to report in person if he couldn't find anything in the dark. Some of the line runs in right of ways through the woods and can be a pain to get to in the dark. Especially when it's been or is currently raining, which it started to do not long after he left to do his search.

Anyway, about thirty minutes afer he began, I lost my internet conection so I knew something was up. Fifteen minutes later the phone rang. He had found a bad section of line and patched it up and everything should be hunky-dory. A few minutes later, after the router and modem had a chance to reboot, everything was.

******

Got up good an early this morning to go woods-walking only to hear the pitter patter (soon to become a roaring rattle) of rain on the tin roof. Again. *sigh*

College Football: Week 9 Polls and Opponents

The number of undefeated teams is shrinking and there's a possibility that there will be even fewer after this weekend is over. With #5 Michigan State (8-0) at # 18 Iowa (5-2), and #7 Missouri (7-0) at #14 Nebraska (6-1) there's a good chance there will be at least two undefeated teams falling this weekend.

[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]

1/1/1 Oregon (7-0) The Ducks are at #24 Southern California (5-2)

2/2/3 Boise State (7-0) After defeating Louisiana State (3-5) 49-20 on Tuesday night, the Broncos have the weekend off.

3/3/2 Auburn (8-0) The Tigers are playing at Mississippi (3-4)

4/4/4 TCU (8-0) The Horned Frogs are at UNLV (1-6)

5/5/5 Michigan State (8-0) The Spartans play at # 18 Iowa (5-2)

6/6/7 Alabama (7-1) The Crimson Tide have the weekend off.

7/8/6 Missouri (7-0) The Tigers are at #14 Nebraska (6-1)

8/7/9 Utah (7-0) The Utes are at Air Force (5-3)

9/9/8 Wisconsin (7-1) The Badgers have the weekend off.

10/10/11 Ohio State (7-1) The Buckeyes are at Minnesota (1-7)

11/11/12 Oklahoma (6-1) The Sooners host Colorado (2-5)

12/13/15 LSU (7-1) The Tigers are idle this weekend.

13/14/10 Stanford (6-1) The Cardinal play at Washington (3-4)

14/12/13 Nebraska (6-1) The Cornhuskers are hosting the #7 Missouri Tigers (7-0)

15/15/16 Arizona (6-1) The Wildcats will play at UCLA (3-4)

16/15/14 Florida State (6-1) The Seminoles play at NC State (5-2) on Thursday night

17/17/19 South Carolina (5-2) The Gamecocks host the Tennessee Volunteers (2-5)

18/19/18 Iowa (5-2) The Hawkeyes host the #5 Michigan State Spartans (8-0)

19/18/17 Arkansas (5-2) The Razorbacks are hosting Vanderbilt (2-5)

20/20/20 Oklahoma State (6-1) The Cowboys play at Kansas State (5-2)

21/21/21 Virginia Tech (6-2) The Hokies are idle this weekend.

22/22/22 Miami (Fla.) (5-2) The Hurricanes play at Virginia (3-4)

23/23/23 Mississippi State (6-2) The Bulldogs will host the Kentucky Wildcats (4-4)

24/NR/24 Southern California (5-2) The Trojans host #1 Oregon (7-0)

25/24/NR Baylor (6-2) The Bears play at Texas (4-3)

NR/25/NR Michigan (5-2) The Wolverines play at Penn State (4-3)

NR/NR/25 Hawaii (6-2) The Warriors host Idaho (4-3)

Bolt Hole Report, October 28, 2010

Jeez! Where has the week gone?

Still nothing to report on the hunting here at the Bolt Hole. between torrential rains, high winds and higher than usual temperatures, I've not even been spotting a tail as/when I go out.

And now I've got telephone troubles. yesterday, Mark said he tried calling here several times only to get a different household. Then, when Terry's nightly call didn't arrive this evening, I picked up the phone to call her only to find I had no dial tone. My cell phone (Verizon) doesn't work here so I was all set to go down the road to where I can get a signal just as Mark showed up. He's got a different provider (AT&T?) and was able to call the phone company from my yard. There's a serviceman checking the line as I type this but it may be tomorrow before things get straightened out.

Temperatures have been in the high 50s the last few days and that is about 15 degrees higher than usual. Add two nights of torrential rains (over 1.5 inches easily) and 20-25 mph winds this afternoon and conditions have not been good for hunting. With the higher than usual temperatures, deer who have already donned their winter coats do not want to move around during the day and does are not going into rut. When it is raining during the day, it's no time to be out sitting in the woods or even walking around unless you are actively in search of pneumonia. And the abundant water has made all the boggy areas pools and the creeks deep, wide and noisy. And with the wind rattling the beech leaves, blowing them horizontally, and showering the forest with falling tree limbs and you've no chance of hearing or seeing a deer but a great chance of getting brained!

Sooo...there's no venison in the freezer. *sigh*

Looks like I'll have to buy some beef. Luckily, the guy Mark is working for over near Fonda has some for sale at $3 a pound. He raises the unwanted calves from the dairy and cattle farms to slaughtering size and then has them butchered. He sells a few and puts a few in his freezer. Someone backed out of buying one he had already had butchered and is willing to sell it and I’m willing to buy.

College Football: Week 8 Results

Shakin’ and bakin’ continues in the Top 25 as several teams lost to those of a lower rank. (See #s 3, 20, and 22.) The number of undefeated has decreased as well. (Oklahoma, LSU, and Oklahoma State all lost their first of the year.)

[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]

1/1/1 Oregon (7-0) The Ducks put on a show Thursday night against the UCLA Bruins (3-4). The final? 60-13. LaMichael James finished with 123 yards and two TDs on the ground for the Ducks despite spending part of the first quarter on the sideline with an apparent knee injury and then coming out early when Oregon got way ahead. Reserve Remene Alston ran for 75 yards on 8 carries for three scores.

2/2/2 Boise State (6-0) The Broncos will face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-4) on Tuesday, the 26th.

3/3/4 Oklahoma (6-1) The Sooners left the realm of the undefeated when they played in Columbia, MO and the #18 Missouri Tigers (7-0). The Tigers took them down 36-27. Let’s see how much the BCS computers love Oklahoma now.

4/4/3 TCU (8-0) The Horned Frogs hopped all over the Air Force Falcons (5-3) 38-7.

5/5/5 Auburn (8-0) The Tigers downed the #6 LSU Tigers (7-1) 24-17 behind Cam Newton’s 28 runs for 217.

6/6/7 LSU (7-1) See above.

7/7/6 Alabama (7-1) The Tide struggled in the first half, but into then took out the Tennessee Volunteers (2-5) 41-10.

8/8/8 Michigan State (8-0) The Spartans had to come from behind and scored 21 points in the fourth quarter on the road to defeat the Northwestern Wildcats (5-2) 35-27.

9/9/9 Utah (7-0) The Utes remain undefeated as they routed the Colorado State Rams (2-6) 59-6.

10/11/10 Wisconsin (7-1) The Badgers eked out a win over the #13 Iowa Hawkeyes (5-2) 31-30.

11/10/11 Ohio State (7-1) The Buckeyes had no problem this week against the Purdue Boilermakers (4-3) as they rolled to a 49-0 victory.

12/14/13 Stanford (6-1) The Cardinal topped the Washington State Cougars (1-7) 38-28.

13/12/16 Iowa (5-2) The Hawkeyes lost a close one to the #10 Wisconsin Badgers (7-1) 31-30.

14/13/14 Nebraska (6-1) The Cornhuskers knocked the #17 Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten 51-41.

15/18/15 Arizona (6-1) The Wildcats had an easy time with the Washington Huskies (3-4) as they scored early and often on their way to a 44-14 victory.

16/17/18 Florida State (6-1) The Seminoles are idle this week.

17/15/12 Oklahoma State (6-1) The Cowboys fell to the #14 Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-1) 51-41.

18/16/17 Missouri (7-0) The Tigers knocked off the #3 Oklahoma Sooners (6-1) 36-27.

19/20/22 South Carolina (5-2) The Gamecocks improved their record at the expense of the Vanderbilt Commodores (3-5) with a 21-7 victory.

20/19/21 West Virginia (5-2) The Mountaineers found the Syracuse Orange (5-2) a bit unsqueezable and the ‘Cuse defense yielded but did not break after the first quarter and they got four FG from Ross Krautman. Syracuse came out on top: 19-14

21/21/20 Arkansas (5-2) The Razorbacks held on to defeat the Mississippi Rebels (3-4) 38-24.

