Coming in from shoveling (and I do mean shoveling, as opposed to walking behind a snow blower), I found a pleasant surprise. Liz, home for the weekend, had chocolate chip buckwheat pancakes, strawberries, bacon, and coffee waiting. With the exception of the strawberries, which were of the frozen variety, and the chocolate chips, a consession to modern taste and decadence, it was a moment my father and grandfather might have  recognized. (Their wives worked hard, but show shoveling wasn't part of the divided-labor routine for women.)

I ate happily, knowing that for once, I'd earned the hearty meal.

Removing snow the old fashioned way is a great way to get exercise without using fossil fuels, if your health allows. I cover my face with a scarf like a child to warm the air I breathe, and I take my time. Though I will say I'm getting good at it and feel just a tiny bit macho right now. Rosy cheeked and satisfied: the body loves to operate against a little resistance.

The truth is I'd have blown the snow if I had a functioning snowblower. But the $25 job I have is ancient and jury-rigged. I bought it from good neighbor Wally, who had a passion for machines and could make anything work, before he was wisked away to the condos of Brookfield. I doubt that anyone else could get it going again.

I guess this is one of those silver linings in the economic downturn. 

Slow cooking at home is another way to cut spending. I had lunch out yesterday, a guilty pleasure for an unemployed person, and a sandwich and soda set me back $8. Too much, and judging by the coupons and buy some, get one free cards they handed out, people are balking at paying that price for a simple lunch.

This Christmas will be greener, in the sense of environmentally aware, at our house this year partly out of necessity. And that's not a bad thing. Though when I land a job, I just might buy a used snowblower along with the used car.

Big wheel keep on turning, and all that.

Waukesha has bad water problems. It’s likely that they will soon be using Lake Michigan water. But now we learn that the city has unilaterally decided to send its wastewater—treated, whatever that means—back to the mother lake through Underwood Creek. Which happens to run practically through my back yard.You can read about it here.

Now, Underwood Creek is not a pristine tributary. When we moved here 17 years ago, there were crawfish in the concrete-lined creek, but they’ve been gone a long time. It smells bad sometimes in summer, and I’m glad my house is high enough to rise above the stench.

It’s hard to imagine that adding wastewater could improve that situation.

And it’s hard to imagine what impact the additional water might have on the not-yet-completed Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District project that created Swan Lake, aka the retention basins, on the County Grounds. That plan calls for some sort of “floodwater diversions structure” plus an underground tunnel plus a spillway structure to move the water around and back from creek to basin to Menomonee River and back again. It’s too complicated for me to figure out.

I asked Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Darryl Enriquez, who wrote the article, who’s covered water issues for some time, and who’s a good friend of mine, about this.

What's with the Underwood Creek thing? And how does it link to the MMSD retention ponds project? Was this always the plan? And why would I want even treated sewage running past my house? Where do I find more?

Yes, your Underwood Creek might receive a wealth of treated wastewater courtesy of Waukesha. The added flow should improve the quality of the creek by increasing its (waste) water level. It’s not supposed to be a real deep flow.

Darryl!!! How does waste water improve the quality of the creek? You mean it's better quality than the runoff and storm stuff that's there now? And what does the stuff smell like? It sounds bad.

I know that it’s a hard concept to understand, but the main benefit is that wastewater will be a new source for the creek that currently has very low flow and cannot support much aquatic life. I’ve heard that Racine County conservationists would welcome the wastewater for the Root River because it would help the annual salmon run from Lake Michigan. My concern is that if Waukesha stops dumping wastewater into the Fox River, because it’s forced to send it east, what effect would it have on an important natural resource for central Waukesha County? About 70% of the Fox River flow is generated from wastewater from Brookfield, Sussex and Waukesha. Don’t forget, it’s not untreated sewage. It’s treated to state standards and is probably better than the fertilizer and road-dirt polluted storm water that’s in there now.

I love Darryl, but I’m not satisfied yet. Somebody has some more 'splainin' to do.

And I’m wondering why I’m not hearing about it here. Any Tosa folks involved in the planning? Does the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust have an action team for plans that affect Wauwatosa? Do we need to form one?

Walking along the Underwood Parkway, Idgy and I came upon a section of yellow crime scene tape.

Of course, it wasn't surrounding a crime scene. It was just part of the jetsam tossed up by the receding snows. Not the best sign of spring, but a sure thing.

And then there was the toll of pot-hole-pocked roads. We found bits of housings, hub caps, tire shreds, and most of a motorcycle exhaust system.

