Most of us don’t think about the “value” of our jobs, beyond the paycheck. But truthfully, when we have been unable to do our jobs for a matter of weeks due to illness we begin to realize that our work has more benefits than merely the pay we receive. Not that we would or could work for nothing, but rather that we learn to look at our work as an important part of who we are.
I was reminded of that today. It was the first day I have graded lumber since having the gall bladder surgery. Obviously in a physical job, the first day back after about 3 weeks has its own challenge, but it also is satisfying to know that I can still get the job done, even if it was not so ‘graceful’ and a bit slower than normal.
There are a lot of folks who are out of work despite their best efforts in the current economic mess we are in. Those of us who have work should be thankful, I am. If you are unhappy with your job, just imagine yourself without any income at all, then your job might not look so bad after all.
Our MN weather has taken a change. This morning when I left home at 5:30 AM it was 33° and snowing hard. The snow did not last long, but then the northwest wind came up and the temperature dropped throughout the day. The last I looked it was 12° and they are forecasting near 0 by morning. Quite a change from the 52° we had yesterday! But still well above what we can generally expect at this time of year.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Amish Ice Houses, Chickens & Wild Turkeys
The same weather pattern continues to be with us, 48° on January 9th, unbelievable, but very welcome. They do say we will have some cooler weather by mid-week, maybe near zero. That is nothing to what a MN January normally looks like!
It is probably a common thing in people that excessively mild weather has a way of throwing us off, in that it does not seem possible that it can be approaching mid-January already! We have no snow on the ground, we had a little but it is all melted. By the ‘feel in the air’ it could just as well be late October, but by the calendar we are forced to accept it is January.
As I have observed before, “time is not our friend”. The days, weeks and months go by too fast to keep up with. Before we blink our eyes it will be springtime, the time of year we in MN so long for. But, so far, this year we just keep enjoying the longest fall in MN history.
Even the livestock and wildlife seem to be in awe of the mild weather. I saw today a herd of cows that was out grazing on some brown grass like it was the best thing they had ever seen. I also observed a flock of wild turkeys in a neighbors yard, they appeared to be feasting on acorns that were not taken by squirrels and buried. We have a local flock of them that hang together which we see quite often. Among them there is what appears to be a half-breed, in that this bird has every other feather black and white. At a distance it looks to be grey, but up close you can see that it is simply a mixture of white and black. I have to wonder if it is a mixed breed or if it is simply a color variation that sometimes occurs in wild turkeys?
When we had the little snow on the ground, there was signs of our “enemy” a weasel about the place. Last winter the murdering varmint got a bunch of our chickens. We trapped one, but during the summer another one came in and killed the last of our chickens in a matter of minutes at mid-day. Bold murdering little rascals, weasels.
This gives me a project to do as soon as spring does come. That is to build a new chicken coup that is closer to the occupied buildings and make it as weasel proof as possible, which will not be easy since they can practically go through a keyhole. The coup will sit close to the dog house where the “vicious beagle” can at least raise a ruckus if a weasel comes about.
Keeping chickens to most people is more trouble than it is worth. I freely admit that from a purely economic consideration, it is cheaper to buy eggs than keep chickens. But what is life without some “principles”? One of our principles is to provide as much of our own homegrown food as we can and store bought eggs don’t hold much attraction, once you are used to ‘farm fresh’ eggs. Besides, chickens can be entertaining to watch. Nothing short of a pig can scratch, at seeming bare ground, and find something to eat like a chicken.
We don’t raise chickens for meat. For starters, I despise cleaning chickens, though I have butchered a great many from time to time. Nothing takes away my appetite for ‘chicken meat’ as does the smell of warm, wet chicken feathers! It just does something “bad” for my desire to eat one of those birds after having scolded and plucked it’s feathers. Then another problem is that our daughter loves chickens and makes pets of them, each having a special name. She will tame them and pick each one up by name and talk to it everyday. You have a hard time killing and consuming “pets”. J
For a Monday, it has turned out to be a productive day. I spent much of it on the road making some delivers of lumber to some Amish customers. They too seem to have taken courage with the mild winter. Most winters it is remarkable how hard life can be for some of the Amish folk, especially the ones who hold to the “old order of things”. Imagine cutting firewood with a one-man crosscut saw in this day and age. Although most of them do rig up some sort of gas powered saw rig, a few I know still cut up slab wood with their crosscut saws.
A lot of what they do is admirable, even if it does make their lives seem “hard”. One thing many of them do, that I believe is a very good practice to at least know, is they fill an ice house with ice so they have it for summer use. Some of them get ice from a nearby lake, but the problem with that plan is that, these days, you would not want to put that ice in you water for drinking. Most of them will build a framework out on the ground with 2 X 12” material in the flattest place they can find. Then they line that with a huge sheet of plastic and wait for a good cold snap. Then they use their well water and fill the pond with water to about 10” deep. If the weather is cold enough, this will freeze to a good clear ice in a couple days time. Then they have gas powered ice saws that are built especially for the purpose. These have a large set of steel wheels and a saw blade running off the gas motor. They cut to a depth of about 8”. In this manner they will cut their whole pond of ice into blocks that can easily be broken apart with an ice chisel. Then they load the ice onto sleds about the size of hay wagons to be pulled by a beautiful pair of well trained draft horses up to the icehouse. I got the opportunity, by accidentally being on hand when one of these operations was in progress last winter, to ride one of these sleighs. I was surprised how fast a good pair of horses could pull that empty sleigh with just me and a driver. We went zooming up a well worn trail of ice and snow in such a manner that made me think, that travel by horse sleigh in the old days was much smoother than a buggy would have been. Simply because a frozen road stays smooth much better than dirt, which will get ruts in when muddy.
Once they are loading the ice blocks into their ice house, they separate each layer of ice with clean sawdust. This adds extra insulation for keeping the ice froze and also prevents the blocks from freezing together whenever some melting does occur. In this manner the competent Amish have good clean ice to last all summer, plus they have refrigeration to some extent for food.
Personally, I could do without a lot of things modern, but a cold drink of water is one thing I would sorely miss if for some reason I had not electric power. One of my first projects would be to build one of those ice houses if necessity required me to live without electricity.
We marvel and enjoy an “easy life” brought about by modern inventions, but when we see the “old ways” up close and personal, we also marvel how our ancestors did have ways of making their hard lives a little bit more pleasant. It is worth noting that there are a lot of “old skills” that should not be lost, even if we never need to put them into practice for basic living.