22/22/19 Texas (4-3) The Longhorns got swept away by the Iowa State Cyclones (4-4) 28-21.

23/23/23 Virginia Tech (6-2) The Hoakies had no difficulty with the Duke Blue Devils (1-6) 44-7.

24/24/25 Mississippi State (6-2) The Bulldogs eked out a victory over the UAB Blazers (2-5) 29-24.

25/25/24 Miami (Fla.) (5-2) The Hurricanes blew over the North Carolina Tar Heels (4-3) 33-10.

Wine Tour in the Finger Lakes

Six different wineries and a great brunch at Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY.

Wow. What a day!

We stopped at six different wineries along the shores of Lake Seneca during today's bus tour. We started at Castel Grisch outside Watkins Glen. At each of these places we got to sample up to six different wines. In some cases, Terry and I were able to taste even more by selecting different wines as our personal taste and then sharing the each other's sample. Most of the wines we were given were quite sweet with residual sugar content over 3.0% but there were a few drier wines as well.

In a change of pace, I found some of the sweeter, fruitier wines quite good while Terry leaned the other way. Normally, I'm the one who like the dry reds but not today.

We found a few wines at Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards and Torrey Ridge. In all Terry and I came home with a little more than a case of wine but I'll be able to add to that quite easily since the route I take to and from the Bolt Hole can/will take me past these and many other wineries on the east and west side of Lake Seneca.

Bolt Hole Report, October 22, 2010

Muzzle loader season has come to an end here in the northern zone of NY and the freezer is still empty. Heavy rain yesterday morning kept me indoors most of the day. I did take a short walk out back late int he afternoon and saw...nothing. Mark covered a slightly different route and kicked up four or five deer but saw nothing but tails through thick fir trees and brush. Earlier in the day, he called me to tell me that a six-pointer had just run into my yard. Problem was I had just pulled into the parking lot of the store some 12 miles away! When I got back, the deer were long gone. (Or so we thought--they may have been the ones he kicked up later from the dense growth to my northeast.) So were the three hunters who had pushed the deer through while walking on land they had no business being on but which was not posted. Apparently, according to Mark, New York requires that you post private land unlike other states where posting is not required for some one to be trespassing. Mark saw them as two came out of the woods on his side of the road while the third walked out between my garage and barn. We're going to have to invest in some signs next fall.

Today was a lot colder in the morning after some snow flurries over night. When I finally did get out, it was also much windier. The wind made walking on the crunchy leaves a little easier. I would move when the wind rattled the beech leaves and stand still when there was a lull. While I didn't see anything, I thought I heard a deer bound away from the other side of a blow down thirty yards ahead of me. The young firs were so thick, however, that I didn't even see a tail.

Oh, well.

Tomorrow starts rifle season. Bucks only which makes it even more of a challenge. There area few vehicles in the camps further up the road--the ones without power, but compared to other years, there are far fewer. Several regulars at those camps have told Mark when they were up to do maintenance that they had no intention of hunting in the area this year. They normally go deep into the woods and...well...they aren't getting any younger and don't relish the idea of having to be carried out on a stretcher as three guys were in '06, '07' and '08; haven't seen any (or much) sign of deer; and/or would rather hunt in other areas or states.

Me? I'd love to get deep into the woods but do not want to think about how I'd get that big buck out should I get lucky. Especially now that Mark has finally found himself a piece of work that will keep him busy for five or six weeks which means I'll be on my own here for a while after the other guys take off.

Anyway, I've got to get back to PA for two or three days. Terry and I will be going on a wine tour of the Seneca Lake region on Sunday with Gary and Anya. It's a bus tour and includes a brunch at Castle Griesch just north of Watkins Glen. Should be a lot of fun.

I'll be packing up my laundry and heading home tomorrow morning but will be back on Monday or Tuesday. Then I'll have to return to PA for Election Day the Tuesday after. Up. Down. Up. Down. I'm starting to feel like a yo-yo.

******

Weather! You can have it! Snow flurries last night--a couple of inches fell to the west and south of here and Mark says there were even one or two on the ground where he was working over near Fonda, but it all melted lickety-split-- and a morning low of around 25 degrees. BUT, next week, the weatherman says it will be in the high 60s and maybe even 70 from Monday through Thursday. That's fishing weather! NOT hunting weather!

Bolt Hole Report, October 19, 2010

Still nothing.

After doing some shopping yesterday I went out and sat in one spot until dusk. Saw nothing but chickadees and one red squirrel set to silent running mode. Perhaps that squirrel was reacting to my presence or to the sound of yipping, whining, barking coyotes I heard in the not too far away distance. They were heading away from where I was, however.

This morning we had 25 degrees on the thermometer at 6 AM. This, as can be expected, produced one very heavy frost on all surfaces. Moving around fixing breakfast and building up the fires in the wood stoves, I felt like hell and decided I would not go out. Instead, I watched a doe and her fawn from my back window. They were only there fro a few minutes before trotting off to the west behind the barn. They were here yesterday morning, too, with another small doe in their wake.

I felt better about staying in when I realized the fallen leaves would snap, crackle and pop under foot if I went out to do any walking. At least that's the sound they would have made until the lake effect rain that fell at 8 AM. That rain melted the frost even though the temperatures were still just around the freezing mark.

Mark did go out to check the game cameras but he was back before 8 AM, also. The cameras did show the doe and her fawn and a 4-point buck...at 3 AM. Where he and his fellow males are holding up during the shooting hours is anybody's guess. Should the rut start, however, they'll be chasing the does around.

Weather.com is saying it will be cold again tonight but there should be no showers tomorrow. (Today we had a little of this and a little of that all day long.) Thursday afternoon and night might bring some snow flurries this way. The average date for the first snow fall is around October 22nd in this area so that's right on the money.

College Football: Pre Week 8 BCS Poll

The initial BCS Rankings came out this week. And there’s plenty of fodder for those who think the BCS needs to be replaced with a playoff system. Right at the top of the list, we have Oklahoma with a ranking of 0.922 over Oregon (0.892). The AP Poll has Oregon #1 and Oklahoma is #3.

Below we have the entire Top 25 according to the BCS rankings.

1 Oklahoma 0.922
2 Oregon 0.892
3 Boise State 0.89
4 Auburn 0.864
5 TCU 0.857
6 LSU 0.825
7 Michigan State 0.763
8 Alabama 0.665
9 Utah 0.654
10 Ohio State 0.573
11 Missouri 0.549
12 Stanford 0.537
13 Wisconsin 0.534
14 Oklahoma State 0.526
15 Iowa 0.482
16 Nebraska0.43
17 Florida State 0.427
18 Arizona 0.381
19 Texas 0.221
20 West Virginia 0.181
21 South Carolina 0.156
22 Kansas State 0.142
23 Arkansas 0.132
24 Mississippi State 0.125
25 Virginia Tech 0.066

College Football: Week 8 Polls and Opponents

Well, as to be expected, there are lots of new positions and a few new names in the Top 25. And, unlike previous weeks, there are just 25 teams as all three polls seem to agree as to which teams belong if not where. The BCS Rankings will also be out this week. I’ll post those separately.

[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]

1/1/1 Oregon (6-0) The Ducks put their #1 ranking on the line Thursday night against the UCLA Bruins (3-3).

2/2/2 Boise State (6-0) The Broncos will face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-4) on Tuesday, the 26th.

3/3/4 Oklahoma (6-0) The Sooners play at #18 Missouri Tigers (6-0).

4/4/3 TCU (7-0) The Horned Frogs will host the Air Force Falcons (5-2).

5/5/5 Auburn (7-0) The Tigers will host the #6 LSU Tigers (7-0). I predict the Tigers will win and remain undefeated!

6/6/7 LSU (7-0) See above.

7/7/6 Alabama (6-1) The Tife rolls into Tennessee (2-4) this week.

8/8/8 Michigan State (7-0) The Spartans are on the road against the Northwestern Wildcats (5-1).

9/9/9 Utah (6-0) The Utes host the Colorado State Rams (2-5).

10/11/10 Wisconsin (6-1) The Badgers will play at #13 Iowa Hawkeyes (5-1).

11/10/11 Ohio State (6-1) The Buckeyes host the Purdue Boilermakers (4-2).

12/14/13 Stanford (5-1) The Cardinal play at the Washington State Cougars (1-6).

13/12/16 Iowa (5-1) The Hawkeyes host the #10 Wisconsin Badgers (6-1).

