Labor Day

At the farm we like to take a sunset stroll past the barn, past the pasture, in between the corn and soybean fields.

Then we walk on the "minimum maintenance road" down to Hillview Road.

This walk takes us past the school house - worn beyond repair.

And if it's cool out, we might take a blanket off a chair to keep warm.

We found a burl on a maple down by the lake.

On Monday, Labor Day, we thought we would take it easy.  After breakfast we sat outside for a few minutes.  I saw some scrapers and thought it might be fun to scrape some of the paint off the house.  Plans are made for the house to be painted later this month. So scraping some paint flecks off now might be helpful in the long run. We started by the main door and, geez Louise, paint flecks were flying everywhere.  It was just so darn satisfying to scrape the boards.  I've scraped other houses before and I didn't get nearly so much paint off as I did on this farm house.  It was like the paint was begging to come off.  Soon it looked like I had a horrible case of dandruff.  The grass was flecked with paint and the spiderwebs were adorned with paint flakes.  We only scraped what we could reach from standing on the ground but we went all the way around and were done in a couple hours.  Scraping satisfies some kind of destructive and sensory need in me.  After that I mowed the lawn.  My Dad has a Cadillac of riding lawn mowers.  I borrowed his sun hat and started out doing my favorite part - the path down to the old school house.  There are two long stretches to mow - to the school house and down to the road.  I always make sure I have plenty of gas when I do those stretches because I don't want to haul a heavy gas can too far away from the barn.  The rest is easy to mow, just back and forth, back and forth.  I find it relaxing to concentrate on making the most efficient work of it.  I don't want to overlap at all and I don't want to go back and fix what I have missed.  I had to duck low beneath the crab apple, apple and pear trees.  Offspring #2 made lunch for us.  After that I found a half gallon of primer so I used that up on the outside of the house.  More nephews came up for the day to practice archery and to check their trail cameras for signs of deer or turkey.  We rode along to collect the memory cards and review the results.  I would really like to get one of those trail cameras for myself.  I would be interested in knowing what all goes into my garden to eat all my vegetables.  Now that we knew where the cameras were hidden, I was really tempted to go back on my own and moon them.  My actions would be caught on camera and shared so that really isn't a good thing to do.  What I could do is be creative.  I could paste a horn on my forehead like a unicorn and prance across the field in front of the camera.  How about Big Foot or the Lock Ness Monster?  Trail cameras open up a whole new world of practical jokes for me.  In reviewing the results of the past two weeks, we saw many deer, many turkey, several raccoons, a tractor, and lots of weeds blowing in the wind.  We walked in the forest down to the lake.  I was in search of ginseng which I heard grew down here.  And whaddya know?  Offspring #2 found some.  We found a spot where lots of ginseng was growing and dug one up.  We also took a sample of Jack in the Pulpit to plant back at home.  We searched the woods for deer trails. We found lots of trails.  We also found evidence of a turkey incident.  One turkey lost quite a few tail feathers.  As we hiked up the hill, we saw more turkey feathers strewn about.  At the end of the turkey trail, only downy turkey feathers were found.  I suspect that turkey survived the incident.  I had fun being in the woods with my family deciphering nature signs and doing turkey crime scene investigation.

Pictures of the Swim



Offspring #2 took these pictures as she walked the shore carrying my clothes.  Across the lake is the penninsula that forms Petey's Bay. Who was Petey and why did he get a bay named after him?  I don't know.  I am visible as a little splash in the center left third of the photo.

I am being watched by a herring gull standing on the end of a floating log in the lower center of the photo.  If the gull was at a center of a clock, I am at 11 o'clock up near the top of the photo. I'm hard to see.

You can see my safety team in the canoe.  I am near them somewhere.

Here we are near the end of the trip. I am behind the reeds.

