eye candy, eye candy , get your eye candy here.!

         unable to get a reliable report from the official facebook site of oardc(ohio agricultural research and developement center, wooster , oh. ), i decided to head on over to wooster and see for myself what early bloomers we have over there. the bloom season is on as you can tell from this picture . for the next 2 weeks , one may see a cacophany of colors dancing in the wind . your eyes will delight to the beauty and fragrance offered up by the vast acreage of planted stock available for you to drive through or walk through. allowances has been made for handicapped accessible pathways that are paved and allow one who is handicapped full visual access to parts of secrest arboretum where it was storm damaged by the tornado that passed through this area about 3 years ago. a  blacktop  pathway has been installed through the ravine and attaching itself  to the roadway via a couple of points in various gardens allowing greater visibility and sharing experiences with our handicapped population offering them greater access.
                                  Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center - Home

     i first became acquainted with the secrest arboretum while attending ati (agricultural technical institute ) , wooster ohio. and this and the oardc are all under the umbrella of ohio state university. various plant testing and species testing as well as hybridizing of plants specific to the needs of ohioans in agronomic research is done here at this facility. after almost 3 years i am still seeing signs of the deadly tornado that raced through there leaving a path of destruction. in some ways it appears as though the staff who always did an impeccable job of grounds  keeping, were just overwhelmed with the repairs . imagine in these lean economic times money for infrastructure repair of damaged facilities is probably at its weakest point. but this is where the jobs of tomorrow come from . here is where technology to grow on less and produce healthier food is done. new harvesting methods are analyzed and recommendations for improvement of use are identified.
     i would say for the most part i was early for the majority of the bloom and feel that next weekend would be optimal time for viewing. i plan on visiting with mom and taking a lunch,  and visiting longer if the weather is nicer. it was a little on the raw side today, and great for picture taking.  i would say that even the weekend after that would also be an ideal time to visit.

   
       our next stop was in kidron , ohio as we were going to go to lehmans and instead stopped to check out the flea market in front of the kidron auction. today was the day for equipment auction ,  and it seemed the amish prescence was especially strong today. i guess it has something to do with a man and his machines. or does it?  we browsed the flea market and stopped at gerbers poultry for a bbq chicken dinner to go and headed for the stark wilderness center to see it for first time since i was in fourth grade as we went there on a field trip .  at that time there was no facilities to speak of that i can remember . the main thing i remembered  was the old oak that stood there. supposedly it was the oldest and largest in stark county at that time. didn't have a chance to find out about but will next time.

     we didnt have much time as we had been driving a bit and was on verge of being tired . but did take time to tour the building and enjoyed the wall for observation out the rear of the building. grounds  keeping is minimal and i like that especially in a wilderness center, a gorgeous view of the lake and observation tower was seen on a distant trail. i will definitely be going back as it is close to our home . i have seen a lot i would like to go back and check out. also in the next 2 weeks dogwood should also  be blossoming here.

      do not know about the accessibility of the paths in regards to handicapped but will check it out next time i visit. for more info:Welcome to The Wilderness Center

shady characters

     well this is one carving that took me over a year to carve and taught me something about oak . it is hard , and it will sure defeat you from carving if you use it much. i carved this head out using traditional methods of a chisel and using a small wood rasp . it took me forever and i just about gave up carving. it didn't get much better any faster, as i was still not impressed with the look he had. i was just about ready to chuck him in the fire and warm my toes and finally get some worth besides frustration. he was good at that.

     i was working somewhere and had found these sunglasses , i thought were cool as they flip up and will be yellow. looks like something john lennon would wear. i was checking out my carvings and then just tried on this head and it seemed to fit perfect. so i stapled them into his head with staples such as those i used in his nose. a fishhook in the ear adds to the carving by increasing the shock value as my punk hippie nephew say is important today, along with a glint of red in the head making him almost iridescent and somewhat believable. that carving sat around and finally made its way out to be seen and was snapped up almost immediately and brought me a fair price. 

     in fact he was only a foot tall and carved out of a 4x4 post.. strange how some things affect people more than others. was reading today that pictures of jennifer anniston seem to trigger brain activity more than any other subject. well i dont have any pictures of jennifer a. but i like looking at her too. but don't think that is what would stimulate the most brain activity in me . well i guess the doctors are at a loss to explain why jennifer a. of all people  would stimulate more people, and there is a plan to study why it is so. 

    included tonight is  five different vistas , mostly sunsets i have taken , now if you really think i am getting up early in am to just give you a morning shot., then you must be delusional. unless it is to cash in my winning mega millions ticket , then maybe. sometimes the colors evoke feelings from me when i observe. as in most i am looking west into the face of on coming weather. as opposed to looking east as you would be looking at weather you are safe from.

     large voluminous black and blue clouds signify possibility of rain. hints of sunshine peaking though the clouds tell me what ever happens wont be long lived. 