14/13/14 Nebraska (5-1) The Cornhuskers play at #17 Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0).

15/18/15 Arizona (5-1) The Wildcats host the Washington Huskies (3-3).

16/17/18 Florida State (6-1) The Seminoles are idle this week.

17/15/12 Oklahoma State (6-0) The Cowboys host the #14 Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1).

18/16/17 Missouri (6-0) The Tigers will host the #3 Oklahoma Sooners (6-0).

19/20/22 South Carolina (4-2) The Gamecocks play at the home of the Vanderbilt Commodores (3-4)

20/19/21 West Virginia (5-1) The Mountaineers host the Syracuse Orange (4-2).

21/21/20 Arkansas (4-2) The Razorbacks host the Mississippi Rebels (3-3).

22/22/19 Texas (4-2) The Longhorns host the Iowa State Cyclones (3-4).

23/23/23 Virginia Tech (5-2) The Hoakies host the Duke Blue Devils (1-5).

24/24/25 Mississippi State (5-2) The Bulldogs host the UAB Blazers (2-4).

25/25/24 Miami (Fla.) (4-2) The Hurricanes host the North Carolina Tar Heels (4-2).

Bolt Hole Report, October 17, 2010

Nothing. That's what I saw today. Nothing.

Nice day, however, even if there was a weird wind blowing this afternoon. It just could not make up its mind as to which direction it should take. Using a little bottle of unscented talc, I would release a puff of powder into the air and watch it blow first in one direction and then, moments later in a 180 degree change. Once I swear I even saw the same little puff form a letter C in the air.

After getting up at 5:30 AM the last two days, I'm planning on sleeping in tomorrow. I've some shopping I need to do in the morning but I'll get myself back out there late in the afternoon.

College Football Week 7 Results

Oy! What a weekend! There’s a new #1 as Ohio State’s reign lasted just one week. Oregon remained perfect and has moved up into the #1 slot. Both #5 Nebraska went down as did #10 South Carolina. And Florida (#22) dropped its third game of the year. There are so many upsets this week that I'll keep my commentary brief and mark each with a * at the far left.

[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]

* 1/1/1 Ohio State (6-1) The Buckeyes lost to #18 Wisconsin (6-1) 31-18.

2/2/2 Oregon (6-0) The Ducks were idle this week.

3/3/3 Boise State (6-0) The Broncos routed the San Jose State Spartans (1-6) 48-0.

4/5/5 TCU(7-0) The Horned Frogs rolled over the BYU Cougars (2-5) 31-3.

* 5/4/4 Nebraska (5-1) The Cornhuskers fell to the Texas Longhorns (4-2) 20-13.

6/6/6 Oklahoma (6-0) The Sooners shutout the Iowa State Cyclones (3-4) 52-0.

7/7/7 Auburn (7-0) The Tigers managed to beat the #12 Arkansas Razorbacks (4-2) in a defensive struggle by a score of 65-48.

8/8/9 Alabama (6-1) The Crimson Tide beat the Mississippi Rebels (3-3) (now the Black Bear rebels?) 23-10.

9/9/11 LSU (7-0) The Tigers beat the FCS affiliated McNeese State Cowboys (2-4) 32-10.

* 10/12/8 South Carolina (4-2) The Gamecocks dropped a close one to the Kentucky Wildcats (4-3) 31-28 when they eschewed the possibility of a tying field goal in the waning moments ant tried for the TD instead. The pass was intercepted in the end zone.

11/10/10 Utah (6-0) The Utes maintained their perfect record with a win over the Wyoming Cowboys (2-5) 30-6.

12/13/13 Arkansas (4-2) The Razorbacks were beaten by the #7 Auburn Tigers (7-0) 65-48. (Yeah, they played FOOTBALL not basketball.)

13/11/12 Michigan State (7-0) The Spartans beat the Illinois’ Fighting Illini (3-3) 26-6.

14/15/14 Stanford (5-1) The Cardinal had the week off.

15/14/16 Iowa (5-1) The Hawkeyes beat the Michigan Wolverines (5-2) 38-28. And Michigan needed 21 fourth quarter points to make it that close.

16/17/17 Florida State (6-1) The Seminoles beat the Boston College Eagles (2-4)24-19.

17/20/15 Arizona (5-1) The Wildcats beat the Washington State Cougars (1-6) 24-7.

18/16/21 Wisconsin (6-1) The Badgers upset the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1) 31-18.

* 19/21/18 Nevada (6-1) The Wolf Pack lost their first of the year to Hawaii (5-2) 27-21.

20/18/19 Oklahoma State (6-0) The Cowboys got 21 points in the first quarter and went on to roll over the Red Raiders of Texas Tech (3-3) 34-17.

21/19/23 Missouri (6-0) The Tigers stay perfect with a 30-9 road win over the Texas A&M Aggies (3-3).

* 22/22/20 Florida (4-3) The Gators dropped their third of the year to the Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-2) 10-7.

* 23/23/25 Air Force (5-2) The Falcons lost a squeaker to the San Diego State Aztecs (4-2) 27-25. Air Force failed to convert two 2-point attempts in the second half.

* 24/NR/NR Oregon State (3-3) lost in double overtime to the Washington Huskies (3-3) 35-34.

25/25/NR West Virginia (5-1) The Mountaineers beat the South Florida Bulls (3-3) Thursday night 20-6.

NR/24/22 Michigan (5-2) The Wolverines lost to the #15 Iowa Hawkeyes (5-1) 38-28.

NR/NR/24 Miami (Fla.) (4-2) The Hurricanes beat the Duke Blue Devils (1-5) 28-13.

Bolt Hole Report, October 14, 2010

Well...I'm back at the Bolt Hole for a week. New York's muzzle loader season starts tomorrow morning and I've got my smoke pole with me. It's an either sex season and the freezer is empty so I'll me playing the "if-it's-brown-it's-down" game. I usually don't like to do that since the doe is mighty important in helping to "grow the herd" but so far this summer, the "herd" has been two does, one fawn and not much else. I'll also be confining myself to the 40-50 acres of land immediately surrounding the cabin (34 of them are mine to begin with while there's 10K acres of state land abutting me) since it currently looks like I'll be on my own. Mark hasn't been seen for nearly a week.

Might get off to a slow start tomorrow, too. The nor'easter that's sitting in New England has been spinning lots of cold, wet air over the southwest Dacks where the Bolt Hole is located and it's currently raining cats and dogs. Could be worse. The radar shows some purple and blue areas over the High Peaks region to the northeast. Those colors usually indicate ice and snow. The temperature here (at 1800 feet) is just 41 degrees so those peaks--which reach over 5K feet--could easily be getting snow. In fact, I just checked the Mt. Washington Observatory web page and they have 30 degrees and snow with winds gusting up to 60 mph. Can't see anything through their web cams since there's snow caked up on all the lenses.

Anyway, the rain is supposed to continue through the night before slacking off to showers in the morning. I'll be out as soon as the rain lets up but will be really, really careful about those wet rocks, roots and leaves. No need to go wrenching my knee again like last year!

I remember...

I remmebr watching those instructional painting shows on PBS. A guy or a gal would come on the air with a blank canvas on the easel in front of them, a brush in one hand, and a palette of colors hooked over the other thumb. He'd start talking and his brush would go ZIP! ZIP! ZIP! and there would be a mountain range or a tree trunk festooned with multiple branches. Another little quiet--almost whispered--series of words that sounded more like an incantation than a description and the mountains would frame a forest rimmed lake or the tree would spout leaves of many colors.

In half an hour, the artist host would produce a finished product that could hang on any wall. Oh, it wasn't "great art" or any thing. You could tell that. I mean, the dude wasn't starving, or trying to make a "statement" or anything like that. They just wanted to finish a good painting in a brief period of time. What was on that easel at the end of 30 minutes could hang on anyone's wall, however, and draw compliments. It was magic!

I've no idea how many aspiring artists/hobbyists these folks inspired--or scared away--over the years, but they could easily instill a feeling of incompetence in someone just starting out. It would be like watching Harlon Ellison write a Nebula winning novel in one week--while sitting in a store front window. Or Isaac Asimov write a Hugo winning short story--on the table cloth while waiting for after dinner coffee to be served. Guaranteed to produce a life-time case of writer's block in a novice.

Bob Ross one one of those.


see more Very Demotivational

Very Cool Ad!

Yeo Valley Dairy Ad
Rapping Dairy Farmers? Guess not all rap is crap.



(lifted from Theo Spark he's always got some every cool stuff; day in and day out.)

