Won't be long before the fences in today's photo will be covered with snow, making the plowman's job more difficult. The solution: taller "snow sticks" to help navigate the county roads and side streets.

I took this picture out our front window as the road crew made their way down the hill toward Eagle River. This morning, out the same window I could see 2 bright planets rising above Crestview. (I think Venus and Mercury). As Buddy and I stepped out the door, I tried to get a shot, but no luck (much like the experience of Keweenaw Moon.)

Guess I'll be your Pasty Cam host for a few days, as Mary takes a three-day weekend, and Toivo has Saturday off to 'make some wood' before the snow flies. Thanks for all your good comments in the Discussion about the discussion this week. We will be implementing one smart suggestion, to improve the navigation by adding a bottom-of-the-page link to Whats'UP - for announcements, comments and chit-chat not necessarily related to the daily picture and discussion. Look for it to appear later today.

By the way, our coverage of High School Football over at Pasty.NET continues this evening with play-by-play courtesy of K-Bear 102.3. Baraga has a good chance to advance to the State finals! Stay tuned.

Good morning all. Here In Mt Pleasant they wont be setting those out for quite some time

Good morning - thanks for the info on the snow sticks! The planets look neat - think the radio said Venus and Jupiter, but I could be mistaken.
Happy weekend everyone.

I'm glad you explained what snow sticks are.
We get an average of 1 inch of snow every 7-10 year.
I love seeing the seasonal changes through the picture of the day.
Have a blessed day

Lots of green leaves remaining. Was this a recent photo?

WOW !! thats a wakeup call ,winter is on it's way.

Never heard of a snow stick but it makes sense. Down state in troll land we would never get that much snow to use one Normally). Last year i did have four foot snow drifts in my yard but that was a record snow fall.

Joe

How many snow sticks does it take to mark all the Keweenaw roads? And who cuts all those sticks?

\image {name of image} This picture was taken in january 04 this is alot of snow for us

Good Morning from Downstate
We finally have blue sky and sunshine. I hope these workers have calm weather to get the task at hand done. Have a wonderful weekend to all!

Good Morning!....from the GM tech center. What ever happened to the "early bird" symbol???? We miss it!!

It must take a month of Sunday's to put all those sticks around the CC! Where do they get them all? They're all reasonably straight when you see them as well.

A holleyhock is still blooming, and the sticks are going up. Nice use of resources: clear the brush and help the plows. Thanks for a great day-to-day Keweenaw picture.

Matt, check What'sUP.

Don't forget - tomorrow is BASH at the BIG HOUSE!! Go Huskies!!

It is playoff time and I wish the NEGAUNEE MINERS all the Best as they once again pave the way to the State Championship in Class C..

10-0 soon to be 11-0 and then.........

The Miners know about the snow sticks and will pound the paydirt to the Goal Posts--by the way at one time were made of Snow Sticks in our back yard growing up in the U.P.

Good morning all
It is indeed Venus and Jupiter rising in the eastern sky. A month ago we got to see them come up over Whitefish Bay every morning that we were up early enough, and WOW!
One month ago today that I lost my pupweed, Seltzer. Thank you to all who gave condolences, and the same back to those who have lost as well.

Regarding the morning planets, smf in trolland is correct, that was Venus and Jupiter, according my Abrams Planetarium website. Kudos to those of you who are perky enough at an early morning hour to notice such; myself, it's more like "I may rise, but I refuse to shine".

Good Morning! Can't wait to see the flakes of snow coming down. I can only hope that it's not the past few years where Christmas was "green". Happy Weekend Everyone!

Here's some more detail on the sky watch:


NASA Science News for November 2, 2004

You won't want to miss this: Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest
planets, will be beautifully close together just before sunrise on
Thursday, Nov. 4th, and Friday, Nov. 5th.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/02nov_venusjupiter.htm?list1249217

Ah the stick patrol. I remember kidding Bob Beaudoin (I hope I spelled that right) about putting those things out years ago along the lakeshore in Keeweenaw.

You guys put up snow sticks with two guys and a pickup truck? In Wayne County that would require at least three massive trucks with another six guys to watch the two working. Plus they would have a lane blocked.

And two would be taking a "nap" in the 4th truck.

What's green and sleeps six?

Ans - A DNR truck.