It is probably a common thing in people that excessively mild weather has a way of throwing us off, in that it does not seem possible that it can be approaching mid-January already! We have no snow on the ground, we had a little but it is all melted. By the ‘feel in the air’ it could just as well be late October, but by the calendar we are forced to accept it is January.
As I have observed before, “time is not our friend”. The days, weeks and months go by too fast to keep up with. Before we blink our eyes it will be springtime, the time of year we in MN so long for. But, so far, this year we just keep enjoying the longest fall in MN history.
Even the livestock and wildlife seem to be in awe of the mild weather. I saw today a herd of cows that was out grazing on some brown grass like it was the best thing they had ever seen. I also observed a flock of wild turkeys in a neighbors yard, they appeared to be feasting on acorns that were not taken by squirrels and buried. We have a local flock of them that hang together which we see quite often. Among them there is what appears to be a half-breed, in that this bird has every other feather black and white. At a distance it looks to be grey, but up close you can see that it is simply a mixture of white and black. I have to wonder if it is a mixed breed or if it is simply a color variation that sometimes occurs in wild turkeys?
When we had the little snow on the ground, there was signs of our “enemy” a weasel about the place. Last winter the murdering varmint got a bunch of our chickens. We trapped one, but during the summer another one came in and killed the last of our chickens in a matter of minutes at mid-day. Bold murdering little rascals, weasels.
This gives me a project to do as soon as spring does come. That is to build a new chicken coup that is closer to the occupied buildings and make it as weasel proof as possible, which will not be easy since they can practically go through a keyhole. The coup will sit close to the dog house where the “vicious beagle” can at least raise a ruckus if a weasel comes about.
Keeping chickens to most people is more trouble than it is worth. I freely admit that from a purely economic consideration, it is cheaper to buy eggs than keep chickens. But what is life without some “principles”? One of our principles is to provide as much of our own homegrown food as we can and store bought eggs don’t hold much attraction, once you are used to ‘farm fresh’ eggs. Besides, chickens can be entertaining to watch. Nothing short of a pig can scratch, at seeming bare ground, and find something to eat like a chicken.
We don’t raise chickens for meat. For starters, I despise cleaning chickens, though I have butchered a great many from time to time. Nothing takes away my appetite for ‘chicken meat’ as does the smell of warm, wet chicken feathers! It just does something “bad” for my desire to eat one of those birds after having scolded and plucked it’s feathers. Then another problem is that our daughter loves chickens and makes pets of them, each having a special name. She will tame them and pick each one up by name and talk to it everyday. You have a hard time killing and consuming “pets”. J
For a Monday, it has turned out to be a productive day. I spent much of it on the road making some delivers of lumber to some Amish customers. They too seem to have taken courage with the mild winter. Most winters it is remarkable how hard life can be for some of the Amish folk, especially the ones who hold to the “old order of things”. Imagine cutting firewood with a one-man crosscut saw in this day and age. Although most of them do rig up some sort of gas powered saw rig, a few I know still cut up slab wood with their crosscut saws.
A lot of what they do is admirable, even if it does make their lives seem “hard”. One thing many of them do, that I believe is a very good practice to at least know, is they fill an ice house with ice so they have it for summer use. Some of them get ice from a nearby lake, but the problem with that plan is that, these days, you would not want to put that ice in you water for drinking. Most of them will build a framework out on the ground with 2 X 12” material in the flattest place they can find. Then they line that with a huge sheet of plastic and wait for a good cold snap. Then they use their well water and fill the pond with water to about 10” deep. If the weather is cold enough, this will freeze to a good clear ice in a couple days time. Then they have gas powered ice saws that are built especially for the purpose. These have a large set of steel wheels and a saw blade running off the gas motor. They cut to a depth of about 8”. In this manner they will cut their whole pond of ice into blocks that can easily be broken apart with an ice chisel. Then they load the ice onto sleds about the size of hay wagons to be pulled by a beautiful pair of well trained draft horses up to the icehouse. I got the opportunity, by accidentally being on hand when one of these operations was in progress last winter, to ride one of these sleighs. I was surprised how fast a good pair of horses could pull that empty sleigh with just me and a driver. We went zooming up a well worn trail of ice and snow in such a manner that made me think, that travel by horse sleigh in the old days was much smoother than a buggy would have been. Simply because a frozen road stays smooth much better than dirt, which will get ruts in when muddy.
Once they are loading the ice blocks into their ice house, they separate each layer of ice with clean sawdust. This adds extra insulation for keeping the ice froze and also prevents the blocks from freezing together whenever some melting does occur. In this manner the competent Amish have good clean ice to last all summer, plus they have refrigeration to some extent for food.
Personally, I could do without a lot of things modern, but a cold drink of water is one thing I would sorely miss if for some reason I had not electric power. One of my first projects would be to build one of those ice houses if necessity required me to live without electricity.
We marvel and enjoy an “easy life” brought about by modern inventions, but when we see the “old ways” up close and personal, we also marvel how our ancestors did have ways of making their hard lives a little bit more pleasant. It is worth noting that there are a lot of “old skills” that should not be lost, even if we never need to put them into practice for basic living.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Confessions of an Amateur Outdoorsman-1
One of the delights of my life has been various outdoor activities. The range of my interests are about as broad as the outdoors themselves, so I have at one time or another attempted many things related to outdoor affairs, not all of them very successful.
I know a lot of very competent outdoorsmen and women. These are the people who take their pursuits seriously and are mostly very successful whether they are hunting, fishing, trapping, backpacking or any of the other numerous outdoor activities people are involved in.
Personally I have had some nice successes, but to be honest, I have had some humiliating failures also, or you might just call them misadventures. I recall one such occasion when deer hunting in southwestern KY sometime around 1982 or 1983. That country was not exactly ‘thick’ with deer and there was not a lot of public hunting land, that I was aware of. This friend, whose named happened to be Jimmy, said he knew a perfect place for us to go hunting, it was covered with deer, so he said. But the one catch was that we had to get in there before daylight and set up on a hillside at the edge of some trees. I was game to try anything that might get me a deer.
What Jimmy failed to tell me was that we would be “trespassing” without permission, nor did he tell me the condition of the “trail” that we would be trying to drive his old Chrysler on. You know those Chryslers from the ‘70’s, about the size of a small ship, only heavier and low to the ground!
