times are a changing.

Our Language is Changing

       This will be a short blog as I just wanted to point out an observation I made, of which I am sure you are all aware of.  A recent commercial I have just recently heard from Verizon and that has to deal with the new friends and families plan and a new word to be added to our vocabulary . It is framily , a combination of friends and family, and you have to listen closely to hear it on the commercial, this along with Mc Donaldishous is one of a bunch of vocabulary changes I see trending in advertising but eventually creeps and must I emphasize creep into our lives and mouths and becomes permanent fixtures there for years to come. This scares me to think that advertising trends should shape our future language usage.

       Already since I have been born into this world around 1955 , look at the words that were being used to describe things in our world that are no longer used , and those since then that are part of our common usage now. Our language is always changing, and part of it is due to social usage and the other may be due to media usage, and technology changes that influence people’s lives. Also in ever changing speed it up abbreviate everything we do-era of society we live in today we slang the heck out of our language, and this accounts for words like puter , now true that. Even that last little ditty in the last fragment of the last sentence, true that, allows you to say forcefully and with authority you believe all you represent is true and if you think it is wrong then prove it.

       I came from a long line of changes beginning with the early space program and TV was in its infancy and as  we sat religiously glued to the device soaking up all the info that was spewing forth from it over the years . Flintstones with their Yabba, Yabba yah do, or the various rock singers slurring words into new meanings over the years. I have to admit there are still some songs from my era that I still wonder if there is a word that sounds like that. Listen to Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac and sing along sometime, and tell me you know all the words or can understand. No cheating by going to lyrics section. And she is just an example of how our language is ever changing. And just like we can no longer understand spoken real ancient English language, I feel the changes we have experienced in the last 100 years and up to date will forever change our vocabulary and the way we speak forever. In 100 years we will be finding it increasingly harder to understand just what we are talking about now.

      Change is coming at us at an ever growing pace as instantly our thoughts can be shared with an immense audience, and though the residual effects of a catchy icon of our time may not be retained by all, it still spreads more aggressively than ever before. Thanks to social media and the internet. This surely will make us change our way of interacting with each other and influence our patterns of speaking. All this will hasten a departure from the norms and some words will fall into limited use, words like hot wheels, meaning the cars that we used to play with as kids , and who remembers silly putty. She was like silly putty in my hands as I reached out to her and touched her with my giant claw tenderly grasping her shoulder. She looked at me like she had just copied a sad face of a woman who had met her match from a picture in a newspaper. Having applied herself in her naked moldable condition to the surface of the paper and then when picked up showed a mirrored resemblance of that sad girl. Yeah that silly putty. Another new word of our time is dis. She dissed the girl in the gang. All these were typical examples of our ever changing vocabulary.

       So in a 100 years I wonder what will be important is those things that will be an issue then. Will advertising still continue to overwhelm us as they try to push their products down our throats continually trying to come up with that little song or ditty that sticks in our mind and we sing to ourselves over and over until we want to bang our heads against a wall and lose consciousness. Imagine they will call those ditties birth control then. Isn’t that special-ishous. Wont you all be part of my framily? Doesn’t it just make you want to buy something?

this was taken 3-31 of last year at oardc. spring is a little late this year by almost 3 week. those same trees are just blooming now. 

happy easter

Happy Easter – Yockey Farms Open House Update

       Want to wish everyone a happy Easter first, and hope you are with family and friends this beautiful weekend. In some ways I am honoring a time worn tradition by spending it at my boyhood home and the one place where I have probably spent the most Easters at over the years. It wasn’t planned that way but seems to be the default now in my life.  Life moves on as my blog always says. Just the way things worked out. I have always wished for a different ending but destiny had other plans. Spending time with Mom is great though, and we plan on celebrating Easter, but in a less traditional way. We plan on going out to dinner as opposed to having dinner at home.  Mom would have cooked but I really didn’t want to put her through it, and then there is  always left overs. Neither of us need to have any extra left overs.

      Years ago we would wake to an Easter basket that would magically appear out of nowhere filled with candy and colored eggs we would do the night before. Jelly beans in  green plastic grass,  it seemed I was always picking out of my mouth. Of course one large chocolate bunny which was usually solid back then over the years turned into the hollow ones they offer now. We would gnaw on those solid chocolate goodies till we had a brown ring around our mouth and then start zooming around with all the energy we had to expend. Running here and there looking for Easter eggs to find the magical lucky eater egg and maybe scare up a dollar treat from it. Doubt if kids would run very far for a dollar today. Somewhere along the way we switched to plastic eggs and Easter was forever changed. Some years we headed to church with Grandma and Grandpa but then the whole family would get together and enjoy an Easter meal at home. It was the beginning of the big meals we would enjoy over the summer and there was hardly room on the table for plates and soon a table was set up in the kitchen for the expanding family. Unfortunately as life moves on, families change and I guess all we have left are memories. But I am fortunate to have all those memories, and in an instant can let myself go back and relive those moments anytime. I can even draw you a picture of what it looked like and may do so someday.

      Anyhow just a few thoughts I have had as was wanting to blog this am and wish everyone a happy Easter. Hope you have a safe and happy one. I am kinda on track for my open house on the 17^th of May. This is my second annual open house and hopes to be in better shape than last year. I moved the date back as it needed to be closer to the end of May as Mother’s day was too early to distribute plants. In fact I think a lot of people lost their tomato plants and did get some of mine due to an early frost. I am trying to time my seedlings to be ready around the 17th. Then that way you can just take them home and plant them directly in the ground. The last frost free date in Ohio is May 10^th, and you really shouldn’t plant anything frost sensitive before then.

last years pics. not all items available. 

