responsible hunting and four wheeling

A Solution to Trespassing?

      Although it is more appropriate to 4 wheelers than hunters, still it could be equally applied to both. Ignorance is not a valid legal excuse for anything, including trespassing and hunting, two of my most famous scourges that haunt farmers and landowners and irks me to no end , even in my sleep. A means to keep people where they belong, like off your property, and to also avoid hunting on your property when you don’t really want them there, is always a problem , especially where the law is concerned. According to what I was told you have to post your property with no trespassing and hunting signs regardless whether the trespasser knows he is trespassing or not.

     It would seem to me that if you never bought the property in question, and it is your first time there, it should be pretty clear cut that if you have no authorization to be there, you are trespassing. Not so, according to the state of Ohio, that states you must deface your property every 150 feet of property line, with a sign that specifically states you forbid trespassing. Why should anyone have to deface their land or trees to post a sign to keep the idiots out? It is ridiculous.

     Their defense being is that one may not know where one property line ends and another begins. This is crap. It is kinda like saying I didn’t know the gun was loaded but I shot someone as an analogy. Only in this case you would be found guilty of an offense, as the courts see injuries against humans as less defensible than if it is against nature. There is no excuse for not knowing the gun was loaded, you should have never pointed it at someone. The mere act of pointing a gun is likened to intent to kill. So how is that any different than a hunter hunting illegally on your property? He has intent to kill your game, to trespass to do it, knowing full well he has no right to be there. Ignorance of the law is said to never be an excuse, but when it happens to a landowner it is ok if he didn’t have signs posted to warn people.

     This also puts landowners at odds with their neighbors as the posting of signs stating limits is a double edged sword. A friendly neighbor is suddenly put to task of staying put and is forced to observe limits as well as all strangers. Also he is forced to obligate and post his own signs stating his limits. ‘Signs, signs, everywhere a sign’ are the lyrics from a song I remember and are fitting here. . Even in the rural outreaches of America we are forced to depend on signs to tell us where we should and shouldn’t be. How about if we take the ignorance factor out of the proof and say that anyone caught where they shouldn’t be is guilty of trespassing and any damages caused by their trespassing should be compensated to the landowner including time taken to prosecute. This would be much more of a deterrent than simply posting signs everywhere and environmentally damaging our environment from an aesthetic and a physical means.

    Meaning if you are somewhere you shouldn’t be, and you were not born and raised there and have never been out in the real world, then burden of proof is on the trespasser and not the person who trespasses whether through ignorance or any excusable means of defense. Let’s assume all property is not yours unless you have bought and paid for it, and then paid the taxes and liability required to keep it. If you steal someone’s gun then surely you would go to jail, saying you didn’t know it was theirs is not an excuse, finding a pile of money is not a defense if you are caught with it. If you did nothing to earn it, or if you have no receipt for the gun , then you could be liable for theft if you are caught with either.

    So how is that any different than trespassing? If you trespass against someone you are invading their right to privacy. If in a city you look in someone’s windows from just outside the house, then this will land you in jail. So invading someone’s property is any different. How would I know what your intentions are if you are trespassing? Because my family owns a farm does that mean you are suddenly exempt from trespassing, because I had no signs up to keep people out. To me you are guilty because you knew you didn’t own the property and it is your right and not mine to know what limits are imposed on you before you go exploring and where those lines are supposed to be. Ignorance is no excuse for not knowing where you are supposed to be. I suppose if you are mentally incapable then I might cut someone some slack. But then I hope you are not riding a four wheeler or carrying a firearm if that is the case.

     I had a dream, actually I did have a dream last night of about 4 four wheelers that was riding on the farm, and they were real nice waving at me as I worked down over the hill watching them go back and forth over my land having fun till I confronted them by taking the tractor and chasing them down, and motioning them in a friendly way around for a chat. Immediately I took pictures of their location as they sat there on their four wheelers before I started a conversation. I asked them if they knew they were trespassing.

    Of course I received the age old excuse. My neighbor said it was ok to ride on my property. Doubt if my neighbor had the authority to give anyone authority to ride on my property and knowing my views on trespassing, my neighbor learned long ago it wasn’t right. So their next excuse was they used to ride there. Well that doesn’t make it right either. So I asked them to pay for riding. They said they didn’t know they had to. I asked if they have land and where they live. Most were from the city, not owning any land or a place to ride. I asked if they owned the four-wheeler they were on, and of course they did. So I asked just where you thought you were going to ride that thing. If they were going to an ATV park they would have to pay , so why shouldn’t they pay for the privilege of riding on my land and ruining my ecosystem?