We started up this steep, water rutted hillside in the predawn of a November morning, with the headlights off of course. That is when my friend Jimmy explained to me about the “lack of permission” to be hunting there. But he went on to say that he was “sure the old fellow would not mind, as long as he didn’t know we were there”. I was not sure how that logic worked, but I was along for the ride and kept my thoughts to myself. I did feel sure it was very unlikely that “anyone” would be where we were!
As we climbed in that old Chrysler on up the hillside, making fairly good progress considering the state of the trail, we were doing well until we were about ¾ the way to the top where Jimmy wanted to hide his car in the trees. Then it happened. I felt the sudden drop of that ‘big boat’ as it dropped into a deep water rut, I could also tell, in a flash, that we were not going any farther, from the sound of gravel and dirt tearing at the mainframe under that car. We were “bellied out” with both drive wheels hanging in the air while the mainframe sat on “high ground”.
A quick look confirmed our suspicions. But, since we were more interested in deer hunting than extracting that beast from its current home, it was decided we would ‘hoof it’ on to the top of the hill, about ¾ mile away and worry about getting the car out after the hunt.
We took off up the trail that was steep enough for goat traffic to be slowed down. Finally we reached the top where the woods began just ahead of daylight. My favorite method of deer hunting has always been from a tree stand, naturally we did not have a stand on this strange hillside, but as I looked around in the dim light I spotted a big oak tree that was leaning out from the tree line and looked easy enough to climb. Perfect, I thought. Not having a shoulder strap on my old .30-30 rifle I handed it to Jimmy so I could climb up to a fork that looked comfortable to make my stand. Once there, I must have been about 10 feet off the ground because it was all that we could do for Jimmy to hand my rifle up to me, but in order to reach it I was compelled to hold on to a limb and lean over the side of the tree to reach the end of the gun, which did not have a shell in the chamber for safty reasons.
When I climbed that tree I noted that there was an old barbed wire fence attached to it, which happened to be exactly where Jimmy was standing to reach my rifle up to me. I had just gotten hold on the rifle barrel when to my great ‘disappointment’ I felt that tree limb I was holding to with the other hand “snap”! The results were quite predictable. I gave a warning shout to Jimmy that I was on my way down, while at the same time thinking of that barbed wire fence that I wanted to avoid at all costs if possible! With the last bit of control I had on the tree I threw myself just enough to clear the fence, but not enough to make a controlled landing. (Which incidentally, is a landing where you hit feet first and roll to break the momentum and hopefully do no harm to yourself.)
Having lived with one leg slightly shorter than the other, due to another mishap, I have been well practiced at the drop and roll method of ‘biting the dust’. People with a leg just slightly short are prone to stepping in a low spot and have their ankle turn, to keep from harming the ankle I always just went with the flow and let myself drop and roll. It looks a bit ridiculous in public places for a grown man to suddenly drop like a rock and roll on the ground, but it better than having a sprained ankle, trust me. J
Ok, I digress again. Since I did not have much control of my decent, I landed at a poor angle with my right foot taking the brunt of my weight. Snap! I heard, not to mention felt, something give in that foot and assumed it was not going to be a “good deal”.
Jimmy, only being somewhat alarmed, ask me if I was ok. I assured him I was not badly injured. He said, “get back up there, we will try again.” I laughed a little and told him that sitting at the foot of this tree would be ok, I really did not want a rerun just yet.
After assuring him that I was all right, we agreed on a time to meet back at the car, which still had to be jacked up and gotten out of the hole it was in, and Jimmy went on around the hillside to make a stand.
It did not take too long for nature to begin taking its course on my right foot. The longer I sat there the tighter my boot got and the more that thing “throbbed”. Soon it became apparent to me that my foot was very likely broken, it was certain that I was not going to be able to walk on it. Since I had given up the ideal of shooting a deer, I turned my attention to how I was going to make it back down that hill to where the car was stuck. I needed a crutch.
Looking around I found a small tree that would fit the bill, so I took my hunting knife out and went to work making a makeshift crutch.
When I got it done, I went ahead and started hobbling toward the car. Knowing Jimmy as I did, there was no reason to expect him to show up any earlier than we had agreed too unless he shot a deer. It was obviously going to take me some time to make the trip.
When me and Jimmy had both finally arrived at his car, it was then time to figure a way to get it’s tires back on solid ground. This was accomplished by jacking the car up and putting logs, rocks and anything else we could find under the tires until we could get free and turn around. Needless to say it took many attempts at jacking that thing up and putting all this stuff underneath the tires before we were free.
Not having been to a doctor in KY up to that time, I was not sure where I should go. A friend recommended an “old doctor” that he said was one of the “best in the country” and would not charge me an ‘arm and a leg’. Well, I don’t recall if he charged very much, but I do remember looking at the x-ray and saying to myself that a ‘normal’ foot does not have the bone sticking up about an half inch, right on the top of it. The old doctor assured me however, that it was not broken and a few days of staying off of it would make it right. Sure it would. But like a fool I let it at that. Now I am reminded daily of a misadventure that happened nearly 30 years ago. Every time I walk more than a few hundred yards that old bone lets me know that it was not in the right place.
But then, if I had not busted that foot, maybe I would have forgotten about Jimmy and his grand hunting spot by now.
It is strange how we can dig up memories even in unpleasant ways, but yet cherish the little adventures we had long ago, in another world.
I know a lot of very competent outdoorsmen and women. These are the people who take their pursuits seriously and are mostly very successful whether they are hunting, fishing, trapping, backpacking or any of the other numerous outdoor activities people are involved in.
Personally I have had some nice successes, but to be honest, I have had some humiliating failures also, or you might just call them misadventures. I recall one such occasion when deer hunting in southwestern KY sometime around 1982 or 1983. That country was not exactly ‘thick’ with deer and there was not a lot of public hunting land, that I was aware of. This friend, whose named happened to be Jimmy, said he knew a perfect place for us to go hunting, it was covered with deer, so he said. But the one catch was that we had to get in there before daylight and set up on a hillside at the edge of some trees. I was game to try anything that might get me a deer.
What Jimmy failed to tell me was that we would be “trespassing” without permission, nor did he tell me the condition of the “trail” that we would be trying to drive his old Chrysler on. You know those Chryslers from the ‘70’s, about the size of a small ship, only heavier and low to the ground!
We started up this steep, water rutted hillside in the predawn of a November morning, with the headlights off of course. That is when my friend Jimmy explained to me about the “lack of permission” to be hunting there. But he went on to say that he was “sure the old fellow would not mind, as long as he didn’t know we were there”. I was not sure how that logic worked, but I was along for the ride and kept my thoughts to myself. I did feel sure it was very unlikely that “anyone” would be where we were!