      Trees and shrubs are ok to plant now if you have them. I have a variety of potted trees that are very economical, and can be planted anytime. They are available for as cheap as 7.00 / pot, most deciduous broadleaf trees, (sugar maple white oak, red oak, tulip poplar, red bud, and purple plum as well as Hawthorne and flowering crab). I have some white pine left and also Austrian pine, plenty of blue spruce and arbor vitae are available in the evergreen species. All of these will be available at the open house. This is not a complete list of all my trees and if you are interested in any before then, you can email me at kdavis3051a@gmail.com or call me at 234.521.3984. I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

        Still planning on having a cook out after the open house, and will provide bottled water, pop , ice , and hot dogs , and a fire , and a hay ride although their will just be baled straw at this point. Anybody that attends can have a free six pack of tomatoes and I will have some good rich topsoil amended with natural composted cow manure mixed into the oil so that if you bring your own container you can fill one four gallon maximum container with soil for your bucket tomatoes for your back porch. This is enough for you to have a tomato plant to grow and provide you with fresh tomatoes without having a garden, and do it for free. If you want more for your needs then I have to charge you a modest amount. Otherwise I will be so broke I will have to come eat with you every night. After dark at the fire I would like it to be just adults, if anyone would desire to stay and enjoy an early outside fire in the country.

        So far that is the plan and is always subject to change, but I am kind of hoping it I wrote it in stone. If you would like to attend the cook out I would ask you bring one covered dish, and service for yourself and let me know so I can plan to have enough of what I plan on providing. Alcohol is permitted after open house and during cookout, but a you bring it you take it with you policy exists and I would like you to take care of your empty containers yourself. Please don’t leave lying around or throw in trash if recyclable. Be responsible in your drinking and  I will try and have separate containers for the recyclables. This is going to be the only day I will have regular hours , otherwise call and make an appointment to see me if you would like more plants or anything special. This is a chance for everyone to enjoy a day in the country and have some food, enjoy a hay ride, and I will be carving if I am not burned out, by trying to get it all together as I did last year. I sincerely hope to be carving for you folks this year. I have some interesting projects I need to start. Anyhow hope to see everyone there that can come. I have made some changes and added some things and hope you will have a good time.  In addition I will be giving away a carving to one lucky person this year. You will need to add your own name to the pot yourself, one entry per person, and the winner will be picked at 6pm on the day of the cookout. It will be another bear; I plan on carving by then. The winner need not be present and will be picked by the oldest person in attendance at the time of the drawing. So bring the old folks and hope for the best. Have a nice Easter and enjoy your weekend. Kevin 

WHO LEFT THE LIGHTS ON?

Lights

      Simple enough topic to be sure as in the bible God says, let there be light. I really don’t think it is quite as simple as that, and will impart with you a few thoughts I have had on that recently.  A friend of mine was living in New York and upon her first trip to Ohio was amazed at all the lights we had here. In fact I never really paid much attention to it till she said something. We were under lights almost the whole way from the Pennsylvania border till I ran out of them just below Akron but never more than a couple of minutes. Again I picked them up on I-77, north of Canton and was under them until I reached Krantz hill on 800 south of Canton. Dark to day light we pay for groundhogs to see when there are no cars. Wasted electric we feel is vital for our safety and protection. This is usually along main thoroughfares, but then when we are out in the country we have the same lights we depend on to drive in the city, only not as frequent and we usually have to pay for them.

        People in the city believe as well, as a bunch in the country believes we need lights to offer us protection from burglars and crime in general. Well that doesn’t seem to work very well as we still have crime regardless whether we have street lights or not. It is our fear of the dark we need the lights for, and for the power company to make money. Somebody has to pay for it and it allows the power company to grow and meet those demands. Whether it deters crime I am of the opinion that it does little but instead aide burglars and window peepers a better opportunity to evade those yard obstacles they might trip over. If it was dark enough for them to use flashlights then it would be easier to determine if someone was out there. My theory is turn off the lights till you need them. Solar path lights work well and the technology will improve as we go along.

     Street lights in bad intersections would still be ok if there isn’t enough light off a traffic signal to somewhat light the intersection. If it is real busy there will be plenty of cars there and no need for lights. So if you feel you still need lights at major intersections how about this thought? How about a motion activated light so that if a pedestrian or an automobile approaches the light will come on. Simple enough fix for lighting with proven results. If we could do away with 75 percent of our outdoor stand-alone lighting, just think how much that would save in terms of energy needed to produce all that lighting. In our area we use coal as we belong to American Electric Power for the most part and they generate the majority of their electric through the use of coal fired boilers. They like keeping the lights on and keep their boilers going as they can easily move from peak daytime hours into night generating power for lights. All this electric is contributing to global warming and it is starting right here at home. I doubt if any third world countries with limited resources are responsible for global warming, yet they are paying the price just the same as us for us keeping the lights on.

    I mean really if you are afraid of the dark, just stay home and turn off all lights unless you need them, another real saver. Install motion activated lights in those places you feel you need the security around you. The reason I am going into all of this about lights, is first, the effect it is having on our environment, and second, we are paying for street lighting that 60 – 90 percent of the time, no one is using. After all this I will inform you that although we have a light in the refrigerator, it is still more efficient than street lighting. When you shut the frig door the light does go off. I know for a fact as I used my camera with a time setting to see if it really does go off , and guess what it does and the system works. Outside the house where the refrigerator sits, it’s a different story.

