Cumulative

      Kaia is tired and so am I. Several days in a row of cutting cedars has tired my body, though my back is fine. With time in the field Kaia makes up for her shortened winter runs. From the time we arrive until we leave she runs vigorously. It's as if she thinks, "free at last, free at last." Most of the time she keeps me in sight. If she runs out of sight of me she soon returns to see where I am. As long as I am moving she runs. If I stop for awhile she comes over. When I head for the truck she beats me to it, the door opens and she leaps in. 

     Should I trust tomorrow's forecast? The prediction is for rain most of the day! Here's hoping. There is a project awaiting the shop. That would be a good rainy day activity. Well, rain or no, it would be a welcome respite from cutting cedars.

Takk for alt,

Al

The scenery is good while I hunt cedars. After purchasing this 160 acres (a quarter section it's a half mile square) I constructed five dams to hold water for wildlife. This is the largest. Muskrats tunneled through the dam and it washed out. Two years ago it was repaired and now there's this nice pond.

No gym membership!

      A few days ago while I was cutting cedars out of the pasture fence when a neighbor stopped to chat. "Cedars and pocket gophers, never ending." he said. I replied "Yes, and I'd add rocks to that."  With the tree swallows nesting in the boxes by the pasture fence, not wanting to disturb them, I've move on.

     That moving on is to cedars in a different venue. Now it's cedars in open grassland. With something like 300 acres in grass there is a lot of ground to cover. Tuesday a heavy Carhart jacket was swell, and even wearing leather gloves, my hands got cold. Today, I quickly shed the light jacket, and then the outer shirt, wearing no gloves, I still got warm. 

   There was frost here last night. The low registered on my thermometer was 34. Brookings, 15 miles away, announced 28. The dry pond across the street was very frosty this morning. Corn is probably OK but soybeans are a question.

Takk for alt,

Al

I have extra pruning shears if anyone wants to volunteer to accompany me searching for cedars.

Another Day, Another Book!

      Looking for something to read one day, I opened Kindle. There I found an unread book. Much of it I then read, and, since it is short stories, I put it aside to read Lighthouse Keepers. Returning to it yesterday I discovered there was only one story left.

    It's by a Thai author and it's set in Thailand. Sightseeing by Rattawat Lapcharoensap often references places in Thailand that are familiar to me. Also, the lives and situations described match the experiences of my time teaching and living with a Thai family. 

     Thai names are typically multisyllabic (note the author's). Thai mothers give their child a short nickname at birth. Some of my acquaintance's nicknames with their meanings are; Gai=chicken, Max=stapler and Poo=crab. Nicknames were very helpful when I was teaching. The first day with a new class I'd write each student's nickname on a 3X5 card. Then I could quickly memorize them and I used the cards for roll call at the beginning of class. It was very helpful to call students by name.

    The book is a good read that you'd likely enjoy if you can find it.

Takk for alt,

Al

Good Book!

       A subscription to WNBA League Pass brings myriad WNBA games to my computer. Games that are not available live can be replayed. Replay has the advantage of speed. Games are seldom less than two hours and with fouls, timeouts, etc., can go much longer. Replaying games takes about an hour as timeouts, free throws, etc., are skipped. The down side of access to all these games is that it cuts into my reading time.

     The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter, Hazel Gaynor, is a historical novel, which I didn't realize until finishing it. It's a retelling of the heroic rescue of survivors of a shipwreck on the coast of Scotland in 1838.  Grace Darling became famous for accompanying her father, in the gale that wrecked the ship, to reach the survivors clinging to rocks. Never had a woman participated in such a dangerous rescue. She helped row into the wind and controlled the boat while her father brought the survivors on board. When her courageous efforts became known she achieved fame far and wide. This part of story is historical.

   Gaynor creates the novel as she imagines Darling's negative reaction to her fame. It makes good reading. She also creates a fictious descendant of Sarah Dawson, one of the persons rescued from the shipwreck. This, Matilda, is placed in a lighthouse with a relative, in Newport, R.I. She was sent from her home in Ireland to America in 1938. While not historical, except for a hurricane that devastated the East Coast, it makes a good novel.

