One fish

I often have lines from 1980s movies running through my head. My inner monologue attempts to make sense of the world through movies like "One Crazy Summer" and "Hoosiers." So when news came across that only one Asian carp turned up when the Ship and Sanitary Canal was poisoned yesterday, a movie quote popped into my head.

In "Major League," Bob Uecker plays broadcaster Harry Doyle. When Doyle looks at the box score of another Indians' loss, he exclaims, "One hit? All we got was one goddamn hit?"

So here goes: One fish? All we got was one goddamn fish?

More carping

Was linking the St. Lawrence watershed with the Mississippi River watershed more than 100 years ago a mistake? Was it worth it to reverse the flow of the Chicago River and connect it to canals that emptied into the Illinois River and ultimately the Mighty Miss? Was all that barge traffic that important, even as trains, trucks and planes have mostly made water transport obsolete? These are the questions worth asking as officials dump Rotenone into a canal near Lockport, Ill., as evidence shows the Asian carp may be way beyond the area that is now being poisoned. All that 19th century engineering could have effects from here to Buffalo, N.Y., and beyond. As one online commenter said earlier today, this is the most underreported Chicago story of 2009.

Hawk watch

Red-tailed hawks are everywhere right now. Today, I saw two--one in a stand of poplars amid an industrial area of the Southwest Side and another in a small tree between I-90 and a little apartment complex near Park Ridge. We saw dozens along I-94 during the weekend, between here and the western suburbs of Detroit. One was pulling at the remains of some type of prey along the berm of U.S. 23 on Friday morning, in plain view. Most every white spot in a tree or clump in a shrub turned out to be a hawk this weekend.

Something fishy

It doesn't take a geographer, or even a biologist, to tell you that the handling of the Asian carp invasion has been weird. Dale Bowman of the Sun-Times agrees in his latest column. He documents a number of catches in Chicago lagoons that show that the carp already has been present in town since perhaps 2003. A glance at a map shows that there were a lot of holes (e.g. interconnected waterways) in the Army Corps' plan to deter the fish. The new plan to poison a section of the Ship and Sanitary Canal, days after evidence of the carp was found on the Calumet River, a different waterway altogether, reinforces the idea that this is a big boondoggle. The carp continue to outpace us, and it's only the Great Lakes that are at stake.

Fish story

Scientists have found evidence that the Asian carp is now above the electric barrier on the Sanitary and Ship Canal and within a few miles of the Great Lakes. There's just one lock in their way on the Calumet River, which connects to the Mississippi River watershed through a web of other waterways.

Until Friday, it was thought that the carp were in the Des Plaines River, which runs side-by-side with the canal that ultimately leads to Lake Michigan. To reach the Great Lakes, it would have taken a flood or a fish flopping three miles down Devon Ave. to the North Branch of the Chicago River. Now, it's known that the carp hopped the electric barrier on the canal. Life finds a way.

Flipping out

Flip City in Shelby, Mich., is by far the best disc golf course I've ever played. Located on the edge of Manistee National Forest about 40 miles north of Muskegon, Flip City was created by disc golfers for disc golfers--it's a players course. The fairways are wide (see above), perhaps half of the 24 holes are from elevated tees and the course is very well marked. Flip City is located on private property, an old farm dotted with hills and trees. It was founded in 1980. We played with a friendly regular there who helped advise on shot choices and works with the course founder and property owner. It's quite an out-of-the-way place, but if ever in the area again I will be headed to Flip City.

Small pond

This is a view of a little pothole lake along the North Country Trail, somewhere during Day 1 of the trip to the Manistee.