As we climbed in that old Chrysler on up the hillside, making fairly good progress considering the state of the trail, we were doing well until we were about ¾ the way to the top where Jimmy wanted to hide his car in the trees. Then it happened. I felt the sudden drop of that ‘big boat’ as it dropped into a deep water rut, I could also tell, in a flash, that we were not going any farther, from the sound of gravel and dirt tearing at the mainframe under that car. We were “bellied out” with both drive wheels hanging in the air while the mainframe sat on “high ground”.
A quick look confirmed our suspicions. But, since we were more interested in deer hunting than extracting that beast from its current home, it was decided we would ‘hoof it’ on to the top of the hill, about ¾ mile away and worry about getting the car out after the hunt.
We took off up the trail that was steep enough for goat traffic to be slowed down. Finally we reached the top where the woods began just ahead of daylight. My favorite method of deer hunting has always been from a tree stand, naturally we did not have a stand on this strange hillside, but as I looked around in the dim light I spotted a big oak tree that was leaning out from the tree line and looked easy enough to climb. Perfect, I thought. Not having a shoulder strap on my old .30-30 rifle I handed it to Jimmy so I could climb up to a fork that looked comfortable to make my stand. Once there, I must have been about 10 feet off the ground because it was all that we could do for Jimmy to hand my rifle up to me, but in order to reach it I was compelled to hold on to a limb and lean over the side of the tree to reach the end of the gun, which did not have a shell in the chamber for safty reasons.
When I climbed that tree I noted that there was an old barbed wire fence attached to it, which happened to be exactly where Jimmy was standing to reach my rifle up to me. I had just gotten hold on the rifle barrel when to my great ‘disappointment’ I felt that tree limb I was holding to with the other hand “snap”! The results were quite predictable. I gave a warning shout to Jimmy that I was on my way down, while at the same time thinking of that barbed wire fence that I wanted to avoid at all costs if possible! With the last bit of control I had on the tree I threw myself just enough to clear the fence, but not enough to make a controlled landing. (Which incidentally, is a landing where you hit feet first and roll to break the momentum and hopefully do no harm to yourself.)
Having lived with one leg slightly shorter than the other, due to another mishap, I have been well practiced at the drop and roll method of ‘biting the dust’. People with a leg just slightly short are prone to stepping in a low spot and have their ankle turn, to keep from harming the ankle I always just went with the flow and let myself drop and roll. It looks a bit ridiculous in public places for a grown man to suddenly drop like a rock and roll on the ground, but it better than having a sprained ankle, trust me. J
Ok, I digress again. Since I did not have much control of my decent, I landed at a poor angle with my right foot taking the brunt of my weight. Snap! I heard, not to mention felt, something give in that foot and assumed it was not going to be a “good deal”.
Jimmy, only being somewhat alarmed, ask me if I was ok. I assured him I was not badly injured. He said, “get back up there, we will try again.” I laughed a little and told him that sitting at the foot of this tree would be ok, I really did not want a rerun just yet.
After assuring him that I was all right, we agreed on a time to meet back at the car, which still had to be jacked up and gotten out of the hole it was in, and Jimmy went on around the hillside to make a stand.
It did not take too long for nature to begin taking its course on my right foot. The longer I sat there the tighter my boot got and the more that thing “throbbed”. Soon it became apparent to me that my foot was very likely broken, it was certain that I was not going to be able to walk on it. Since I had given up the ideal of shooting a deer, I turned my attention to how I was going to make it back down that hill to where the car was stuck. I needed a crutch.
Looking around I found a small tree that would fit the bill, so I took my hunting knife out and went to work making a makeshift crutch.
When I got it done, I went ahead and started hobbling toward the car. Knowing Jimmy as I did, there was no reason to expect him to show up any earlier than we had agreed too unless he shot a deer. It was obviously going to take me some time to make the trip.
When me and Jimmy had both finally arrived at his car, it was then time to figure a way to get it’s tires back on solid ground. This was accomplished by jacking the car up and putting logs, rocks and anything else we could find under the tires until we could get free and turn around. Needless to say it took many attempts at jacking that thing up and putting all this stuff underneath the tires before we were free.
Not having been to a doctor in KY up to that time, I was not sure where I should go. A friend recommended an “old doctor” that he said was one of the “best in the country” and would not charge me an ‘arm and a leg’. Well, I don’t recall if he charged very much, but I do remember looking at the x-ray and saying to myself that a ‘normal’ foot does not have the bone sticking up about an half inch, right on the top of it. The old doctor assured me however, that it was not broken and a few days of staying off of it would make it right. Sure it would. But like a fool I let it at that. Now I am reminded daily of a misadventure that happened nearly 30 years ago. Every time I walk more than a few hundred yards that old bone lets me know that it was not in the right place.
But then, if I had not busted that foot, maybe I would have forgotten about Jimmy and his grand hunting spot by now.
It is strange how we can dig up memories even in unpleasant ways, but yet cherish the little adventures we had long ago, in another world.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
America's Best
For those of us living in MN, we cannot get the mild weather out of our conversations or even our minds. Today (Jan. 5, 2012) in the early afternoon my temperature reading is 52 degrees! Now that would be about 5 degrees above most of the area, since we live in an unexplained “hot spot”. However you look at it we cannot believe our great good luck. Call it what you want, we in MN, most of us anyway, are very happy to have a mild winter. It don’t happen all that often and we can expect “hard winters” in coming years.
Naturally, this one is not over yet. If we suddenly go into a ‘nasty spell’, all this will be quickly smothered in the reality of a MN winter.
On other subjects. I had a visit with my surgeon today and she told me that all seemed well and I should plan on being able to resume a normal work load in another week. Using ‘pain’ as my guide for how quickly I can become “load bearing” again. So my ‘medical leave’ vacation is about to come to a halt. That means I must get myself afoot and start walking in order to build up my stamina before I actually find myself atop a lumber pile. It is a remarkable thing how quickly the body can go “soft”, but from too much experience in “recoveries”, I also know how quickly we can regain our strength by a daily concentration of simply walking. All the more reason to be thankful for the mild weather!