      They again paid ignorance its due reward but offered me no compensation. At this point I asked if they were prepared to tell the sheriff their story because I was filing for trespassing and damages to my property. I have pictures of them clearly where they shouldn’t be. They had no authorization to be there. And they caused damages to my hayfield. I think the latter is the most important part, and that is to show damages caused by running four wheelers over the land. To run a four wheeler over a hayfield lays hay down that can’t be picked up by mowing equipment and leaves a portion of the crop on the field. At that point where I confronted them they were clearly well beyond property limits and on my land. This can be defined quite clearly from the pictures I took as well as the faces involved and the equipment they were riding on. Surely enough proof to prove trespassing and damages.

     To law enforcement, they see this as a victimless crime and really don’t want to prosecute. It still is part of their duty as much as it would be to arrest someone in the city for trespassing on an old factory site, although it is bent grass it is still a crime in my eyes. It cost money seed and fertilizer to plant a field of hay as well as what was lost due to crop damage. What if it was ginseng plantings they were running over, the degree of damage is the same regardless of my use of the land. Again ignorance is not an excuse.

     The same goes for the hunter who strays on to my land and takes game. He owned no land but instead was a friend of the neighbor and ventured on to my land and shot deer. How would he know I had been watching that deer to kill for myself and my family? Because he was ignorant of the property lines, does that make him less liable to compensating me for my deer? Why should my family starve because he is ignorant and why shouldn’t he compensate me. It cost money to feed a family and that deer would have went a long way to saving me money.

      Who would buy a firearm or a four wheeler who had no intentions of owning land to shoot it on, but relied on others to provide them a place to discharge that weapon or ride that four-wheeler and cause damage to the environment? If he was going to an ATV park and ride he would have to pay, if he was going to a shooting range he would have to pay, then why shouldn’t he have to pay for damaging my land? The areas where they rode their four-wheelers will need to be reseeded.  As well as with the hunter, my ability to have an organic certification is possibly called into question as a result of lead poisoning as a result of the hunting incident. As well I have lost a potential source of food that I was never compensated for. How much is that worth. According to Bureau of Wildlife management, it is worth millions to hunters to be allowed to hunt. Then the cost would be the same to farmers by the same token.

    What is good for one should be good for both. Responsibility for hunting and four wheeling should be the owner to make sound judgment decisions in knowing, exactly where, and where not they should be hunting at all times. Trespassing for lack of signage is never an excuse. If they feel it is the case, because of tracking an injured deer or whatever. Still permission should be acquired before entering an unauthorized property, if not be prepared to accept the consequences.

i thought that war was over?

What Does the Confederate Flag Mean to Me?

Or

Why Can’t We Just Get Along With Each Other?

      I think it has more to do with states’ rights and unity and as a symbol of racism and hatred that existed in the civil war era than it does anything. A recent event where a young shooter has used the symbol of the flag to draw attention to his hate crimes against a black population has reignited controversy over the Confederate flag.

      The last time I looked I was still in a Northern state that opposed slavery and had made attempts to establish the underground railway as an attempt to usher black slaves out of the South to freedom. This happened as close as Minerva away from us. The quilt patterns you see on the end of barns have to deal with whether or not that farm was a safe place to harbor slaves for the evening. Quilts and different patterns were hung from the end of barns and would be changed to indicate whether that farm was being watched by sympathizers of the slave movement and it also indicated a path for the slaves to take when trying to escape the oppression of the South via the underground railroad movement.  

    We also participated as a state quite fervently in the battle against the Southern states and many of our families lineage can be directly involved in those battles fought against the South of whom under the banner of the Confederate states that shot and killed our kinfolk as well as what we did to theirs. It was a war of families at times, as ties between families were torn apart and it pitted brothers against brothers at times. It was a sad time in the United States history and as much as today’s Southern folks insist it was over states’ rights, it had more to do with slavery as the central issue behind it all. The Southerners were accustomed to slave labor and saw no issues with indenturing humans to accomplish work they would rather not do. And at the same time it also increased their profit especially when it came to selling labor intensive products like cotton and tobacco.

     The Southerners would have liked to have kept things status quo, but the North didn’t want to have any part of it as slavery in the Northern states was going out of favor. Rather than find a compromise, the Southern states decided to strike out on their own and declared war on the North. They started the fight, our ancestors ended it with a surrender of Southern states and the freeing and abolishment of all slavery after significant damage had been done to the South and as well to all who participated in the bloody civil war. It was the South’s decision to inflict the misery they suffered on themselves as well as the United States. The actions of a few led a blind and ignorant many to misfortune all under the banner of that flag foremost.

