It is nothing strange that we as individuals have a hard time coming to grips with the “reality” of growing old. Naturally, “old” is one of those relative terms, depending where you are on the ‘long road a-winding‘. There was a time when I thought someone of 50 years was “old”. Not anymore! Now “old” is more like 80 in my mind.
I fully realize that my experience is nothing new in the human experience, but it is new for me. But there is still one hurdle that I can’t seem to get over in accepting that I am not 25 years old. That is the hurdle of my own mind. For, you see, even though I see other people are aging and realize they cannot be expected to do the things of a much younger person, I can’t seem to apply the reality to myself.
Another thing that interferes with my thinking is looking around me & finding all these older people that can, and do, put an average 30 year old under the table when it comes to physical work or activity. I know a man right now who has 5 years on me & does work that I have see 25 year old guys walk away from with plain old exhaustion. If he can do that, why can’t I?
We have been raised in the USA to believe that we can do anything we set our mind too. I have always believed that, foolish me! I am living proof that just pure will power, without other necessary ‘assets’, will not get something “impossible” done.
A person needs to know their limitations & be willing to admit they actually have them. That is the hard part for many of us. We truly hate to acknowledge the someone else has something that we can’t. As if we really do believe that God created all men equal, without qualification. Though it is noble to believe that all men are created equal in regard to “rights” and in general terms, basic human privileges of a free society. The cold, hard fact of life is that we were not all born equal when it comes to ability, opportunity, health and other individual characterizes the go to make up the whole of who and what we are, individually.
Example, take professional athletes. For a fact, these people have to work very hard in building their bodies to be able to perform in the top small percentage of their generation. Then they must train, train, train to develop the necessary skills that go along with their particular sport. However, it would be a denial of plain fact to think that these people are not “born with gifted bodies” that can be trained to accomplish uncommon acts of strength, speed or other physical feats. The toss of the genetic coin is highly in favor of some people as opposed to most. It matters not how much a hog might want to outrun a racehorse, it ain’t going to happen. He does not have the body to do it, period.
So it is with individuals and the aging process. I know people in their 60’s or 70’s who are as healthy and active as most of us would be pleased with in our 50’s. But it does not necessarily that most people experience such good health into our, so called “golden years”. Now that is a fable if I ever heard one. I don’t think I know of anyone who really will describe their “old age” experience as “golden”! Most that I talk to call is a lot of other names, none of them complimentary.
All that to simply say: “Ernie’s world is trying to face the grim reality that we are aging.” But not “old”, just yet.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Book Review- "No Easy Day"
It was my pleasure this week to read the book “No Easy Day”, written by one of the Navy Seal’s who was on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. There is some flap about this book in the media & government because, evidently, the author did not have the book vetted by the Department of Defense. They claim he was bound by contract to do this, others state that he was not. I don’t know, nor do I care about the government’s technicalities.
For fans of military affairs this was a good read and since it was written by a soldier who was there, I would trust that his story is more reliable than a lot of the reports we got at the time from the media. As far as revealing any “secrets”, as some of the media claim, I find that accusation rather lame. Any of the details about how the Seals operate are in line with any other public stories I have read. Anyone who has read any recently published novel on the war against terrorist will have already read about the basic tactics used by Special Forces in this decade long war.
I do find it somewhat disturbing that some “suits” in the government want to take legal action against the author, who spent 10 years laying his life on the line in very dangerous operations against our nations enemies. All the while the “suits” sit safely behind their desk and never do anything more risky than drive their car to work.
As for my opinion, our soldiers are doing the public a great favor by telling their personal stories in this long war, which is far from over. Never mind that the U.S. is suppose to be out of Afghanistan within 2 years, that will not be the end of this war with terrorists in the Moslem community. It is extremely naïve to believe that the forces behind the Moslem terrorists will just go away once we leave Iraq and Afghanistan. The clerics who are preaching jihad against the west are not going to just sit down and be quiet once we withdraw. The war will go on until a generation of Moslem leaders emerge who give up terrorism as a weapon. That will not be happening anytime soon.
Contrary to some of the critics, there is not much about politics in this book. I won’t spoil the story by revealing what small mention the author makes concerning the use some politicians attempt to make concerning the killing of Osama bin Laden, but the point of the book is to tell the story of this event from the viewpoint of a “boot” on the ground.
You won’t be disappointed if you read the book, that is if you are one who is interested in this war from a soldiers shoes.
For fans of military affairs this was a good read and since it was written by a soldier who was there, I would trust that his story is more reliable than a lot of the reports we got at the time from the media. As far as revealing any “secrets”, as some of the media claim, I find that accusation rather lame. Any of the details about how the Seals operate are in line with any other public stories I have read. Anyone who has read any recently published novel on the war against terrorist will have already read about the basic tactics used by Special Forces in this decade long war.
I do find it somewhat disturbing that some “suits” in the government want to take legal action against the author, who spent 10 years laying his life on the line in very dangerous operations against our nations enemies. All the while the “suits” sit safely behind their desk and never do anything more risky than drive their car to work.
As for my opinion, our soldiers are doing the public a great favor by telling their personal stories in this long war, which is far from over. Never mind that the U.S. is suppose to be out of Afghanistan within 2 years, that will not be the end of this war with terrorists in the Moslem community. It is extremely naïve to believe that the forces behind the Moslem terrorists will just go away once we leave Iraq and Afghanistan. The clerics who are preaching jihad against the west are not going to just sit down and be quiet once we withdraw. The war will go on until a generation of Moslem leaders emerge who give up terrorism as a weapon. That will not be happening anytime soon.