It is only January, the fall elections are not until November, but if other folks see it the way I do, we are already tired of hearing politicians feed us a pack of lies about each other, the current resident in the White House (although they don’t have to lie to make him look pathetic, but it is their nature, just to stay in practice I suppose) but worse than everything else, not only do they lie “to us”, they lie about us. They would like us to believe that we Americans, would shrivel up and die if it were not for their kindness in giving us ‘permission to breath’! I can only listen to them for but a few minutes and then get a “doomed” feeling. If these over inflated egos are the best the USA has to offer us for a President, we are in deep trouble. The only consolation I have is that I know for certain “the candidates” for the presidents office, are not the smartest most important people in America.
America's best are “working” day and night to improve on a bad situation that the professional politicians have gotten us into. Our “best” are the everyday people who go about their chosen employment with ambition and honor. Our “best” are the men and women of our military that risk life and limb to keep us free. Our “best” are business men, who in spite of vicious attacks from self serving politicians, are continuing to provide the goods and services the nation must have to keep moving. Our “best” are seen daily, usually early morning and late evening, commuting back and forth to real jobs that produce income so the economy does not totally fall in on itself. But “Our Best” are up against our “elected officials”, who more often than not, stand in opposition to success and demonize ‘wealth’, all the while they fleece the “working people”, whether rich or poor, of every last cent!
It is my dream that one day, “Our Best” get the better of these bums called politicians! How? By sticking to the capitalist system until at some point, the majority of American people understand that we can have a thriving economy again. But it will not be “provided” by “Big Brother Government”, rather a strong economy is driven by honest Americans producing goods and services at a fair price that people want and are willing to pay for.
It is a confessed fact that I am not smart enough to explain how we are suppose to “by-pass” an ‘overbearing federal government’ to reclaim our “once” thriving free enterprise system. I suspect it will only come about after enough of us, reach the point of “having nothing left to loose” and then “in mass” begin to simply “ignore” Washington and go about our businesses without asking for their “high and holy” permission. At this point in time that can’t be done. Just read any newspaper and you will find stories of businesses “shut down” due to some violation of federal code. Most often the owners failed to ‘grease the right palms’ in Washington. Cynical, yes, but tell me it is not true.
I will grant that there are plenty of sleazy business people who should be ‘out of business’, but most often, those kind of people get their due without government action.
Oh my, how did I get so far into this rant? J At this point the only thing you and I can do is to pay at least some attention to the issues involved in this next falls election. Then, having educated ourselves, we are bound by pragmatism, to vote for who we really believe will do the “least harm”. It is a fact of life that more people are capable of destroying a house, than are those competent to ‘build a house’. The “Destroyers” have been on a rampage, ‘we the people’ will, at some point, have to rebuild if we are to have a land free, proud and brave.
Naturally, this one is not over yet. If we suddenly go into a ‘nasty spell’, all this will be quickly smothered in the reality of a MN winter.
On other subjects. I had a visit with my surgeon today and she told me that all seemed well and I should plan on being able to resume a normal work load in another week. Using ‘pain’ as my guide for how quickly I can become “load bearing” again. So my ‘medical leave’ vacation is about to come to a halt. That means I must get myself afoot and start walking in order to build up my stamina before I actually find myself atop a lumber pile. It is a remarkable thing how quickly the body can go “soft”, but from too much experience in “recoveries”, I also know how quickly we can regain our strength by a daily concentration of simply walking. All the more reason to be thankful for the mild weather!
It is only January, the fall elections are not until November, but if other folks see it the way I do, we are already tired of hearing politicians feed us a pack of lies about each other, the current resident in the White House (although they don’t have to lie to make him look pathetic, but it is their nature, just to stay in practice I suppose) but worse than everything else, not only do they lie “to us”, they lie about us. They would like us to believe that we Americans, would shrivel up and die if it were not for their kindness in giving us ‘permission to breath’! I can only listen to them for but a few minutes and then get a “doomed” feeling. If these over inflated egos are the best the USA has to offer us for a President, we are in deep trouble. The only consolation I have is that I know for certain “the candidates” for the presidents office, are not the smartest most important people in America.
America's best are “working” day and night to improve on a bad situation that the professional politicians have gotten us into. Our “best” are the everyday people who go about their chosen employment with ambition and honor. Our “best” are the men and women of our military that risk life and limb to keep us free. Our “best” are business men, who in spite of vicious attacks from self serving politicians, are continuing to provide the goods and services the nation must have to keep moving. Our “best” are seen daily, usually early morning and late evening, commuting back and forth to real jobs that produce income so the economy does not totally fall in on itself. But “Our Best” are up against our “elected officials”, who more often than not, stand in opposition to success and demonize ‘wealth’, all the while they fleece the “working people”, whether rich or poor, of every last cent!
It is my dream that one day, “Our Best” get the better of these bums called politicians! How? By sticking to the capitalist system until at some point, the majority of American people understand that we can have a thriving economy again. But it will not be “provided” by “Big Brother Government”, rather a strong economy is driven by honest Americans producing goods and services at a fair price that people want and are willing to pay for.
It is a confessed fact that I am not smart enough to explain how we are suppose to “by-pass” an ‘overbearing federal government’ to reclaim our “once” thriving free enterprise system. I suspect it will only come about after enough of us, reach the point of “having nothing left to loose” and then “in mass” begin to simply “ignore” Washington and go about our businesses without asking for their “high and holy” permission. At this point in time that can’t be done. Just read any newspaper and you will find stories of businesses “shut down” due to some violation of federal code. Most often the owners failed to ‘grease the right palms’ in Washington. Cynical, yes, but tell me it is not true.
I will grant that there are plenty of sleazy business people who should be ‘out of business’, but most often, those kind of people get their due without government action.
Oh my, how did I get so far into this rant? J At this point the only thing you and I can do is to pay at least some attention to the issues involved in this next falls election. Then, having educated ourselves, we are bound by pragmatism, to vote for who we really believe will do the “least harm”. It is a fact of life that more people are capable of destroying a house, than are those competent to ‘build a house’. The “Destroyers” have been on a rampage, ‘we the people’ will, at some point, have to rebuild if we are to have a land free, proud and brave.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Natural Resources
We have a lot of debate in our country about the uses of various natural resources, and it is only ‘right’, that when we use the resources that God has put before us, we do so responsibly and with common sense.
It does appear that the debate always diverts away from any “helpful discourse”, and ends up in a “shouting match” between those who are ‘preservationist’, and everyone else. As far as believing we humans have no right to use ’natural resources’ is concerned; all I can think of is for such a person to go dig a hole, if they dare harm the ground, and crawl in it. It can only be the height of stupidity to believe that in the great cycle of life, “humans” were meant to be left outside of it. Every living organism lives from others and ultimately gives its life in sustaining the next generation.