Aerie Report, October 13. 2010

Quite cold when I woke this morning with a heavy frost over everything standing still. The thermometer read just 26 degrees at 6:30 AM before the sun came up over the hill. It was nearly 10 AM before the frost had melted and there was a steady drip of water off the eaves of the cabin. Still, it was time to pack up the truck, hook up the utility trailer and shuffle off down the road to Pennsylvania.

The weather was great and the ride went smoothly except for a long delay at the toll booth off the Geneva exit of the NYS Thruway. No idea what the problem was but I've never seen such a long line at this booth before. If I had not had the trailer, I would have been using the EZ-Pass lane...which was empty. Instead I was using the lone manned toll booth and it was 1) slow and 2) extremely crowded. Oh, well, at least no one in front of me had any annoying liberal bumper stickers. And I got to listen to Rush Limbaugh a little longer.

******

I returned to the Aerie today dragging the log splitter and utility trailer along with me, but there were several reasons for my trip down to PA besides the return of the trailer and splitter. In no particular order they include:
1- I needed to do my laundry
2- It's supposed to rain--hard--for two days but harder near the Bolt Hole than the Aerie
3- I needed to check my snail mail
4- I needed a change in diet--preferably to something I didn't have to cook
5- I was getting lonely
6- I missed Terry (not necessarily the same as feeling lonely, if you catch my drift)
7- I did not miss the cats. Nor did they miss me. They regularly ignore me on a normal basis except when it is meal time.

******

I'll be returning to the Bolt Hole on Friday so as to "participate" in the muzzle loader hunt. (Well, maybe those quotation marks are uncalled for. I will be out hunting. It's the finding and shooting that may be lacking.)

Come to Australia...NOT!

Call it a "demotivational" theme song for the Australian Tourist Board.



Yeah. really makes me want to hop on a jet and fly 12 hours (or more) to the gorgeous land down under.

(h/t Theo Spark)

College Football: Week 7 Polls and Opponents

Quite a few new positions for the teams in the Top 25 this week. There’s a new #1 in Ohio State, of course and Oregon has leapt into the #2 slot ahead of both Boise State and TCU who are hurt not by their play but their conference affiliation. Both Alabama (now #8) and Florida (#22) have dropped down in the polls due to losses (in Florida’s case, their second defeat). The number of undefeated teams has decreased, too, as might be expected.

Could be some more shake-ups in store after this weekend as #1 Ohio State plays #18 Wisconsin, #7 Auburn is up against #12 Arkansas, and #15 Iowa faces Michigan.

[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]

1/1/1 Ohio State (6-0) The Buckeyes take their perfect record and #1 ranking to #18 Wisconsin (5-1).

2/2/2 Oregon (6-0) The Ducks are idle this week.

3/3/3 Boise State (5-0) The Broncos head for the coast to play the San Jose State Spartans (1-5).

4/5/5 TCU(6-0) The Horned Frogs will host the BYU Cougars (2-4).

5/4/4 Nebraska (5-0) The Cornhuskers will host the Texas Longhorns (3-2).

6/6/6 Oklahoma (5-0) The Sooners host the Iowa State Cyclones (3-3).

7/7/7 Auburn (6-0) The Tigers will host the #12 Arkansas Razorbacks (4-1)

8/8/9 Alabama (5-1) The Crimson Tide will host the Mississippi Rebels (3-2).

9/9/11 LSU (6-0) The Tigers will play host to the FCS affiliated McNeese State Cowboys (2-3).

10/12/8 South Carolina (4-1) The Gamecocks hit the road to play the Kentucky Wildcats (3-3).

11/10/10 Utah (5-0) The Utes take their show on the road to face the Wyoming Cowboys (2-4).

12/13/13 Arkansas (4-1) The Razorbacks are on the road against the #7 Auburn Tigers (6-0).

13/11/12 Michigan State (6-0) The Spartans will square off at home against the Illinois’ Fighting Illini (3-2).

14/15/14 Stanford (5-1) The Cardinal have the week off.

15/14/16 Iowa (4-1) The Hawkeyes play at Michigan (5-1).

16/17/17 Florida State (5-1) The Seminoles play host to the Boston College Eagles (2-3).

17/20/15 Arizona (4-1) The Wildcats head north to face the Washington State Cougars (1-5).

18/16/21 Wisconsin (5-1) The Badgers will host #1 Ohio State (6-0).

19/21/18 Nevada (6-0) The Wolf Pack are headed to Hawaii (4-2).

20/18/19 Oklahoma State (5-0) The Cowboys are on the road to face the Red Raiders of Texas Tech (3-2).

21/19/23 Missouri (5-0) The Tigers play on the road against the Texas A&M Aggies (3-2).

22/22/20 Florida (4-2) The Gators will host the Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-2).

23/23/25 Air Force (5-1) The Falcons head west to play the San Diego State Aztecs (3-2).

24/NR/NR Oregon State (3-2) will head north to face the Washington Huskies (2-3).

25/25/NR West Virginia (4-1) The Mountaineers will host the South Florida Bulls (3-2) in this week’s Thursday night game.

NR/24/22 Michigan (5-1) The Wolverines host the #15 Iowa Hawkeyes (4-1).

NR/NR/24 Miami (Fla.) (3-2) The Hurricanes travel north to face the Duke Blue Devils (1-4).

Jets 29, Vikings 20and a little bit more

I hate Monday night football. And Sunday night football. And any weeknight football that starts after 7 PM Eastern. Invariably these games run very late into the night and mean it's often the nextday when the lights go out for some sleep. It's not so bad now that I'm retired and have only Terry, myself, and the cats to answer to, but back when I was teaching, those days-after-football always dragged.

Way back, when Dandy Don Merideth, Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford were doing the announcing on ABC's version of MNF, I belonged to a fall bowling league that met on Monday night. We'd start bowling around 7 PM and the football game would kick-off on the lounge's TV screen at 9 PM. (They had a a later starting time back then.) If the game included either the Jets or Giants...well, it was after midnight when the game ended and some of us made our way home.

I've not seen any studies done on it, but I'm pretty sure that workers' productivity is reduced considerably in the east coast cities with strong fan bases when their teams play on one of the night games. Folks either call in sick, late or merely drag their sorry butts through the day stoking on aspirin and caffeine on a regular basis. It can't be that bad in the rest of the country. Hell, a 9 PM Eastern time start is just 6 PM on the left coast.

(Much of the above also applies to major league baseball, NBA, and NHL post season games with the added problem that they often start at 7 or 8 PM in their local time zone.
Almost makes moving to the west coast imaginable--except for all that lefty political stuff.)

******

Last night, the Jets' game was scheduled to start at 8:30 PM but thunder, lightening and hail storms in the area caused a postponement until 9 PM and then 9:10 and finally 9:30 PM. Pregame shows on TV being what they are today, I'm sorta glad I don't have ESPN, cable or satellite here at the Bolt Hole. You can only listen to so much "expert analysis" --if you know what I mean.

I followed the game on the computer via CBSSports.com and their Gametracker and the radio. (ESPN radio was available although. sometimes, I can pick up the NYC area stations.) Pretty dull first half with neither team getting into the end zone but Nick Faulk of the Jets managed to connect on three field goals of 25, 53 and 22 yards to give the Jets a 9-0 lead at the half.

The third quarter was more offensive struggle but Faulk connected on two more FGs (34 and 31 yards) which served as bookends for a Favre-to-Moss TD for the Vikings and when the quarter ended the Jets lead was 15-7.

But the fourth quarter...ah, the fourth quarter...A combined four (4) touchdowns--two by each team--on "drives" of 5, 6, 5 and 0 plays that covered distances of 65, 66, 54, and 26 yards. (The last score in that series came on a Dwight Lowery interception of a Brett Favre pass, hence "0" plays and just 26 yards.)

The first fourth-quarter TD came early in the quarter (12:47 remaining) when Percy Harvin and Brett Favre connected on 34 yard pass and made the score 15-13. A two point conversion could have tied it, but the Vikings' try failed.

Then it was the Jets' turn as Shonn Greene scored with 4:30 on the clock on a 26 yard run. Extra point by Faulk and the Jets went up 22-13.

Vikings Favre-to-Harvin combination worked again on an 11-yard TD pass with the clock reading 3:09. They kicked the extra point this time and the score was 22-20.