  

      red at night is sailors delight and a weather indicator i feel is true for most part. a clearing in the back of the skyline indicates fair weather as i am pointing camera west out our lane.

      hard to believe we have clouds like this in ohio. and you probably feel i must photo shop my pictures , but this is raw unedited actually reclaimed strip mine land outside of lisbon , ohio. looks like it could be on a colorado calender. 

       the last 2 pics are the same cloud formation but maybe ten minutes difference . the first picture is the last taken. loved the colors all except where the shadows of the power lines run though  both. oh well what are you going to do. hard to find a place where power lines are not there now a days. and flying in the air at 30000 ft  above this beautiful earth is a testament to that.  the only feature i can tell for sure when looking down , and that is where the power lines go. millions of trees are butchered to just light up utopia. hmmmmmm. in conclusion , if the trend in ohio continues with all this good weather then we will all become shady characters.

 

FROG GIGGING 

  THIS IS A STORY AS IT WAS TOLD TO ME BY A FRIEND I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH WHO HAS PASSED ON. THIS IS DONE IN HIS MEMORY. THANKS JOHN FOR THE STORY. 

   JOHN AND I WENT TO THE SAME SCHOOL TOGETHER. JOHN MC GEE WAS GOOD AT TELLING STORIES AND PASSED THIS ONE ON TO ME ONE NIGHT WHILE I WAS STILL DRINKING IN MY YOUNGER YEARS. HE AND A FRIEND BILL WERE OUT FROG GIGGING ONE NIGHT AND HAD A FEW FROGS  THEY SPOTTED ON THE FLOOR OF THE JON BOAT. THE MOONSHINE WAS HELPING OLE JOHN AS HE WOULD SHINE HIS SPOTLIGHT OUT OVER THE WATER STARING FOR EYES IN THE DARK.  HE CLAIMED IT HELPED HIM FOCUS.  

     WHEN SUDDENLY JOHN SPIES A SNAKE SWIMMING UP RIVER WITH A BIG OLD BULL FROG HANGING OUT OF HIS MOUTH. OLE JON GETS HIS BUDDY BILL TO EDGE THE JON BOAT OVER CLOSER TO THE SNAKE AS JOHN REACHES INTO THE WATER AND SNAGS THAT OLD SNAKE UP , BULLFROG AND ALL.

     OLD JOHN DECIDES TO REWARD THE SNAKE FOR ALL IT HAD DONE. AFTER ALL IT HAD GIVEN HIM THE BIGGEST BULLFROG OF THE NIGHT. SURELY THAT REQUIRED A REWARD. SO OLD JOHN GRABS UP THE BOTTLE OF MOONSHINE HIM AND BILL HAD BEEN SIPPING ON AND PROCEEDED TO GIVE THAT SNAKE A BIG OLD GULP.

    SO JOHN THROWS THE SNAKE BACK INTO THE WATER AND THE SNAKE DOES A COUPLE FLIPS AND FLOPS AND LOOKS LIKE HE IS GOING TO EXPLODE . 

     AND THINGS QUIET DOWN IN THE NIGHT ON THE RIVER UNTIL JOHN AND BILL HEAR THIS "KNOCK!  KNOCK !  KNOCK !,   " ,  ON THE SIDE OF THE BOAT AND THERE WAS THAT SAME SNAKE , WITH ANOTHER BULLFROG IN ITS MOUTH WANTING ANOTHER SHOT OF SHINE. 

THE END. 

      

  

pretty peacock 

       gee if i was a kid i would be probably be snickering at the dining room table about the pee-cock i saw on a field trip  as mom would remind me that was inappropriate talk at the table while dad would simply say we dont talk like that at the supper table. wouldn't matter that i actually saw a real peacock or not . that was supper . i was subdued when it came to contributing to the conversation at the supper table as i had been shot down in flames by the old man plenty of times.

      but one day while driving in southern ohio, close to graysville ohio and my late great aunt dora's farm i saw this peacock just wandering around the town. they are gorgeous creature and a miracle they are not extinct. imagine if it wasn't for humans breeding them they wouldn't last long in nature. they are beautifully colored and look like flight would be awkward at best, making them an easy target for coyotes , etc.. also they make a sound like babies in pain,  a cry that sends chills up your spine. but they are gorgeous and i guess that is supposed to make up for other inadequacies. 

       and just like the peacock i plan on squawking about  few rants i have about life. and when i become unbearable just look at the pretty picture of peacock and say lalalalalalalalal i dont hear you. and soon you will wonder back and we will go again. and hopefully you will be able to follow along till i get a few things off my chest. 