I think of the great Salmon runs in the Northwest and Alaska. The Salmon live for one purpose, return to the place they were born to spawn. Lay their spawn and then die, to be fed upon by bears and a whole environment of life that depends upon them.
It is doubtful, in the final analysis, whether we humans are much different, from a purely biological standpoint. I am not addressing our spiritual natures and how we different from other creatures, only our biological ‘life’. We are born into families, where our parents raise us. At some point we leave the nest and have children that we raise and in the by and by, we return to the dust of the ground.
The passing upon this earth by me, does not make me especially relevant among all the life forms on earth at a given time. There are a great many creatures that would rather turn me into pure ‘protein’, given the chance, than they would run from my presence. Thank God for firearms!
If, perchance, we imagine a world of living organisms, who are all trying to get the maximum use of the natural resources that surround us, and imagine secondly, that I need to chose a ’winning side’ in this battle for resources; I am choosing mankind, humans, homo sapiens, that would be, you and me, verses Trigger my dog or any other creature. So far, from all historic observations I have made, recent and ancient, we humans are the only ones who have materially lifted ourselves up by the invention of tools, machinery etc.
The only advancement I see taking place in the animal world, is that which they enjoy on our “coat-tails”. Because my life is better, so is Trigger’s, but I observe without prejudice, if it were not for me, old Trigger would not be one bit better off than his ancestors of a thousand years ago. He would still be killing any and everything he could get his teeth into, including me, to merely survive. By the natural fact that God has created man as his “special creature”, we have every right to use the resources of nature to survive and thrive.
That being said, we would be quite foolish to destroy all natural resources in a ’quick grab’ for one or two generations, and then be left with nothing to live on. To some extent I will agree with those who point to the great harvest of our virgin forests in the 19th century, as being an over-kill. Yet, it was all that timber that built the great cities of American in less than 100 years (between 1800 - 1900).
We have the ongoing debate about ’fossil fuels’ and the importance they play in our lives. Some claim we have reached the point that there will not be enough energy for future generations at our current level of consumption. To be honest, I have no way of knowing the true facts or uncovering them.
A couple thoughts I have is this. One, are the doomsayers taking into account ongoing advances in more efficient use of such energy sources? Even if it is true, that our current use of fossil fuels cannot be sustained, does that mean there will be no inventions that are made which will greatly extend the supply of fossil fuels? Two, much of the gloomy predictions seem to be made in the name of ’political grandstanding’, so that one party “benefits” from scare tactics. This throws their whole “box of evidence” into question. So me, a common person, has no real grounds to make a judgment as to what is the best course of action.
Move from fossil fuels to wood. Now you are in an area I know some little about. It would seem that the over harvest of timber in the 1800’s would have taught Americans a lesson to make reasonable use of our forests. But I, who have made my living from the harvest of timber, observe that we are still making some “bad choices” when it comes to timber use.
I respect the MN DNR a great deal and have followed their publications and statistics for nearly 25 years. But what becomes obvious to me is that we are leaning too heavily upon certain species of low value trees, simply for a “quick fix” to a temporary problem. Our native hardwoods, oak, ash, birch etc. have been neglected and almost left to live or die in the midst of a rush to replant nearly every harvested track of timber with Aspen (popple) or Pines. The specie that stands out as being grown for a quick harvest is Aspen of one sort or another. The big uses for this has changed over the last 8-10 years. Before the housing bubble exploded, it was pressed wood or chipboard that much of the Aspen was going into as a building material for homes. It was quick, cheap and fast to build with. It is also a less than “quality” material to build with.
On June 17, 2010 an F-4 tornado hit Wadena, MN, a town about 18 miles from us. Upon touring the destruction caused by that horrible event, I was struck with one major impression. You could drive down a street lined with houses on both sides, some were gone completely, others were standing with seemingly little damage. But I noticed a pattern. All the houses left standing seemed to be houses that were built from around 1950-1970. There were very few houses left that had been built since 1990. It struck me that the only difference, had to be in the construction methods and/or materials. I am not an expert in building standards, this is just an observation, but I can’t help but think we should ‘rethink’ some of our practices.
Since the housing has gone into “depression”, other sectors of the economy might be in “recession”, but the whole housing industry is in depression and let no politician tell you otherwise. The main use for all this Aspen has now gone to make ethanol or fuel for power plants. Now ethanol is a “touchy subject” in my neck of the woods, simply because a lot of people are profiting by its production. These folks I do not fault in the least on a personal basis, the problem is that ethanol cannot stand on its own feet as a reliable fuel source. Some reports have determined that it actually takes more than a gallon of “fossil fuel” to produce a gallon of ethanol! If that be true, we really are insane! Because it is not only wood that is being consumed by the ethanol industry, but corn on a much greater scale. “Corn” is food! We are taking our “food” supply and burning it in the name of ‘political correctness’, that is what this amounts to. In the attempt to create some “homegrown” energy we are in affect, “shooting ourselves in the foot”.
Everyone is aware of the soaring food prices over the last few years and most are aware that much of this is because of the drive up in the price of corn because of the ethanol industry. Again, I don’t fault the farmers, Lord knows they needed ‘something’ to boast their industry, but I am almost certain that the nation as a whole is suffering more due to the cost of food, not to mention the tax money we have sunk into ethanol (right out of Americans pockets), than the benefit’s the farmers have received in higher corn prices. In fact, the farmers costs to raise their crops have almost, if not entirely, ate up the extra increase they get for their corn. Fertilizer, fuel and equipment costs have nearly crushed them, despite high crop prices.
So the bottom line comes right back to basic economics. Whether these “highly educated” planners and promoters of ethanol were blinded to the consequences of using corn for their dream fuel, or whether they knew what it would do to the rest of the economy is another question, I have no way of finding an honest answer to. If it was ‘unintended consequences’, then I am thinking they were not so “smart” if they could not see what was coming for food prices. If they “knew” food prices would soar, they were ruthless and dishonest.
The answer to our nations energy needs must be in an approach that makes some kind of sense. First, for the short term at least, we ought to be maximizing every domestic form of oil drilling we can in order to avoid the necessity of always being in a war in the middle east. But this is being held hostage to “politics” by the extreme environmental movement. We ought to be working with our neighbor Canada to buy oil from them, at least they are not using the money we pay for oil to buy weapons to attack us. Second, for long term we ought to let “free enterprise” invent and come up with more efficient ways to use our energy until the technology advances to new forms of practical power sources.
