Goose Talk

I heard the familiar sound when I stepped outside the cabin for my morning walk.  And then I saw the source, a pair of Canada geese winging over, just above the tree tops, and calling loudly on this quiet, early morning.

I immediately wondered if these were the geese that had nested at my pond for the past several years, so I trudged off through my pine plantation, avoiding the several piles of squishy snow that remained in places shaded from the sun.

As I approached the pond, still mostly ice-covered, but with a few feet of open water on the north end, I stopped, watched and listened.  I could see nothing until I caught some movement in the matted and dead grass around the pond—it was a goose, and then I saw the second one and they were walking toward the little open spot of water.

Once in the water they began talking to each other—a very different sound compared to the loud honking when they were flying over.  I imaged the conversation between the pair went something like this:

            “Look at all this ice, Mable.  It’s cold out there.”

            “For heaven’s sake, Fred, don’t you remember that you’re wearing a goose down vest?”

            “Well, I’m still cold.”

            “You’ll warm up when we start building a nest.”

            “Time for all of that again?”

            “Yup, family comes first you know.”

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: If you listen carefully, you’ll discover that Canada geese have a lot to say.

STORIES FROM THE LAND:  Look for my twice-monthly column in THE COUNTRY TODAY newspaper.  The first one appeared on April 24.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 30, 5:00 p.m. “Live at Five” TV show.  CBS, Channel 3, Madison.

April 30, Barnes and Noble, West Madison, 7:00 p.m. Launch of Limping Through Life and Letters From Hillside Farm.

May 1, WRJN Radio, Interview 3:35 p.m.

May 4, Plainfield Library, 10:00 a.m. Ames County Novels.

May 8, 6:30 p.m., Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (Downtown Madison) Breweries of Wisconsin.  Dinner, need reservations.

May 9, Reedsburg Library, 7:00 p.m. Garden Wisdom.

May 14, Trempealeau Library, 1:00 p.m. Trempealeau Fourth Graders and 7:00 p.m. Jerry Apps: A Farm Story.

May 15, 7:00 p.m. Magers and Quinn Bookstore, Minneapolis.  Presentation and book signing.

May 16, 11-1:30 Chapter Two Bookstore, Hudson, WI,

May 18, Dregne’s Scandanavian Gifts, Westby. 10:30-2:00, Book signing.

May 19, Books and Company, Oconomowoc. 2:00 p.m. Book signing.

May 23, Richfield Historical Society, 7:00 p.m. Stories from the land.

May 24-31, Colorado

June 4, Noon. Milwaukee Rotary Club. War Memorial Building. Limping Through Life.

June 6, 7:00 p.m. Dane County Genealogy.

June 7, 7:00 p.m. Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose. Launch of LETTERS FROM HILLSIDE FARM and LIMPING THROUGH LIFE.

June 8, 11:00 -3:00 Book signing, Tri-County Thresheree, Plainfield.

ANNOUNCEMENT:  Interested in learning how to write you own stories?  Sign up for one of my upcoming one-day workshops that I am teaching at The Clearing in Door County.

Saturday, June 22, 9-4

Saturday, November 3, 9-4

Contact The Clearing for further information and/or to sign up (www.theclearing.org).

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “JERRY APPS: A FARM STORY” DVD

DVD Jerry Apps: A Farm Story List $16.95 The Patterson’s price only $15.00 ($20.00 shipped)
Special Bundle Offer exclusively by the Patterson:
Tamarack River Ghost & Jerry Apps: A Farm Story – List $43.90
The Patterson’s Price Only $35.00 ($43.00 shipped)

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St. PO Box 305
Wild Rose, WI 54984

(All items are sold by the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library. They will accept checks or cash, they’re sorry but they don’t have any way to accept credit or debit cards, checks should be made out to the Friends of Patterson Memorial Library.

Earth Day

Monday, April 22 is Earth Day.  When I published my first book in 1970 (The Land Still Lives, Wisconsin House), I asked Gaylord Nelson, U. S. senator, former Wisconsin governor and the founder of Earth Day to write an introduction to the book.  Senator Nelson wrote:

Today the crisis of the environment is the biggest challenge facing mankind.  To meet it will call for reshaping our values, to put quality on a par with quantity as a goal of American life.  It will require sweeping changes in our institutions, national standards for the goods we produce, a humanizing of our technology, and close attention to the problem of our expanding population.

            Most of all, it will require that the people assert their right to a decent environment and that they evolve an ecological ethic of understanding and respect for the bonds between man and his planet.

            What Senator Nelson said in 1970 is as important today, even more important than then.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Spring has just got to be hiding somewhere.  But where?

  

STORIES FROM THE LAND:  Look for my twice-monthly column in THE COUNTRY TODAY newspaper.  First one will appear on April 24.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 23, Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, 11-11:45 a.m.

April 25, Walworth Big Foot Historical Society, 6:00 p.m. Horse Drawn Days

April 30, Barnes and Noble, West Madison, 7:00 p.m. Launch of Limping Through

        Life and Letters From Hillside Farm.

May 4, Plainfield Library, 10:00 a.m. Ames County Novels.

May 8, 6:30, Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (Downtown Madison)    Breweries of Wisconsin.  Dinner, need reservations.