       i was at the gas station and looked over in the corner of the parking lot i see an air compressor that has a card reader and accepts visa , mastercard, etc. at the air compressor which is to pump up your tires with air. would hate to see the price of the air as it takes a credit card or a debit card to operate. now it wasnt bad enough that they jack up the price of gasoline every friday which coincides with payday and gouge every one accordingly as they charge an additonal 20 cents for gas they already have in their tanks we might use. now the air that we breath and is probably saturated with benzene fumes , is now so expensive we need a credit card to use the machine. 

      don't go inside and complain at your local gas station mini mart . while waiting in line for the foreigner to take your money and as security cameras scan you for weapons and a bulging wallet indicating presence of unspent cash , you suddenly get the munchies and pick up reeses cup candy bar . it has no price sticker because if you knew it cost as much as it did , you wouldn't buy it. what used to be one single reese cup is now 2 small cups and 17.8 times as expensive as when i was a kid. it was a nickel for one large wrapped cup when i was kid and now it is 89 cents for the equivalent in 45 years. if a volkswagon would have increased at same rate a 2000 dollar volkswagon bug in 1974 , brand new would cost 35000 today,  respectively. if minimum wage would have increased the same as a reese cup then a wage of 1dollars and 85 cents per hourin 1968 would be 31.32 / hr.. hey something happened while we were in charge. we screwed our selves and everyone else and we still have to pump our gas and inflate out tires.

    when i was a kid i can remember gas at 32 cents a gallon and remember the gas wars when they actually wanted your business. we used to get free air , and an attendant would come out and pump the gas so you didn't have to inhale those fumes. he would clean your windshield , and check your oil. and when the lead he inhaled caused brain  cancer and he died . did you see his family lawyer up and sue the gas company. well maybe you did because that is why we are pumping the gas now. the gas companies just transferred the liability to us. and now if you went to  convenient store try to pry  the attendant from behind the counter to help you do anything. and since the state cant seem to get by on all your tax money and insist on more and try to make up the difference by selling chances at millions through the lottery. this further depletes  any  chance one may get out with any money left in their pocket.  since the profit margin is so good it is ok to back up customers while waiting on lottery tickets so they can  finish scratching off a losing ticket someone just bought. 

       now they have a beer cave and a food store you also have to pay heat and cool as well as restaurant seating. and on top of all of this you pay a surcharge for all people who use a credit card  or debit card for their purchase and receive no discount for cash. i can remember taking a dollar in change into a station and get a couple of gallons of gas. now they laugh and say they aren't counting all those pennies it would take to buy a gallon of gas. this is progress. also not all crude oil is gas , and yet the price of all oil derived products has risen with the price of oil . it seems that now they are recycling oil and still charging more for engine oil while our consumption is down, 

     now i am all about trying to make money but there is a limit to which we can all go. and i am just about there. electric cars wont come soon enough. but still don't know if that is the answer. biofuels show promise especially those that deal with our waste stream. renewable sources of energy technology is needed. 

    would be nice to see the racing industry who depends on consumers like us start to develop methods of incorporating vehicles powered by green sources in to races where the cars would compete as a feature  or competing against conventional engines for same prize money. if we don't start utilizing green technology this way, we never will change anything and continue to be gouged by the oil companies till the last drip dribbles out of the pump. a little now or a lot later. further if racing history is a predictor of technology development . then it would not be long till the racing industry would develop these sources of fuel in to viable alternatives. we need this intelligent push to use alternate technology. 

       i also added a couple of picture of wolves , one i carved and one i saw in person . he was really cool.  he wanted to be friends but was hesitant. 

mellow yellow

      and i don't know i can call it much else. last nights freeze probably did in the forsythia but i did manage to get a pic  before the freeze. i covered my peach blossoms and don't know if i did much good . one tree was to tall already after 4 years growth to try and put anything on it. i was knocking more blossoms off . eventually i had to forget that tree and hope for the best as trees are up higher where air flows around them and less chance of freezing. we will see. i also covered the azaleas. i signed up for weather alert through my cell phone and they text me when a weather condition is bad in my area. one reason i signed up for it is that sometimes i am not close to a tv or a radio and yet i almost always carry my cell especially out to the field. these weather alerts inform me of tornadoes and squall lines, telling me to seek shelter. also i really don't like being on a tractor in the field during lightning events. the weather alerts are a good app to have tied to your phone.- Storm watch, Tornadoes, Thunderstorms, Weather News - weather.com  - this is the link to the weather channel and just follow information for receiving cell phone alerts. this will give you alerts only for the town in which you reside and as long as alert is in force it will continue giving you updates. this is tornado season and it helps to always have someone looking out for you. 

         the second picture is from today's trip with my mom and my sister after finishing some important farm business , as we head out with no particular place to go. and along the way we noticed blooms so breathtaking as weeping cherries were doing their thing, the white blossoms  of the bradford pear , and the dark purple blooms of redbud adorned the roadsides. alyssum in mats so thick like carpets were the front yards at places as we drove by.  in port washington , ohio we noticed this old buggy shop building with false western front and i felt it was picture worthy. i think i need someone to drive me, so i can take pictures or i must be able to give better descriptions as to how gorgeous these blooms are and do them justice . and i am thinking next weekend will be the weekend to visit oardc ( ohio agricultural research and development center-wooster, ohio), and visit the flowering crabapple section to thoroughly enjoy the eye candy they have to offer. 