    It's a tale well told and I recommend it.

Takk for alt,

Al  

Birds!

       While I was sitting on my steps enjoying a nice day, birds were serenading me. So, turning on my Merlin app, I recorded them. This is the variety singing to me: Chipping Sparrow, Eurasian Collard-Dove, American Redstart, Song Sparrow, Pheasant, Chimney Swift, Brown-headed Cowbird, Tree Swallow, American Goldfinch, Robin, Starling, House Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Grackle, and Baltimore Oriole.  The Grackles get very nervous when Kaia approaches the Lilac bush. Likely there nest with fledglings.

Takk for alt,

Al

Plans Change, again...

         Sometimes old stories stick in my mind. This one is decades old, and it's brought to mind by something current. A solitary Indian man lived in a teepee by a white settlement. Sam, a white man would visit the Indian every day to get the weather forecast, which was often accurate. One day Sam asked for the forecast and the Indian said no forecast today. Sam "Why no forecast today?"  Indian "My radio's broken."

       Seldom have I changed plans based on a weather forecast. Today's events are a reminder of why. Yesterday's forecast was for a day of rain today totaling 1". It was predicted that the rain would begin at 9:00 am and continue through the day. This morning that forecast was changed to rain beginning at noon. Now it's predicted at 5:00pm with a total of .35".  Perhaps we'll get a sprinkle if we're lucky.

      Looking at the forecast yesterday I planned a day inside today! Ya, then...I should have known better! So, I'll post random picture and call it good.

Takk for alt,

Al

For over ten years I volunteered in a Hmong Charter school. This is one of my students in her traditional dress.

Plans change...

       Working diligently, or perhaps more accurately, sporadically, to remove the cedars from the pasture fence, that was today's plan. Strung along this fence are seven nesting boxes. Most years they fill quickly with tree swallows, though not last year. Last year a wren filled most of them with twigs. No twigs this year but still several boxes are unoccupied. The last cedar cut from the fence was close to an unoccupied box. Today, returning to that site to remove another tree, I saw swallows by that box. Late arrivals? 

    Not wanting to disturb the nesters, the small area unfinished will wait until the birds have migrated and the cattle gone home. With the fence not available I repaired to a grassland to look for invasive cedars. There were a few to be found. That's good news because last year there were many in this area. With many acres of grass there's no lack of hunting ground for cedars.  

Takk for alt,

Al

There is much grass in which to search for cedars.

Better to try...

     Better to try and fail than to not try at all. With the news that there will be no goose fencing of my corn I made my own effort. Water borders the entire long side of the rectangle field. Last year the predatory geese used a single path to invade. Too lazy to attempt a long fence, I fenced off the path today. Tall stakes with bottles and cans on top to rattle and swing in the wind augment the fencing. If it will work remains to be seen. But, I tried...

Takk for alt,

Al

The grass is green in the field that was burned a month ago.

30 to 50

      What a day!   Even behind the tree rows the wind beat me up. After removing one large cedar that had sprouted immediately below the fence and had grown up intertwined with the wires, and a few small ones, I gave up. The soil trading farms from a 30mph wind gusting to 50, reminded me of mother's story. She said, "During the dust bowl years, during the worst dust storms, it would get so dark I'd have to light the lamps at noon."  The wind was blowing 30mph, today, with gusts to 50! The air was unsafe for sensitive groups.

      The wind is a danger to newly emerged crops, especially soybeans. The wind whipped soil and grit can damage the new plants. Corn has a growing point that doesn't emerge for a few days. If frost or wind damage the corn plant when the growing point is underground the plant will recover. Not so, with beans. If beans freeze, or are damaged by wind too severely, they die.

    Rain is in the forecast for the weekend.  Let's hope....

Takk for alt,

Al

Fondly remembering my 1954 Austin Healy 100. One on the internet is listed for $110,000. I didn't pay that much.

Evidence!

