HJS

Right now the Susky at Harrisburg is in semi flood stage and air temps have been chilly for the past several days. This bodes well for spawning that generally occurs during most of May. Guess we shall see. HJS

Here in Maryland tornadoes are extremely rare. Seems every couple/several years one appears somewhere in MD, mostly in the southern region of the State. Quite frankly I dunno what I would do if one destroyed my house as well as surrounding houses like what I see on TV news.

Waaaaay back in the day, here in Maryland, maybe early 1950s, my mom would cook up American shad me and dad caught below Conowingo Dam for the family to eat (AKA: White shad). The white shad would be scaled, beheaded and gutted. The shad would be topped with several slices of bacon, covered tightly with foil, then slooow baked at lowish temps for hours. All shads and herring are absolutely loaded with hair-like Y bones. But the slow baking method dissolves most of the bones like the bones of canned sardines. We kids would eat the shad bones and all, no problem, good eats. Baked Whites were a favorite meal for the family. The taste is different than that of stripers and most other fresh and salt water fish…. But still, good eats. Later in life I would bake my own whites I’d catch the same way as my mom did. They made a great meal for my wife and kids. Then later still I branched out into canning herring (in jars) I’d catch below Conowingo Dam. I even tried canning hickories with good results…. But lots of work/mess/time went into canning. But then the full moratorium on white & hickory shad took effect in MD and that was the end of that. A few years later the moratorium included herring too. The moratorium is still in full effect here in MD. To this day I do indeed miss not being able to bake and eat my own white shad. Now I catch mostly of my shad C&R from Fletchers. Still fun, but no eats, dang-it!

I saw video coverage on TV news of several tall high-rise apartment buildings in Turkey collapsing completely down to the ground. The videos reminded me of the disaster movie call San Andreas, starring Dwayne Johnson, AKA: “The Rock”. In both the flick and the videos, High-rises were falling into other high rises and everything was coming down to ground level. What a major mess!!! Last I heard on this morning’s new, Feb8, the death toll has hit 8,000-10,000. I imagine the death toll will continue to rise for the next several weeks/months. My heart goes out to the folks of Turkey.

I’ve attended the Harrisburg outdoor show many times back when I was a younger buck mostly to staff a big booth for Maryland DNR. I definitely looked forward to the Show. Since I retired from DNR 2 decades ago I still go every 5 years or so just to see if it’s still there. As of recent I’ve aged out of the show. I still think about it when talk on SOL turns to the Harrisburg Outdoor Show. It is indeed a gigantic sportsmen show and is worth going at least once. Oh… and the hottest women back then staffed the Skoal Snuff booth as well as a few other booths… hey, after all, sex sells.

Hey JaseB - I saw that on TV. Most, if not all, the folks that would normally handle shootings are baffled as to what to do since the kid was a mere 6 years old. So it sounds like they are going after the mom since the gun was registered to her. BTW, the teacher is a very attractive blonde... sorry guys, no pictures.

About a week or so ago, as we neared the end of that severe cold wave here in north/central Md (a low of 4F), we got an invasion of robins. There was a big flock of 20-30 robins in the Thurmont, MD Community Park rooting through the down leave litter. Seeing lots of robins in Md during mid-winter just never happens here. Guessing some of the flocks of robins didn't get with the established migration program. The cold wave may have affected the eagles too..... dunno???

Good2Go - Good one. Shoulda put a Trump hair style on the snowman. The whole block would have come after you.

Hey Sandflee – I’m interested in that fan that’s sitting on you wood stove. It has an elderly look to it, like it might be over 50+ years old. What powers it? Is that a stirling motor that make the fan blades spin, or what? I've only read about half of this thread, so maybe it's already been disgusted.

I was thinking I should go into my “Where’s Waldo” mode of yesteryear to find the hot woman in this photo. Maybe I should’a said “Where’s Waldeen” instead. Probably most the contributors to this thread haven’t a clue as to who or what “where’s Waldo” is all about. I scanned the above photo for 2 minutes and found only 2 supremely hot woman, one of which was half exposed. He He He.... that'll keep you trolls busy for a few hours.

I just ordered a pair. When they first came out a while back there were no wide sizes... now they have wides. I'll let youall know how they fit. I got the big discount too.

During the past few weeks the intensity of political mud-slinging on TV, mostly Md and Pa political battles, that the floor in my Livingroom is getting muddy. I too will be glad when it's all over.

Here in north-central MD we really need the rain. All the streams, creeks and rivers are all at rock bottom flows, and have been nearly dry for several months. We had a summer full of brief rains and 10 minute showers that kept the grasses, weeds and trees looking good but they sucked up all the rainwater. None got down to the water table. But now the weeds are dead and most of the leaves have dropped. So this coming rain may actually get down to the water table. We shall see.

These pictures of fungus among us are a couple years old. I’m just now getting around to posting them on SOL, prompted by the theme of this thread. One of my favorite places to hike trails in the Renfrew Park located just east of Waynesboro, PA. I only got a little ways into my hike when I started to see dozens upon dozens of large white puffballs scattered about. Never have I seen so many puffballs in my life in one place. I immediately drove home for my camera. And while I was at it, I took 2 game pieces from my 2 young grand daughters’ board game called Fairy Land. You'll see the fairies in a couple of pics. This was done to capture the attention of my granddaughters. I also saw an unusual white and frilly fungus growing from under a log. Reminded me of hoar frost. I’ve never encountered this fungus anywhere else. Anyone know what it is called, and is it eatable??? . As you will see, the big white puffballs were scattered throughout the woods as far as I could see. They ranged in size from bigger than a soccer ball down to as small as a baseball. One was huge and looked like a giant plumber’s crack… and had 2 fairies standing in it. Years ago I tried cooking and eating similar sized puffballs. I hadn’t a clue as to what I was doing. This would have been pre-Internet age, freaking decades ago. I sliced them like you would slice a fresh baked loaf of bread. Then prepped and fried them like I was making French toast, dipped them in beaten egg w/ milk topped with sugar and cinnamon and covered with Log Cabin syrup. I love French toast. What a disaster that was. Found out I couldn’t cook-up something good outta something that is totally bland and tasteless. I threw out the rest of the puffball.

I ate my last pawpaw early this week. We had a pretty good crop this year. Today I checked under all my best producing trees and couldn't find a single one. They're done for the year.