        

        got a little carried away with the pen and created this conceptual design for a carving system that would allow the carver more creativity to a certain degree. the back pack is an electric motor with the power being transmitted through a flexible shaft to a pistol grip control for the carving bar. air would be forced into a helmet also from same motor and also used by the left hand to blow away the chips. multiple battery packs provide the power to run the backpack motor. this would make the chainsaw an extension of your arm. you would wear a suit and it would be cooled by air moving through the suit, allowing the operator more comfort. had an idea one time like this and attached a laser beam to a level a year before it came out in the stores . just took a bubble level and glued to the top of a line level . worked great . maybe someone saw it. oh well guess it was the time for something like that to be invented. and if someone is handy and can invent this , please don't use my picture when applying for your patent , i might look for a lawyer . 

some days

      someday i will win that 1,000,000 dollars , and someday i am going to do this and that with wild abandon. goodbye katy lock the barn doors we are going to have a good time . and maybe someday i will get a brain. as in today's discussion about the pond i built. we all have those some days . somedays it doesn't pay to get up or think. as thinking some days will get you in trouble much like myself. 

     i had rented an excavator and had dug a pond in our backyard and at this point i was using the excavator to do some landscaping which included taking out storm damaged trees in out yard . anyhow i tried to fulfill a someday and after reading about a guy who took trees and turned them upside down and hung lanterns from the roots , i decided then that someday i was going to try that ,only carve a face in it . well someday finally arrived as i was had taken the tree down the night before and covered over its remains and now needed to dispose of the tree and remembered about those upside down trees  and decided to go for it . i dug a deep hole about 7 feet deep and cut the tree off about 18 feet long and stuck the top side of the tree into the hole and stood it up with the bucket on the excavator when i figured out what i had done. 

     for some reason i didnt have the tractor there and only had the excavator and no way to close the hole around the log . so i had to shovel in the dirt while the bucket that would have moved the dirt also kept it centered in the hole. having some help would have yielded better pictures ,and an extra hand to shovel dirt . well maybe next time . and if you see me working you better run , you never know what i will get you into. the finished log carving is in the top picture. 

    this is what the pond looked like after i excavated it and landscaped the area surrounding the pond. i love doing ponds and cant wait to go at another someday.water has since filled the pond and it has undergone a transition next to remarkable. we have suffered numerous infestations of which the muskrats are most destructive yet. but i intend to make life hard on them. as i try to regain some control over the pond. 

     it is a cocoon for life though as it undergoes an evolution through time. at first at best was the frog invasion giving us ear popping peeper heaven as a cacophony of sounds permeated the air. and the second year we introduced fish , and reduced the peeper noise but we were also treated to cattails growing rampantly. the pond soon became entangled in algae in cattails.turtles could be seen and an occasional heron would drop by. a hawk was seen removing some frog competition one day as he soared away with a snake in his talons. we transformed a wet spot in the yard into a  biology study class as this pond continues to amaze us. 

    the ducks were a welcome addition  as they soon set about the task of removing algae and just about everything from the pond. dont know if i have fish , but do know i have 6 ducks with a permanent paranoid smile in their bills. 

     the last couple of photos are of me installing huge rocks on the waterfall . i carried these rocks from the top of the hill down to where i  installed them in the pond.

     the last picture is of the top small pond that is also one of the springs that feed the pond . also water from this spring trickles over the rock waterfall to the pond down below. i plan on significant changes to the pond with sculpture additions, and other features of which  i will keep you up to date as they become available to view. 

    

auction day

       an old farmer in our area passed about five years ago , and though i had never met him personally i felt as if i had always knew him in some way. his farm was highly visible from the state route that ran through his land. many years i traveled the road in front of his house. he ran a mushroom farm and had cattle and could always be seen on tractor as he traveled to and fro from the fields. eventually after more than fifty years of farming he succumbed to a stroke leaving his affairs to his wife, it is said he never took a vacation in his life.

      not knowing how his affairs were. it all seemed to transition smoothly. and the first thing was the farm sale. this was a big equipment auction as this guy had quite a bit of equipment to sell, his wife selling out as she had no use for the equipment . friends and neighbors and equipment dealers were all heading to this farm sale  as it was guaranteed to be a big one. 

      as for myself it was something i looked forward to with apprehension as it was going to be another beginning of the end i have seen so much of lately.as it seems so many of these farms are being sold in  five acre lots to wannabe farmers . this stretches our resources and requires significant upgrading of facilities to be paid for in loss of tillable land and in taxes as property values increase. these all add up to total lack of farming due to restrictions. some day we will be taking these farms back to feed the world. so it is always more than an auction to me. 