The Jets' offense failed to answer on the next series and they had to punt the ball away. The Vikings had no timeouts but still had a chance with less than two minutes to play.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, Brett Favre committed his third turnover of the game. He had lost two fumbles in the first half which led to Faulk field goals, but this time an errant pass ended up in the hands of Dwight Lowery who returned the ball 26 yards for a back-breaking TD at the 1:30 mark. The Faulk extra point made it 29-20.

Having pulled one out when the offense wasn't quite clicking, the Jets are now 3-1. The Vikings drop to 1-3.

It was around 12:30 AM Eastern when the game finally ended.

I still hate Monday Night Football, but I liked last night's results.

******

Now about that critter running around in the attic at 4 AM.... Don't know what it is, too big for a freakin' mouse and at that hour I do not think it would be a red squirrel. Perhaps it's a weasel wearing freakin' combat boots.

Raises a ruckus for about 15 minutes or so as it scurries over the floor boards and between the planks serving as wall sheathing--and then everything is silent again.

A weasel would explain why I haven't caught any more mice in the traps on the shelf. Or even heard one tap dancing on the collection of tins that shelf holds.

Bolt Hole Report, October 10, 2010

BRRRRR! Just 27 degrees at 7 AM this morning. Everything was covered with frost. Again, I waited until the sun had a chance to melt/dry things out before I ventured outside to do my chores. That took until after 10 AM since there's a slight rise (can't call it a hill) to the southeast that keeps the sun in hiding far longer than one might expect. Plus the line of trees on the south side of the yard casts some pretty long shadows early in the day.

Any who...I got the log splitter up on the utility trailer and moved it off to the side of the yard so I could then pull the travel trailer out of the garage and have lots of room to work.

First I drained the hot water heater tank and let it dribble a little more each time I entered the trailer. I then pulled the plug on the fresh water carrying tank and let that drain. Next I pulled the trailer up onto some 2 x 6s so as to have it list in the proper direction so the black and gray water tanks could be completely drained. Ran a l-o-o-o-n-g series of garden hoses from the basement pump out to the trailer so I could flush out the black water tank completely. Satisfied that all water and "stuff" had been drained, I went on to pump antifreeze into the lines and traps.

That's when I ran into some trouble. The hand pump worked beautifully to suck antifreeze out of the jugs, but the inlet hose kept popping off the valve due to the pressure. Two hands were required to handle the pump but somehow I also had to push the hose into the inlet or it would come spurting off with every stroke on the pump. I needed a third hand to accomplish anything.

That's when my prayers were answered. All day there had been cars coming up the road, stopping and turning around, but, just when I needed help, a car stopped in the driveway. "Hey. How are you doing?" came the introductory question. Then I learned that the person asking it was a retired state trooper and he used to visit the Bolt Hole on a regular basis back int he '50s when the man he called Uncle owned the place. In the car were his wife (a teacher) and two sons (one a LEO and the other hoping to become one). "I've been up here several times hoping to get a look at the place but no one is ever here. I spent a lot of time here as a kid visiting Uncle Billy. Got a photo album in the car if you got a minute."

Oh boy did I have a minute! There were black and white pictures of what the place used to look like. Of his Uncle and some of the men he used to guide. Of the deer and trout they used to kill and catch. Of the draft horses that used to work the place. We chatted about the place and the area as I drooled over the 8, 10, and--omygod!!-- 12-point bucks hanging on the porch! The hand fed foxes. The hand fed deer!!! And on and on. He had a picture of himself and his dad sitting on the porch steps holding a .22 rifle. "The same one I've got in the car. Say, you wouldn't mind if we took some pictures over there, would you?"

"As long as you will give me a hand with the trailer when we're done."

They took their pictures and I showed them around inside the cabin.

"So much is the same, but the additions are beautiful."

Then we traded addresses and telephone numbers so they can send me some copies of the pictures in his album and he helped me pump antifreeze into the trailer's water lines.

Talk about serendipity!

College Football Week 6 Results

What a weekend! #1 Alabama lost to #19 South Carolina, #12 LSU squeeked by #14 Florida, #13 Miami (Fla.) got chewed up and spit out by #24 Florida State, and #17 Michigan State rolled over #18 Michigan. Number 9 Arizona got upset by the Oregon State Beavers, # 6 Auburn barely escaped against the Kentucky Wildcats, and #16 Stanford needed a last second field goal themselves to defeat USC.
Bound to be a whole lot of shaking goin’ on in the polls this week!
[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]

1/1/1 Alabama (5-1) In what can only be described as a major upset, the Crimson Tide lost to the #19 South Carolina Gamecocks (4-1) by a score of 35-21 snapping Alabama’s 19-game winning streak. Stephen Garcia completed 17 of 20 passes for 201 yards and 3 TDs while Marcus Lattimore ran for 93 yards and 2 TDs and caught one of those passes from Garcia for a third. Greg McElroy completed 27 of 34 for 315 yards and 2 TDs for the losing Crimson Tide.

2/2/2 Ohio State (6-0) The Buckeyes scored the first 38 points and went on to beat Indiana Hoosiers (3-2) 38-10

3/3/3 Oregon (6-0) The Ducks “only” scored 43 points in beating Washington State Cougars (1-5) 43-23. LaMichael James ran for 136 yards and 2 TDs for the Ducks. He scored a third TD on an 84 yard pass from Darron Thomas. Thomas finished the day 8 of 12 for 153 yards and that one TD while sharing QB responsibilities with Nate Costa who was 13 of 15 for 151 yards and a TD.

4/4/4 Boise State (5-0) The Broncos romped over the Toledo Rockets (3-3) 57-14. With the help of a defense that forced 5 turnovers, the Broncos made mincemeat of Toledo. Kellen Moore completed 16 of 22 for 267 yards and 3 TDs. Jeremy Avery only had 7 carries for 42 yards, but he made them count with 3 rushing TDs.

5/5/5 TCU (6-0) The Horned Frogs had their second consecutive shutout of the season as they routed the Wyoming Cowboys (2-4) by a score of 45-0. Andy Dalton was 14 of 17 for 270 yards and 3 TDs and Ed Wesley ran 17 times for 115 yards and 1 TD as TCU schooled the Cowboys piling up 578 yards of net offense.

6/7/7 Oklahoma (5-0) The Sooners are idle this week.

7/6/6 Nebraska (5-0) The Cornhuskers trounced the Kansas State Wildcats (4-1) Thursday night 48-13. Quarterback Taylor Martinez rushed for 242 yards and 4 TDs on runs of 14, 35, 80 and 41 yards. Oh, and he completed 5 of 7 passes for 128 yards and a TD.

8/8/8 Auburn (6-0) The Tigers edged the Kentucky Wildcats (3-3) 37-34 on a field goal as the game clock ran out. And it was all Cam Newton for the Tigers. Newton rushed for 198 yards and 4 TDs while also completing 13 of 21 passes for 210 yards. Most importantly, after Kentucky had tied the game at 34 all with 7:31 on the game clock, Newton lead the Tigers down the field on the ground. He accounted for 74 yards on Auburn's clock-chewing, 19-play final drive, setting up Wes Byrum's 24-yard field goal as time expired. Randall Cobb accounted for four touchdowns for the Wildcats -- one passing, two running and one receiving.

9/11/10 Arizona (4-1) The Wildcats were upset by the Oregon State Beavers (3-2) 29-27. Ryan Katz threw for 393 yards and 2 TDs and also scored one on the ground. Nick Foles completed 35 of 46 for 440 yards and 3 TDs for the losing Wildcats.

10/10/9 Utah (5-0) The Utes scored 31 points in the second quarter as they rolled over the Iowa State Cyclones (3-3) 68-27. It wouldn’t have been this close if two early Utah turnovers hadn’t lead to Cyclone TDs in the first quarter. Jordan Wynn completed 23 of 31 passes for 325 yards and 2 TDs as Utah amassed 593 yards of net offense. Reggie Dunn had a 100 yard kick return for a TD and Joe Phillips booted four field goals of 23, 25, 22, 33 yards for the Utes.

11/13/14 Arkansas (4-1) The Razorbacks beat the Texas A&M Aggies (3-2) 24-17. Ryan Mallet completed 27 of 38 passes for 310 yards (nearly half of them in the first quarter) and 3 TDs. Jeff Fuller made 8 catches for 154 yards and 1 TD for the Aggies.

12/9/13 LSU (6-0) The Tigers edged the #14 Florida Gators (4-2) 33-29 in a come-from-behind, fake-field-goal sorta way. They might want to add Mallox to the LSU dinning room table. Jordan Jefferson ran for 2 TDs and Terrence Toliver scored twice on Jarret Lee passes for the Tigers.