    The time has come to look at our total energy usage and what resources we use to generate it. We have coal, nuclear, shale gas now, and solar and wind to a minor degree. The Department of Energy is looking at ways to improve electrical generation to meet our future needs,  and is fueling the idea with a 400 million dollar grant to develop a portable nuclear power plant coming soon to your back yard. Apparently the lessons learned from nuclear haven’t been enough to sway or eliminate nuclear as any option. Spent fuel storage and melt downs are now becoming more common than before and will in the long run with increased usage , be a larger problem. That 400 million would go a long way to reduce our electric usage by something just as simple as turning the lights off if we don’t need them.

beneficial reuse of concrete in a local's backyard. my hat is off to them 

      I at one time came up with an idea of using solar to light the edges of my driveway that could run only when you needed it as the placement of motion activated sensors would light section after section as you approach it and once you have passed would go dark again. Really the groundhogs don’t care if its light outside after all they are in a hole with no lights and when it gets dark they sleep. We know what lights do to deers, so this may be a more environmentally sound solution of using an alternative power source to light a driveway and with bigger grids could easily be used to light highways the same. LED’s provide enough light and are energy efficient when it comes to peripheral lighting. After all if it is dark enough we need our car lights on anyhow.  The same theory could be applied to our conventional lighting system saving the taxpayers huge amounts of money. We don’t have to study it, but know if no one is using the light and we turn it off, it saves money and we don’t need nuclear reactors for anything. We just have to work on coal and natural gas next,  and reduce our dependence on them. 

when trying to be decent exceeds the bounds of restraint

Back to Roswell

pic taken at park i stopped at 

      Roswell is in a location where you need to have enough gas in your tank when venturing out of town as sometimes it is nothing to go 100 miles without seeing a gas station or another town that has any facilities like gas or even public restrooms. Having to go to the restroom was a problem for me as I neared Roswell on my second trip out there. I had just drove through Texas and was soon entering New Mexico I think it was in Alamogordo , and was heading towards Roswell when I had to take a leak about 40 miles to Roswell , so close and yet so far away , as I looked for a place alongside the road where I could just pull off.

      The road was busy with cars coming along one after another going where I really didn’t know as far as I could tell there was nothing there alongside the road except tumble weeds and cactus, and I am sure they were not all heading out to harvest cactus, but the problem with going to take a leak is that someone can see you for ten miles out there if you pull off to the side of the road. I really didn’t want someone stopping to offer me a hand insisting on doing it myself, so I waited and drove hoping soon I would have a chance to finally go.

       The first trip I made out there I had drove the same road in and noticed a park and figured I must be coming close to that park now. It was a state park featuring dunes of sand, and not much else. The first time I came through with a friend of mine and we were in a hurry and really didn’t need to go so we just passed right by the park, this time it was just Bud, my dog, and I and I needed to go and Bud could always muster up something when he needed, or didn’t need to,  but just in case he wanted to make sure I had a trail to go back home by, so I needed to stop at this park bad.

     I pull in the park entrance and the lane looks as though it is at least 2 miles long back to the park and all the landscape around me for the last 40 miles is still the flat arid dusty lifeless cactus fields offering no cover. I couldn’t just pull over and go as I was still visible from the road and surely they had restrooms back at the park and if nothing else surely I would be obscured from the road. As I pull onto the road leading into the park I see a dust cloud coming at me in the distance as I start up a washboard road with bumps 4 inches deep every 2 feet apart. My truck broke a spring holder before I left and I was going to fix it, but didn’t have time before I left, so to say the least the road and the truck was having no mercy on me as it was more bouncy than usual  and every pothole almost made me want to spring  a leak by now,  as I did the best I could to hold myself and swore once this car passed I was just going to get out and go . If I went now the car approaching could just as easily have  been a New Mexico trooper , as far as the approaching dust cloud was letting me see of who was approaching. Finally when it was within a few hundred yards I could tell it was just a small car and it had Ohio plates.

        So here I am in New Mexico having drove almost 1600 miles to get here and low and behold the one time I need to go real bad and here comes one of those misplaced useless nuts we call buckeyes , heading straight towards me waving their arms in a friendly greeting way as if they were excited as I wasn’t, at seeing Ohio plates in Roswell , New Mexico. As their car came closer I checked them out as I was bouncing up the old washboard road, now the dust was coming in the windows and settling on my dash and my bladder was screaming relieve me, and as I approached their car as one ship passing another in the middle of nowhere these guys leaned out of their windows wanting me to stop and talk. I couldn’t I was backed up that much with the countless pounding I had taken since leaving the asphalt. I really didn’t want to talk but stopped trying not to be rude to some fellow useless nuts, as Dad a West Virginian by heart and soul often referred to Ohioans as, and so i needing a rest from the shakeup I received since leaving the asphalt, I relented and stopped and talked to them.

        They were from Cincinnati and were visiting the desert southwest on their trip and they too noticed my plates and thought they would say hello. We talked a few while the dust settled around us and I asked if they had port-a- jons or a public restroom back where they had just came from the park and they said they did, the pain at having to go, was advancing as I sat there,  and so I decided we were not going to get much accomplished and wished them well on their trip but if I didn’t move quick I might unleash a flood in my pants that could easily wash us all away in the midst of this desert .

    Upon hearing my plight they decide it may be in their best interest to move along and let me sink or swim on my own. I was glad as I couldn’t think anymore and my eyes were venturing over to green as blue and yellow normally does when combined. I had to go. Again another half mile of bouncing up and down at a whole 5 mile per hour in the heat and dust, and I finally found what I was looking for a port-a-Jon in the desert. It wasn’t an oasis, but would soon be, and  to me looked like it could have been easily a palace that was soon to be submerged in desire to relieve myself, without doing it in public.

      I stopped the truck with in feet of the outhouse and opened the door of the little cabana and checked for rattle snakes and didn’t find any , besides with the tools I was carrying I could have easily have drowned one if there was, and was soon taking care of business much to my relief. And all without losing a single drop in the wrong place. Never was I so glad to see an outhouse before. Sure I could have stopped alongside the road but again there was nothing to hide me and I knew I would have to have some time alone considering the pressure built up within me , so  I didn’t want to start, what  I figured there was no stopping, in the event someone happened by. 