Contrary to some of the critics, there is not much about politics in this book. I won’t spoil the story by revealing what small mention the author makes concerning the use some politicians attempt to make concerning the killing of Osama bin Laden, but the point of the book is to tell the story of this event from the viewpoint of a “boot” on the ground.
You won’t be disappointed if you read the book, that is if you are one who is interested in this war from a soldiers shoes.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Labor Day Mushings
Ok, it has been many months since I have made a post to this blog. I could give a whole lot of ‘excuses’, but what is the point. Yes, I have been extremely busy, but I also find that people make time for something they really want to do. I just have not had much I have cared to say.
It has not been an uneventful few months. There have been big changes in “Ernie’s World”, that is a fact. The biggest change has been in my employment situation. Since 1988 I have been self-employed as an independent Hardwood Lumber Inspector, plus, for the past 10 years I have operated a lumber drying business & some furniture building on the side.
In the process of most of my inspection jobs have been either dropped or just fell by the wayside. Which was fine by me, as long as dry lumber was moving fair. But all go things go to pot in a bad housing market economy. At least all things lumber related. Thus, in May I agreed to work mostly full time at the one lumber inspection job I had.
After 24 years of mostly setting my own schedule, this has been a “shock” to my system. Not that I really mind all that much. I realize that most people in the working class, live this way their whole lives. So 24 years of relative freedom, during the prime of life, is something that I feel fortunate to have had.
Change is about the only thing we can count on in this world. Many of us hate it, especially when it affects our habits in serious ways. The reality is that “time waits on no one”, if you want to do something, you best make your plans to start right away. Whether it is a lifelong goal, or just a small thing, you best take action to get it done, for at some point you will run out of time.
Our summer in central MN has been good. We have had more rain than many parts of the country, however we are “bone dry” at this point. The crops in our neighborhood look better than in many places across the country. Our garden did fair. Plenty of beans, tomatoes & such. Our failures were with the sweet corn and potatoes. The corn went to the masked bandits (raccoons). In one single night those varmints cleaned the crop out totally, and before it was even ready for the table. They usually come right as it is ready to eat, but this time they were a week early & despite the hot sauce that my wife put on the silk of each ear, which worked for the past couple years. I told her that these raccoons must have really like the sauce with their corn.
The potatoes was a bit of a surprise. It is the first time we have every had a potato crop to fail. Our theory is that our saved over seed must have been bad, so next year we will have to buy seed potatoes.
I promise some posts more regularly as fall come on. In a couple weeks the bow season comes in for deer & I make a habit of spending my evenings sitting in my little hunting shack. While there I enjoy writing on my small laptop, so you should hear more from me soon.
It has not been an uneventful few months. There have been big changes in “Ernie’s World”, that is a fact. The biggest change has been in my employment situation. Since 1988 I have been self-employed as an independent Hardwood Lumber Inspector, plus, for the past 10 years I have operated a lumber drying business & some furniture building on the side.
In the process of most of my inspection jobs have been either dropped or just fell by the wayside. Which was fine by me, as long as dry lumber was moving fair. But all go things go to pot in a bad housing market economy. At least all things lumber related. Thus, in May I agreed to work mostly full time at the one lumber inspection job I had.
After 24 years of mostly setting my own schedule, this has been a “shock” to my system. Not that I really mind all that much. I realize that most people in the working class, live this way their whole lives. So 24 years of relative freedom, during the prime of life, is something that I feel fortunate to have had.
Change is about the only thing we can count on in this world. Many of us hate it, especially when it affects our habits in serious ways. The reality is that “time waits on no one”, if you want to do something, you best make your plans to start right away. Whether it is a lifelong goal, or just a small thing, you best take action to get it done, for at some point you will run out of time.
Our summer in central MN has been good. We have had more rain than many parts of the country, however we are “bone dry” at this point. The crops in our neighborhood look better than in many places across the country. Our garden did fair. Plenty of beans, tomatoes & such. Our failures were with the sweet corn and potatoes. The corn went to the masked bandits (raccoons). In one single night those varmints cleaned the crop out totally, and before it was even ready for the table. They usually come right as it is ready to eat, but this time they were a week early & despite the hot sauce that my wife put on the silk of each ear, which worked for the past couple years. I told her that these raccoons must have really like the sauce with their corn.
The potatoes was a bit of a surprise. It is the first time we have every had a potato crop to fail. Our theory is that our saved over seed must have been bad, so next year we will have to buy seed potatoes.
I promise some posts more regularly as fall come on. In a couple weeks the bow season comes in for deer & I make a habit of spending my evenings sitting in my little hunting shack. While there I enjoy writing on my small laptop, so you should hear more from me soon.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Springtime & Skunks
I guess if I am not going to abandon this blog permanently I should make a post.
Our MN weather has been so nice that one does not want to take up much time indoors. After being here for 24 winters and never seeing a winter as mild as this one, we are mostly in ‘shock’ and awe. In the past week we have had right near 70° at one point and in the 60’s most days. For mid-March this is unbelievable for our part of the country.
It is also very welcome. Although most of us do not believe winter is over and expect any day to wake up to ‘reality’. We have had some major snow storms in April and generally do not look forward to the garden being workable until the end of April on the first of May. But this year, unless we have a sudden change, we might be able to put out cold weather crops by mid-April.