     as i arrived  and drove off to the cornfield on the opposite side of the road away from the farm and parked in the stubble . i left the truck and began walking as others to the barn across the road about a half mile away,  but clearly visible. people could be seen milling around barn . a hot food trailer was set up and it looked as if check in for the auction was in the garage with a sign stating that, pointing its way in. it was a slight grade uphill and one could notice a lot of things like the house was a dark brick fairly modern and barn was a curved arc barn with classic lines. all well maintained. the mushroom barn had been taken down years ago. i could remember a fork lift to lift trays of mushroom spawn in and out of barn. i can still see him at the intersection of the state highway and township rd i was going to cross sitting high on his tractor and would wave as i went buy. i waved at him not that i knew him but more out of camaraderie as one would for a fellow farmer. 

      i crossed the highway , and looked toward the house and straightened and embraced the long walk ahead and observed the house again as i thought i saw movement. and i did in the dog house adjacent to the house the farmers dog had looked up in my direction . i could see him in his dog house and he appeared to look at me . i kept getting closer to the end of the lane and people were starting to look at equipment to be sold mostly small stuff laid in the grass adjacent to the lane . i looked toward the dog house and scanned the area for the dog who appeared to be on the move. i kept working my way up the lane toward the house noticing a couple of folks i knew,. again i scanned the area for the dog who apparently had found what he was looking for as strangers stopped the dog to pet him . it appeared as though he was headed out the lane. and was walking towards me though. the dog soon left the people who were petting him and came again towards me and avoiding a couple of other people and in an instant just walked up to me with his eyes shining. 

       i said  "  how you doing old boy" . he wagged his tail and seem to be content ,  i pet him and wondered why me . i came up with some explanations such as i looked like the old farmer as he seemed to notice me as i came in from that field across the street as he saw the old farmer do many times. maybe the dogs eyes aren't what they used to be. anyone over fifty can attest to that. maybe we had a psychic connection, as i would like to think it was , but in the end it was it what it was a touching moment of me and that dog. it was as if what he was seeing wasn't real , and that he wasn't helpless to stop them from taking the old guys life away and that i had come to stop it. all i could do was offer him soft words and a warm heart to help him through his hurt . i pet and comforted him as people watched . some guy said to me he "walked right up to you".in amazement .

    the old dog allowed me to pet him awhile and then he returned in the direction of the house. he began  walking up the road and past the swell of people crowding around the auctioneer and past others wanting to pet him and curled up inside of his box laying his head down . no longer caring and maybe knowing it was over.

      the old tractor i saw the farmer on when waving at me was now being sold and in some way a piece of the old guy went with it. he tinkered on it , he rubbed its long classic lines to shed the dust off of it. and now it was being loaded on to a trailer and other equipment being loaded up with it.. piece by piece the old farmers spirit went out the lane.  the end of an era and uncertainty of beginning a new one. so far it is till a farm. 

mill creek parks- youngstown ohio

      one sunday mom and i made a right on easy street and headed north as we do sometimes with no particular place in mind. we headed out to st rt. 62 , seeing how far it would take us. we didn't drop off the face of the earth as one heading east might imagine , but we did drop into a valley outside of youngstown and happen-chanced on this beautifully preserved old water mill. we saw it from the arched concrete bridge and instantly we decided to turn around and check it out. running up a back street i found their parking lot. 

      at this point if you have handicapped people in your party it is necessary to review handicapped information. they give a phone number to call and have other facilities where they can let you drive to the door of the mill. mom and even i was hurting while trying to negotiate the stairs from the parking area. it is a wonderful mill and is enjoyable to visit.  Home | Mill Creek MetroParks - this is the link to mill creek's website offering far more information than i can provide .  upon leaving they allowed us to drive across the covered bridge to access the mill entrance and this allowed me to pick mom up there. again check with personnel first. it is a beautiful park and is a must see if you are in the youngstown area. the covered bridge although it is new has a classy line and provides a commanding view of the mill stream . 

    this is the waterwheel at the heart of the mill and is buried in its base allowing year round use of the mill and minimal chance of damage due to freezing. it has a massive overshot wheel with water provided by sluice gates higher up.  the natural falls was a perfect location for this type of mill. this section of the mill i do believe is handicap accessible and requires climbing and ascending a stair.
       the sound of water falling all around lets you become aware of the power to be harnessed by this mill. information abounds that describe milling operations this type of mill would handle.

         the picture to the right  is a view out of the top of the mill . this picture shows you the mill stream feeding the sluice gates in the picture above . the lanternmans mill is but a small part of the total mill creek real estate to be explored. bridges and cabins. as well as lakes and trails to spend a whole day wondering around. butler art museum is one of the first museums in the united states and is not far away either, if you would want to include in one day. but either is a day in itself.
      making a right off easy street as we came in from the south, and headed up the lane and met babe in the drive and we knew we had a good day in. not bad when you have no particular place to go.