     But the hate didn’t ever subside, but again rose to prominence when Black’s civil rights were called into question and under that same banner of the confederate flag,  the Ku Klux Klan once again spouted their hatred for blacks , denouncing their rights and forcing them into subservient roles in society, until again in the 1950’s till the Blacks finally demanded their rights as equal citizens. This confederate flag has all along been sided with an unwillingness to conform and accept that which is granted everyone under the same constitution they ratified in Congress and accepted prior to the civil war. That in the preamble to the constitution and under the Declaration of Independence from British forces, the very first words it goes against are that all men are created equal. It  is the most basic and remembered part of our revolutionary war and what it was all about and where we as a nation gained our independence.

    The Southern states were there signing on to that declaration until it meant taking profits from their pocket by giving their slaves the same independence they desired. Now that ugly banner of hatred has rose its head again  and should forever be put in its place as it stands for in my opinion the resistance  instead of  acceptance of man as an equal. That regardless of the color of your skin all men are created equal except when it applies to the Southern states. It smacks of hypocrisy in all it stands for. The same people who started wars over slavery would have been the first to cry foul had the North indentured them as prisoners of war to work off war crimes against the states that didn’t succeed from the union till all injured parties were forgiven for their debts.

    President Lincoln went out of his way to forgive the South for the damage done to the union from the civil war. But still that hypocrisy exists today with the hatred against blacks and the killing of the seven black folks in Charleston. The fact that South Carolina refused to lower the confederate flag to half-staff, or the fact that it existed on state grounds paid for by public dollars is enough to mandate its lowering if not removal from public property. But instead the lawmakers of that state and others that see the confederate flag as part of their history of hatred and ignorance of human rights, was more important than seven citizens right’s to live.

     The social media i.e. Facebook and readers and posters are asking you to sign on to this symbol of hatred and support Southern states in their right to choose what heritage symbols they want to. Being from the north and out of respect for my forefathers I have no choice in rejecting their pleas of sparing their symbol of hatred. It is a hate for the North, it is hate for fellow man, it is a symbol of hypocrisy at its finest.

       A woman responding to calls to abolish the flag from flying on public grounds at the state capitol in Charleston asked, “What do we want to do, erase all the history of the civil war era and what it stands for?” My response to that is as follows and it treats blacks as well as whites or any race equally.

     When we forget the color of one’s skin and the hatred and bigotry and accept that persons rights as citizen of the United States as an equal and forgive all the wrongs done to them before, only then will we begin to heal as a nation. 150 years ago we had a war and we are still working on forgiving each other. We cling to how we have been wronged. How the White people have oppressed the Blacks, forced them into slavery , denied their rights  , how the blacks have taken our jobs , our daughters and how we as a society have to pander to them, and create laws that amend to their needs as an equal member of society in order to get along . Blacks are only part of the problem with racism , if it isn’t them it will be the native Indians, or the other Indians , or it could be Isis for that matter, as it is the new hatred in America now.

     Eventually, when we as a world melt into one color it will be the rich against the poor. I doubt if racism or hatred will ever cease in some people’s minds. In others, the majority are thankfully tolerant of people’s rights. As long as we hold on to hate it will always exist in some form. My denial to name the ignorant idiot that sought fame trying to make a name for him by starting a race war was best summed up by a response I read from a 79 year old woman who said in regards to the shooting of those seven people in that church, and she asked, “Where does someone that young learn to hate like that? He hasn’t lived long enough at 22 years old to even know hate or why he is feeling it.” he learned it from others who have never forgot what it is to hate. As long as there are symbols of hate, the stories will follow as to why it is there.

      I think it is time for the flag to come down and forget that ugly part of our past. As far as the blacks go , it is also time for them to forget the past wrongs of others on their society and embrace that part of themselves that made it this far. I feel for the seven individuals and their families that were tore apart with this senseless tragedy of hate and fame for the wrong reasons. No one should ever have to go through that. Denial of a person’s right to live is against all that society as a whole has to offer. We have failed as humans to be humane to ourselves. Don’t ever ask me to embrace hatred of any kind.  

     

old school father's day

Happy Father’s Day and More

old Ford panel van- 1956?

       Father’s day was always kind of special as it meant a trip to Cambridge, Ohio and a reunion of family members under the pavilion in the park. we would play or swim while the old folks caught up on one-ups-man-ship as a new vehicle would be  introduced to the family and everyone would have to hear the story of how this was the best vehicle they had ever owned. Family members who couldn’t make it were never forgotten and talked about behind their back more thoroughly than as if they were there.