Whatever the weather does at this point we consider ourselves very blessed in having such a short mild winter. Naturally there are a few hardy souls who bemoan the situation. In younger days I would have been one of them, but as ‘father time’ catches up with me, I am thankful for some early relief to winter.
Otherwise my world has been busy, which is normal. It is one assured fact that when you are self-employed with a woodshop right out your backdoor, there is never going to be any lack of work. There might be a lack of “profitable work”, but that is secondary to the fact that work is a necessity for a happy life. Work we have, “profitable work” is an illusive critter.
Speaking of critters. We have recently had a skunk that was hanging around near the house and buildings. In fact, I think one of our cats made friends with it and they were hanging out together. We have not seen it for a week or so, thus we are in hopes that it has moved on. However, I do have a live trap set for the stinky little bugger. It has given both me and my wife some serious grief on a couple occasions. My excitement was when I opened the back door in the dark one evening to go out and nearly stepped on it! Lucky for me it did not care anymore for my company than I did his and ran off before I got get my hands on a shotgun.
Then my wife had a bit of excitement. We have what we refer to as a mud porch, where we store firewood and such. One night a few days ago my wife went out late in the evening to get some firewood. To her disappointment the mud porch door was standing open, meaning any animal could be inside the mud room. Of course it was dark with only some light from the kitchen shining into the mud room. She looked and listened (I don’t know why she did not retrieve a flashlight), when she decided that there was no ‘visitors’ in the room, she shut the outside door and went to the wood box. Then she heard ‘something’ rustling in some paper bags that we keep on the porch. That was my first notification that she was in ‘distress’! What a howling and crashing on the steps leading to the kitchen! Door slamming and near panic! Reminded me of the time she found a snake laying underneath the pair of jeans she was about to put on during a camping trip, but that is another story.
I went to see what the ruckus was about and she explained in very excited terms that “something” was on the mud porch, probably the skunk, because “someone” had left the back door open. Looking through the window I could see that the back door of the mud porch was now closed. So I asked her why she shut the thing up, so it could not get out. Her very short answer was, because she had decided there was nothing on the porch, that was until she heard it in the paper bags behind her while she was getting some firewood.
I need not point out who had to go investigate. But I took a flashlight and carefully made my way to the outside door and opened it, so whatever creature was on the porch could make its escape without being alarmed. I have always thought it was poor judgment to “alarm” a skunk. After I opened the door wide, I commenced to find the creature. By then I had doubts that it was the skunk because I could not smell him. I was right too, for when I found the culprit it turned out to be one of the cats! All the ruckus over a pet cat. But that is how the human mind works. We jumped to conclusions before we have all the evidence. In this case, my wife nearly ripped the kitchen door off and fell up the stairway, all on an “assumed threat” that she was about to be smelling very “ripe”.
Sure glad she was the one getting firewood that evening and not me. J
Our MN weather has been so nice that one does not want to take up much time indoors. After being here for 24 winters and never seeing a winter as mild as this one, we are mostly in ‘shock’ and awe. In the past week we have had right near 70° at one point and in the 60’s most days. For mid-March this is unbelievable for our part of the country.
It is also very welcome. Although most of us do not believe winter is over and expect any day to wake up to ‘reality’. We have had some major snow storms in April and generally do not look forward to the garden being workable until the end of April on the first of May. But this year, unless we have a sudden change, we might be able to put out cold weather crops by mid-April.
Whatever the weather does at this point we consider ourselves very blessed in having such a short mild winter. Naturally there are a few hardy souls who bemoan the situation. In younger days I would have been one of them, but as ‘father time’ catches up with me, I am thankful for some early relief to winter.
Otherwise my world has been busy, which is normal. It is one assured fact that when you are self-employed with a woodshop right out your backdoor, there is never going to be any lack of work. There might be a lack of “profitable work”, but that is secondary to the fact that work is a necessity for a happy life. Work we have, “profitable work” is an illusive critter.
Speaking of critters. We have recently had a skunk that was hanging around near the house and buildings. In fact, I think one of our cats made friends with it and they were hanging out together. We have not seen it for a week or so, thus we are in hopes that it has moved on. However, I do have a live trap set for the stinky little bugger. It has given both me and my wife some serious grief on a couple occasions. My excitement was when I opened the back door in the dark one evening to go out and nearly stepped on it! Lucky for me it did not care anymore for my company than I did his and ran off before I got get my hands on a shotgun.
Then my wife had a bit of excitement. We have what we refer to as a mud porch, where we store firewood and such. One night a few days ago my wife went out late in the evening to get some firewood. To her disappointment the mud porch door was standing open, meaning any animal could be inside the mud room. Of course it was dark with only some light from the kitchen shining into the mud room. She looked and listened (I don’t know why she did not retrieve a flashlight), when she decided that there was no ‘visitors’ in the room, she shut the outside door and went to the wood box. Then she heard ‘something’ rustling in some paper bags that we keep on the porch. That was my first notification that she was in ‘distress’! What a howling and crashing on the steps leading to the kitchen! Door slamming and near panic! Reminded me of the time she found a snake laying underneath the pair of jeans she was about to put on during a camping trip, but that is another story.
I went to see what the ruckus was about and she explained in very excited terms that “something” was on the mud porch, probably the skunk, because “someone” had left the back door open. Looking through the window I could see that the back door of the mud porch was now closed. So I asked her why she shut the thing up, so it could not get out. Her very short answer was, because she had decided there was nothing on the porch, that was until she heard it in the paper bags behind her while she was getting some firewood.