I don't know if we should be encouraged by a better class of litter this year. Along with the parkway litterer's usual beverages of choice (Mountain Dew, Pabst, and Southern Comfort) were the remains of vitamin waters, Bitter Woman IPA, and a nice French Chardonnay-Viognier, Le Grand Noir (The Black Sheep). Inexpensive, but it pairs well with salmon.

I didn't see any gourmet dinners, but I did learn that Taco Bell offers The Fourth Meal. Apparently, this is for the starving people of America who can't make it from dinner to breakfast and need concentrated nourishment to make it through the night. Judging by the leavings, there seem to be many of the were it not for this wasting away's right here in our town.  

People are still smoking Marlboros. Lots of them, judging by the crumpled packs under the evergreens. That brand, in case you didn't know, is owned by Altria, a Kraft Foods spinoff that bought Phillip Morris, got rid of Kraft, and bought up SABMiller, which owns you know what. If you want to know what business values, there's the story in a softpack and a six pack.

Next time we'll bring along a black trash bag and declare ourselves Tosa anthropologists. And we don't have to disturb a single bone to study the habits of the natives.

Wondering why the auto makers didn't make a bigger objection to the new energy bill signed into law yesterday? After all, it raised standards for emissions control.

The answer became clear within hours, according to the New York Times. That same day, the Environmental "Protection" Agency decreed that states could not pass more stringent bills but would have to abide by federal standards. Sixteen states have waivers permitting them to develop higher standards for greenhouse gas emissions than the newly approved standards. But those waivers have been effectively nullified. 

EPA administrator Stephen Johnson says that federal law trumps science, and “Climate change affects everyone regardless of where greenhouse gases occur, so California is not exclusive."

Well, erm, yes--and so what? Hello, bigger government; goodbye, states' rights.

The automakers are elated. The states, starting with California, are filing lawsuits. 

* * *
Still think sex education isn't for kids? By now, everyone who makes the mistake of reading newspapers or watching TV knows that 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, baby sister of the recklessly fecund Britney, is pregnant. "It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected. I was in complete and total shock, and so was he (19-year-old boyfriend Casey Aldridge)."

Erm. Or . . .HELLO??!!!? You have sex, you should expect to get pregnant. You can drastically cut down the chances by using good birth control--the right way, and all the time. But you can't prevent pregnancy by wishful thinking. Or in this case, non-thinking.

Self-proclaimed parenting expert Lynne Spears, the girls' mother and someone few Tosans would adopt as a mom-model, didn't believe it. ". . . Jamie Lynn's always been so conscientious. She's never been late for her curfew."

Erm, HELLO!!! It's not the time of the night that predisposes girls to getting pregnant, it's the time of the month. That, and having unprotected sex. 

I guess someone should have taught Lynne that first. She seems to have grown up in a place with a Brookfield less-is-more state of mind when it comes to sex education.

In any case, there seem to be no responsible adults in this clan. Someone tell them that babies aren't fashion accessories. 

* * *
Is there a common thread here? Knowledge of the facts of life (science + moral behavior) matters. Ignoring it has consequences. And so does "extreme" parenting, whether too rigid or too loose. 

When a sewer pipe broke behind Underwood School last Thursday, spilling 9,000 gallons from the toilets of Brookfield, Elm Grove, West Allis, and Wauwatosa into the creek, no one seemed much concerned.

It wasn't a violation because it wasn't a rain-induced overflow. And since it would have "insignificant impact" on the Menomonee River into which it flows, it was no big deal.

According to the Journal Sentinel, "Little harm was done to the environment. . . Underwood Creek is lined with concrete in that area so there would have been no impact on fish or other aquatic life."

You'd think the concrete protected the fish and other aquatic life. Instead, it has turned the creek into an inhospitable ditch that breeds mainly bacteria and algae. It no longer filters the sediment we'd rather not think about.

 Still, ducks swim and have their babies there. Deer and wildlife drink the effluent, and so do neighborhood dogs when they get a chance. An occasional crayfish still manages to exist along the banks. Kids wade in it when they think no one is looking, at least until they grow old enough to know what they might be wading in.

 If nothing else, a creek full of sewage stinks. And all those little insignificant impacts add up to eventual significance. But apparently the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District hasn't even begun to flirt with concepts like "zero defects." How can they, if every 9,000 gallons of raw sewage in someone else's back yard is "insignificant"?