Charlie- Regarding the "Keweenaw Moon", you need a tripod so you can take advantage of the "adjustable shutter speed" on your camera... slow shutter speed=more light=spectacular low light shots.

Thanks for the info on the planets. Saw them when I went out to get the paper the other morning and wondered what they were. Quite a sight.

BAK - Tennesse,

Good Luck to the Miners! UP Power.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at the "Bash at the Big House" tomorrow.

Get your tickets now! and support MTU Athletics.

To Francis S, Georgia. I lived in Athens, GA in '66 & '67 stationed at the Naval Supply Corps School. In one of those winters (it all gets jumbled together now) we had 6" of snow and 1 degree below zero. I know that isn't much for up north, but you know how that can affect you when you're not prepared for it and have only one or two plows. The water & sewer pipes are buried deep enough so you can't see them. You know what happened to them. People did have chains and some kept them on as long as they could see snow; like on the north side of houses. I think you'll agree with me, that if you're going to live in Georgia, it's better to see snow on the Pasty Cam rather than out your front window. Good luck for another moderate winter in Georgia.

To Real Finn, The sticks are cut out in the woods by county employees.

Toivo is watching an MDOT truck slowly follow behind two MDOT workers in orange safety vest's working along side the road. The first guy is digging a hole then moves up 50' and digs another. The second guy is filling in the hole, then moves up to the next hole and fill's that one in etc. Toivo walks up to the driver and ask's what's going on? The driver replies "We are setting out the snow sticks. Yea, but where are the sticks at? Toivo ask's. Oh, reply's the driver, "The guy who puts those in the hole called in sick today."

Wow! Snow stick is something I haven't heard for years. Bringing back memories....

TO OLD FINN, THE TREE HUGGERS ARN'T GOING TO LIKE THAT. CUTTING DOWN ALL THEM TREES.

I still lived in Michigan in 1976, the bi-centennial year of USA.
We had red-white-blue license plates on the car that year. I
saved them and still have them in the closet. That truck has
those 1976 plates. How interesting....

I just saw a car down here in Green bay ..about two weeks ago with a bi centennial plate on the rear too.
It did have an X in the middle which I think makes it a state or municipal vehicle plate ."what's up" with that.. Admirable cost savings I guesss.

The first winter I lived downstate, I saw workers plowing the streets with a truck the size of the one in the picture. Watta hoot!

County worker to dipatcher: "We left our shovels in the garage"
Dispatcher: "OK, we'll have someone run them out to you. Just lean on each other 'til we get there"

This may sound like a dumb question (consider where I live!), what are snow sticks??

They put the sticks in the ground so the plow truck drivers know where the edge of the ditches are along with anything else that happens to be buried under the many feet of snow that falls.

so in the winter when that fence gets burried the plows know not to go past the sticks so they dont hit the fnce or anything else

SNOW STICKS should never be confused with beef stix,fish sticks or even peppermint sticks...Snow sticks are uneddible and are a reminder of the great weather and frustration to come.(We all love our plow drivers)Simply put;they tell the plow drivers (and everyone else for that matter) where the edge of the road is and where the obstacles are that could do damage to the plow truck or property so marked...I do have a question for our California guests....What's it like to live where the ground shakes like jello?

Troll in Eagle Harbor... re the ground shaking. Are you asking what the earthquake feels like, or what it's like living with the possibility of an earthquake?

Old Finn, is there a certain place in the woods where they get them? Like the swamps? They would need so many, are they tag alters?

Just received my memorial to Dan Urbansky Pasty 2005 calendars. Wonderful choice of pictures for each month. Last page really good with the web picture and an invitation to share the U.P. on the web.

Rest in peace, Dan. Best wishes to all his family and friends.

Thanks for the idea! Every fall I mark my driveway with expensive store-bought reflectors, which after a few plowings disappear into the pile of snow by the garage. This year I will plant snow sticks! I have plenty of cut aspen saplings from dismantled bean trellises (bean-free thanks to late frosts and cold rainy June). Maybe I can hang red streamers from them to make them even more visible!

What a great site pasty.com is!

One neat thing about snowstorms in the U.P. compared to down state is that it can be barely above zero degrees and coming down at several inches an hour. Usually in the Detroit area, the heaviest snowfalls occur above 20 degrees and they are very wet.