I need not point out who had to go investigate. But I took a flashlight and carefully made my way to the outside door and opened it, so whatever creature was on the porch could make its escape without being alarmed. I have always thought it was poor judgment to “alarm” a skunk. After I opened the door wide, I commenced to find the creature. By then I had doubts that it was the skunk because I could not smell him. I was right too, for when I found the culprit it turned out to be one of the cats! All the ruckus over a pet cat. But that is how the human mind works. We jumped to conclusions before we have all the evidence. In this case, my wife nearly ripped the kitchen door off and fell up the stairway, all on an “assumed threat” that she was about to be smelling very “ripe”.
Sure glad she was the one getting firewood that evening and not me. J
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Government & Weather are Both Threatening
As the month of February draws to a close it sounds like our winter drought is also coming to a close. Last week we got 3 or 4 inches of snowfall, the first I needed to plow for the season. Last night a band of snow just missed us to the north by about 40 miles where they got several inches of the “white plague”.
Now the National Weather Service (NOA) is saying we have another storm coming from Tuesday into Wednesday. This one they have upgraded from a “Winter Storm” to a “Blizzard” warning. I am not certain where they get the “blizzard” business from, I assume it takes into account strong winds verses simply heavy snow. According to what they predict now, we sit right in the middle of the road on this one, but I see the possibility (being the weather expert I am J ) that this storm could pass just to the south of us and we “might” be spared the worst of it. Then again, we might get “hammered”!
MN is known for winter weather, but the truth is we rarely get over a foot of snowfall in one storm. That “pleasure” is reserved for those who live along the great lakes where they can get several feet of snow in one storm, or those out west in the mountains who get a similar burial when the conditions are right. From what I heard tonight they are talking a total of around 15 inches for our area between Tuesday and Wednesday. I have a hard time believing that, I don’t know why, other than we have had it so easy this winter we are “off guard” and don’t really expect it.
Traditionally March is the snowiest month of the year in our state. While the “old country” where I grew up (Ohio) is thinking of spring and beginning to have spring rains, in MN we don’t dare hope for spring until after mid-April. In fact, the worst snowstorm in my recent memory was in April a couple or three years ago. I remember it so well because it came with a double hit. That is when we get 8 or 10 inches of snow one day and two days later repeat the process. While trying to dig out of the first wave, the clutch went out of my tractor, so I was ‘up the creek’ when the 2nd storm hit two days later. That time I managed to get our old snow-blower running enough to get a path to the road open, but had to wait until the tractor was repaired to get the place properly cleaned up.
What makes our situation more difficult for snow removal is that we need more than just a open trail to the road. Having my lumber business here requires that I keep a lot of area open and cleaned up in order to operate properly. Such are the consequences of having a small one man business in the great state of MN.
Speaking of our great state. Last week I got a visit from our county “Conservation and Land Management” people. I used to think that the USA was a “free country” and “personal property rights” was a foundation of a free society. Property rights might still be the foundation of a free people, but we are only deceiving ourselves if we think this applies to the state of MN and I am assuming other states are not a lot different.
The strange part about this visit was that the two gentlemen that got out of the county car and came to my door, one with a camera in his hands, were not in the least bit interested in me or my property when they found out that I was not Amish. This farm used to belong to an Amish family before we bought it, so they assumed it still did. Never mind that they parked right beside my electric pole, something you won’t find at an Amish house, and I met them outside the back door dressed like anything but an Amish. They still ask me if I belonged to the local Amish community. I told them no, then they wanted to know if I ran a sawmill “too”, as if everyone that had some lumber setting around must run a sawmill. I did not bother to explain to them that I did have a small sawmill in one of my sheds, but since my business is not running a sawmill, I figured this was none of their business.
I explained to them that I kiln dry lumber, which would explain my piles of lumber they could plainly see. I did not want to pry into their business with the Amish anymore than I wanted them to pry into my business, but I could not help wondering why they would approach what they thought to be an Amish residence with a camera in their hands. By way of explanation, Amish do not want their picture taken, by anyone. It is one of those things that is hard for the rest of us to understand, like a lot of their ways. I do understand some of their thinking since I deal with a lot of them on a regular basis, but when people press me to explain why Amish think they way they do I am hard pressed to get a coherent explanation, that is because their ‘thinking’ is so foreign to the average person. My general statement is that “you would have to be Amish to understand the way they think”, at least to make any common sense of it.
The Amish and their ways is not the point of this blog post. My point is about the way “government”, all the way from the Feds to the local level has turned American foundational values on its head. There was a time when an American who owned a piece of property could consider that land and its use “sacred” in that the ‘owner’ had the full right to use and live on his land ever how he wanted to. But, as it commonly the ‘excuse’, in the name of “protecting the public” the government now takes the liberty to not only confiscate your property if they want to, for the greater good of course, but they now consider it their “lawful responsibility” to tell me what I can do with my property, where, or if, I can build an outbuilding, how big that building can be and they consider it their ‘sacred right’ to know everything I do with or on my small chunk of the “American Dream”.
Finally, these county fellows happen to mention what they were looking for, at least what they “said” they were doing. They were looking for any place that had more than one residence. Many of the Amish, (all the ones I know of) do not take social security from the government, when they get too old to earn enough money to live on, some of their family will build them a house next door so they can assist them in their old age. Our “dictators” evidently don’t like that some parts of our society choose to care for their older family members in this manner. So they have passed ‘zoning laws’ and one of those limit how many residential houses can be on a piece of property.