     I kinda felt bad for the other useless nuts I cut short while heading into the park, but hey, a man has to do what he has to do. Surely they could understand. Besides I was in critical overload, and soon I would have had a meltdown, as things happen when the core melts. Not a good place to be out there in the desert with wet pants. But the next time I decide to head out west I will remember to take along a large Slurpee cup , when heading along those remote stretches of roadway.

part-3 -a visit to ruidoso

Part3-A short visit to Ruidoso, New Mexico

        In the middle of nowhere in the middle of New Mexico is Ruidoso, and is the quarter horse capital of the world. I was to the National Quarter Horse Museum and was able to walk in the sculpture garden with Bud where I took pics of him that I have used on here. He was good and didn’t do anything except sit and be a ham for me. He was great to have along and I was amazed how dogs are being recognized as bargaining chip when hotels and motels offer pet friendly rooms. Allowing him in the gardens was permitted after I promised to make sure he left no presents. I enjoyed walking among the leaping horses, and encouraged Bud to sit for a few shots.

        We then headed uptown and were astounded by all the bears on Main Street, as lot after lot was taken by chainsaw carvers, carving bears. This is the main reason I had come to New Mexico. Part was to help Mom and Dad and part was to take off on a new venture. I remember at a low point when there just didn’t seem to be enough money to keep farming. I thought to myself, wow I am a starving farmer. What kind of a farmer am I if I have no money and can’t take care of myself? It was time for agonizing reappraisal and take note of my resources and even without anything I realized I had artistic talent, firewood, and chainsaws. Ideal for chainsaw carving and then someone suggested I visit Ruidoso, having seen all the bears carved there and told me about it. so I figured, if I ended up out there I was going to check it out. I was finally there and it was just as they described it as I pulled up into an old gas station that looked as if it was on rt. 66 and the parking lot was full of bears and the carver was inside.

       The reason Ruidoso was so taken with bear carving as it is close to the area where the original smoky the bear was found as a cub having survived a forest fire , although badly burned and nursed back to health, and with his story he soon became a mascot for the forestry department many years back. Someone later took to carving bears in Ruidoso and it was soon the carved bear capital of the U.S.A.. Tourists visiting the area were soon headed to Ruidoso to bring back a bear memento of their visit to this little bit of heaven in the middle of the desert.

     I should describe Ruidoso a little more besides saying it is a ski resort, as it isn’t barren desert, instead covered with a good growth of pines, with deer and elk and all animals you would find with a high mountain living, and has quaint little cottages one could rent when visiting the ski resort that draws in visitors from all over the desert southwest for a chance to see snow and ski as well watch the horse races.

 a selfie shadow shot of me in desert

      I negotiated a price on a bear to take with me and then asked for a demonstration on carving and we began talking and found out he was from Ohio and lived above Akron and was familiar with my area, anyhow he went through the steps on carving, then started the chainsaw and carved a little and then grabbed a surface grinder and added a few touches and presto forty dollar bear in a half hour. Sixteen cuts. Short and blocky, yet all different and mostly looking like what you paid for. I took his carving home and studied it and then said to myself, I can do this quite confidently and tried and failed miserably. My first log was a water elm and when I carved it, it shrank right up leaving huge cracks. I didn’t know how to fix the cracks and after observing this I was feeling kind of crappy about it knowing I must be doing something wrong so I changed the wood to some nice rock hard oak. Mistake two, as I could see the sparks jumping off the chain at times as I managed to carve a 400 lb. log into a huge head and placed it at the end of the lane alongside St. Rt. 800 and watched as day after day  I would see people slow and check it out. Then one day I went to check the mail and saw it was gone. I once watched someone in a van messing with a motorcycle I had for sale and figured that may have been how they done it. It was in clear view of my trailer at the time. But I figured if you are crazy enough to risk a felony for a hunk of wood, you are crazy enough to do anything. I could have put any price on it. I wasn’t even trying to sell it and was just showing it off. But I knew I made it, when they stole it.

       Didn’t think anyone would steal it but they did and all I have is a pic and a memory but will share pic with you and if you happen to see it in someone’s back yard, give me a yell. Ruidoso had a lot to do with me getting started into carving, I continued on with the carving and was soon spitting out bears. The one thing that guy in the old gas station left me with; was the sage advice for all in your endeavors, and that was never quit trying to do something you want to do. It’s a lot easier than doing something you don’t want to. That and ‘Bloom where you are planted’ are two mottos I try to live by. There be could be worse mottos. Ruidoso was actually a ski resort town at an elevation of about 7000 on a high plateau leading to the peak of Sierra Blanca at 12000 feet, where they actually skied in the wintertime in the middle of New Mexico. Who would have thunk. So Bud and I headed for the peak in my old Ford Ranger. I wanted to see them skiing and I did.

    At times the road would turn on itself and make it easy to polish your left rear turn signal on some of those turns, as if you were chasing your tail. The last 5000 ft. in elevation was an experience, as vistas were afforded of plunging cliffs below you at times as you would thread your way up the mountain. On one switchback it was so steep and it was on bud’s side that he became freaked out by how high above everything we were that he started backing into the truck and was soon sitting on my arm as I tried to keep us on the road. I told him to calm down and quit looking out there if it bothered him that much. He would sneak back over barely lifting his head to the edge of the window. I had to laugh at him and only hoped the old Ranger wouldn’t let me down and get us home safely. Eventually the snaky road dumped you into a parking lot advising you to listen to snow reports and not be stranded on the mountain and do not attempt to traverse the road until you know road is clear. I could easily see why. Wouldn’t take too much sliding and you would be history. They had all the amenities of a ski slope one would expect, including a ski lift taking you up to the peak of the mountain. I wanted to just go up and check it out but never did. Travelling with a dog is great but after an hour in the vehicle even with windows cracked. I still felt guilty, so I never took any chances and would run back to car to check on him, let him out, and take him for walks.