      Wandering that field a few days ago, the peninsula in Lake Joanne, looking for gophers and finding none, there were cedars. Today I went back to remove the cedars, twelve in all. It is a gorgeous day, windless after yesterday's hurricane, and finally warm enough to be out in shirtsleeves. 

    Finishing with the cedars I walked back to the truck on my neighbor's side of the property fence. What did I find? Pocket gophers heading for my land...actually within five feet. Gopher mounds are a clear indication of the direction they are moving and they were on a line to my property. This is clear evidence that they do invade from populations on the neighboring property. Never seen above ground they do their distance moving at night. Suddenly dirt mounds will appear long distances from established colonies, as  was true in this case.

Takk for alt,

Al

Today's random photo is the Church of the Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Retreat!

      Marine lingo is full of bravado: e.g. "We're surrounded, good, they can't get away from us now!" Or, "We never retreat, we just attack in the opposite direction." Today I retreated without shame.

    When there's a 25mph wind with gusts to 35 it was time to catch up on some chores. Busy for several days, things were hastily deposited in the garage. As a refuge from the wind it was perfect. Now it's all ship shape and tidy again until another spasm of activity disturbs it's order.

     A washer and dryer were included with the purchase of The Little House, nineteen years ago. Had they not been included I would have added them. With the organizing in the garage complete it was time to do laundry, another escape from the wind.

    Entering the butcher shop gave me opportunity to congratulate, Doug, the butcher. His wife, Heidi, gave birth to a baby boy last week. They now have four children, a girl and three boys. One of the boys is named Shadrack so perhaps this son should be Meshack...but not so. Not wanting to leave empty handed, I purchased three ribeye steaks for $78.43. Why three, you ask? Josh next door does them on his grill and his son, Drew, also gets one.

Takk for alt,

al

I love the sign above the door: GARAGE.  Built in 1907, long before .com, so why the dot?

Well, that didn't work!

     Today's plan was to walk some grassland surrounded on three sides by Lake Joanne. It's a peninsula that is seeded to native grasses, bordering a neighbor's grassland that is rife with pocket gophers. These pesky critters don't stay home. They frequently go looking for greener pastures and invade my property. Today's walk was to see if any have invaded. None had.

     With water so accessible I hoped to keep Kaia on dry land. Why? you ask. When we were burning that CRP ground recently Kaia hit the water and emerged a total ball of mud. Hoping to avoid a repeat of that, I struck on a strategy. Filling her water dish by the truck I though, perhaps not being thirsty she'd stay out of the water. What happened? She drank heartily from her dish and then ran right into the water! Actually, she was in the water at least three times. Fortunately she came out clean...no mud.

   On one venture into the water she chased a duck, which flew away. When she's gone after geese on the water they swim just out of her reach. They lead her far out in the water until she finally gives up and returns to land.

Takk for alt,

Al

Kaia, the wonder dog.

Gravity in play!

      

    Where oh where did my agility go?  It's certainly gone. Proof of the loss comes when attempting to cross a pasture fence. Seeing some cedars growing in the pasture, crossing the fence was mandatory if I was to reach those trees. The fence, at this point, was a on a sidehill slanting away. With the gift of gravity I easily rolled under the fence. With that accomplished, I made short work of the cedars, well, perhaps slowly cut them down. 

     When I was finished with a number of cedars it was time to return to the truck. Back at the fence gravity reminded me that it is more difficult to roll uphill. But roll uphill I did and didn't risk getting my feet tangled crossing the fence. "Where there's a will there's a way" someone said. It's sometimes true at least.

   That's about what passes for excitement in my life!

Takk for alt,   Opps forgot to hit Publish yesterday...so will count it for today...my bad!

Al

   The current book I'm reading is about lighthouses. It reminded me of this one near Melbourne, Australia, which Amy and I climbed.

Bad News!

      Last year the wildlife food plot near water became a pasture for geese. Perhaps a fourth of the corn remained standing when the geese were finished. During their molt the geese are flightless and walk in search of food. Finding my corn they had a feast. They even ate the water hemp leaving the ground bare.