      There was always somebody familiar with prayers and the amen would signal “Let’s eat “ , as kids and adults would line up and take some of this and some of that as a long line would form in anticipation of sampling the fares.  The food was varied and ranged from a Kentucky fried chicken in a bucket to donuts to exquisite dishes as some would put thought and preparation into the dinner and others would pick something up on the way. One-ups-man-ship had its place here and competition to have your serving bowl emptied was always the rule. Some dishes you could tell who’s they were just by looking at what was prepared and others you were clueless as to who brought them in, and exactly what they were. But when the dinner was over you knew who’s bowl or serving dish belonged to which person, the sound of bickering housewives searching for their fare or trying to pawn off left overs would fill the air.

      Some would hang in there and talk to a thunderstorm would chase them away, others could hardly wait to finish eating till they were on their way home, snatching the plates and their dinner dishes up as if they were the main subject of everyone’s conversation. Thin skin seemed to be a family tradition at times an rather than speak an ill word, they would rather leave than be insulted, while others would make a point of saying what they thought regardless if it was meant for deaf ears or shy nods of agreement from kin folk to assure that what they were saying others would testify to.

      Eventually though everyone’s bellies were full and we were about to nod off from the sugar buzz we had going before,  that we would load up in our beloved vehicles and finally part the pavilion , not to return till the next Father’s day. Now as the family’s kids are having kids and the kids are now grandfathers the family tradition is no more. We haven’t had a picnic at the pavilion in years, and although I have been back recently , a lot of the family has never been there and no longer try, or are passed away so all is lost but a few fleeting memories.

       I am going to a bi weekly writing of my blog. Except if maybe something sticks in my craw, and I have to blurt it out. For the most part I think though twice weekly will allow me to spend more time saying what I need to more eloquently or at least more thoughtfully. Quality over quantity any day should be the motto. I have met my goals in a lot of ways and now needs to focus more on writing that which is most important to me, to plan and arrange my words in such away as if they were about to fall out of you, the reader’s, mouth.

    Anyhow thank you again for reading my ramblings.

A Cadillac Ranchero 

sometimes that is all we have

Dreams

i dream of returning here again someday 

    That period of sleep or waking thought, when your mind has a mind of its own and lets you take a trip into the sub conscious thought that supersedes all other thoughts. I was awake, or at least I rose and by the time I looked at the clock it was 5 am. I couldn’t sleep as I had this recurring dream that made me wonder why it was so important in my life. So important that no matter how many times I awoke I would return to that same person who is no longer my concern.

     Usually if I have a dream that displeases me or I find unsettling for one reason or another, I can wake up as I tell myself this is just a dream, and wake up. Then move on to the next dream. This time however, no matter how many times I went back to sleep it was as if the same person in my dream would just pick up with the same dream and go on , finally I had to get up as I just lay there wide awake.

     It wasn’t anything unpleasant instead it was more or less about moving on. As if she had moved on and was no longer alone. In a lot of ways I am glad for her if this is the case. To sit and dwell apparently like I am on something that just isn’t going to happen, will keep you awake at night, trying to figure out just what the hell that was all about. Dreams are a manifestation of whatever consumes you subconsciously and are played out in your sleep as if any of what you dream may come true.

    In ways consciously I thought I was beyond any type of thinking about this person. I mean I spend time thinking about her, but quickly dismiss any thought of her as there is nothing I can do about it. So why worry, but I guess I still do worry. Or my brain has nothing else to do but mess with me out of boredom. It’s as if since we have no present recollections or even closure on a subject, so let’s make one up . Perhaps if we are presented with this scenario then perhaps I might think of her less.

     Then at the same time I have been in love with others and have moved on with a lot less thinking of the person. And just what makes her so damn special to keep me awake at night is beyond me. It hurts to think that it is over and that we can no longer do each other any goo as it hurts more to be together as we keep bumping heads and I guess are not good for each other. This happens in toxic relationships where neither is willing to bend, so all is left is break from each other. Oh well life moves on, I must keep reminding myself.

      I need to refocus my energy in a positive way and return to my priorities. Taking care of myself and getting ready for the afterlife as I refer to it. That time when you can do much else besides sit in a rocking chair, and stare out into the great beyond waiting on a meteor to come along and land on you and turn you into a burning pile of shit as you sit there on the porch, a much more glorious way to go out then just getting old and dying. I don’t care as long as I don’t have to have someone attend to me if I can no longer do for myself. Was kind of hoping to find someone and we could share the responsibility of life. Picking up and helping out with those things that she couldn’t do so that we could live long and enjoy our company without anyone’s help. This too, is beyond my scope presently, so I must prepare myself for the worst case scenario instead of what I would like it to be.