      Coming back down off the mountain and viewing the change from forest to desert and seeing elk and deer , it was all good and along with green grass and flowing streams. It was an oasis in sticks and dried thorns, a place I shall return someday. On my way back to Roswell I passed through Lincoln where Billy the kid was supposedly from and where he was shot. I read some of the history and watched some cowboys riding as if on cue with long coats and would have made a good shot, had I not used my camera taking other pics. It was a long day as it was still 100 miles to Roswell and it was dark and it was the desert of Roswell, New Mexico. Things happen there. 

part 2 continuing on with roswell

Part 2 –Seven shades of brown

        The desert southwest is something for every Ohioan to visit and observe to fully appreciate all we have here in terms of rain and water sources. I would walk the river or creek as I call it here and I believe most of the water in it came from the condensers in air conditioning units, anyhow this creek would trace its way through downtown Roswell and I followed it one day through a residential neighborhood and I came across what appeared to be a Nazi symbol embedded in the stonework of the canal , and after checking it out on the internet found out that during World War 2 , German prisoners were housed in barracks at the military base and would routinely allow prisoners to participate in work gangs and one gang was attached to the river project at the time which involved bringing in hundreds of tons of rock and hand placing it on the slopes of the stream , and at one point were allowed to establish in the rock a symbol of their native homeland . Together the group of prisoners elected to emblazon a Nazi iron cross symbol in the stonework. A historical marker placed in an observation position told the story of which I retold to my dad who was a gunner on a battleship in World War 2 and to this day I can remember his reaction as if I was untruthful as to the story. He couldn’t believe that Germans would be allowed to deface a project like that and get by with it. He was very adamant about his position and went so far as to call me a liar, as if I had purpose for making up something like this.

       Dad and Mom went out west to extend Dads life as he had bronchitis and emphysema, and were of the thinking that if he went out west where the air was better that it would extend his life and in a lot of ways it did. Well for one thing, if he would have stayed here I am sure we would have got into it more often and soon enough I would either kill him or he would me. We never seemed to get along that much. I would have to say that the ten years they spent out there was good for him as he finally developed an appreciation for people in his life that had over the years tried to help him. That and Alzheimer’s led him to a life where I too finally appreciated our relationship, hard as it may have been at times but in years seems to have mellowed us both out. Occasional flare-ups of temper was expected from dad at times with me , even when he had Alzheimer’s as sometimes he would look at me real mean and be withdrawn . I finally come to the conclusion he was pissed at something and knew I had  to be the reason, except that he couldn’t remember for what or when. I would just ignore and move on. Two minutes later it would pass and he would have a smile on his face.

     Spending the month out there with them was a nice break, as it I had never lived outside the state of Ohio for so long in one place in all my life as I have always been a lifelong resident of the state. This was a radical break from the norm and at the time was something I needed in my life. My eyes were wide open and it was interesting noticing all the differences between the two places. Things I would notice while out driving around, or doing a walk about of town would translate into stories by mom and dad as they would have noticed it before me and would tell me stories about it and make suggestions as to where I should go next. The one month I spent there was interesting to say the least. It was nice to stay in a spot long enough to get a feel for living there in real life. I liked staying there and would like to revisit but still would long for home eventually. I know there are times when the desert blooms and grass grows green but in the last part of February all I saw was seven shades of brown and an occasional green watered lawn. Most were brown or were just plain dirt and dust.

      Dust would accumulate in corners and crevices along with bits of trash, where it may make a haven for something to grow. In most cases it wouldn’t and depending on the wind direction move on to somewhere else always trying to find a chance at making it. Much like the tumble weeds do when out on the prairie. I couldn’t imagine trying to deal with this daily and worrying about venturing to far from town without water, or ‘to be lost in the desert on a horse with no name’. Instead would gladly choose what I have right now, gray or anyway it comes to us.

       I have come to the conclusion I have a tendency to underestimate my storytelling abilities and may have to drag this blog down this road for a while to cover all I had seen and done while travelling to New Mexico. The sixteen shades of green comes from all the shades of beautiful green I have seen here in Ohio as bright sun green is different than stormy blue green and along with it comes the mood. Having a night of rolling thunderstorms, and near misses by tornadoes bears an understanding of appreciation how it is to have missed the bullet again. That green in the morn in first light, heavy with dew is much different than high noon green. Maybe someday I can express in words all the different shades and the moods that correspond with the different shades of green, but feel I am venturing to far away from what I had intended .to contrast two different environments in an effort to understand unique and different we are. But is still life , outside my little world of norm. 

sometimes the sun isn't all it is cracked up to be

New Mexico seven shades of brown and Ohio has 16 shades of green

      When mom and Dad was in New Mexico I spent about thirty days out there in Roswell, New Mexico around the month of February. I was able to get a chance to see how winter was in Roswell, as compared to Ohio where they were having freezing rain and all kinds of other weather problems after I left. I took bud my German shepherd I had for 18 years and who was always a close companion having received him as a throw away dog. Anyhow the two  of us made a trip across the country travelling as straight a shot towards New Mexico as we could,  stopping every couple of hundred miles when Bud was restless and needed to go to the little doggies’ room.

