Friends!

   

By the end of the evening I will have caught up with three couples who are friends. Every day in the elevator of the OFH is posted a listing of the day’s activities. While I always read the list I almost never participate in the scheduled events. There are a variety of reasons for this behavior. The primary reason is that this metro area has been my home since 1986. Consequently, I have both family and friends nearby. Spending time with them is a priority and fills my people bladder. Inmates of the OFH who have come here from a distance need other residents to fill their social needs. A secondary reason is that I’m only here episodically, with more time in The Little House.

Kaia has been away from the OFH since Labor Day weekend. Returning yesterday it was apparent that she’d forgotten nothing of her routines here. The early morning walk up the hill to Highland Park gave her the run she loves. She’s a very good OFH resident, not barking nor having any need to interact with the other dogs. Only when people invite her does she approach them...a true wonder dog.

Takk for alt,

Al

Our tour guide in Riga, Latvia. When asked if she worried about Russis she replied: "No, becasue of NATO.

OFH

   Kaia and I motored to the OFH today. Trees in the metro area are beuatiful.  More tomorrow.

Takk for alt,

Al

Restoration...

Last spring I was removing cedar saplings on grassland. Across the road Lucas Zilverbergh, Private Lands Habitat Biologist for South Dakota, was meeting with another land owner about converting pasture to Conservation Reserve Program. When that meeting concluded Lucas crossed the road to affirm the work I was doing in cedar removal. In the conversation that ensued I mentioned that I had another property nearby. When Lucas returned to his office he looked at a picture of the other property. He noted that it was likely that there were wetlands that had been drained that would be eligible for restoration in a government program.

When we walked the land we found four wetlands that had been drained that were appropriate for this restoration. An agreement was signed, he contracted a contractor to do the work and we wait for that contractor to come.

Today Lucas came with a video-tographer and photographer to record ‘before’ pictures. When the wetlands fill with water ‘after’ pictures will be taken for comparison. The video-tographer interviewed Luke and me. He also used a drone equipped with a camera to survey the drained wetlands. All this while the photographer snapped pictures.

Takk for alt,

Al

                                      Lucas

                               Photographer

                              Video-tographer

That was fun!

     

It’s not often that I get to give a guided tour of the cemetery where Joanne is buried. Two of yesterday’s guests have grandparents and many other relatives buried there. One guest has both sets of grandparents there. One lives in St. Paul, MN., and the other in Olympia, WA., so it’s not easy for them to visit. Spending as much time as I do at the cemetery I knew where to lead them.

Paul and RoseAnn graduated from Augustana College a year after I and Paul followed me by a year at the seminary. Then they were called to Berthold, ND., a year after I, to Mohall, ND. We were forty miles, of mostly gravel roads, apart but that was no deterrent to our relationship. The four of us spent much time together. It was fun to host them at The Little House for the first time. The telephone keeps us connected. Once again, a good time was had by all!

Takk for alt,

Al

My truck and bulldozer are gone but not forgotten.

Company

      The Little House has company all the way from Washington State 😄  For that reason this blog is very brief. Know that all's well with me,

Takk for alt,

Al

Church Supper!

 

At one of the recent Bankers/Butchers Wednesday meals, Dawn, read off a list of church suppers listed in the advertiser paper. Asked if I planned to attend any of them I replied “no”. Then an invitation came to go to the supper in the town of Bruce, Saturday evening. Transportation was even offered by the inviter. Having no other plans I readily accepted...no need to sit home alone.

Arriving at 5:30, a half hour after the doors opened, we were given numbers 153-156, and sent to the sanctuary to await our turn to be called to eat. It wasn’t long until we were seated in the dining room. The $15.00 dollars got us a huge meal of comfort food served family style. The main dish was meat balls in gravy, there were also mashed potatoes, grated carrots, coleslaw, lefse and bread. Servers hovered near the table replenishing any bowl or plate that emptied. After I’d eaten too much a plate of homemade apple crisp appeared at my place...no, I did not refuse.

My niece was working in the kitchen, a second cousin made the lefse, and a cousin and her husband appeared for dinner. A bag of lefse followed me home. Were this to be written up in the local news an appropriate line would be “a good time was had by all”...at least “a good time was had by Al.”

Takk for alt,

Al

                                 Prairie sunset.

Harvest weather!

It’s perfect fall weather for harvest. Many years it’s been wet with rain and sometimes even snow. Combines would get stuck in the mud. Many days too wet to harvest soybeans. Corn so wet it needed drying before it could be stored safely.

If corn doesn’t need to be bin dried it saves much money. That would be especially true this year with fuel prices high. Dryers use propane gas for heat. The local price is in the range of $2.40 per gallon which is much above average. Farmers likely have contracted earlier for a lower price. If the corn is dry enough to put in the bin without artificial drying it would be large money savings. Drying the corn with propane also reduces the quality of the corn.

Now that the rain has held off this long perhaps it’s best if it waits until after harvest. Then some slow, long, significant rains would be helpful.

Takk for alt,

Al

This is an unsual, antique corn picker, seen at the Mt. Pleasant, IA, farm show,. It has two elevators to deposit the ear corn into the wagon. All the others I've ever seen have only one elevator.