Truely Nature's Bounty

As I dealt with the cataract surgeries and my changeover to Windows 7 from Vista, my dear and capable husband not only drove me to the many appointments, but he also picked and processed over 70 quarts of pears.

The last of the magnificant crop is pictured in the old pail under the sturdy old pear tree.  All of the live trapping and humane society release of opossums, racoons, and squirrels was worth the bother.

I can hardly believe on this 1st day of November we still had these yellow beauties clinging to the top of the tree.

So Long Vista

Pears, pears, pears!

The treetop windfalls are large and beautiful; He Who Must Be Obeyed canned five more quarts this morning, 59 quarts total. It is a cozy, thrifty, and satisfying feeling to have such activity in the kitchen.

Book TV has been interesting this weekend with a great deal of time given to the Accuracy in Media people.  Having almost a minor in Journalism way back when absolute objectivity was the goal for good news writers, what I see and read is almost unbelievable...literally.

The vitriol between our government leaders is dismaying to me. Exchanging ideas before passing bills is, and always has been, a good idea. The name calling and apparent lack of listening and thinking about all sides of a situation disturbs me.


I am about to say "So long to Vista". I ordered a Windows 7 upgrade from Amazon yesterday. The last time I worked on my Liz Book, the computer crashed to black twice in one day. It will be interesting to see if this new operating system will put an end to that. I must say that Vista captured and repaired what I was working on. To think that over two years work could be wiped out in a Vista moment is more than I can bear to think about.  Of course I have it backed up.  Actually I have so many copies so many places it is getting a little confusing.

After my heart stopping occurrence in May, I am determinedly working on keeping my stress level down. I have never been real good at that, mouse that I am and holding peace and quiet too highly, I agonize over too many things that I can't change. But I can change my operating system, if not my own modus operandi.

Back Yard Bunny

We are happy that this furry friend is not a tree climber. She gleans the windfalls and with our snow last night was happy to eat her pear in the back porch this morning.

Half Sight/-Half Right

The days have been dominated by appointments before and after cataract surgery.  I had no idea that I have been viewing the world through yellowing lenses.  I kiddingly joked to our eldest son that my days of yellow snow are over.  Sure enough, through the right eye the snow is how my mind imagined it, white and beautiful.  Through the left...yellow snow; this morning we awoke to our first snowfall.

This experienced phenomon accented the fact that people do not see things the same way.  I do not refer to yellow snow but the world in general.  I see it one way and the majority of the world, even my own family sees it differently. But I have cleared up, so to speak, of one of my misconceptions; that being that what is before our eyes is not necessarily true.

Willow-the-Wisp

This morning my coffee is poured and waiting;  I couldn't wait to add the photos of the morning events even though my steaming cup will cool to cold before I finish.

He Who Is So Gladly Obeyed gathered the equipment and pails for picking pears.  Our early temps were in the mid 30's this morning and the fruit needs to come off of the tree.  The live trapping of wild pear eaters has helped and we will have pears.  It has been determined that the top most pears, which of course are the largest and most beautiful, are not worth a ladder accident.

Last night was our last swim.  Ken Burns documentary on the parks kept us in the house until almost 9 o'clock, so our swim was truly by moon light and starlight for an hour or so.  The 90 degree + water is pure luxury as we swim a few laps across the pool in the dark.

Night before last we observed the strangest phenomena; it had been a windy day and there were still a few gusts blowing the neighboring tree tops sporadically.  Then in the dark sky, lit just a bit by a half moon, were some white whispy little bunches that I truely thought were a flock of white geese, like the ones I had seen during the day.  The lead bird can keep the flying flock following and this whisp behaved exactly like migrating water fowl.  It would swiftly fly over us and in the near distance it would circle and twist just like a flock preparing to land on a nearby body of water.  About three of these events happened right before our eyes.  There were no clouds in the night sky, none but these small willow-the-wisps, lighted below by the city street lights and the small moon glow overhead.

It was so other-worldly.  I wonder if it happens by daylight and is so obliterated by the sun that it is unseen.

I think last night was the first time the filter hoses were pulled in the moonlight...but better than getting into chilly water later on.  And so another summer passes and we make the preparations for a new season.

