Rural life!

      When I was five miles from The Little House yesterday on my return from the OFH a sheriff's deputy blocked the road. "They finally got me"  was not my first thought. He said the road was blocked at the next intersection. Assuming accident I detoured to reach my destination. Did he say "accident" or did I assume it? Well, it was an accident but not like I imagined. It was a very 'rural' accident.

   The hired man of the local bto, (big time operator), was on a tractor pulling an implement across the highway. As he crossed the highway at the intersection the implement imploded such that it could not be moved. There it sat impeding traffic until a repair part could be fetched from town. What the failure was I haven't learned. My guess is that it was a broken axle. The good news is that it wasn't the type of accident that endangered life and limb. 

    Food plots for wildlife are what I plant. The state fish and wildlife agency provides free seed for those plots. It's leftover commercial seed from a seed corn company. 80,000 kernels came home with me today. It would sell for approximately $300. One field still needs tillage.

   The local grain elevator sells gasoline. The price they charge is a per centage higher than what they paid. The price remains the same until the gallons purchased are sold. Then, if the price they pay for the next supply is higher the pump price reflects that. Last week the pump price was $3.36, today it was $3.85.

Takk for alt,

Al

The Little House...

      Kaia and I have discovered that if we leave the OFH at 6:00 am we can transverse Minneapolis and Eden Prairie at posted speeds. That gets us to The Little House about 10:00, and so here we are. It was a good stay at the OFH.

    The local flora are rejoicing. Why? you ask. Rain, blessed rain, 3" by one report. Farmers locally have done quite a bit of planting so this moisture assures germination of the planted seeds. Pastures, hay land, trees, shrubs, flowers, thistles😕...all need moisture.  It doesn't end the drought but may signal the beginning of a wetter period...we hope. It's great for the grass which was burned last week. It would be interesting to know how many gazillion thistle seeds were consumed in that fire. Even three inches was not sufficient for the pond across the street to show water. This is the first significant rain of 2026, and there was very little snow last winter.

Takk for alt,

Al

Until I'd visited these mangroves in southern Cambodia I always envisioned them as large trees with huge trunks.

Haying...

   Peter commented on haying. In response to his question in a comment, a wide variety of grasses can be hay. In my childhood we had some ground too steep to farm. It grew a combination of native grasses and invasives like smooth brome. We hayed that land. One difference is that alfalfa keeps growing after it is cut. In my youth we got two cuttings of alfalfa. Now, in these wetter, warmer years farmers routinely cut three crops, and some times four, in a season. Kentucky blue grass makes good hay but the quantity is limited and it doesn't re-grow enough for a second crop. Cereal grains, and especially oats. make good hay.

    In my years in north-western North Dakota many farmers I knew were active during the prolonged drouth of the 1930s. One thing that would grow during those dry years was Russian Thistles. You may know them as 'tumble weeds'. The famers  said that they used these thistles for hay. Of course, they were harvested green, well before they came loose and blew in the wind.

   Windrows typically mean hay or grain that been cut and left in a swath. Shelter Belts were multi-row tree belts. Many were planted in the early '40s, after the dust bowl years. Dad and his siblings planted about two miles of these tree belts. Much later single rows of trees were planted also to control soil erosion. Most of my tree planting have been multi-row belts primarily for wildlife.

Takk for alt,

Al

"See them tumbling down
Pledging their love to the ground
Lonely but free I'll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds
Cares of the past are behind
Nowhere to go but I'll find
Just where the trail will wind
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds
I know when night has gone
That a new world's born at dawn
I'll keep rolling along
Deep in my heart is a song
Here on the range I belong
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds
Drifting on and on
Moving on and on
Wandering on and on"   Roy Rogers

WNBA Returns!

     The WNBA season has begun with pre-season games. Via the portal of a modestly priced WNBA League Pass all games are available either via live stream or replay. It's half-time of the New York Liberty and Indian Fever game which I'm watching. Fever lead by a few points. For a WNBA nut such as I, it's fun to see familiar players and many new faces. With the new WNBA contract many established players timed the end of their contracts to coincide with the new terms this years. Consequently, it was basket upset as many of them switched teams.

   The new contract was recently ratified and that made a very short time for teams to practice. Practice is important as new players are integrated. This years crop of college recruits are particularly gifted. Some of them will become starters with the teams that drafted them. One of those is Olivia Miles, a point guard drafted #2, by the Lynx. After four years at Notre Dame she played a fifth year at TCU. 

   Recently I upgraded my Little House internet connection to enable live streaming the games. The new internet connection at the OFH is more secure but no faster than the old.

  Life is good!

Takk for alt,

Al

Lynx star, Napheesa Collier #24, is recovering from surgery and will not play until June.

Ya, then....

     This is one of those days with no original thought. However if I don't post one or both of you will wonder about my welfare. It's the good life that I'm living in the OFH. Good to connect with family and friends. Perhaps a random picture with give something worth seeing.

Takk for alt,

Al

While in Melbourne, Australia, Amy and I visited a game reserve. Surrounded by kangaroos, they were looking for treats.

Life in the OFH!

     Being resident in the OFH allows for helpful people connections. An important friend made a significant drive to join me for lunch today. The gift of friendship is a a beautiful thing.

    Tonight three of us inmates of the OFH went to to Cossette's for dinner. Cossette's is three floors of delectable Italian food. In addition to three floors of dining there is a HUGE, delicatessen with cold cuts, baked goods, desserts, etc.

    The OFH practice is that when inmates expire their picture and obituary is posted on a credenza in the lobby. All three of us at dinner have a lively sense of humor. Tonight the focus was on the dear departed's picture's and obituary's on the credenza. The idea was hatched that we should be prepared for our demise and have a preferred photo on file with the employee tasked with preparing the credenza memorial. To that end my picture was taken. (See below)

Takk for alt,

Al

  

Old Folks Home!

     Kaia and I motored through dust storms to the OFH this afternoon. Ye Olde car thermometer registered 90 for a bit. Terribly windy, I lucked out with a gentle breeze yesterday for the burn with red flag days fore and aft.

   While I was absent  Brittany cleaned my apartment. I nicknamed her "Sparkle" because the place sparkles after she cleans. While I'm here Beth will clean The Little House. Once I did some dusting and when it all came back I gave up the enterprise. Yes, I'm spoiled and happy to be so.

     The OFH now offers secure WIFI. The router was installed in my apartment while I was gone. Luddite that I am, I figured out how to access the internet with it and I am using the secure connection as I type this. The router is a white tower on the top of my roll top desk.

Takk for alt,

Al