13/14/17 Miami (Fla.) (3-2) The Hurricane were upset by the #24 Florida State Seminoles (5-1) 45-17. Jermaine Thomas scored 3 TDs (one on a pass, two on the ground) in the first half and Chris Thompson capped the Seminole scoring on a 90 yard run from scrimmage in the fourth quarter.

14/12/15 Florida (4-2) The Gators lost a close one to the #12 LSU Tigers (6-0) 33-29.

15/15/16 Iowa (4-1) The Hawkeyes are idle this week.

16/18/19 Stanford (5-1) The Cardinal edged the Southern California Trojans (4-2) 37-35 on a 30-yard Nate Whitaker field goal on the final play of the game. This is the second consecutive game USC has lost on field goals as the clock expires. Last week it was 32-31 to Washington. Talk about bad luck. Now, about Good Luck…Andrew Luck was 20 of 24 for 285 yards and 3 TDs for the Cardinal. Matt Barkley was 28 of 45 for 390 yards and 3 TDs—all to Robert woods who had 12 catches for 224 yards—for the losing Trojans.

17/16/12 Michigan State (6-0) The Spartans rolled over the #18 Michigan Wolverines (5-1) 34-17. Denard Robinson completed 17 of 29 passes for 1 YD for the Wolverines. Unfortunately, he also tossed 3 INTs. Edwin baker ran 22 times for 147 yard and 1 TD (on a 61 yard run) for the Spartans.

18/17/11 Michigan (5-1) The Wolverines lost to the #17 Michigan State Spartans (6-0) 34-17.

19/20/18 South Carolina (4-1) The Gamecocks manhandled the #1 Alabama (5-1) 35-21.

20/19/21 Wisconsin (5-1) The Badgers beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-5) 41-23 to retain the Paul Bunyan Axe for the seventh consecutive year. John Clay carried the ball 21 times for 111 yards and three TDs and James White 19 times for 118 yards and 2 TDs for the Badgers.

21/23/20 Nevada (6-0) The Wolfpack beat the San Jose State Spartans (1-5) 35-13. Colin Kaepernick completed 20 of 27 passes for 273 yards but not one TD came via the air. Instead, Kaepernick rushed 17 times for 91 yards and 2 TDs and Vai Taua 16 times for 196 yards and 3 TDs—including one of 73 yards—for the Wolfpack.

22/21/22 Oklahoma State (5-0) The Cowboys beat the Ragin’ Cajuns: Louisiana-Lafayette (2-3) 54-28 despite trailing at the half 21-17 when the Cajuns scored 21 points in the second quarter on a combination of offense and defensive scores. It must have woken up the Cowboys who put together their own offense-defense-offense scores in the third quarter and tacked on a field goal for good measure in posting 24 points in the third and another 13 in the fourth. Brandon Weeden completed 29 of 47 passes for 351 yards and 5 TDs for OK State.

23/24/23 Florida State (5-1) The Seminoles beat the #13 Miami (Fla.) Hurricane (3-2) 45-17.

24/22/NR Missouri (5-0) The Tigers shut out the Colorado Buffaloes (3-2) 26-0. Blaine Gabbert was 17 of 29 for 191 yards and 2 TDs for Missouri.

25/NR/NR Air Force (5-1) The Falcons routed the Colorado State Rams (1-5) 49-27. Uncharacteristically, three of the Falcons’ six offensive TDs came via the air. Tim Jefferson connected with Zach Kauth on passes of 27 and 19 yards and Ben Cochran completed a 25 yard TD pass to Chaz Demerath. Jonathan Warzeka also had a TD on a 100-yard kickoff return for Air Force.

NR/25/NR Northwestern (5-1) The Wildcats were knocked from the ranks of the undefeated by the Purdue Boilermakers (3-2) 20-17.

NR/NR/24 Southern California (4-2) The Trojans lost to the #16 Stanford Cardinal (5-1) 37-35 on a last second field goal.

NR/NR/25 North Carolina State (5-1) the Wolfpack rolled over the Boston College Eagles (2-3) 44-17. D.J. Green had a blocked punt recovery for a TD and C.J. Wilson returned an interception 28 yards for a TD for the Wolfpack. On offense, Russell Wilson completed 38 of 51 attempts for 328 yards and 3 TDs.

Bolt Hole Report, October 9, 2010

A beautiful fall day here at the Bolt Hole. The sun was out all day and a cool breeze shook the leaves all day as the temperature never got above 55 degrees. It'll get a good deal cooler tonight as there are freeze warnings up all over the north country.

******

My day started out pretty good at 7 AM when I rolled out of bed and looked out the window. Oh my Lord! There was a deer standing in the backyard! It was a doe and Mark and I previously had passed on shooting does--but the freezer is empty and venison is needed. I dressed hurriedly. (Although I didn't really have to, this deer was nibbling the grass and the shrubs at a leisurely pace.) I got downstairs and picked up my bow and snuck out the front door. I cautiously made my way around the west end of the cabin and between the shed the cabin.

There she was! Just 10 FEET away head down and still chewing grass. Slowly I lifted my bow and began to draw back...and she looked right at me, snorted, did a 180 and bounded into the trees of the apple orchard 15 YARDS away where she stopped, turned and faced me head on. She stomped her front feet several times and then did a little dance as she moved back and forth raising and stomping her forefeet time and again. I couldn't figure out why she had stopped at first and was content to watch and look for another opportunity to go to full draw on my bow. Then I saw it, out of the corner of my eye, and tucked behind some shrubs and the rest of the shed, the doe's fawn. Her stomping the ground was as much a message to the young one as it was to me. She wanted her baby to come to her. Now! Dammit!

The little one probably never saw me, but as I began to try to raise my bow again, Mom turned, raised her tail up high to present a clear white flag of danger and trotted off down the trail to the woods with her youngster bounding along after her with its own white flag aflyin'.

I guess there could have been a better start to my day, but watching her dance was pretty cool. Oh well, I didn't really want to shot her anyway. (Of course, if it was muzzle loader season--which starts in a week or so--she'd be hanging from a meat pole to age for a few days.) We've got game camera picks of her and her twins from early in the summer. She lost one somewhere along the way and the one that's left is nearly full size already.

******

After breakfast I let the sun have an opportunity to dry off this morning dew and then went outside to start hauling firewood into the shed. I've a big construction grade wheelbarrow which comes in handy for such chores as well as moving soil or mixing cement. Today I put it to good use moving firewood.

From the pile of split wood near the barn to the woodshed it's about 30 to 40 yards and slightly up hill. I loaded the wheelbarrow with 25-30 splits of firewood and pushed it back and forth all day. In the woodshed, I would unload the wheelbarrow and stack the wood. Every five trips or so I would stop and take a break for a drink of water, lunch, toilet break, or just to give my aching back a respite. I worked from 9 AM until 5 PM by which time my back, legs, arms...hell, all of me ached. But I got it all moved into the woodshed attached to the house. There will be no stealing of firewood out of the barn this winter!

After, I went down to the grocery store to buy myself a nice strip steak and some ice cream. I thought I had earned them.

******

Tomorrow I'll have to clean up some of the debris from the log splitting/wood pile. There's lots of loose bark and wood chips laying around on the grass.

Then it will be time to load the log splitter onto the utility trailer and move it out of the way.

After that, I'll haul the travel trailer out into the sun so I can go about draining the tanks. That will require running a garden hose out to the trailer from the basement of the cabin. (I've no outside faucets...yet.) Once the tanks are flushed and emptied, I'll have to put some RV antifreeze into the water lines and tanks just in case there's condensation or residue water that I couldn't get out. Don't want that stuff forming sharp-edged plates of ice inside plastic tubing, pipes and tanks!

Just another lazy Sunday.

Bolt Hole Report, October 7, 2010

It's been a couple of very wet days here at the Bolt Hole. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we had rain, rain, rain! But the night time temperatures did warm up a bit. Never got below the low 40s since the rain came from the south.

Today started much the same way as the previous three days: overcast and rainy. But the sun did finally make an appearance around noon and remained for most of the afternoon hours. Of course, that sun needed help in making its appearance. There was lots of wind pushing the rain away and that has continued through into the darkness of night.