     What I like is the thing of dreams that keep me awake at night of the way it should be, instead of the way it is. I would like to think there are plenty of days and years yet, that may offer some hope to have things the way I want. I hope that maybe it will, but hope is still a dream that hasn’t come true.  It is elusive even for the best of folks but sometimes that is all we have to keep us going. 

lily takes on all dogs-fearless

Farm Update

was told clodette looks scary? 

      Well I just found my shift key where Lily my cat decided that the wireless keyboard I use to write with looked better on the floor than on my desk where she lays when I am not around to shoo her off. Gravity being what is and after dropping about 3 feet to the floor, it dislodged the shift key on my left side of the keyboard and I couldn’t find it. Even though you have two shift keys, try using just the right one. But this is not all the qualities that Lily has shown lately.

hibiscus

      Bowser my sister’s dog ran into the house last night and proceeded to make a terror of himself like usual, looking for food, and generally being a pain in the ass. Lily was not going to have any part of this. Apparently Lily had him trapped inside the house inflicting enough pain on him that he repeatedly cried for help. By the time I arrived after I heard him yell out, he had managed to get himself out but went crying back to mom’s house with Lily chasing him out the door.

peas

     I don’t know what happened but I am sure it had something to do with him getting to close to her kittens and being a mother she would have gouged his eyes out to save her babies. I don’t think it came to that, but hopefully it instilled some fear in that little shit and hopefully he won’t be in my house again. Love the little guy but he can be a handful at times.

    It was funny as I walked in the door to check on Lily and her babies, Lily acted like nothing happened and headed to her food bowl. Kinda thought she may have been taste testing the little dog to see if he was edible, instead just spit him out. From the way he was crying you would have thought she deballed him again.

6-10

after i had planted it 5-20

    Well my peas are blooming and it won’t be long before they set pods. , as well the potato tower is doing great with some shoots over a foot tall. The tomatoes in the tomato tower are over a foot tall with thick green healthy stems. My flowers are blooming great including my hibiscus. Also the Hawthorne tree is blooming beside the greenhouse allowing the scent of its lovely white flowers to hang gently in the air. The apple trees I managed to save from our fields that I plan on selling as deer plot trees is also doing well. I don’t know that even with the market for them that this is what I want to do with them. I may instead try my hand at starting to graft buds on these trees. I have an early harvest tree in the wrong place and would like to have a start of of it before I do away with it. it hangs over an access road where the dump truck continually snags it every time I go on the hill. It does have nice apples though , and maybe by grafting I can duplicate the tree. 

what happened to the motto the customer is always right?

Another Day another Dollar Store

pic taken 6-8-2015

     

        I was in Canton at the Canton South Dollar Store in the plaza adjacent to Mc. Donald’s and I noticed this flagrant violation of a fire code violation, that in the event of a fire could cause a loss of life if there was a rush for the doors . Numerous fires over the years have resulted in loss of lives when management has chosen to block access to a door.

    I imagine the door could be opened in an emergency but for some reason the management of this particular Dollar Store chooses to block the door instead of fixing the door as they should. It is rough opening the door but it will open. They are fully aware there is problems with the door but choose to use this method of preventing patrons from using the door instead of fixing it as they should. Apparently the local fire officials’ are ok with it as nothing has been done despite the flagrant way they are blocking the door. A loss of life could surely result in an ignorance of the fact, although I am sure someone in the Canton Twp. local fire department or their family surely use the store, As local shopping stores are being pushed out by the discount chains like Dollar Stores , and Save a Lot and i am sure they too need food like everyone else and refuse to drive 10 miles to get it.

      I made mention to them and they basically told me to mind my own business. I say screw them they are in the business of providing a service to the general public and have a responsibility to make sure their shopping experience is a safe one. The reason there is two doors opening outward is a design feature to prevent specifically in the case of a fire, people being crowded at the door, possibly being trampled in the process of an emergency escape. I understand full well why we have safety codes like this in effect for public buildings.

    Numerous times in American history major loss of life has occurred during a fire from people trying to exit a business and the bodies usually pile up on the inside of the doors that are blocked. To purposely intend to block the doors, or knowingly not fix a maintenance problem with the doors is putting the management of that facility at risk of manslaughter charges or even worse murder charges in the event there is  fire and loss of life. a fire at this facility could easily be a possibility, as one time I was in there and I could hear a ventilation fan in the ceiling squealing so loud it was drowning out the sound of the canned music in their facility. I mentioned something to an employee and they said they were aware of it but no one was doing anything about it. They also were irritated by the noise but were helpless to do anything about it. Well it has probably burned up or someone finally found the switch to turn it off. I never hear it anymore. A history of ignoring problems is evident at this facility.