I wonder what it's like to commute 30 miles or so everyday in the Keeweenah during the winter. The Yoopers must have nerves of steel.

When do they lower the bridge (semi-permanently)for the winter traffic?

Um Tuesday at 3:45 i think

D0 NOT WORRY,
Those snow sticks are most likely maple
saps. Everything on a maple is edible. Us yoopers
wait for spring break up so we can have a treat!

Audry...I was wondering what an earth quake feels like... I've felt little tremmors from trucks and trains....I can't imagine any thing bigger than that.

Troll in Eagle Harbor.....They have a saying here in the Central Valley "Surf the earth!"
We just get a little rolling action here, when we feel them. Along the coast really rocks and rolls.

To Real Finn, The county is experimenting with a fast growing red maple sapling that will only grow in the U.P. They plant a maple seed in the ground along the side of the road in the early spring after the snow melts. It can grow to a height of about 8 to 10 ft. by autumn. It'll save a lot of man hours.

To the person that made the comment about road workers downstate and the number of trucks it would take to perform a job like this...

What he failed to mention is the extra "big" trucks, along with the lane closed are done for the safety of the workers.

To much traffic down here with no one paying attention. I personnaly know of a family that had a member killed in a work zone.

Picture this...If you worked in an office and you had cars speeding past your desk at 70+ MPH, wouldn't you feel safer if you had a "big" truck or two behind you for protection ?

Was the picture taken from what was Mrs. Yokie's house in the 50's and 60's? is that Zenda Fish's burn barrell on the right? He lived oposate Mrs. Yokie in that era. I worked for Van Gardner in the next house down the hill in that time frame.

Did someone mention Van Gardner? What a nice man. Truly unique and very intelligent. Loved to bend your ear and carry on a conversation. I'm sure he had his own description of snow sticks. Probably had a theory on how they could be improved. Met a lot of nice people from Eagle River when I worked at Sears. Alan Long was another of these special people.

Troll in Eagle Harbor: I remember the last quake we had, I had to hang unto a light pole to stay upright, and when you see the tires of your car leave the ground and your car is bouncing around, you know your in a big one.

Hei Charlie, those two planets are Venus and Jupiter. Mercury is very small and can only be seen just before the sun comes up, because it's so close to the sun. What a place to live, right on the Superior shore!

Thanks to all for the correction. I got Venus right, but I see Jupiter was the other light almost bumping into it.

And John from Van Dyke: that IS Zenda's old burn barrel, and the view is from Edith Yokie's old home, which is where we have lived since she passed away in the 80's. Van Gardner was our next door neighbor the first couple of years, until he passed on as well.

As for driving to Calumet in the winter, it is sometimes challenging, but always a pleasurable experience. Beautiful scenery of the Cliffs, Cliff drive, Bumbletown Hill rising in the distance, plenty of snow covered pines. I'll take a good 4-wheel drive in Keweenaw snow any day over the bumper-to-bumper prospects faced by our friends near the cities.

Been There Done That, that's a good reason to have heavy trucks backing me up, if I'm on that shoulder working. Lived the first half of my life S of Detroit and know what you say about heavy traffic and leadfooted drivers. I dont miss that at all. Slow down and give 'em a brake!

Charlie, lovely photo of Cliff Drive in the snow! We might be seeing some down here Sunday afternoon. I need something to hide the tomato vines I neglected to pull out of the ground this fall. Outta sight outta mind!

Driving down here is horrible, any day, any time of day. Driving in the U.P. is a pleasure, any day, any time of day.

Just an observation re snow sticks: When I lived in Royal Oak, MI, I purchased a nice red reflector on a stick for marking the edge of my driveway some winters ago. Well, it was stolen the first night! Should have had information re UP snowsticks to mark my driveway. Would have been much cheaper if nothing else!

Here in Sedar Bay, I note snow sticks on the roadsides and, prior to today's Pasty notes, wasn't quite sure why the sapling sticks were implanted along the roadsides. Thanks to all for the comments about snow sticks. As a long-time "city slicker" I'm slowly learning Yooper language and reasons for "snow sticks" and such other self-preservation during winter stuff.

We have a beaver house/dam on our road but have never seen the beavers at work. Are they nocturnal? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks. AČ