    A wildlife official told me that they would fence the geese out this year. After planting the corn I told him I was ready for a fence. Today, the man in charge of the fencing called me. He said fencing was only to protect farmer's soybeans, so I'm not eligible. 😖

   That creates a dilemma.  It's a half hour drive by tractor to the field. Is worth the multiple trips to salvage a little bit of corn? Or, should I just abandon the effort?  Too bad that I'd planted the corn, then the decision not to plant would have been easy.

Takk for alt,

Al

    

Silly Dependency!

      At dinner/suppertime last night I overloaded a circuit, knew better, and tripped a breaker in the electric panel. It's also the circuit for my internet equipment. Re-setting the breaker was easy but the router would not reload. Quickly it became apparent that I'm internet dependent. How silly, but true. 

     Some years ago, as I looked locally in South Dakota for a copy of the Minneapolis paper, it dawned me to subscribe to the online addition. With that subscription I frequently read the Minnesota, and U.S., news in Thailand. A habitual person, the morning paper is a staple. Up at six, Kaia out the front door, breakfast and then a mug of coffee while I read the paper. No internet and the routine is kaput.

    At 7:30 I called the internet provider and at 9:30 a technician was at my house. Prompt service for sure and I can resume my habits, dependency or not...so there!

    After lunch/dinner it was warm enough to ride a tractor. Riding a tractor I did and planted my corn. The physical test I'd planned wasn't possible. Last year I lifted a 60lb bag of corn unto a six foot tractor fender. "Can I still do that?" I wondered. It remains to be seen because this year a bag of 80,000 kernels (Ed, tells me that's actual count.) was only 45.5lbs. There was no challenge hoisting it to the fender. 

Takk for alt,

Al

PS Spotted the first goslings of season. There were three with mom and dad and very small, so newly hatched!

Dinner vs lunch!

       Supper vs dinner! What was the genesis of the nomenclature split for the names of meals? During childhood on the farm, lunch was the refreshment between breakfast and dinner, the noon meal, and between dinner and supper, the evening meal. Mary, who grew up in Minneapolis, but was now a farm wife, invited Joe, the hired man in for the noon meal calling it lunch. "Lunch" he said "It better be more than lunch!" In the OFH, lunch is at noon and dinner in the evening.

     They call it 'dinner' and, with a standing offer to join them, who am I to argue? A common human trait I've observed is the common reluctance to respond to verbal cues. Frequently I've dropped in conversation something like "when I was in Thailand." What happens? Most typically it goes nowhere and the talk moves on. The dinner invitation is every Wednesday at the bank and some from the butcher shop also attend.

   One of the bank employees grew up in the Philippine Islands. Frequently we compare notes on life in the Philippines compared with life in Thailand. This exposes the other diners to information about both countries that they would never ask about. Today, it led to a group conversation about these places that lasted for an hour.

    How about you?  When someone drops a clue in conversation do you pick up on it, or just move on? 

Takk for alt,

Al

PS In response to Michelene's comment/question about the size of the cedar tree pictured. It's an illustration of the problem of not removing cedars as saplings. Today, I trimmed the branches that were intruding on the fence but left the tree standing.

Gifts of a gift.

      Much too cold to ride a tractor today it was time to resume a project left over from last fall. If it wasn't picking rocks, what would you guess?  Both of you, my readers, have often read about my contention with cedar trees. Cedars are problematic in various ways, encroaching on grassland, growing in road ditches and infesting pasture fences, to name three. Today my project was continuing the removal of them from a pasture fence. This land's deed has been in my name for many years, 30?, why wasn't this finished long ago? My bad! Or "better late than never!"

     Rows of cedars were included in the tree rows planted for wildlife cover as a gift. The gift of that gift is the sprouting of cedar saplings in unhelpful locations, see paragraph above. Cedar berries are consumed by birds who defecate the seeds while sitting on the fence. You get the idea.