     These places like the Dollar Store and other chains let local managers make the decisions that affect the profit and loss of a store. I imagine the margins of profit are slim and it all depends on the flow of traffic to make a profit at a store like this. They have to come in from the door and of all things why should you even attempt to put the patrons at risk. I have seen the manager get mad because people attempt to use the wrong door, not seeing her hand printed sign. Her ignorance of the laws is no excuse for treating patrons like this, but is typical of what is happening to consumers as it seems the companies selling products are becoming more and more abrasive to consumer spending.

    A few weeks ago I went on a rant about the Coke truck and him parking his semi in front of the gas station and blocking access to the store making all the consumers walk around the truck to get into the store. Guess what? I was in Save a Lot and guess who was there but the Coke man delivering Coke products inside the store. I wanted some apple juice out of the pop aisle and came around the corner and there was the Coke man inside the store with his over sized coke semi cart transporting half the product off his semi and stocking the shelves, Completely blocking the aisle keeping me from what I was after. All he had to do was move his cart over but instead he just looked at me. I asked if he was going to move the cart when I indicated I was after some product down the aisle, and he just looked at me again like I was crazy. I said to him "Fuck it I will go around." I went to the other end of the aisle and by the time I made it half way up the aisle towards my destination, he had moved the cart to another section in the same aisle still blocking me from getting what I wanted.

    When he saw me coming he knew I was pissed and tried to make an effort to get his semi cart over to the side of the aisle , as I passed he says" I can’t get a break." as if i was hassling him and inconveniencing him, After all i did walk around., and besides he is getting paid to do this job by consumers like myself. 

       I said to him "Why do you need a break?  We are the consumers of your damn product hogging the aisles. We are the ones needing a break." Whatever happened to the customer is always right. When did we take second fiddle to company’s profits, be it Coke or Dollar Store, or any of them out there . We are at their mercy in some regards, But they are still dependent on us to pay for their product. Maybe a solution may be to run the Coke truck at night . Surely his semi and his semi Coke cart could surely negotiate and block aisles and gas pumps at will and still deliver the product much more efficiently  without interfering with anyone’s sensibilities. Coke has a shelf life of 100 years or until it eats the sides of the can out, surely stocking shelves and blocking gas pumps could easily be done at night without affecting the quality (?) of the product.

      Why should we the consumers make amends for any company? Especially when it inconveniences us or compromises our safety when shopping at their facility. this same coke truck no doubt is the one parked ion gas stations hogging the front of stores making patrons walk blindly into traffic. We are supposed to give this guy a break? I say he needs to find another job like flagman where stopping people and inconveniencing them is an everyday occurrence. As far as the manager at the dollar store goes. When they finally lock the doors because of her ignorance she will get hers then,. hopefully nothing ever happens seriously before then. 

making hay when the sun shines

First Field of Hay 

     As much as I like making hay I dislike being covered in oil, scraped, and have my temper tested. Especially the last part, I am usually pretty easy going take it as it comes type of person when it comes to fixing things, yesterday pushed me top the limits physically and emotionally as the baler was no longer referred to as the baler but instead had achieved the new title of the f-ing baler.

    One hydraulic line kept blowing apart time after time when I thought I had it fixed. This was kind of scary as it holds up the whole rear end of the baler to let the huge round bales out. It is the part you don’t want to be trapped in as it will cut you in half and they have safety features like a lock out system that prevents the rear end of the baler from coming down to fast. The line blowing also caused another part to fail miserably and required welding at one point to make it and the baler work successfully again.

    I had dodged the bullet of rain on Friday night with hay still on the ground and I had another field down and drying all day yesterday as I refused to rake it till I knew the baler was working. A line blew on Friday night and I was up until dark working on that same line, finally giving up when it was too dark to see and I needed a part to make it work.

    The next day dawned and I caught up on work, like watering dried up plants in the greenhouse and then rushed out to grab parts and food for the house. I came back stashed the food, proceeded to head to the baler to finish fixing it. Having installed the part I needed and assuring myself that everything was ok I headed out to the field to finish baling the field I couldn’t the night before. It ran well till I was ready to drop the bale and the same hydraulic line came apart at the place I fixed it. Only this time it allowed one side to shift and threw the carriage and the chain that wraps the bales off its track. I could see now what was causing that, as my temper was starting to boil as I now had a huge bale stuck in the f-ing baler and had to weld it back together. First I had to get the bale out. This required fixing that same hydraulic line again. I get it fixed and finally after some persuasion, I  get the bale out. And then have to deal with the chain wrapping the bale, which is off track.