Apple Orchards

 

A daughter-in-law, granddaughter and great granddaughter from Wichita, KS visited and had dinner with us Friday.  The photo above was taken on a trip to an apple orchard with the other grandparents for lunch that noon.  This little charmer is starting to talk and it was such fun to be with all of them for a little while.  Babies first words are such treasures and when they start stringing them together it is a necklace of sparkling diamonds looping around your heart.

Fast Eddie

Our little life slows down to a comfortable routine. We enjoy our meals together which often consist of homemade soup canned and/or frozen with a slice of homemade bread with grape jelly. Meals are fast and easy.  The bread machine kneeds, rises and bakes a loaf of whole wheat and rye bread every five or six days.

We are starting the yard clean up with the calendar start of the season. Today is the second day of fall and would have been my mother's 97th birthday were she still alive.  I am thankful for her parenting as I am that of my dad's. His quiet way with a daughter after losing two sons at birth was perhaps unusual.  I loved my childhood.

We end our days with an evening swim in 90 degree water, and perhaps a glass of wine. It is otherworldly to watch  the clouds turn red, pink, at twilight; and finally darken while we watch the stars come out one by one. A quick outdoor shower and a dash under the down coverlet to watch the nine o'clock news.

Last night late I got a phone call from a cousin with a newly diagnosed cancer.  Nope, she isn't going to let them cut, burn and poison her, the triple torture; she is going to lick the tumor with coral calcium and two hours of sunshine a day, without suncreen nor sunglasses.  Within 31 days she will be cancer free and her body will go from cancer growing acidic to a cancer killing alcaline base.  She isn't going to die until she gets her life story written and will I type it for her if she sends me the chapters handwritten?  "Yes, I will."

I always loved her tall wild tales of adventures and mis-adventures. We ended the phone visit howling with laughter over her leaving Fast Eddie in a Tennessee jail on thier honeymoon; and she went home to find his kids loading up her furniture into a truck.  They didn't leave until they put everything back into its place in her house.

No Greater Gift

A son flew home Thursday to spend the day with us. There is no greater gift than that. He helped his dad fix a chair, we had lunch and went for a swim in a clear, clean, warm pool. Life is so good.

Harding County Homecoming

My small home town of Buffalo, South Dakota, celebrated its Centennial and an All School Reunion over Labor Day weekend. It was a homecoming in the best of ways. Spending time with friends from long ago and cousins that came back to my generation's start in life was heartwarming.

My high school friend, D, and I worked the registration table a couple of three hour shifts and got to see other students that came home for the occasion. What a great way to find out about all the activities during the four days and to greet travelers and those who were wise enough to stay and make their homes in Harding County.
A cousin who stayed operates the Tipperary Motel where we always stay. That in itself is a sort of a homecoming.

In the Rec Center basket ball court other cousins had set up the T-REX STAN replica that was found just south of my grandparent's homestead. In 1987, a cousin, Stan Sacrison found the pelvis weathering out of a sandy cliff 100 feet above the prairie.

Parties, pot lucks, parades, rodeos and the dedication of the newly designed city park were just a few of the activities that were offered. A couple of dear friends and I drove the 12 miles north in the Cave Hills to take a picture of the little Finnish Lutheran Church that my grandparents worked so hard in the early 1900's to build and establish. I was baptized, confirmed and attended this church until I went away to college. Early in my life this meant listening to the service in Finnish and about turn listening to it back to back in English. I loved being able to read the hymns in the Finnish hymn book.

He Who Must Be Obeyed had reproduced, prepared, and framed two of my dad's paintings, one for the Senior Center and the other joined the four already in the Museum. It was most pleasing to be able to honor my dad, who was the town blacksmith, in this manner.

There is nothing like a little canning to make a person feel useful. The birds haven't discovered the concord grapes yet and we sterilized jars, measured sugar and juice, boiled, poured, and sealed almost three gallons of jelly today. I wonder if only the old and retired can today? I think the prairie berry jelly provided a lot of little homestead children their vitamin C.

1959

Fred Kaplan, one of the writers for slate.com, has written a book, titled what the New York Times calls an extravagant, impossible declaration, 1959: The Year Everything Changed.