my art history

       i have been drawing as long as i could remember . not quite sure how old  i was when i finished my first project but it was a major accomplishment for me. not even going to school and being able to make my own boat. it had a pilot house and was shaped like a boat and it had nails i drove every inch apart all around the the outside rim of the boat to represent railing posts on a ship. 

       mom was divorced then and just had us kids until she met my step dad,the sailor who told of ships at sea. and with my imagination and a book of knowledge encyclopedia , i figured out what a ship should look like. i think i had done a pretty good job , but when i showed it to mom she tells me i better get that wood back out to the garage , and if i knew what was good for me , then i would also pull all those nails out of those boards. and stay the heck out of there. well i did as i was told , devastated that she didn't appreciate my artistic talent.

     i messed around with coloring books , and watched fred and barney flintstone when i didn't have to work or do chores around the farm. secretly wished i was george jetson , with a flying car i could fold up in my briefcase. and i watched  randy , a kid in my class. those of you who were in my class surely must remember him and i envied how he could draw.  at 8 yrs old could be quite rude at times . seems even then he had figured out that i would never be an artist. and there was no way i would ever be good like him. he was a great artist schooled and coached by his mom in so many different areas. music , art and what ever he did was perfect. randy  was great, and i will be the first to admit.  as a kid we would drive past moreheads shop and randy painted a nativity scene on the windows to die for. he was definitely a tough act to follow. 

    then there was vince , a good friend of mine with whom i had shared some drawing ideas and he did the same with me . so that by the time i had reached the 8 th grade i had finally excelled in my own area of expertise among my classmates. this was in puffy hippy lettering. and it was there i found i had something else for art, and that was an imagination. 

     we were having a eight grade dance and randy came up to me to ask to do the lettering for the dance. i felt this was an honor. especially after being rebellious in mr.offredo's math class and getting my marking pens taken from me. i was sitting in class marking a psychedelic flower on my skin and it irritated him so , that he had to make an example out of me in front of class and then asked for all my pens. he took them and said don't even ask for them back. well i didn't . they were hard to replace and i never marked my skin after that. i just  figured he needed some markers for his own masterpiece. other kids couldn't understand at the time , why he did that , and that encouraged me. i did the posters for the  dance and asked randy why he didn't do it . and then he told me that he was real good at copying, but had trouble doing anything new or from his imagination as i was doing. this too was a big feather in my cap and i went furious tearing up the paper learning .

      and it was 10 th grade i believe when i met miss martinelli for he first time in my high school art class. she was great , and the first year she taught me quite a bit. and we always had fun in art class, going around the school sketching in odd areas. but i loved it. the second year i did a sculpture of sherry . can remember working  and measuring sherry's head and making sure her facial features were in the right place. i had straight a's in art and spent most of my high school years in misss matenelli's  class. as i would just come in to class and sit in and read , while she taught another class. and it was mrs, martenelli who told me to never give up my dream of being an artist. she told me that someday i would never regret the time i spent doing my art. 

     don't know where mrs. matinelli is but want to thank her . she was one heck of a teacher and had more influence on me than any other person in my life when it comes to my art. i never did give up trying and have accomplished a lot , and have a lot more to do. and i never had any regrets about doing my artwork other than i should have been doing it a few more times when i was younger and dumber and had a tendency to get into trouble. maybe if i sat the bottle down then and picked up a pencil , i might still be a better artist. and still only half as worthy of mrs. martinellis compliments. 

        months would go by with out drawing some times and sometimes that was good. as it seemed when i picked up a pencil or pen it fit my hand better and my work was more clear. and  still at sad times or low points it was  the only solace i could ask for . but eventually it was my love of art and thinking in three dimensional form that allowed to think i might have to give chainsaw carving a go. a lot of sketchpads have come and gone since i first started drawing and art in general. and as long as mind doesn't wander and i am blessed with talent shall i continue to create in one form or another of art. nobody could tell me not to do something, as i will surely be motivated to find out why not. 

       the above sketch is of myself done by myself when i was around 22. this was my grizzly adams phase in my life. the sketch at the top of the page s of a lady who as young girl lived in the bayou, and her parents were sharecroppers and they didn't have much money. she never had a bike but she would sit on this wrecked frame of a bike and dream of far away places she would ride if she could ever get off these blocks. as she talked and told me i formed this mental image of how strange that world of the bayou must be compared to the way we live up north.

spring green 

         spring green is one of the many shades of green ohio offers up for us to see in a years time. and this shade is usually the one i want to see the most. this is our first green as it is full of life after a winters nap. eager to burst forth. and this year with abandon as these early warm days are giving the grass the gusto it needs. so far i have seen no alarming trends to allow a freeze , and it is still a possibility into may up to the tenth is generally the recognized last frost free date. 