     This required some thinking and if I was really smart I would have just gave up and sold the f-ing baler for scrap. I had to get a come- along and at times remove a pulley while working under the rear of the baler supported by the hydraulic line I just fixed. While I still had a major problem with the part needing welding going on and no safety bars or anything but that same hydraulic line that had failed on me before. I made sure I never let my hands stay in the bale compartment or as far as that goes my arm as I had to reach in several times to work on the chain to get the bale compartment to close before I could even weld it.

       This was around four o clock and now I had another field of hay that I had not raked that needed baled also and I was burning daylight working on the baler still. Time was pushing me to get this completed and I still had not welded the f-ing baler yet. Not being able to find the right tools and in general just becoming tired of all this was settling heavy on my mind, as I just wanted to be done, as I have another job to do today. I hate to just leave hay in the field when it is ready to go, so I needed to just get this thing fixed and I pushed on trying to contain myself till I would scrape an arm or lose a part into the belly of the steel animal I was working on and would have to crawl on my hands and knees on the ground looking for it  all the time cursing the f-ing baler. Thank someone the steel animal doesn’t have any feelings as I am sure I would have hurt it emotionally at this point with the spew I was bringing forth from my mouth.

     I finally get everything straightened out and the part welded and even though I will have to make it better , it should serve for right now and finally I am able to bale again and it is 6 o-clock .  I still haven’t raked the other field to bale. I take the f-ing baler off the tractor and hook up to the rake and rake the field which only takes about 20 minutes. I reattach to the f-ing baler and finish the field I  started to bale on Friday night when this trouble all started and finally finish it. The sun is still coming down good and so I let the field I had just raked grab some extra sun to dry out some more. I saw some green turn up when I was raking so I took a well-deserved brake till 8 o’clock.

     I go back out and grab the tractor and baler and finish baling my last field. When I go to let the bale out I blow the damn hydraulic line again in the same connection I had done it before. There is no rest for the weary and I was about to park it and say the hell with it, but I still had daylight , not much as it was waning but still enough to see. I grab the wrenches and get after it. and finally after some cuss words , some banging and thumping of my head and another bath in hydraulic oil I manage to get the line fixed and was able to get the field done.

      Sometimes I think it is the challenge that drives farmers. To work against the constraints of time and conventional wisdom against the odds of the weather and daylight that drives us on. Mere mortal men would have just given up or bought a new one hoping the dealer would service it and all things would work as they should. My experience with dealers in equipment is that they figure the farmer will take care of things. I have found loose lug nuts where wheels are about to fall off and parts missing or loose and the dealer looks at you like you intentionally lost them while trying to obtain a replacement for their neglect. Farm dealers typically are farmers who couldn’t make a living at farming, so they sold the equipment or fixed it. They for the most part are no different than a farmer.

      Only when it comes to hay in the field or some other burden pressing them, the dealer or his helper will walk off your field at quitting time, allowing your whole field to rot in the rain that is sure to follow. It isn’t their problem it is yours the farmer. Working on equipment and especially making repairs when pushed by the weather or time is a concern only the farmer faces and most people are unaware of. Working as if there is no set time to quit, sometimes late into the night under lights to try and save a piece of machinery or a field in a larger sense from destruction. This could make or break a farmer. Had I still had cattle, they would need the hay I am making and they need it in good shape ready to eat in the middle of winter.

   It means  lot to a farmer to finish what he has started , the ramification of letting one thing slip can easily multiply into a whole operation failing and a lot of it depends on that one farmer usually . Well anyhow I am at an impasse as rain is heading here Tuesday and there is a 100 percent chance so I will pass on cutting any more hay till Wednesday when I have another opening to make hay. I have a chance to catch up on other things, like taking a well-deserved break.  

things are looking good

Time for Update on Farm Projects

 potato tower- not sure if this is how the aztecs did it. 

     An overview of all projects on the farm I am currently involved with includes : my straw bale garden with peas and beans planted, my chicks for free range eggs, my straw bale edge planting, my tomato tower , and my potato tower. I am also making hay and trying to keep up with some projects in the greenhouse and doing some tree planting also. And if I ever have enough time will finish my friends carving. There isn’t much to do, just need to finish it.