Sunday Was A Very Fulfilling Day

On Sunday I was at my parent's farm with family members. I had an amazing day full of fun activities.  I think you will agree the list is impressive. After breakfast we walked past the barn, between the corn and soybean fields, through the poison ivy and down into the maple/basswood forest slope to the lake. After that I went to a polka mass. This was my first polka mass. I half expected dancing because to me, polka is a dance more than music. As it turns out, there is no dancing at a polka mass. The church was overcrowded so we had to sit sideways down in front right behind the polka band (accordion, guitars, saxophone, and electric violin). After that we went to the city of Urbank celebration. Just like there is no dancing at a polka mass, there was no walking at the cake walk. We each held a paint stirring stick with a number and watched as they spun the wheel. I won an angelfood cake. My sister won a chocolate zucchini cake. We had plenty of cake for everyone. We walked through the cemetary to visit the graves of my grandparents, aunts, uncles and great grand parents. We visited with family.  After lunch we hiked to the top of Inspiration Peak. And after that I did something I've wanted to do ever since I was a kid and heard my cousin did it - I swam across Block Lake. I started out from the road by the cabins across from Stoney Point and swam to the boat landing. I was worried about safety so I had family nearby in a canoe. I didn't want to make them wait too long. I am a slow swimmer. So I started swimming while they proceeded to the landing, launched the canoe, and met me. I think I was about a third of the way across by the time they met me. At first the waves were choppy and were breaking over my head when I tried to take in a breath. By the time the canoe arrived, the water was calmer and I found it easier to swim. Block Lake is green with algae but it wasn't solid green. I wore goggles. Sometimes I thought I could see something dark under the water. I would close my eyes and pretend it wasn't there. I really didn't want to see anything except my arms.  I really didn't want to see any fish or turtles.  Every 20 strokes or so I would pop up my head to see if I was pointed in the right direction. My goggles fogged up and I could barely see. So I would ask my safety crew, "Is my nose pointed in the right direction?"  I just kept swimming.  Eventually I could make out the giant boulders that line the shore along the tar road.  I knew I was getting close.  And then I felt a weed, "Ewww!  Weed!  Weed!"  I swam away from shore to get out of the weeds.  I just kept listening for the voices of the canoers and tried to swim toward that.  Eventually I had to take off the goggles and dog paddle the rest of the way to avoid most of the weeds.  By the end, when I got out, I wasn't even tired.  Swimming across the lake wasn't really that hard.  My hours of swimming laps in the pool paid off.  My swim across the lake was probably a half mile - less than what I usually swim in an hour.  I could do it again.  The worst part was taking a shower afterwards.  All those spots of algae were filtered by the top of my swim suit and, oh my, that was disgusting.  I don't even want to think about that again. My epic day wasn't over yet.  After the swim I had the opportunity to shoot a rifle at a paper target.  The target had a large bullseye and four little bullseyes in the corner.  I fired 8 to 10 times.  Not only did I hit the paper, I got a bullseye.  It wasn't the bullseye I was aiming for but a bullseye nonetheless.  Most of my shots were right down the middle but above and below the center bullseye.  Who could ask for a better day?  I will add pictures later.



If You See Me Sobbing

If you happen to drive by me on the street and see me sobbing in my car, it's because I'm listening to the story of Jaycee Dugard and her novel, My Stolen Life.  Golly, who couldn't cry hearing parts of this well-told story?  If you remember back, Jaycee was abducted as an eleven year old girl.  She was in the fifth grade.  By the time she was rescued, she was 29 and had two children of her own.  Her life was stolen.  Jaycee reads her novel herself so I am listening to her actual lisping voice.  It's unbelievably moving.  And although Jaycee is in her 30's now, in some ways her growth has been stunted by her experiences and she is still a naive little girl in some respects.  And even though she is free from her tormenters, Phillip and Nancy Gurrido, she is not really free. Her face is recognizeable and as a good Mom, she has to maintain a normal life for her daughters and is not free to go to school carnivals or football games like other mothers do.  I haven't quite finished the book yet but I know that Jaycee is an amazing person.  Her ability to adapt, endure, protect and explain outperform that of a regular person.  She is a survivor and a heroine.  I'm proud she is not keeping Phillip and Nancy Gurrido's secrets any longer. 

Summer is Over

After a great weekend at the farm, I am now ready to admit summer is over.  I do believe that this summer, I wrung every ounce of joy possible out of the season.  I didn't waste too much time worrying, or mowing, or doing things I do not enjoy doing.  And I can now admit that there are a few things about cold weather that I do enjoy such as putting on warm socks or a heavy sweater, warming up with a hot drink or hot shower, and crawling into a pre-heated bed.  In any case, I had a great weekend.  I brought along my knitting, a book to read, and a movie to watch and I never opened that bag because I was too busy having fun, fun, fun.  More to follow.

Favorite Past Time

Today I had a couple of hours to spare so I did what I've enjoyed doing since I was 18 - I got lost.  On the cycle, I took off onto new and undiscovered roads just to see where they led. I found some really nice roads today between Anoka, Sherburne and Isanti counties.  I found one road named "Hill and Dale Road."  Now what self-respecting motorcyclist could pass by a road with a name like that?  I drove through a lot of horse country.  At one point, I was coming down this road and in the field to my left trotted a young gray horse.  We headed in the same direction; I with my orange vest flapping and he with his black tail held erect and black mane flapping in his eyes.  Horsepower to horsepower.  Good day for a ride.

I'm In Denial and I Like It Here

Here is a song I composed to the tune of "On Top Of Old Smokey."

They say that summer
Has come to an end.
I say no, not yet,
Let's live it again.

Cuz summer's my favorite
I can't let it go.
Not ready for autumn,
Not ready for snow.

So hold back the pages
to August's calendar.
Each day that passes
Brings us closer to winter.

I've been to the State Fair,
I see acorns in the grass.
This morning school buses
Practiced bringing kids to class.

I'm not ready to wear boots,
not ready for socks.
I like sandals and short sleeves.
Keep mittens in a box.

Signs of autumn are around me,
black birds flying en masse.
But I prefer summer.
Fall can kiss my  ___.