The worst thing we can do is to let “big government” find the solutions. That will bankrupt us all! Besides, I don’t see where governments are very reliable partners in business, they somehow always find a way to “run off with the money”, leaving behind a bankrupt company.
It does appear that the debate always diverts away from any “helpful discourse”, and ends up in a “shouting match” between those who are ‘preservationist’, and everyone else. As far as believing we humans have no right to use ’natural resources’ is concerned; all I can think of is for such a person to go dig a hole, if they dare harm the ground, and crawl in it. It can only be the height of stupidity to believe that in the great cycle of life, “humans” were meant to be left outside of it. Every living organism lives from others and ultimately gives its life in sustaining the next generation.
I think of the great Salmon runs in the Northwest and Alaska. The Salmon live for one purpose, return to the place they were born to spawn. Lay their spawn and then die, to be fed upon by bears and a whole environment of life that depends upon them.
It is doubtful, in the final analysis, whether we humans are much different, from a purely biological standpoint. I am not addressing our spiritual natures and how we different from other creatures, only our biological ‘life’. We are born into families, where our parents raise us. At some point we leave the nest and have children that we raise and in the by and by, we return to the dust of the ground.
The passing upon this earth by me, does not make me especially relevant among all the life forms on earth at a given time. There are a great many creatures that would rather turn me into pure ‘protein’, given the chance, than they would run from my presence. Thank God for firearms!
If, perchance, we imagine a world of living organisms, who are all trying to get the maximum use of the natural resources that surround us, and imagine secondly, that I need to chose a ’winning side’ in this battle for resources; I am choosing mankind, humans, homo sapiens, that would be, you and me, verses Trigger my dog or any other creature. So far, from all historic observations I have made, recent and ancient, we humans are the only ones who have materially lifted ourselves up by the invention of tools, machinery etc.
The only advancement I see taking place in the animal world, is that which they enjoy on our “coat-tails”. Because my life is better, so is Trigger’s, but I observe without prejudice, if it were not for me, old Trigger would not be one bit better off than his ancestors of a thousand years ago. He would still be killing any and everything he could get his teeth into, including me, to merely survive. By the natural fact that God has created man as his “special creature”, we have every right to use the resources of nature to survive and thrive.
That being said, we would be quite foolish to destroy all natural resources in a ’quick grab’ for one or two generations, and then be left with nothing to live on. To some extent I will agree with those who point to the great harvest of our virgin forests in the 19th century, as being an over-kill. Yet, it was all that timber that built the great cities of American in less than 100 years (between 1800 - 1900).
We have the ongoing debate about ’fossil fuels’ and the importance they play in our lives. Some claim we have reached the point that there will not be enough energy for future generations at our current level of consumption. To be honest, I have no way of knowing the true facts or uncovering them.
A couple thoughts I have is this. One, are the doomsayers taking into account ongoing advances in more efficient use of such energy sources? Even if it is true, that our current use of fossil fuels cannot be sustained, does that mean there will be no inventions that are made which will greatly extend the supply of fossil fuels? Two, much of the gloomy predictions seem to be made in the name of ’political grandstanding’, so that one party “benefits” from scare tactics. This throws their whole “box of evidence” into question. So me, a common person, has no real grounds to make a judgment as to what is the best course of action.
Move from fossil fuels to wood. Now you are in an area I know some little about. It would seem that the over harvest of timber in the 1800’s would have taught Americans a lesson to make reasonable use of our forests. But I, who have made my living from the harvest of timber, observe that we are still making some “bad choices” when it comes to timber use.
I respect the MN DNR a great deal and have followed their publications and statistics for nearly 25 years. But what becomes obvious to me is that we are leaning too heavily upon certain species of low value trees, simply for a “quick fix” to a temporary problem. Our native hardwoods, oak, ash, birch etc. have been neglected and almost left to live or die in the midst of a rush to replant nearly every harvested track of timber with Aspen (popple) or Pines. The specie that stands out as being grown for a quick harvest is Aspen of one sort or another. The big uses for this has changed over the last 8-10 years. Before the housing bubble exploded, it was pressed wood or chipboard that much of the Aspen was going into as a building material for homes. It was quick, cheap and fast to build with. It is also a less than “quality” material to build with.
On June 17, 2010 an F-4 tornado hit Wadena, MN, a town about 18 miles from us. Upon touring the destruction caused by that horrible event, I was struck with one major impression. You could drive down a street lined with houses on both sides, some were gone completely, others were standing with seemingly little damage. But I noticed a pattern. All the houses left standing seemed to be houses that were built from around 1950-1970. There were very few houses left that had been built since 1990. It struck me that the only difference, had to be in the construction methods and/or materials. I am not an expert in building standards, this is just an observation, but I can’t help but think we should ‘rethink’ some of our practices.
Since the housing has gone into “depression”, other sectors of the economy might be in “recession”, but the whole housing industry is in depression and let no politician tell you otherwise. The main use for all this Aspen has now gone to make ethanol or fuel for power plants. Now ethanol is a “touchy subject” in my neck of the woods, simply because a lot of people are profiting by its production. These folks I do not fault in the least on a personal basis, the problem is that ethanol cannot stand on its own feet as a reliable fuel source. Some reports have determined that it actually takes more than a gallon of “fossil fuel” to produce a gallon of ethanol! If that be true, we really are insane! Because it is not only wood that is being consumed by the ethanol industry, but corn on a much greater scale. “Corn” is food! We are taking our “food” supply and burning it in the name of ‘political correctness’, that is what this amounts to. In the attempt to create some “homegrown” energy we are in affect, “shooting ourselves in the foot”.
Everyone is aware of the soaring food prices over the last few years and most are aware that much of this is because of the drive up in the price of corn because of the ethanol industry. Again, I don’t fault the farmers, Lord knows they needed ‘something’ to boast their industry, but I am almost certain that the nation as a whole is suffering more due to the cost of food, not to mention the tax money we have sunk into ethanol (right out of Americans pockets), than the benefit’s the farmers have received in higher corn prices. In fact, the farmers costs to raise their crops have almost, if not entirely, ate up the extra increase they get for their corn. Fertilizer, fuel and equipment costs have nearly crushed them, despite high crop prices.