     First up is the straw bale garden with peas and beans and I find this quite interesting, but as they grow the peas and the beans both are reaching up with their tentacles grasping. The way I have the soil mounded, adds to that effect, basically allowing the plants to stand upright. The plants on lower side reach up to a higher plant and so forth allowing the plants to support themselves so far. As they start to bear pods then the weight of the bean or shell of the peas may drag them down. Weeding has been hardly anything, seems like it is working well.

peas and beans in straw bale planting

     My chicks are becoming mature chickens with a willingness to accept their fate. I was able to let them out in the afternoon and they just hang around the chicken house until dark and eventually made it back on their own. This will be an important part to them being able to reduce insect populations, while also rounding out their diet. This also makes a happier chicken and happy chickens produce better. These Rhode island reds seem to be not flighty at all , and pretty mellow in fact. Hope they stay that way. also I found Red again and we think she I sitting on a nest of eggs trying to hatch them out. I could hear her clucking at me when I was in the garage and I dug around and found her nest. I provided her with water and feed and hope she comes to her sense soon. We have no rooster and so the eggs she are sitting on are not fertile. Unless she has been free ranging more than I knew.

bean side 

    I have pinched the suckers on my tomatoes and they seem to be doing well growing right up there and i have hardly ever saw the soil dried out. But then I have also watered them liberally as I am doing other plants and potato tower. All is green and healthy and plants are climbing the tower.

tomato tower

    The potato tower is doing great with the potato vines in some places growing a foot tall and the leaves are crowding out the weeds. This will basically make the tower maintenance free except for the occasional watering to make sure it has all the water it needs.

potato tower after a couple of weeks-not bad and no weeds 

     The last project, the straw bale edge garden  I am currently still working on, as I am making hay also. Having produced the first two bales of season till the baler sprung a leak and required some needed maintenance I wasn’t really prepared for.  Anyhow this project I going well having only been in the ground a week. My only fear is that the goose, Brucella or whatever the he/she’s name is today may find the pepper plants I have planted way to tasty. Brucella was right in there taste testing the leaves as I was planting them , that was until I looked up and saw what he/she was doing and promptly chased her/ him away only to be chastised by the large honking of a mad goose.

straw bale edge garden- brucellas' fav.

     I had lost one hive of bees but it seems as if the remaining hive has split and now I have two hives of bees again and both seem to be doing well with all the blooms around. Hopefully it stays like that. 

have a good one! enjoy.

What’s in a Summer Breeze?

    Wings of bee, the dance of a butterfly, the aroma of dew on multitudes of blooms so colorful it blinds you into thinking you are in a Monet dreamscape, and all you have around you is a translucent beauty. Greens as you have never seen them, with  shades so plenty so that even  under the bright light of an overhead sun, it still makes you want to find a shady spot to soothe your soul and enjoy the splendor of nature’s light display in a reflected manner of a special season.  

     It always seems as if one remembers past summers and events outside with families and friends, enjoying a picnic , sitting along a riverbank watching your dad fish, possibly enjoying a swim  and a light kiss from  your sweetheart in an inner tube  floating down a river lazily. You can easily recall summer moments of that trip you took with your parents to the state fair where you slept under the stars in an open field or in the front seat of the 65 Chevy Impala 9 passenger school bus with rear facing seat, that allowed the passengers in the back rear facing seat to experience a rear end crash, up close and personal. To watch the dust roll over the hood and into the back of the car as we headed down dirt roads engulfing and covering all, to windows were rolled up in the stifling heat. .

     Who wants to remember cold damp winter days heading to the funeral home to put Uncle Roy away? We all knew his fight with the bottle would end up something like this. We just never imagined he would choke on his bottle sitting on the toilet. Shame no one found him for several days. No one wants to remember this, or how it took ten men to carry his coffin down the hillside in the pouring rain and sleet over frozen grass. How Uncle John nearly slipped and held on to the casket, falling under and nearly dragging the rest down. It is always so much easier remembering the fun warm things that make you fuzzy with emotions as opposed to the hurtful memories of life better off forgotten.

     And yet most days fall between as you go on about life with your daily routine. Climbing out of bed when the alarm clock goes off, grabbing some slippers and surveying the landscape to make sure Fido didn’t leave any landmines. Grabbing some coffee, and now firing up the puter to start the day as you share your first posting to Facebook. The day begins as you set about your tasks you have set for yourself, whether it is running to the store, or down the road for the health of it, until finally you exhaust yourself and settle in for an evening reminiscing or fretting over the day events, eventually succumbing to the night as you chalk up another one.

    Still something in the summer stirs your senses, be it the warmth and relaxing in the shade , the aromas and smells of blossoms wafting through the air , that brings back those pleasant memories of old, and shuffles the cold dirty thoughts to another part of your brain. How one could live in a place where it is one season all the time is beyond me. As hard as it is to be where we are, especially in the wintertime, it still blesses us in the summertime, making up and then giving us more until we begin to long for the cold of winter again. This is what it is to be a four season’s person. It is a struggle in your soul to never be satisfied with status quo. If we have perfect we always want and deserve more as it takes a special breed to be where we are, and enjoy our life so much. To embrace the day no matter how miserable or beautiful it is. We are part of nature.

     We too , are part of that summer breeze. As we enjoy what life has to offer and give validity to it all by being there to embrace.