"Was this just coincidence, or was it part of a pattern? Was there something more broadly significant about that time? The more I looked into it, the more it struck me that 1959 really was a pivotal year—not only in culture but also in politics, society, science, sex: everything."

I watched Kaplan being interviewed on CSPAN's "Washington Journal yesterday. The year, 1959 was a part of my own imprint and as I listened to the different events, discoveries, and people he listed as a changing our society I came to this conclusion.

As everything was changing I got stuck with my Sony Walkman while the whole world is stepping to an IPOD.

The Mighty Mighty Trapper

Another masked bandit has been captured under the pear tree. Racoons have a natural instinct to dig up the soil and vegetation around and under the trap and pack it into the trap, making their own environment in their little cage.

This one will be taken to the Humane Society only to be released; hopefully far enough from here to take a year to make his way back to the pear tree. A friend suggested we tag our catches to make sure we are not trapping the same old pear thief.

Jazz on the Green

Ressurected Swing is setting up for the pleasure of this crowd. A click or two on a photo enlarges it.










A shaded/sunny crowd is not the best picture. He Who is the center of interest. Jazz on the Green is a program that Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum offers to the public in July. This is the first of the July Thursdays that we attended. We enjoy bringing a snack, the crowd of many colors, and of course the Glenn Miller and Big Band music that we courted to was very enjoyable.

The Rattler Has No Companion!

I hear complaints about the news gatherers getting things wrong. It is nothing new. In Sundance Times, Aug 6, 2009 column, 75 Years Ago, August 2, 1934, Ranger T.R. Cochran of the Bear Lodge Forest recently recieved a letter fro the editor of Outdoor Life in regard to the story about the interbreeding of rattlesnakes and bull snakes. The letter follows:

"There is absolutely no basis for the stories about rattlesnakes and bull snakes interbreeding. There are no snakes which are deadly enemies and which fight when they meet just to be fighting.

Several species are cannibals and eat other snakes, but it 's only when one of the cannibals decides to eat another snake that trouble begins and bull snakes are never cannibals. Bull snakes and rattlesnakes live together peacefully both in cages and in the wild.

The whole story is crazy and you might suggest to the editors of your local papers that some responsibility goes with their jobs and merely wielding shears is not editing."

So much for believing what you read. A little skepticism is good.

The Grands with a Fourth Generation

Some Sun Fun

A fourth generation explorer. Our back yard was his world for a few days.

Do babies come from under cabbage leaves?

Maybe there is more under a rock than one knows.

Big Splash

No more big splashes in the back yard. I wonder if our Washington family longs for the cool perfect days of Omaha while they were here.



We miss this darling boy, Ethan Axel.

Sam and Eggs

I am Sam
I am Sam
Sam I am

That Sam-I-am!
Than Sam-I-am!
I do not like
that Sam-I-am!




Do you like
green eggs and ham?






I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
I do not like
green eggs and ham.


Would you like them
here or there?

I would not like them
here or there.
I would not like them
anywhere.
I do not like
green eggs and ham.
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.







Would you? Could you?
In a car?
Eat them! Eat them!
Here they are.



I would not,
could not,
in a car.

You may like them.
You will see.
You may like them
in a tree!

I would not, could not in a tree.
Not in a car! You let me be.


I do not like them in a box.
I do not like them with a fox.
I do not like them in a house.
I do not like them with a mouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.



I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.



A train! A train!
A train! A train!
Could you, would you,
on a train?

Not on a train! Not in a tree!
Not in a car! Sam! Let me be!

I would not, could not, in a box.
I could not, would not, with a fox.
I will not eat them with a mouse.
I will not eat them in a house.
I will not eat them here or there.
I will not eat them anywhere.


I do not eat green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
Say!
In the dark?
Here in the dark!



Would you, could you, in the dark?

I would not, could not,
in the dark.

You do not like
green eggs and ham?


You do not like them.
So you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may, I say.




Sam!
If you will let me be,
I will try them.
You will see.

Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!



So I will eat them in a box.
And I will eat them with a fox.
And I will eat them in a house.
And I will eat them with a mouse.
And I will eat them here and there.
Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE!

I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am!

Project Gutenberg

This is not Gutenberg, nor is it the Project. In a college class called Electronic Information Systems, taught for the first time in the early 80's, we were put on the Internet and given university email addresses.