    The reason I headed out there was to help Mom and Dad as they were both down at the same time and had to rely on a neighbor to come in and help them get by as our family was all back here in Ohio. I was able to come and help at the time and looked forward to the opportunity to visit. By the time I arrived both Mom and Dad were on the mend and really needed no help, so I just spent thirty days getting to know the area and visiting with them. Some places I would drive and some I would walk to. Daily I would take Bud for a walk out to the old airport; this was the city airport and not the one where the aliens were brought back to. Sage brush and weeds and cactus flourished in the cracks of the abandoned cracked tarmac where taxi runways used to be. A derelict woven wire fence contained the area and offered a harbor of safe haven for a growth of weeds due to the shade offered by old fence. Trash doesn’t ever seem to disintegrate or rot in the desert sun there; in fact it has a tendency to stay in almost pristine condition. Meaning if you drop something or are guilty of carelessly  throwing of anything onto the ground, it could be there for years as opposed to Ohio where weeds will soon take over most anything and obscure it and rot it in comparison blinding it from your view. Bud would kick up these big jack rabbits and it was weird hearing them take off as they are quite big and when they start to run the sound of their feet hitting the ground is unique as they actually thump , again, and again, and you know it is them as it builds in intensity as their speed builds. Bud didn’t have a chance of getting one as they are quite fast, I would call him back fearing he would get bit by a rattlesnake or something not knowing the animals out there.  

    Moisture in the soil was nonexistent except under pavement or in the case of the old tarmac , where minimal rains would run underneath and be protected by the blaring sun harboring and storing moisture for later use in the blaring sun. Seeds blowing across the sun parched soil would lodge into these cracks and life would flourish where there was no life before. Tire tracks and damage from wheels is ever present in the desert as you can see where people drove for a long time.  There is no rain to wash the soil back into the tracks and due to the heat, and once desert flora is damaged, it may take years before the damage is finally reversed due to the slow growth of plants in this desert climate. Tumble weeds skitter to and fro across the desert longing for a fence or an obstruction to pile up against, and at times flattening with their weight anything in their path. In some places the wind would cut through you at times, and with the grit of countless open spaces offering up their bounty of free flowing particles, would blast your senses with its dusty offering, getting into your hair and eyes and eventually into your soul with its relentless pursuit, letting you be thankful for the water to wash it all off in the end of the day.

 

       Mom and Dad owned a little ranch adobe and it was one level with an adobe courtyard wall surrounding the house and actually sported a green lawn. This was unusual and mostly practiced by the well to do, as it required watering and by the local standard was too much of a pain in the butt for most to worry about. Instead they allowed their lawns to be natural desert , a place to park vehicles close to the house, or right in front of the door making the transition from air conditioning in the car to the house a lot more comfortable and less of a task. At night when and if it would cool, then the locals would exit their house and would sit on their stoop and drink beer. At times they would break bottles of beer over someone’s head or as a weapon, or some would just accidentally just drop and break, nonetheless, this was as evidenced by the brown and green glass fragments adorning the ground in a sort of  synthetic grass way and it seemed as if it will always be there forever.

         Old late model cars and trucks are everywhere as the bodies last forever but the paint fades quickly under the sun. Although rust appears it has very little effect on the degradation of a vehicle as it is here in Ohio. As long as the engine and drive train is good and the vehicle hasn’t been banged up it may last for years. I saw a 56 Chevy for sale, offered dirt cheap and was being used around town to get groceries as I saw it several times while I was there. It smoked but would have been a heck of a deal for someone looking to fix one up. Just one example of the many there is out there in the junk yards. I was envious of the junk yards I would see out there.

       Sadly I must say the sun was bright 29 of the 30 days I was there and that was a little hard for an Ohioan to take. Normally seeing the sun shine in Ohio is something we look forward to and hardly take for granted, scouring the weather reports waiting for that period of dryness to plan on drying hay having a picnic, etc.. And what Ohioan hasn’t had his plans at one time or another dashed by bad weather? This is something that never happens in New Mexico. No snow days, no mudslides, no thunder storm watch, or major flooding to worry about. Never being snowed in or having to detour because of high water is hardly ever an option in the desert and something I am not used to. Well after a couple of days of nice weather and accomplishing most of the tasks I set out to do while I was there I began making new plans and could quickly realize that due to nice weather all of the time one needed to just take a break from planning and do nothing, except keep cool as I am sure most of the natives do.

      The white portion of the population is an eclectic bunch of sundried farmers and ranchers, along with oil and gas men and women who are definitely a minority in this part of the country. The Hispanic portion of the population lends one to believe there may be a reason as to why Roswell could easily be called the illegal alien capital of the world for more than one reason. Roswell’s brush with fame came when a UFO was reported to have crash landed and then disappeared just as quickly as the government rushed in haste to reject all news reporting of the incident hinting at a cover-up that still surfaces its head even to this day. Having already read the Roswell incident and about all news clippings and stories relating to aliens at Roswell, I still needed to visit the UFO museum, as it is touristy thing to do while there. It was interesting and supposedly based on facts but still lacks the smoking gun to make it seem credulous to believe. But so we exist here on earth, there is no reason why life shouldn’t exist elsewhere in the cosmos waiting patiently for ET to call home. He would if he wasn’t in a freezer in hanger 17. Something went on out there but due to the close proximity of the White Sands Air force base and other military installations it could easily be anyone’s guess as to what happened. Only the government knows their part and what they did or didn’t do for sure and they haven’t said anymore for now.

     Well I didn’t think I would have enough material to write much about the differences between here and there but I guess I was wrong as I am near my limit for one day and will choose to finish this blog tomorrow. As I cover subjects like a visit to an oasis in the middle of the desert, types of houses both adobe and modern, as well the  farming and industry that dominates the area including agriculture and how water is the key to cities like Roswell ‘s existence, will all be the subject of tomorrow’s blog

   

ohio looks just like new mexico at this time , seven shades of brown and a splash of green here and there.

It won’t be long

      The signs of spring are starting to show as I look around in my backyard, and in the greenhouse. I have even observed a bloom on a purple passion vine in the house I never saw before. I have had pretty good success at getting my seeds started and it looks like I should have plenty of tomatoes if nothing else. but I am still working on a lot of different things to have for my open house which I am pushing back to the 25^th of May, thinking that Mother’s day will be too early for planting a garden since the last frost free date is May 10th in Ohio. Hopefully we will all be looking forward to planting soon.