******

I mostly lolled around the living room of the Bolt Hole the first three days of the week planning my attack on the electrical wiring in the basement. Today, I got enough courage to actually get to work. Having (nearly) all the material on hand, I strapped on my miners lamp and attacked the old system with gusto. I removed nearly all the old canvas covered, ungrounded wire that ran in the basement. There's still quite a bit of the stuff running through the old portion of the first floor living quarters but that would require dismantling walls, ceilings and floors to replace. Ain't gonna do that just yet. I ran some brand new 12-2 grounded wire to replace the old stuff. Set up two new circuits from those that were already pretty confused. I had to split one circuit in half since I thought there were too many lights/outlets on it. And I also put in a couple of new junction boxes so as to bring one lonesome light into the fold of another rather small circuit. (Why in the world was there just one (1) basement light on a 25 amp circuit all by it's lonesome?)

I only had three moments of uncertainty. One was when I accidentally brushed a ground wire across a live circuit and got a loud POP! and a puff of smoke as I tripped a breaker. Scared the bejeesus out of me! Another time I got a wild tingly feeling in my finger when I brushed that against a bare wire. Believe me when I say I have the utmost respect for electricians working around life current!

The third moment of uncertainty was when, having--I thought--wired the basement lights up correctly, I flipped the circuit breaker on only to have it go all snap, crackle and pop on me and flip off immediately. Four or five times, as I tried to remember how to wire a distant switch to the closer light. After trying a few different permutations (and replacing a GD burned out light bulb!) I finally got it to work. That the problem with doing things only on rare occasions; you forget how to do them. That and all my Time Life home repair books are at the Aerie.

Well, I survived. And it's been a few hours since I flipped the circuit breakers on and the place hasn't burned down--yet, so I must have done a decent job. Once more the Good Enough Construction Company has triumphed!

******

The rain and the wind of the last two weeks has knocked most of the leaves off the trees. all that's left are those that haven't changed yet or that are in the process of changing. Lots of bare trees on the way down the hill to the hardware and grocery stores. It's been a weird and fast fall.

The weekend is supposed to be sunny and a bit warmer with highs into the 60s. Quite a change from the 50 degree days earlier this week. Might be time to get outside and do some more fair weather chores.

I'll have to get up on the woodshed roof and tar the living daylights out of the seam where it meets the the cabin roof. Too much rain water getting through the ever opening gap and that's part of the problem with the back walls of the woodshed that I mentioned the other day. Water leads to rot. Replacing that shed is starting to look like a 2011 summer project. It's a miracle it's stood up this long with the heavy snow/ice load it gets.

Once the roof is taken care of, I'll be able to use the wheelbarrow to haul the firewood inside to cure.

Then there's the winterizing of the travel trailer.

Did I mention that it is bow hunting season? HA!

College Football Week 6 Outlook Top 25 plus Opponents

Not too much change at the very top of the list, but from number 10 on down there’s been some movement up, down and all around. Almost everyone plays within their conference this week so there’s a lot on the line for nearly everyone. There are even a few games that pit ranked opponents against one another. #1 Alabama vs #19 South Carolina, #12 LSU vs #14 Florida, #13 Miami (Fla.) vs #24 Florida State, and #17 Michigan State vs #18 Michigan. Of course, in the last two, it wouldn’t matter if they were down around #115 or so, there is no love lost between teams in those patches!

Near the top of the list, the one big question everyone must be asking is: Will Wazzou be able to hold the Ducks to less than 100? (Current line is Oregon by 36 with an o/u probably in the basketball range.]

[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]


1/1/1 Alabama (5-0) The Crimson Tide are on the road against the #19 South Carolina Gamecocks (3-1).

2/2/2 Ohio State (5-0) The Buckeyes host the Indiana Hoosiers (3-1).

3/3/3 Oregon (5-0) The Ducks play at the home of the Washington State Cougars (1-4).

4/4/4 Boise State (4-0) The Broncos host the Toledo Rockets (3-2).

5/5/5 TCU (5-0) The Horned Frogs will host the Wyoming Cowboys (2-3).

6/7/7 Oklahoma (5-0) The Sooners are idle this week.

7/6/6 Nebraska (4-0) The Cornhuskers play on the road against the Kansas State Wildcats (4-0) Thursday night. [One of two games pitting two undefeated teams.]

8/8/8 Auburn (5-0) The Tigers play at the home of the Kentucky Wildcats (3-2).

9/11/10 Arizona (4-0) The Wildcats play host to the Oregon State Beavers (2-2).

10/10/9 Utah (4-0) The Utes play on the road against the Iowa State Cyclones (3-2).

11/13/14 Arkansas (3-1) The Razorbacks play at the home of the Texas A&M Aggies (3-1).

12/9/13 LSU (5-0) The Tigers are on the road against the #14 Florida Gators (4-1).

13/14/17 Miami (Fla.) (3-1) The Hurricane host the #24 Florida State Seminoles (4-1).

14/12/15 Florida (4-1) The Gators host the #12 LSU Tigers (5-0).

15/15/16 Iowa (4-1) The Hawkeyes are idle this week.

16/18/19 Stanford (4-1) The Cardinal hosts the Southern California Trojans (4-1).

17/16/12 Michigan State (5-0) The Spartans play on the road against the #18 Michigan Wolverines (5-0). [This is the other game pitting two undefeated teams. Some one has got to lose this one...right? They won't play for a tie. Right?]

18/17/11 Michigan (5-0) The Wolverines host the #17 Michigan State Spartans (5-0).

19/20/18 South Carolina (3-1) The Gamecocks will host #1 Alabama (5-0).

20/19/21 Wisconsin (4-1) The Badgers host the Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-4).

21/23/20 Nevada (5-0) The Wolfpack host the San Jose State Spartans (1-4).

22/21/22 Oklahoma State (4-0) The Cowboys play at the home of the Ragin’ Cajuns: Louisiana-Lafayette (2-2)

23/24/23 Florida State (4-1) The Seminoles are on the road against the #13 Miami (Fla.) Hurricane (3-1).

24/22/NR Missouri (4-0) The Tigers host the Colorado Buffaloes (3-1).

25/NR/NR Air Force (4-1) The Falcons host the Colorado State Rams (1-4).

NR/25/NR Northwestern (5-0) The Wildcats host the Purdue Boilermakers (2-2).

NR/NR/24 Southern California (4-1) The Trojans play at the home of the #16 Stanford Cardinal (4-1).

NR/NR/25 North Carolina State (4-1) The Wolfpack host the Boston College Eagles (2-2).

Bolt Hole Report, October 5, 2010Enough Already!

Jeeze, Louise! Last week when I was preparing to travel from the Aerie to the Bolt Hole, the weather forecasters were talking about a chance of showers on Monday and Tuesday of this week, but their numbers were in the 30 and 40% range. So what happens? It's been raining pretty steadily since Sunday evening and they now predict showers for the rest of the week (at least through Friday) in the 70 and 80% range.

As of now, the weekend is looking nice. Hope it stays that way. No, make that: I hope the forecasters are as accurate with this short range forecast as they were last Friday morning. (That would mean the sun will come out this afternoon and stay out for a week!)

******

At least the wood got split last Saturday. Unfortunately, it's been sitting in a heap out there in this rain and will be soaking wet when I finally get to go out a stack it.

As for where it will be stacked...Sunday Mark and I spent the morning bracing up the roof of the woodshed attached to the house. Then I spent some time moving the wood that was already in there into a more accessible location (away from the back wall and closer to the door to the kitchen) so I can put the newly spit wood in there to season a bit longer while still having some "older" wood to burn this fall.

Moving the firewood away from the wall exposed some serious damage to the exterior wall and one of the corners in particular. The damn thing was constructed on rough-cut 2 x 6 sills laid directly on the ground. Carpenter ants love that stuff! As does all sorts of fungi. In one corner, where the rain ans snow melt comes off of two roofs in large quantities, moisture, fungi and ants have pretty much turned a non-pressure treated rough-cut sill into soil and a post into so much lace. I'll probably spend lots more time replacing this wood shed in the near future so, for now, I simply braced that corner up as best I could so I can get the firewood inside when the weather does finally clear.

I should have been ready for all these Bolt Hole repairs after years of watching This Old House but most of them still are coming as a surprise.

******

I guess I'll have to switch over to some rainy-day projects.

Put on my electrician's hat and do some rewiring. Lots of canvas and tar wires that need to be replaced and a couple of 25-amp circuit breakers to be switched out to 15-amp service so the breakers can do their job of tripping off when the circuit is overloaded instead of having the outlet or junction boxes fry and, maybe, burning the place down.