What bothers me is this. Many ‘normal people’ don’t understand the Amish ways and can’t figure out how the Amish think because they chose to live in a way that was “normal” a couple hundred years ago, without electricity etc. But the part that I can’t figure out is: “Who gave the government the ‘right’ to dictate to me or anyone else, that one cannot have more than one dwelling on their own piece of property? Our government is bankrupt, are they wanting mom & pop to move to town where the bankrupt government can care for them? Or is it that they just simply are desperate for money and want to ‘extort’ some from the Amish because they know most Amish would rather pay for whatever “permits” they are forced to purchase than be at odds with the local government?
I am hard pressed to know the answer. I only know what I have observed over the last year or two. Last summer the Amish had a co-op set up in our nearest village. Here they sold farm produce like eggs, jams etc. Right around harvest time our county “officials” walked it and shut the co-op down, saying they did not have the proper “permits” to sale produce. The same produce that I can buy off the back of a pick-up truck parked along side the road. I don’t always understand how Amish ‘think’, but for the life of me, I can’t understand how our government thinks either. It seems they are doggedly determined to undermine every traditional way for people to earn money from their small farms or land. While at the same time, this government is bankrupt! One would think that local, state and federal leaders would try to help people earn what little money they could by whatever honest means they could, but no, we have reached the point when for whatever convoluted reasoning the ‘dictators’ use, they are taking away all commonly understood rights of normal American people. But if you happen to have ‘slipped’ across the border into Texas under the wire, our beloved government will give you free medical care and a college education! Something is upside down folks.
Such are the thoughts of Ernie’s World.
Now the National Weather Service (NOA) is saying we have another storm coming from Tuesday into Wednesday. This one they have upgraded from a “Winter Storm” to a “Blizzard” warning. I am not certain where they get the “blizzard” business from, I assume it takes into account strong winds verses simply heavy snow. According to what they predict now, we sit right in the middle of the road on this one, but I see the possibility (being the weather expert I am J ) that this storm could pass just to the south of us and we “might” be spared the worst of it. Then again, we might get “hammered”!
MN is known for winter weather, but the truth is we rarely get over a foot of snowfall in one storm. That “pleasure” is reserved for those who live along the great lakes where they can get several feet of snow in one storm, or those out west in the mountains who get a similar burial when the conditions are right. From what I heard tonight they are talking a total of around 15 inches for our area between Tuesday and Wednesday. I have a hard time believing that, I don’t know why, other than we have had it so easy this winter we are “off guard” and don’t really expect it.
Traditionally March is the snowiest month of the year in our state. While the “old country” where I grew up (Ohio) is thinking of spring and beginning to have spring rains, in MN we don’t dare hope for spring until after mid-April. In fact, the worst snowstorm in my recent memory was in April a couple or three years ago. I remember it so well because it came with a double hit. That is when we get 8 or 10 inches of snow one day and two days later repeat the process. While trying to dig out of the first wave, the clutch went out of my tractor, so I was ‘up the creek’ when the 2nd storm hit two days later. That time I managed to get our old snow-blower running enough to get a path to the road open, but had to wait until the tractor was repaired to get the place properly cleaned up.
What makes our situation more difficult for snow removal is that we need more than just a open trail to the road. Having my lumber business here requires that I keep a lot of area open and cleaned up in order to operate properly. Such are the consequences of having a small one man business in the great state of MN.
Speaking of our great state. Last week I got a visit from our county “Conservation and Land Management” people. I used to think that the USA was a “free country” and “personal property rights” was a foundation of a free society. Property rights might still be the foundation of a free people, but we are only deceiving ourselves if we think this applies to the state of MN and I am assuming other states are not a lot different.
The strange part about this visit was that the two gentlemen that got out of the county car and came to my door, one with a camera in his hands, were not in the least bit interested in me or my property when they found out that I was not Amish. This farm used to belong to an Amish family before we bought it, so they assumed it still did. Never mind that they parked right beside my electric pole, something you won’t find at an Amish house, and I met them outside the back door dressed like anything but an Amish. They still ask me if I belonged to the local Amish community. I told them no, then they wanted to know if I ran a sawmill “too”, as if everyone that had some lumber setting around must run a sawmill. I did not bother to explain to them that I did have a small sawmill in one of my sheds, but since my business is not running a sawmill, I figured this was none of their business.
I explained to them that I kiln dry lumber, which would explain my piles of lumber they could plainly see. I did not want to pry into their business with the Amish anymore than I wanted them to pry into my business, but I could not help wondering why they would approach what they thought to be an Amish residence with a camera in their hands. By way of explanation, Amish do not want their picture taken, by anyone. It is one of those things that is hard for the rest of us to understand, like a lot of their ways. I do understand some of their thinking since I deal with a lot of them on a regular basis, but when people press me to explain why Amish think they way they do I am hard pressed to get a coherent explanation, that is because their ‘thinking’ is so foreign to the average person. My general statement is that “you would have to be Amish to understand the way they think”, at least to make any common sense of it.
The Amish and their ways is not the point of this blog post. My point is about the way “government”, all the way from the Feds to the local level has turned American foundational values on its head. There was a time when an American who owned a piece of property could consider that land and its use “sacred” in that the ‘owner’ had the full right to use and live on his land ever how he wanted to. But, as it commonly the ‘excuse’, in the name of “protecting the public” the government now takes the liberty to not only confiscate your property if they want to, for the greater good of course, but they now consider it their “lawful responsibility” to tell me what I can do with my property, where, or if, I can build an outbuilding, how big that building can be and they consider it their ‘sacred right’ to know everything I do with or on my small chunk of the “American Dream”.