It was taught by my Advisor. I was mystified by the whole business. It was also my first introduction to Project Gutenberg.








This is a better picture of our Great Granddaughter and Dean's puppies! Maybe it isn't so odd that in photographing small children one inadvertently gets adult shoes, legs, skirts and pants.



Kim Komando hits my inbox daily. This is the Cool Site of the Day: There are 30,000 e-books available for free. And you don't need an e-book reader. To find them, go to today's site. But then perhaps winter is the time to read or during summer dog-days. So far we have broken records for the coolest night temperatures twice in July.

Family Reunion Activities

Dean's puppies were a huge attraction. The little sweetie by the dishes in the puppy pen is our great granddaughter. Her mother and grandparents are in the photo as are our steak fondue cowboy cook and the pup's owner.











One of our sons at the family reunion on July 4th. He is holding Ethan Axel, one of our three Great Grands, two of which were with us.






We were blessed to have these grandchildren come to the family reunion in the Black Hills of SD this July. The two on the left are from Wichita. The three on the right drove from Washington (state).








This reckless viking is doing what he does best, throw money around. It is his family reunion tradition; he saves change for two years and over the years generation of children seem to look forward to the coin toss. For a number of years he did a dollar drop. Where were the bills this year, HWMBO?

The Rattler's Companion

So many things to think about and so many things I could write about; I hardly know where to start.

The photo is one of clearing the overgrowth out back. I have been clearing it on my knees, a yard-waste bag at at time. It is pleasant duty for me as I work my way around the stepping stones and concrete. I can't manage a chain saw and that task is left to the one who can.

He Who Must Be Obeyed subscribes to The Sundance Times (Wyoming).In the July 9, 2009 "75 Years Ago" is this intriguing news item: "The rattlesnake and the bull snake, for centuries deadly enemies, have put aside their enmity and are crossing to produce a new breed of snake known as the rattler's companion. They resemble the rattlesnake, having the black tongue, fangs, and small diamond markings of the rattler. It also has a head similar to the rattlesnake and does battle by coiling and striking. It has no rattles and resembles the bull snake in color except that it is light yellow rather than orange. Its sharp pointed almost needle-like tail resembles that of neither snake.

Mrs. Edith Songer, who has just returned from near the Devil's Tower reports that 10 have been killed in Crook County. The United States government has issued warnings to all vicinities in which the rattler's companion has been discovered that it is to be killed. No one has been bit by one of these snakes, and the effects are not definitely known; but it is surmised that the bite would be poisonous."

One Thing or Another...Thing

During our small trip and family reunion I developed a toothache. Trying to ignore it became impossible. Now after being home four days, I got in to see my dentist this morning early. Finding the painful culprit is not easy; first of all the pain meds for the back problem is masking the normal way to be aware of a problem. I think it is dangerous.

After three x-rays, a lot of thinking, and probing around with a pick, it was finally determined that perhaps I am dealing with two teeth giving me fits. The top one is temporarily filled and is cracked through vertically. It will be pulled after the dentist's vacation. In the meantime I am on an antibiotic for at least a week.

The corresponding molar on the bottom, same side, is the one that I think is the culprit. Tomorrow morning before I medicate I will go in again for the probing pick. I can see why ancient, or not so ancient, people took a rock and knocked their teeth out.

"How old are you?" Apparently when one is 74 it is time to pull teeth instead of save them to the tune of thousands of dollars. I believe before the month is out the two will make their click as they land in the pan. "They were good for at least 62 years," he said, thinking they might have come in at 12 years old.

All of this is distracting me from my house guests.

Nemo

Over the 4th of July holiday we journeyed to the Black Hills. On our way to the Boe family reunion we drove from Rapid City, through Nemo and Deadwood, to Spearfish.

We once lived in Nemo; for three summers and two winters we led the idyllic and simple life as seven people of the 42 citizens there.

In 1913 Homestake moved milling operations to Nemo. The town grew into a thriving little community with the Hearst Mercantile store as a central gathering place. After finishing their shift, sawmill men stopped in to pick up snuff or tobacco, gloves or overalls, hoist a cool one and swap tales. Housewives didn't linger when they did last minute shopping for the evening meal; the store was primarily male territory.