    Though I do sit-ups every morning, the stoop labor of cutting cedar sprouts quickly tires my back. Working until my back said "stop" I cleared one section of fence this morning. Tomorrow I'll do another. Timing is important because soon my renter, Scottie, will move his cattle to the pasture. Then he'll electrify the fence. If either of you have ever encountered an electric fence  you can understand that cedar removal will rest until the cattle go home in the fall.

    This pasture fence is host to eight? nesting boxes for bluebirds. While the bluebirds have never found them, tree swallows have. "Not a problem", as young people say, swallows need homes, too. The field road to the field of recent tillage passes them. With swallows noted by only one box I wondered if wrens had stuffed the other boxes with twigs, which they do to foil competition...avian dogs in the manger.  As I was approaching one house to check, a swallow flew into it carrying a feather in its beak for nest building. None of the boxes were stuffed with twigs.

    Swallows have been around for several days but, perhaps, the main migration is just now occurring. Swallows feed on insects on the wing...both bird and insect flying. Consequently, their arrival is timed to follow an insect hatch. Last spring cold weather delayed the emergence of insects and many purple martins perished for lack of food.

Takk for alt,

Al

A nesting box that a wren has packed with twigs.

This picture illustrates a cedar grown into the pasture fence. 

Tillage finished.

      With the plowing completed Saturday, and twice disking it today, I did a little experiment. The cost of gasoline for the plowing was $33. Deciding to compare the disking gasoline cost, it was $23. The good news is that the adjustment Tim did to the timing on the tractor improved its performance. Previous to Tim's adjustment the tractor tended to run hot when under heavy load. Plowing and discing were a good tests and the overheating problem was solved. Thanks, Tim!

    The soil is prepared for planting. Now the wait is for weather fit for tractor work on an open station tractor. 

Takk for alt,

Al

Disc and tractor in a different field. I also pull a three section harrow behind the disc when preparing a seed bed.

Family History.

      While living, where geographically I explain "as near the junction of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota", Cathy came to live with us as a foster daughter. Because her family of origin disintegrated we became her legal guardians. The other foster children who lived with us had other guardians. 

      Cathy was very intelligent, mature and possessed exceptional common sense. Parenting her was a dream. First in her extended family to graduate from high school she married Tim. Cathy and Tim continued to live in the community where she had come to live with us. Tragically she died from breast cancer twelve years ago. Tim and I have remained in close contact and almost every year he makes the 350 mile drive to visit me. 

     Last fall, when Tim heard of my plans to rent an excavator to remove rocks he intended to come and help. Winter intervened before we got it done. So, he came last week. He has worked both as a mechanic and a heavy equipment operator. He said running the excavator removing rocks was fun. After a five minute orientation at the rental place where we rented the excavator, he was good to go. He climbed into the cab and drove it up on the trailer. In the field with the rocks it was clear that he knew what he was doing.

  With his mechanical skills he was keen to work on my tractors. He put points and condenser in one. In another he adjusted the timing and replaced the fan and alternator belts. Another tractor's battery was dead. Arlington, about 15 miles away, has an Interstate Battery warehouse. They sell blemished batteries for half price, so I paid $80. for a new battery instead of $160. Then, Tim helped me switch batteries between tractors. Finally, he restored the function of the back-up camera on my truck.

   Perhaps this seems exploitive but he's happiest working on projects with another guy. Since, the death of his brother, with whom he was regularly engaged, he's happy for these experiences.  And I? Grateful for the relationship and appreciative for the help!

Takk for alt,

Al

   

Ya, then...

     Tim left this morning for his ND home. I'll have more to say about his visit.

     With the temperature in the 60s I ventured out with tractor and plow. Now with the plowing finished Monday looks warm enough to finish the tillage. Then the first warm day I'll plant the corn. 

   Why this brief blog so late? Blame the WNBA and my absent mindedness.

Takk for alt,

Al

it's Late!

   Involved watching the Lynx final pre-season game. they beat Toronto, time slipped away. Tim and I had a fruitful day of machinery repair. All's well and I'll write more tomorrow.

Takk for alt,

Al