Finally, these county fellows happen to mention what they were looking for, at least what they “said” they were doing. They were looking for any place that had more than one residence. Many of the Amish, (all the ones I know of) do not take social security from the government, when they get too old to earn enough money to live on, some of their family will build them a house next door so they can assist them in their old age. Our “dictators” evidently don’t like that some parts of our society choose to care for their older family members in this manner. So they have passed ‘zoning laws’ and one of those limit how many residential houses can be on a piece of property.
What bothers me is this. Many ‘normal people’ don’t understand the Amish ways and can’t figure out how the Amish think because they chose to live in a way that was “normal” a couple hundred years ago, without electricity etc. But the part that I can’t figure out is: “Who gave the government the ‘right’ to dictate to me or anyone else, that one cannot have more than one dwelling on their own piece of property? Our government is bankrupt, are they wanting mom & pop to move to town where the bankrupt government can care for them? Or is it that they just simply are desperate for money and want to ‘extort’ some from the Amish because they know most Amish would rather pay for whatever “permits” they are forced to purchase than be at odds with the local government?
I am hard pressed to know the answer. I only know what I have observed over the last year or two. Last summer the Amish had a co-op set up in our nearest village. Here they sold farm produce like eggs, jams etc. Right around harvest time our county “officials” walked it and shut the co-op down, saying they did not have the proper “permits” to sale produce. The same produce that I can buy off the back of a pick-up truck parked along side the road. I don’t always understand how Amish ‘think’, but for the life of me, I can’t understand how our government thinks either. It seems they are doggedly determined to undermine every traditional way for people to earn money from their small farms or land. While at the same time, this government is bankrupt! One would think that local, state and federal leaders would try to help people earn what little money they could by whatever honest means they could, but no, we have reached the point when for whatever convoluted reasoning the ‘dictators’ use, they are taking away all commonly understood rights of normal American people. But if you happen to have ‘slipped’ across the border into Texas under the wire, our beloved government will give you free medical care and a college education! Something is upside down folks.
Such are the thoughts of Ernie’s World.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Grandchildren
Ernie’s World has been quiet for awhile. That is because I have been very busy or just don’t have much to say. That was until I just got done spending 3 days with my grandson! What a joy that was. He is about 15 months old and I had not seen him since around late October. They sure grow fast at this stage in their young lives! His parents dropped him off and went on a fishing trip.
Back in October he was quite clumsy as he was learning to walk, now he is a fast little fellow. Since most of the “work” falls on grandma, that leaves the ‘fun’ up to me. Only those who have grandchildren can understand how much joy it is too look into those eyes and realize that this person is your 2nd generation offspring. Then see the pure excitement about life and learning there is in the young ones, something that we older folks have forgotten about.
I am sure all grandparents feel the same about their grandchildren. But this is the first for us and the first “boy” descendent that I have. In my mind that makes it even more special. We have two daughters who have brought great joy and excitement to our lives. A boy is a different critter altogether. Grandma said that while I was plowing snow, the young fellow watched the tractor with awe and did not want to leave the window as long as I was in sight. He likes machines, tools and anything that looks like it is mechanical. Girls have their own charm, but to watch a young boy study everything in sight, to see how it is put together is something I never noticed either of my girls doing.
We had a small plastic sliding board set up in the house for him to play on. On one side there was a plastic cap that was lose from a bolt, he worked time and again at trying to get that thing to go over the bolt head where he was certain it was suppose to be, but being broke it would not stay, but I don’t know at the times I saw him working at that thing, as if he was determined to fix it.
Yea, there is nothing like a grandchild to perk up ones interest in small children. Every small child has a grandparent somewhere who thinks the world of them, at least I hope they do. I know where there is one little fellow who does.
One more thing. How should I explain this so as not to overstate the case? We all know toddlers can be “notional”, even when it makes no sense. But the little fellow sure made grandpa feel “special” when we went to meet his parents to take him back home. I got him out of his car seat and took him to his mother. The little bugger pulled away from his ma and clung to my neck! After not seeing her for 3 days! How funny is that? Even knowing it was just the ‘notion’ of the moment made grandpa feel good. J
Back in October he was quite clumsy as he was learning to walk, now he is a fast little fellow. Since most of the “work” falls on grandma, that leaves the ‘fun’ up to me. Only those who have grandchildren can understand how much joy it is too look into those eyes and realize that this person is your 2nd generation offspring. Then see the pure excitement about life and learning there is in the young ones, something that we older folks have forgotten about.
I am sure all grandparents feel the same about their grandchildren. But this is the first for us and the first “boy” descendent that I have. In my mind that makes it even more special. We have two daughters who have brought great joy and excitement to our lives. A boy is a different critter altogether. Grandma said that while I was plowing snow, the young fellow watched the tractor with awe and did not want to leave the window as long as I was in sight. He likes machines, tools and anything that looks like it is mechanical. Girls have their own charm, but to watch a young boy study everything in sight, to see how it is put together is something I never noticed either of my girls doing.