So the bottom line comes right back to basic economics. Whether these “highly educated” planners and promoters of ethanol were blinded to the consequences of using corn for their dream fuel, or whether they knew what it would do to the rest of the economy is another question, I have no way of finding an honest answer to. If it was ‘unintended consequences’, then I am thinking they were not so “smart” if they could not see what was coming for food prices. If they “knew” food prices would soar, they were ruthless and dishonest.
The answer to our nations energy needs must be in an approach that makes some kind of sense. First, for the short term at least, we ought to be maximizing every domestic form of oil drilling we can in order to avoid the necessity of always being in a war in the middle east. But this is being held hostage to “politics” by the extreme environmental movement. We ought to be working with our neighbor Canada to buy oil from them, at least they are not using the money we pay for oil to buy weapons to attack us. Second, for long term we ought to let “free enterprise” invent and come up with more efficient ways to use our energy until the technology advances to new forms of practical power sources.
The worst thing we can do is to let “big government” find the solutions. That will bankrupt us all! Besides, I don’t see where governments are very reliable partners in business, they somehow always find a way to “run off with the money”, leaving behind a bankrupt company.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New Batteries Sometime are Dead
Today was not what I call a "nice winter day", rather it was a nasty windy, cold day. Despite that it reached almost 30 degrees. It started off around 7' with a very stiff south wind that hits our farm 'dead on'.
I was preserving my energy to help my mechanic when he came to work on the truck, since I was convinced our brand new battery was no good. Turned out I was right to. So we were spared having to buy a starter, but I got the job of returning the new battery to one of my least favorite hardware stores and explaining to the man that they really should check a battery before they sold it to a woman. Now I have a battery that I checked before he took it from the shelf and my mechanic will come back and put it in the truck. A job that I could do in 5 minutes, but not with a "cut gut"!
That was my day.
I was preserving my energy to help my mechanic when he came to work on the truck, since I was convinced our brand new battery was no good. Turned out I was right to. So we were spared having to buy a starter, but I got the job of returning the new battery to one of my least favorite hardware stores and explaining to the man that they really should check a battery before they sold it to a woman. Now I have a battery that I checked before he took it from the shelf and my mechanic will come back and put it in the truck. A job that I could do in 5 minutes, but not with a "cut gut"!
That was my day.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Sunshine and Beagles
Second day of the New Year and I am wondering where the last week went. The pain medication they give out these days may work good for ‘pain’, but they sure don’t do anything for the memory.
I was sleepless late last night and while I sat reading, it occurred to me that a friend had visited me in the hospital on the day of my surgery, that I had not remembered. I ask my wife and she knew nothing about it. So I had to check the facts and sure enough, said person was there and it had not occurred to me for almost a week! Right then I pulled the plug on the medication.
There is not much that can lift ‘downed spirits’ as a bright, cold, sunny MN day (7° at daylight). Just a few inches of snow with the gale wind laying down, made a most agreeable time to break out for some fresh air and locomotion. Walking back and forth across the house just does not cut it, when you are an outdoor person at heart, I don’t care how big the house is!
Have some friends that have been ice fishing and the reports are good. They are kind enough to send me pictures of great northern pike laying on the ice and walleye, fresh out of the water. It is enough to make the mouth water and start eyeballing the portable fish house hanging in the rafters!
In a few weeks me and some fishing buddies will be up on the Lake of the Woods trying our hand. Usually we get good eating and sometimes we hit it just right and catch hundreds of fish. Either way it will be nice to continue a ‘tradition’ that four friends have kept up for over 20 years.
There are some benefits to being ‘laid up’ for a few weeks in January, not many. One is that I can relax a little and enjoy the beauty of some fresh fallen snow that was not enough to require my attention with the tractor and snowplow, that would have been inconvenient in my weakened condition.
This morning I had the treat of watching our beagle “Trigger”, pull our daughter around the driveway on a sled. Beagles are not known as sled dogs! But this little fellow is ‘game’, all she has to do is throw a treat about 30 feet in front of them and away they go. It is good, though, that I did not witness the cat chase, I don’t think my incision is up to that much of a belly laugh, especially when the cat went under a low building, too low for the child on the sled! J
No one knows what this new year holds, except God, and He ain’t telling, that I know of. But one thing is certain, I made it through December, even though my wife adds, “barely”, when I make the statement. Either way December of 2011 is history. We might have deep cold yet in January and February and piles of snow in March and April, but the days already are getting longer hours of daylight and by February the pace picks up and before one is aware of it, another year will be well on its way.
I was sleepless late last night and while I sat reading, it occurred to me that a friend had visited me in the hospital on the day of my surgery, that I had not remembered. I ask my wife and she knew nothing about it. So I had to check the facts and sure enough, said person was there and it had not occurred to me for almost a week! Right then I pulled the plug on the medication.
There is not much that can lift ‘downed spirits’ as a bright, cold, sunny MN day (7° at daylight). Just a few inches of snow with the gale wind laying down, made a most agreeable time to break out for some fresh air and locomotion. Walking back and forth across the house just does not cut it, when you are an outdoor person at heart, I don’t care how big the house is!
Have some friends that have been ice fishing and the reports are good. They are kind enough to send me pictures of great northern pike laying on the ice and walleye, fresh out of the water. It is enough to make the mouth water and start eyeballing the portable fish house hanging in the rafters!
In a few weeks me and some fishing buddies will be up on the Lake of the Woods trying our hand. Usually we get good eating and sometimes we hit it just right and catch hundreds of fish. Either way it will be nice to continue a ‘tradition’ that four friends have kept up for over 20 years.
There are some benefits to being ‘laid up’ for a few weeks in January, not many. One is that I can relax a little and enjoy the beauty of some fresh fallen snow that was not enough to require my attention with the tractor and snowplow, that would have been inconvenient in my weakened condition.
This morning I had the treat of watching our beagle “Trigger”, pull our daughter around the driveway on a sled. Beagles are not known as sled dogs! But this little fellow is ‘game’, all she has to do is throw a treat about 30 feet in front of them and away they go. It is good, though, that I did not witness the cat chase, I don’t think my incision is up to that much of a belly laugh, especially when the cat went under a low building, too low for the child on the sled! J
No one knows what this new year holds, except God, and He ain’t telling, that I know of. But one thing is certain, I made it through December, even though my wife adds, “barely”, when I make the statement. Either way December of 2011 is history. We might have deep cold yet in January and February and piles of snow in March and April, but the days already are getting longer hours of daylight and by February the pace picks up and before one is aware of it, another year will be well on its way.
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