      I will have tomatoes started in containers this year that you can buy and take home with you allowing you a chance to have earlier tomatoes than your neighbor and allow you to enjoy the taste of tomatoes earlier yourself. I have also ordered in and received strawberry plants and have them started in individual pots to allow you to plant in containers and will have a few of these containers available for sale. The nice thing about doing strawberries in containers is that you can pick them up and weed and feed and then remember where you have them planted when the harvest is over to avoid weed eater injury or overgrowth of weeds in the berry patch. I am also going to spend some time working in my raspberry patch and may have a few select canes for sale as I thin out the berries this year. These have been a consistent heavy producer year after year with heavy quarter size berries. Great to eat alone or in freezer jam.

     Last Sunday, Mom’s plans fell through, and so we just jumped in the car and took off for no place certain, but many by happenstance, and ended up north of Alliquippa, Pennsylvania. In fact it was hard to decipher which state I was in, as Pennsylvania is not nearly as vain as Ohio is in announcing their state lines. No big blue signs as Ohio does, or the complimentary state trooper munching on donuts while manning a radar gun. All we knew we were headed north along the Ohio river then at one point we crossed over amidst a major industrial area, and were soon headed back down the other side of the Ohio river, just looking for a place to eat. We passed a major railroad yard complete with a roundtable and just an amazing view of what a modern railway looks like as you can tell while driving along at 55 miles per hour. Being the trip photographer and driver has its disadvantages. No pictures for one thing. I do have some of a beaver dam I will show you in Scenic Vista park outside of Lisbon, Ohio. A neat park if you like being alone, and seeing something at the same time, as it features a log cabin and a covered bridge of which I have old photos, which I will share.  I was busy driving and we logged in 180 miles in one day followed by a trip to Amish country the next day to pick up greenhouse supplies I needed. Was nice seeing the Amish countryside.

         As someone anonymously said, it is all about priorities and mine have been slipping lately, or have they. In some ways priorities are outside your world. A magical, mystical place you want to be ideally no matter what happens, a lofty goal.  But your life is driven more by survival and destiny as you were born in a certain place and raised in a certain way and your destiny tells you by your contacts and environment which direction your life will go. What bills to pay, what things I need to grow. It takes time to plant your seeds and tend the soil. A contractor I used to work for, Don Sterling once had a sign outside his place that said, ‘ Bloom where you are planted’. Something I have tried to do. Yes, if you have a higher priority you could just take off and do whatever, but you would miss those time proven treasures of what life is about. Maybe it is spending time with Mom, feeling the sun on your back smelling the spring air, watching a bee trying to find a bloom and get things started. Scratching my cow Mudder’s head when she decides to visit with me, priorities are nice and purpose driven but even priorities need to take a backseat to just smelling the roses while they are blooming. Priorities keep you on track. But they change daily. Life doesn’t, it seems to work out as destiny intended with or without your input. Instead of fretting about being on track, I tend to just enjoy myself, and maybe worry a little if I will have enough time in my life for all those things I have to do.

       After a dinner we returned to our familiar border with its big blue signs, welcoming us home, as I set the GPS to home and just followed along. Was glad to be back. 

keeping on, keeping on

Muddling Along

          I was sitting here and suddenly after reviewing a bunch of different things and just weighing all the information I just absorbed. Things such as garden entrances , starting seedlings , art pics, as well as animal pics, throw in a couple of geological features of this old planet I would like to visit , and suddenly I was overwhelmed with the idea that I may never live long enough to get it all done. I don’t think any of us no matter what; ever get to finish this life having done all they ever wanted to do. Getting old and having a disability will jump in your way and severely limit what you could have done. Other factors such as defeat or where you figure ‘what’s the use, it will never happen’, and then it usually doesn’t. Having a, ‘I can’t do that’, attitude will no doubt limit your ability as well as I don’t know how to do that. Failing to challenge ourselves will severely limit our ability to be all we can be.

        Well suppose you had a good attitude and were a fairly well rounded person, who had a variety of interests and was a kind of a Mc Gyver kind of person, jack of all trades, master of none. Then all you would need to be is rich. Doing and being all that you want to be is very costly , I mean suppose you wanted to be a fighter pilot , and you need a jet , specifically a fighter jet and suppose you just couldn’t get into the air force , and you just have to do this one thing. It is going to take some money to buy one, so money is a very important part of being all you can be. It takes money to do just about anything. When is the last time you have went a single day without spending anything. To eat you spend, to take a shower costs you money. The roof over your head, everything costs. Even writing costs me money. Living without doing anything is costly let alone wanting to do something, money is important.

      Wow this is getting a little more complicated as we go along. Privilege is something you need to be to get access to all those neat things you will never be able to see. Like an underground missile silo. Or the inside of an aircraft carrier, or to be able to go into the torch of the Statue of Liberty and stand at the top of the arm and look at Paris in the distance , and say wow what a world. Imagine someone has the right to do that. Let it be me for once. I can’t and I accept it as I don’t have the privilege to do that. So privilege allows you to get in those places.

       Somewhere you have to see something or have some other stimuli to encourage your search for all you want to be. If you don’t know anything you may be content to sit around watch TV. Fart in your shorts, eat beans and weenies and drink Pepsi straight out of a liter bottle. Not really caring about much except paying the rent and electricity, and just getting by. You have to have a reason to get up off the couch and see the world before you ever will. Maybe a partner someone to enjoy all your new adventures with and preferably someone you are physically attracted to and then you have kids and life goes seriously awry . Kids and your new significant other needs things lots of them, and the reason you found that other person is thrown out of the window as you now have responsibilities.