We had a small plastic sliding board set up in the house for him to play on. On one side there was a plastic cap that was lose from a bolt, he worked time and again at trying to get that thing to go over the bolt head where he was certain it was suppose to be, but being broke it would not stay, but I don’t know at the times I saw him working at that thing, as if he was determined to fix it.
Yea, there is nothing like a grandchild to perk up ones interest in small children. Every small child has a grandparent somewhere who thinks the world of them, at least I hope they do. I know where there is one little fellow who does.
One more thing. How should I explain this so as not to overstate the case? We all know toddlers can be “notional”, even when it makes no sense. But the little fellow sure made grandpa feel “special” when we went to meet his parents to take him back home. I got him out of his car seat and took him to his mother. The little bugger pulled away from his ma and clung to my neck! After not seeing her for 3 days! How funny is that? Even knowing it was just the ‘notion’ of the moment made grandpa feel good. J
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Slippery Rocks, Tipsy Canoes & Ice Cold Water Don't Mix
Our great MN weather has taken a turn toward the cool side. At least for this mild winter it seems cold at around -10° the last couple mornings, with a nasty wind, as icing on the cake. Still nothing to what most winters are, but some of us are happy for the break. The lack of snow makes me even happier than the warm temperatures. So far we have only had a few inches, I plowed a little bit one time and now the ground is mostly bare. But we have March coming up, which is historically the snowiest month of the winter for us, so we might get a pile yet.
Today as I was going about some work in the shop, I was having some ‘flashbacks’ to days of my childhood and the small farm in southern OH that I grew up on, at least for the most part that is where we lived in my young years. It is a fact, that our young years have a decided affect upon our lives. I am not sure how other people look at these things, but for me, I loved living on a dirt road with very few neighbors and lots of room for a young fellow to roam, without getting into too much trouble. I took to country life like a young duck takes to water. It just came natural, as if instinct told me that my place was outside of cities and villages and near the woods, fields and streams.
Since becoming an adult, I have lived in some fairly large cities for short periods of times, but I was never ‘at home’ in a city or even living in apartments or houses in small towns. I wanted a place as far from neighbors as I could get. Not that I have an un-neighborly attitude toward people, a lot of my desire to live apart comes with some of my ‘hobbies’. Things that make a lot of noise and is bound to disturb some neighbors. Mainly that is with the boom of some of my black-powder rifles or modern deer rifles. I have been a fan of target shooting ever since I was old enough to shoot a BB-gun. I like living in a place that I can shoot when I want to without disturbing a lot of people.
On the little farm where I grew up we were very lucky to have plenty of woods where I went as often as I could escape my mother and just loitered with a single shot .22 or a shotgun. Not that I was always really hunting for game, but that was as good an excuse as any to hang out in the woods. We had a small stream that ran through our farm. On the maps it was called Little Raccoon Creek. A few miles down stream they dammed the stream up and build a reservoir that formed a fair sized lake, for that region. I was in my early teens when they made this lake and remember when they stocked it with fish. They did not allow fishing for 2 years after it was stocked, I tell you that was a long 2 years for a want-to-be fisherman. When you are young, two years is ‘forever’! But it was not against the law to fish in the stream. Most of the year there were not many fish in the stream, but in the spring the suckers would run up the creek to spawn. We made “hay” then!
We had an uncle who like to “gig” for suckers. In MN we would call it “spearing”, but there they used a frog gig to spear the suckers at night. I remember we would take old carbide miner lights as lamps. Then we would wade in shallow water where it would be rippling and there is where we could see the fish as they swam upstream in the shallow water. We carried burlap feed sacks to put our catch in, at times we would get 2 or three sacks of those suckers in a night. I have no ideal if it was ‘legal’ or not, I think it was, but am not certain.
One night I especially remember. We had worked our way upstream and got a few fish, but not very many. It was a cold night in April and I recall that night very well because I got desperate enough to get some fish that I took the chance of standing of a slippery rock over about 3 feet of water. Stream water in April is cold! I found out when my feet slipped out from under me and I went into the water body first. Of course it did me no harm other than a cold dunking and a pleasant memory.
From that night we flash-forward about 20 years. By then we were living in MN at the junction of the Shell and Crow Wing rivers near the village of Huntersville, MN. It was another April and I was in a canoe doing some spring fishing up the Crow Wing river maybe a half mile from our house. The ice was still on the lakes, but the river had been open for a few weeks and I just could not resist ‘casting a line’ with some crappie minnows and a bobber. I had tied my canoe off on a tree that had fallen into the river. The worst part is that I had been having some back problems and did one of those “dumb” things we sometimes do to avoid pain. I had an old lawn chair that I set up in the canoe to sit in while I fished. If you are familiar with canoes you can guess how that was going to turn out. But I had spent a lot of time in a canoe and had never tipped one in all my travels, so I was over-confident you might say.
I had just got comfortable and was ready to bait my hook, so I reached down to pull my minnow bucket up out of the water to get a minnow. I never got it out of the water. As I leaned over in that old style lawn chair it slipped on the bottom of the canoe and before I even knew what happened I had a ‘rude awakening’ in ice cold water.
There was a strong current in the spot I was at and as soon as my head came up out of the river I saw my lawn chair floating downstream. I wonder now why I bothered with it, but I swam out and retrieved the chair before I attempted to get out of that ice water. I suppose I did not want to have to chase the chair down with the canoe and then have to paddle against a very strong current to get back upstream to the house. Not that the chair was of any value, I hate too see “junk” cluttering up a wilderness river and that is what would happen if I just let the thing go.