       still thoughts to the garden and preparing the soil is in order. i prepared an original garden and it was farmed by my cousins last year. i also prepared a raised bed garden outside my house and up in to the hill. using the hill as up side of the bed . the other side closed in by boards and 2x12 planks about 20 foot long. this served as the lower side . i added pea gravel to the base and then a mixture of soil and compost to the boxes to bring the soil level 

         the soil is a mix of organics in the form of composted manure. natural top soil, and sand , and  this over a bed of pea  gravel for drainage. a raised bed can be built anywhere in the city or it could be around your gazebo in place of flowers. you create the bed and its mix to your desired wants. companion cropping  with flowers and plants may help keep rodents away from your plants. i really believe people will have their own garden to tend once they realize they just need to grow their own food.     

           the major consideration here is the back saving  advantage this set up offers. i can find me a small board to lay in the bed at different points to assist in weeding. this allows me to sit or kneel alongside the bed and is easier on my back than standing and reaching over to my shoes or squatting in a conventional garden. sitting at this point in my life isn't much of an option as if i was to sit on ground, would be hard to return to my feet . 

         i companion crop and closely . choosing to not leave in rows but maximize the space and reduce weeding by planting heavier. don't leave no room for weeds to grow. you can always take plants out if you have to as simply as weeding them . or you can transplant to a pot or to another location in garden . 

       also to assist in weeding i used a straw mulch, fairly heavy  with a 3 inch mashed thickness to eliminate or reduce weeding where i could. . this worked excellent , maintaining a moist soil profile immediately adjacent to the mulch, this helps in drought time to reduce water needs assuring that as little as possible moisture is lost to evaporation and the plant has all the water it needs to maintain robust growth. intend to incorporate straw mulch in other areas where i have been weed-eating. my goal is to use nothing but the riding mower to do all. from a green standpoint and from a myself standpoint. i could do with a lot less weed-eater. 

      in planting tomatoes on a raised bed it was easy and nice, i  just used straw and let the vines go. this worked ok till they went over the edge  and were headed out through the yard.

        the straw when it was underneath a tomato helped prevent some of the problems of bugs and bad spots associated with tomatoes directly on the ground. 

       still this year i intend to grow the tomatoes on stakes and still mulch between plants. maybe also install drip irrigation , as necessary to provide a more efficient means of watering the plants. 

      another thing i intend to do is plant some more apple trees and a lot more pines ,  as i want to again reduce the amount of weed eating and mowing in the yard. i usually take the pampas grass about this time of year and cut the top off down to the green shoots. some perfectionists would say i am to late to do this. 

       i would have to say this is generally the time most people do it. and still needs done. instead of carting the grass off , i have been placing by the base of the pampas and it slows down growth from weeds or grass and makes trimming easier. again it is good for maintaining soil moisture. and if pampas grass isn't enough then this may be a case for straw to be used as mulch. 

       had to install a fence so babe wouldn't be able to run back and forth and act stupid when the cows come home. she still does it but knows the garden is now off limits. and chooses to run below it like i always knew she could. 

       garlic was planted a week ago and again it should have been in last fall but is still doing great at 4 inches in one week. just hoping we don't have an early frost as this weather is fooling these trees into budding. the peach crop would be ruined as my peach trees are already in bloom. we have 3 months till the summer season starts. wonder how hot it will be then .

school dance

     

           today we worry how we made it through a lot of things. radioactive fallout , lead paint , lead in our gas, lead in our pencil , and lead in our ass, now as we get older. seems like we are always trying to get the lead out as your dad used to say when you were a teenager. but i think for all the evils that long hair and mini skirts , brought to us , none could surpass the school dance . i still think i am irreparably damaged  by those trying moments in the 4th grade when we had to learn to dance. 

         it was usually the chance for some young over zealous teacher to take care of not only her class but 2 others while the older and wiser teachers ran to the teacher lounge to smoke cigarettes and talk about the new blood. kind of like a snipe hunt or mass babysitting for the newbie. 

         the girls would line up on one side and the boys on the other and an invisible line was drawn in the gym floor. one that neither sex would cross . no matter how much you  liked the girl in the paisley dress, or she liked the guy with the long hair down to his neck. how rebel she thinks. 

       in a classroom sitting behind the girl with the paisley dress you surely had no problem asking her questions , or even joking with her. and many times you had to be hushed to keep quiet. but here on the dance floor it was different. to be seen out there with one another is like a death sentence. you will be forever linked to the girl with the paisley dress . and she will twirl her fingers in your long hair and you will graduate and marry in 8 years  and have 2.5 kids and live in white house with a picket fence. oh i forgot you will live happily ever after. man that invisible line in the gym floor is like a chasm that just opens wider. surely it will save me and engulf me and like in the wizard of oz,  i will wake up and everything is fine, just a little storm damage. 