      Finally you come to something else you need a lot of and that is time. Time to raise the kids and divorce your original love of your life and trade her or him in on a late model or used version with their own baggage, time to get yourself back in shape mentally and physically as they say getting old isn’t for wimps. You now eliminate all those things in your life you wanted to do, that requires you to reevaluate as they are now age sensitive. Climbing Mt. Everest at 58 isn’t the same as it was when I was 18 as if I was going to do that. So that one may be scratched off my list as it is just out of the question. Besides looking at the pics, it looks like Everest is a dump because of all the idiots climbing it, and not taking back what they brought, including the bodies. I will look at the pics, and take their word for it. So time is something that if you live long enough you can accomplish anything as long as you are not too old , have privilege as well as know and understand (Alzheimer’s) , have the money , and the drive and desire to do something your new mate wants you to do. Maybe then you will be able to achieve all you wanted to do in your life.

     Defeatism is probably as bad as realism when you look at all it takes to do all you ever wanted to do in your lifetime. Doubt if anyone would ever get there to that point. To do half would be nice and to be able to do anything at all is always good, as there are old people with perfectly bright minds that would love a do over. I guess in the end you do all you can do and make plans for tomorrow , at least you will always have a positive attitude knowing you have something to look forward to. Lately I have intentions of swallowing up my own little world here on the farm, and just keep on, keeping on and start worrying about the next blog. I don’t think I have said all I can say or would want to say, and because it keeps me going.

    

nature has its own calenders

Spring is a couple of days late

my recycled christmas tree, how is yours doing?     

        To me nothing signals spring’s arrival but peepers and I was able to hear them for the first time this year the night before last well after official first day of spring, which was 3-20-2014. A really gorgeous sunset and no camera afforded me no opportunity to do nothing but assure you it was a pallet of reds and oranges swept across the sky assuring all was right as red at night would be a sailor’s delight.

       Mudder the wandering heifer awoke at rather late 11 in the am and sauntered towards the house yesterday to see if I was still alive, she seeming a bit wobbly and half awake, and could be due to the lap of luxury afforded to her on  the bed of wasted hay she sleeps on. This heifer is still eats her feed as if something is going to take it yet is the only one here. I feed her 2 x a day now as the weather is better and she can run faster and get farther away if given the opportunity. Now she has to decide if she wants to run off or stay close and eat grain. She has been doing well at coming when I call though, and seems to be better at staying home. Although the day we took possession of the car and went for a ride and was gone for really a short time and I never even told Babe, my dog,  we were going instead just took off, only to come home to find Mudder just taking off, tearing up the hayfield and yard as she was out . Took me an hour of chasing her and yelling at my non- cow dog Babe to get her back in, and managed to just before dark. . Mudder may be here when I have my open house, and you may even be able to pet her. Will check and see if she has me penciled in on that date. . I think she thinks of herself as a rock star and just needs go on tour. She could tell spring was her and was all in a rambunctious mood last night kicking up her heels and running around spending that youth and shedding pounds I wish she wouldn’t, as it costs to put them on there. Oh well for now don’t think she is going anywhere, course I haven’t asked her yet, or bothered to make it to the barn so you never know.

        The ducks have been evicted from the greenhouse as well the chickens. I grabbed a ten foot pole literally and drove my ducks out of the greenhouse as they were reluctant to leave. I imagine the shepherds crook for sheep and goats, and long poles to herd geese and ducks have served farmers well over the years. It saved me a few steps and old mama duck had a few choice words for me, young greenie the male duck(?) , didn’t take well either to being evicted from the glimmering white plastic palace that served them well when the winter howled. The pond was open and the greenhouse smelled of poultry, time to regain some control over the animal kingdom.

       The ducks took to the water and soon was as happy as anything as they frolicked in the water and mama duck took greenie on a walkabout of his or her new digs. Now it was the chickens turn and I tried to herd them and quickly gave up that idea as chickens don’t take to anything, but also literally running around like chickens with their heads cutoff, darting here and there in no apparent order. I decided to wait till dark and when they roost, grab them then move them. They were upset as they were moved from their fan roost up high in the peak of the greenhouse where there is a fan housing and offers them a sense of security as they were safe from all predators and where they felt secure at night only to return to the barn or did they. No they decided to roost on a workbench I just brought in a couple of days ago on my back porch where I come in daily. They are nice though as they manage to leave me presents daily in the form of unused birdseed they conveniently leave on the table, and have been thinking of turning the spoiled workbench into a coop for them and moving out into yard away from the house. Anyhow there are just two of them.

        I have been planting and getting ready for my open house in over a month from now, and just getting things straightened from a hard winter. Saw my first dandelion yesterday and have only saw random shoots of green as we still need more sun. My greenhouse will soar to 110 though and is quite nice to be in lately as it warms a lot quicker. Soon I will have blooms in there also. Everything alive in there is much better and bug free as I guarantee the chickens and ducks disposed of anything that might crawl or creep in there. Natural pest control. That is good. Will have my bees soon and hopefully in time for a good season of blooms as I have buckwheat seed I plan on planting, enough to do an acre and also will have bee flowers in I plan on adding to the buckwheat and then I plant it around the garage and let the bees go to town. Should look nice around the buildings and will reduce the need to weed eat. A twofer. Love twofer’s. no weed eating and bee food , and it might look pretty also as the flowers are black-eyed Susan’s and Echinacea, and others as well the buckwheat itself has a flower or multiple flower heads and blooms and bees love it . Doubt if it will make a difference by open house but by this summer should be in bloom and I will let you know how this project goes. Beautify , provide food for wildlife and reduce my maintenance on landscaping with natural  products. Less energy wasted. Should be good if it all works. Come and see how it goes, or follow on here as I will update as I go along.