The funny part to me was that I had a hat on and sun glasses when I went under the water, when I came up from the dunking my hate and sunglasses were still perfectly in place, albeit very wet. I am glad there was no one around with a video camera to film the fool in a lawn chair, in a canoe soon after the ice had left the river. Being fairly young and healthy at the time, and used to the cold, it did not bother me as far as the cold was concerned. The only thing that would have bothered me would have been if there was an eye witness to the event, there was no one around.
There is no moral to these stories, unless you don’t like taking a dip in ice cold water, then I would advise you to stay off slippery rocks and don’t even think of sitting in a canoe with a lawn chair!
What makes one think of such crazy things on a cold winter day?
Today as I was going about some work in the shop, I was having some ‘flashbacks’ to days of my childhood and the small farm in southern OH that I grew up on, at least for the most part that is where we lived in my young years. It is a fact, that our young years have a decided affect upon our lives. I am not sure how other people look at these things, but for me, I loved living on a dirt road with very few neighbors and lots of room for a young fellow to roam, without getting into too much trouble. I took to country life like a young duck takes to water. It just came natural, as if instinct told me that my place was outside of cities and villages and near the woods, fields and streams.
Since becoming an adult, I have lived in some fairly large cities for short periods of times, but I was never ‘at home’ in a city or even living in apartments or houses in small towns. I wanted a place as far from neighbors as I could get. Not that I have an un-neighborly attitude toward people, a lot of my desire to live apart comes with some of my ‘hobbies’. Things that make a lot of noise and is bound to disturb some neighbors. Mainly that is with the boom of some of my black-powder rifles or modern deer rifles. I have been a fan of target shooting ever since I was old enough to shoot a BB-gun. I like living in a place that I can shoot when I want to without disturbing a lot of people.
On the little farm where I grew up we were very lucky to have plenty of woods where I went as often as I could escape my mother and just loitered with a single shot .22 or a shotgun. Not that I was always really hunting for game, but that was as good an excuse as any to hang out in the woods. We had a small stream that ran through our farm. On the maps it was called Little Raccoon Creek. A few miles down stream they dammed the stream up and build a reservoir that formed a fair sized lake, for that region. I was in my early teens when they made this lake and remember when they stocked it with fish. They did not allow fishing for 2 years after it was stocked, I tell you that was a long 2 years for a want-to-be fisherman. When you are young, two years is ‘forever’! But it was not against the law to fish in the stream. Most of the year there were not many fish in the stream, but in the spring the suckers would run up the creek to spawn. We made “hay” then!
We had an uncle who like to “gig” for suckers. In MN we would call it “spearing”, but there they used a frog gig to spear the suckers at night. I remember we would take old carbide miner lights as lamps. Then we would wade in shallow water where it would be rippling and there is where we could see the fish as they swam upstream in the shallow water. We carried burlap feed sacks to put our catch in, at times we would get 2 or three sacks of those suckers in a night. I have no ideal if it was ‘legal’ or not, I think it was, but am not certain.
One night I especially remember. We had worked our way upstream and got a few fish, but not very many. It was a cold night in April and I recall that night very well because I got desperate enough to get some fish that I took the chance of standing of a slippery rock over about 3 feet of water. Stream water in April is cold! I found out when my feet slipped out from under me and I went into the water body first. Of course it did me no harm other than a cold dunking and a pleasant memory.
From that night we flash-forward about 20 years. By then we were living in MN at the junction of the Shell and Crow Wing rivers near the village of Huntersville, MN. It was another April and I was in a canoe doing some spring fishing up the Crow Wing river maybe a half mile from our house. The ice was still on the lakes, but the river had been open for a few weeks and I just could not resist ‘casting a line’ with some crappie minnows and a bobber. I had tied my canoe off on a tree that had fallen into the river. The worst part is that I had been having some back problems and did one of those “dumb” things we sometimes do to avoid pain. I had an old lawn chair that I set up in the canoe to sit in while I fished. If you are familiar with canoes you can guess how that was going to turn out. But I had spent a lot of time in a canoe and had never tipped one in all my travels, so I was over-confident you might say.
I had just got comfortable and was ready to bait my hook, so I reached down to pull my minnow bucket up out of the water to get a minnow. I never got it out of the water. As I leaned over in that old style lawn chair it slipped on the bottom of the canoe and before I even knew what happened I had a ‘rude awakening’ in ice cold water.
There was a strong current in the spot I was at and as soon as my head came up out of the river I saw my lawn chair floating downstream. I wonder now why I bothered with it, but I swam out and retrieved the chair before I attempted to get out of that ice water. I suppose I did not want to have to chase the chair down with the canoe and then have to paddle against a very strong current to get back upstream to the house. Not that the chair was of any value, I hate too see “junk” cluttering up a wilderness river and that is what would happen if I just let the thing go.
The funny part to me was that I had a hat on and sun glasses when I went under the water, when I came up from the dunking my hate and sunglasses were still perfectly in place, albeit very wet. I am glad there was no one around with a video camera to film the fool in a lawn chair, in a canoe soon after the ice had left the river. Being fairly young and healthy at the time, and used to the cold, it did not bother me as far as the cold was concerned. The only thing that would have bothered me would have been if there was an eye witness to the event, there was no one around.
There is no moral to these stories, unless you don’t like taking a dip in ice cold water, then I would advise you to stay off slippery rocks and don’t even think of sitting in a canoe with a lawn chair!
What makes one think of such crazy things on a cold winter day?
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