Then there will be a trip to the grocery store. And, probably, the hardware store.

College Football Week 5 Results

Week 5

With so many games pitting ranked teams against another (#1 vs #7, #4 vs #9, #8 vs #21, #11 vs #24, and #17 vs #22). And with so many match-ups featuring two undefeated teams, the results of this week's games should bring about changes.

[The three numbers for the rankings are from the AP Top 25, The Harris Coaches’ Poll, and CBSSports.com. An “NR” means that that particular poll did Not Rank the team.]

1/1/1 Alabama (5-0) the Tide had little difficulty with #7 Florida (4-1) as the outmanned the Gators 31-6.

2/2/2 Ohio State (5-0) The Buckeyes started their Big 10 season with a 24-13 defeat of the Illini of Illinois (2-2).

3/3/3 Boise State (4-0) The Broncos romped over New Mexico State (0-4) as they shutout the Aggies 59-0.

4/4/5 Oregon (5-0) The Ducks’ LaMichael James rushed 31 times for 257 yards and 3 TDs and teammate Darron Thomas completed 20 of 29 passes for 238 yards and 3 TDs while rushing 15 times for 117 yards and another TD. Still, they trailed at the half 31-24 before scoring 28 unanswered second half points to beat #9 Stanford (4-1) 52-31.

5/5/4 TCU (5-0) The Horned Frogs shut out Colorado State (1-4) 27-0.

6/6/6 Nebraska (4-0) The Cornhuskers will have the week off.

7/7/8 Florida (4-1) The Gators lost to #1 Alabama (5-0) 31-6.

8/8/9 Oklahoma (5-0) The Sooners remained undefeated beating #21 Texas (3-2) 28-20.

9/13/12 Stanford (4-1) The Cardinal ran out of luck in the second half as they lost to #4 Oregon Ducks (5-0) 52-31.

10/11/7 Auburn (5-0) The Tigers tamed the La.-Monroe Lions (1-3) 52-3.

11/9/11 Wisconsin (4-1) The Badgers dropped their Big 10 season opener against #24 Michigan State (5-0) 34-24.

12/10/15 LSU (5-0) The Tigers got lucky when Tennessee (2-3) had too many men on the field on what could have been the last play of the game. Instead LSU got a second chance and scored a TD with no time on the clock to win 16-14.

13/12/10 Utah (4-0) The Utes will have the week off.

14/14/13 Arizona (4-0) The Wildcats will be idle this week.

15/15/17 Arkansas (3-1) The Razorbacks will also have the week off.

16/17/20 Miami (Fla.) (3-1) The Hurricane defeated the Clemson Tigers (2-2) 30-21.

17/18/18 Iowa (4-1) The Hawkeyes drubbed the #22 Penn State Nittany Lions (3-2) this week 24-3.

18/NA/16 Southern California(4-1)The Trojans lost a squeaker to the Washington Huskies (2-2) 32-31 when the Huskies' Erik Folk hit 32-yard field goal as time expired.

19/22/19 South Carolina (3-1) The Gamecocks have the week off.

20/19/14 Michigan (4-0) The Wolverines will play at Indiana (3-0).

21/16/24 Texas (3-2) The Longhorns lost to #8 Oklahoma Sooners (5-0) 28-20.

22/20/25 Penn State (3-2) The Nittany Lions go manhandled by the #17 Iowa Hawkeyes (4-1) 24-3.

23/NA/23 North Carolina State (4-1) The Wolfpack lead the Virginia Tech Hokies (3-2) 30-21 in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for NC State, Va Tech went on to score the final 20 points of the game and won pulling away 41-30.

24/21/21 Michigan State (5-0) The Spartans defeated the #11 Wisconsin Badgers (4-1) 34-24.

25/25/22 Nevada (5-0) The Wolfpack’s Vai Taua ran for 188 yards and 3 TDs. He also scored a TD on a Colin Kaepernick pass as Nevada beat UNLV (1-4) 44-26.

NA/22/NA Missouri (4-0) The Tigers have the week off.

NA/24/NA Oklahoma State (4-0) The Cowboys beat Texas A&M (3-1) 38-35.

Bolt Hole Report, October 2, 2010

I took advantage of today's cool temperatures, light breeze and fair skies to do all the wood splitting that needed to be done. It only took me from around 9:30 until 2:30 to get 'er done. The constant running of the log splitter was only interrupted when the tank ran dry and for a half hour lunch break. Now I've got a huge pile of split wood in need of stacking. That will be the job for tomorrow.

******

Meanwhile, Mark came over this evening to ask if I had moved all the wood from the barn the last time I was here. Er, NO. There was still a wheel barrow full or so left on the pallets. It was taken. How about the half dozen flag stones in front of the cabin door? he asked. Er, NO! didn't you take them? I tell you, this petty thievery is really starting to get me a little angry. I guess I can look forward to more firewood being stolen from the barn as soon as I get it stacked in there. Doesn't do any good to complain about it either. How do you trace flagstones and firewood when the former are pretty nondescript and the latter is burned to ash before you even know it's gone? I'd put an infrared game camera in the barn, but that would probably get stolen too.

******

On a positive side, the weather was gorgeous today. Just under 40 degrees when I got up at 6:30, it warmed to 50 degrees this afternoon. Barely broke a sweat as I did the wood splitting. There was a pretty strong upper elevation wind blowing from the north in the morning if the clouds were any indication, and the geese were taking advantage of that tail wind as skein after skein made their way south. before I started the splitter there was a constant honking of the high fliers overhead.

Tonight is supposed to be quite cool with the temperatures getting down close to 30 degrees. At least they've taken the rain out of the forecast. Good thing since it might have been snow flurries instead!

******

If I remember correctly, the dark bands at either end of the wooley bear are supposed to represent the fall and spring while the middle brown stretch is the winter. The larger the band the longer the season and, in the case of winter, the more severe. If that's correct, we are going to be in for one hell of a winter! THe three caterpillars I found today among the logs all sported very small black ends and long brown middles. Oh oh!

Bolt Hole Report, October 1, 2010

I enjoyed an uneventful ride to the northland. I ran into no rain although there were a few spots where it appeared that it had rained shortly before my arrival.

Radio news carried several reports of flooded roads but not where I was riding. Many of the rivers and streams I crossed were very high but that's to be expected. When I emptied the rain gauge this morning at the Aerie there was 5 inches of water in it. Syracuse reported only 2.66 inches but even that was good for a September record. (Most in any given 24-hour period in that city.)

I also heard on the radio that some sections of Route 11 around the Cortland area were affected by mud slides, but I skirted west of that area on Routes 13 and 281 and saw none of that. Then there were reports about a failed retaining wall in Polaski, NY on the Salmon River. Being on Lake Ontario, that was much further northwest than I was going. The West Canada Creek and Mohawk River were extremely high and, in spots, out of their banks, but even they were still below the danger levels.

The only traffic tie-up I saw was on I-481 where the southbound lanes were being closed so crews could install some new overhead signs.

Arriving at the Bolt Hole I unhitched the trailer and then checked in with Mark. He had a 5 gallon bucket sitting in his yard that had close to 7 inches of water in it. Since these buckets are pretty close to cylindrical--having the same diameter at the top and bottom--that 7 inches is within an inch or so of the real measure of rain in the area. Points east of here had even more. It didn't even stop raining over in Albany area until closer to 1 PM this afternoon.

The forecast for the area of the Bolt Hole is for a clear and very cool night (40 degrees or there abouts) and mostly sunny but cool (mid 50s) on Saturday. There's a chance of some more showers late Saturday night but that's about it until mid week.

Aerie Report, October 1, 2010

Unlike NYC to the east where the continuing rain has prompted flood watches and advisories...IN THE CITY, here at the Aerie the rain ended sometime around 3 AM this morning. It's still overcast and threatening, but the weather gurus are saying it's over. The same is pretty much true for the Bolt Hole to the north. The rain has ended and there's a promise of some sunshine this afternoon.

Flood watches and warnings still exist for much of the area between here and the Bolt Hole. The West and East Canada Creeks, and Mohawk River in the southwest 'Dacks will be cresting later today as the runoff from the smaller creeks and rivers reaches them. There don't seem to be any warnings around the Aerie. Perhaps the low level of the rivers before this event took place has something to do with the rapid step down from the flood warnings and watches of yesterday.

I've a few things to do this morning before I head to the Bolt Hole with the log splitter in tow for a couple of weeks of hunting and chores. Can't wait to see how things are along the way.

Later.