Whip-poor-wills

I heard whip-poor-wills calling at the farm the other night. Just after the sun went down, on a still evening without another sound. Their calls echoed through the valley below our cabin, a haunting call that reminded me of my growing up years on the farm.

We usually heard the first whip-poor-wills in late May, after the grass had greened up, the oat crop was lush and growing, and we had the corn ground ready for planting. Pa said the whip-poor-wills were calling, “Plant your corn, plant your corn.” It sounded like that as the seldom seen night birds called their name over and over, sometimes a dozen or more times in a row.

When we heard the whip-poor-wills the other night, my son, Steve said that it was one of his favorite sounds at our farm when he was a kid. It was one of my favorite sounds when I was a kid as well.

THE OLD TIMER SAW THIS ON A T-SHIRT. “I was born with nothing and I have most of it left.”

CHECK THIS OUT: http://twitter.com/jerryapps


WRITING WORKSHOPS

August 8-14. My week-long writing workshop at The Clearing in Door County. “Writing From Your Life.” The class is full, but you can put your name on a waiting list. There is still room in my day-long workshop, Saturday, October 30. The Clearing Folk School www.theclearing.org. P.O. Box 65 | 12171 Garrett Bay Road | Ellison Bay, Wisconsin 54210 Toll Free: 877.854.3225 | clearing@theclearing.org Monday - Friday 8-4

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 8, 7:00 p.m. Launch for Horse Drawn Days book, Barnes and Noble West Madison.

June 9, 10:30 a.m. College Days, UW-Madison campus. Ames County Historical Fiction Series.

June 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Horse Drawn Days at Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI. Discussion of book and demonstrations with horses and horse drawn equipment.

June 15, 12:00 noon. Wis Historical Society Museum on the Square. Horse Drawn Days.

June 16, 11:45-12:30. Wisconsin Public Radio, Larry Meiller Show. Horse Drawn Days.

June 18, 11:00 – 11:50 a.m. SE Wisconsin Festival of Books, UW-Waukesha campus.
Ames County Novels.

July 10, 10:30-2:30. Bramble Books, Viroqua. New location: 213 S. Main Street, Viroqua. Horse Drawn Days.

July 13, 7:00 p.m. Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose. Central Wis. Launch of Horse Drawn Days.