       and you look over at the girl with the paisley dress and she sees you looking and quickly you look away . only to shyly peek up and see her  looking a little hurt. you think to yourself now why she should look so forlorn . i guess it is because i have not enough guts to ask her to dance. but really she shouldnt feel bad . as hard as the new teacher would try there was no takers for the dance floor. she could get the girls up and fast dance and some of the guys would dance with each other. and so was the school dance on a friday afternoon , girls on one side boys on the other, and half the teachers camping out in a smoke filled lounge , bragging about how hard they work. 

       now you talk about your walk of shame . consider this. you like the girl in the paisley dress as she is cute, and kind of fun as girls go. and you  want to forget everything else and walk across that invisible line and ask the girl with the paisley dress to dance and she sees you and turns her head. you say excuse me there you sweet thing, would you like to dance? to the girl in the paisley dress. and everyone roars with laughter at your awkwardness.you start to shrink and surely it isn't fast enough as here comes the double whammy. she tells you no. 

      no isn't what you figured on and stare in disbelief at this friend in class with whom you shared intimate secrets as to where in your desk you hid the candy, and also the way you ignored those sounds and that foul smell wafting up from under her desk  then you look at her in disbelief as if to say what gives and the girl in the paisley dress says no again before you even have a chance to ask her to reconsider. this is the point where you are supposed to help her out of her chair , instead you turn and face the snickers as all your friends with i told you so faces which were telling on them,

     you look across the gym floor and see where you were sitting a million miles away as now you have to make it there without tripping over your feet. surely that would add to the moment. flushed and red faced  you make it to your seat and your other best friend asks you what happened , and you say her ankle was hurting. you look back at the girl in the paisley dress and she shyly looks at you and  you never forget, and never again you ask her. the process of selection is what we learn. pretty girls with  paisley dresses still play games.and school dances can be killers.  

spring has sprung

      today being the first day of spring, and feels more like the first day of summer as we get used to our new climate brought to you by burning hydrocarbons with reckless abandon. i am guilty of it and i suppose you could call me a hypocrite. but i have seen a continued push to increase the size of vehicles , rather than decrease. to see a f-250 super cab running around with one person in it. well i guess if you have to , then do it. i have an old f-150 with a six cylinder engine built in 1989. and it carries me and whats her name. i turn to her to much when writing, so this time i know she wont be left out. 

       the ducks have taken to doing a walk about after about one year at the farm. someone asked me what they ate one time and i said i thought it was paranoia as it seemed they never left the pond for a whole year. they have ate everything around the pond, and very little grows where the ducks go. they cleaned out the algae and something off the bottom of the pond as i saw them diving for it.but lately they have been on a walk about or as in the case of the ducks a waddle -about. venturing into unknown and uncharted  territory as i saw them confidently cross the drive , far from the safety of their watering hole, for what i may ask?  

     my guess they have been on a worm and bug hunt. searching and appearing to be finding something to eat in the grass. this should allow my pond to heal if they continue searching for food elsewhere. but none the less they have their fish food daily and are glad to run back and eagerly wait the floating morsels. 

       i bought duck food from those guys at tsc who i believe are clueless about ducks. as mine just quit eating when fed the regular duck food. i just went back out and bought fish food and figured ducks knew best. 

       i placed a truck cap alongside pond to give the ducks shelter and only now after winter is over the ducks are starting to regularly use the cap. now their need is for shade. also i believe they may be laying there soon. i was hoping to remove the cap if they were not using it . so suddenly they now have an interest in cap. figures

   the above pic is from harlem springs where they have a bison farm is and you can drive right alongside the pasture fields and observe the buffalo grazing close to the car. this a township road and a county road close to their pasture field and a lovely log cabin close. these guys were unconcerned as they ate their way along on the new grass brought on by the gentle warm winds of spring. harlem springs is southwest of carrollton ohio about 15 miles on st. rt. 39. look for signs for buffalo.

      and the forsythia is in bloom as well as daffodils. the peach tree buds are swelling , hopefully avoiding a late frost. and tomorrow i need to get equipment ready for mowing. this weather has been so nice , that while listening to the weatherman tonight figured we can do without these weather persons now . i think someone traded our old ohio in for a california weather minus the smog. also this is a good time to hit the back roads around carrollton as they truly have the most daffodils planted along their roadways . it is glorious to be driving along and see patches of daffodils. maybe i will head down there soon.

      and it is almost time for the morel mushroom hunt to begin if it hasn't already started . i think the old mushroom hunters always keep a bag of morels frozen or even freeze dried, just to show you their catch. at home we always measured your take of morels by how many bread sacks full you picked.  as some of those guys claims seem a little out there. i look and look and never find . oh well will try again this year. after i plant some garden , mow the lawn and about 100 other jobs that spring has sprung.