May 9, Reedsburg Library, 7:00 p.m. Garden Wisdom

May 14, Trempealeau Library, 1:00 p.m. Trempealeau Fourth Graders and 7:00 p.m. Jerry Apps: A Farm Story.

May 15, Magers and Quinn Bookstore, Minneapolis.  Presentation and booksigning.

May 18, Dregni’s, Westby. 10-2:00, Book signing.

May 19, Books and Company, Oconomowoc. 2:00 p.m. Book signing

May 23, Richfield Historical Society, 7:00 p.m. Stories from the land

May 24-31, Colorado

June 6, 7:00 p.m. Dane County Genealogy

June 7, 7:00 p.m. Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose. Launch of LETTERS FROM HILLSIDE FARM and LIMPING THROUGH LIFE.

June 8, 11:00 -3:00 Book signing, Tri-County Thresheree, Plainfield

ANNOUNCEMENT:  Interested in learning how to write you own stories?  Sign up for one of my upcoming one-day workshops that I am teaching at The Clearing in Door County.

Saturday, June 22, 9-4

Saturday, November 3, 9-4

Contact The Clearing for further information and/or to sign up (www.theclearing.org).

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “JERRY APPS: A FARM STORY” DVD

DVD Jerry Apps: A Farm Story List $16.95 The Patterson’s price only $15.00 ($20.00 shipped)
Special Bundle Offer exclusively by the Patterson:
Tamarack River Ghost & Jerry Apps: A Farm Story – List $43.90
The Patterson’s Price Only $35.00 ($43.00 shipped)

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St. PO Box 305
Wild Rose, WI 54984

(All items are sold by the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library. They will accept checks or cash, they’re sorry but they don’t have any way to accept credit or debit cards, checks should be made out to the Friends of Patterson Memorial Library.

One-Hundred Miles

You wouldn't think 100 miles would make so much difference.  But while spring struggles to find itself this year, that distance defines a reluctant spring (southern Wisconsin) and a winter not willing to quit (the rest of the state).

            As I drove north to my farm last Friday, I left behind a cloudy, but no-snow environment to one that gradually turned into full-blown winter when I arrived in Waushara County.  From south of Wautoma on north, the trees hung heavy with ice, many with cracked-off branches.  I spotted few small areas that were snow free.  The lakes were frozen solid—I tried to check my pond, but I couldn't  unless I would strap on snowshoes, which I wasn't quite up to doing.

            To add to the disappointment, shortly after I arrived, it began snowing and by Saturday morning a new inch of that sparkly stuff we gush about when we see it in November covered my truck, and the small patch of bare ground in front of the cabin door.  And it was cold, in the twenties.

            As I watched out the cabin window, four deer, approached the cabin, indeed walked within a few feet of the west side of the building.  I watched them, heads down, searching for anything worth eating and not finding much.  And a bit later, when I was driving, I saw a small flock of wild turkeys sneaking into the brush after crossing the road.  Searching for something to eat and mostly finding winter, lingering, and not willing to quit.

WEBSITE: Check it out.  My website, www.jerryapps.com is updated, thanks to my nephew, Matt Apps who knows how to do these things.

ANNOUNCEMENT:  For 22 years I taught a week-long writing course at The Clearing in Door County.  This year, rather than a week-long workshop, I will be doing two, one-day workshops.  The dates are Saturday, June 22, 9-4, and Saturday, November 2, 9-4.  Contact The Clearing for further information and/or to sign up (www.theclearing.org).

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Okay winter.  You've had your turn.  Time to give it up.

UPCOMING EVENTS (Partial List):

April 16, Frederic Library, 2:00 p.m. Rural Wit and Wisdom

April 18, Monroe Arts Center, 2-4 p.m. Writing Workshop and evening panel presentation.

April 19, Waupun Library, 6:30 p.m. Stories from the Land

April 23, Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, 11-11:45 a.m.

April 25, Walworth Big Foot Historical Society, 6:00 p.m. Horse Drawn Days

April 30, Barnes and Noble, West Madison, 7:00 p.m. Launch of Limping Through Life and Letters From Hillside Farm.

May 1, Downtown Rotary, Madison.  Noon

May 4, Plainfield Library, 10:00 a.m. Ames County Novels.

May 8, 6:30, Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (Downtown Madison) Breweries of Wisconsin.  Dinner, need reservations.

May 9, Reedsburg Library, 7:00 p.m. Garden Wisdom

May 14, Trempealeau Library, 1:00 p.m. Trempealeau Fourth Graders and 7:00 p.m. Jerry Apps: A Farm Story.

May 15, Magers and Quinn Bookstore, Minneapolis.  Presentation and booksigning.

May 18, Dregni’s, Westby. 10-2:00, Book signing.

May 19, Books and Company, Oconomowoc. 2:00 p.m. Book signing

May 22, Women’s Group, Madison, Noon.  (More info to come)

May 23, Richfield Historical Society, 7:00 p.m. Stories from the land

May 24-31, Colorado

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “JERRY APPS: A FARM STORY” DVD

DVD Jerry Apps: A Farm Story List $16.95 The Patterson’s price only $15.00 ($20.00 shipped)
Special Bundle Offer exclusively by the Patterson:
Tamarack River Ghost & Jerry Apps: A Farm Story – List $43.90
The Patterson’s Price Only $35.00 ($43.00 shipped)

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St. PO Box 305
Wild Rose, WI 54984

(All items are sold by the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library. They will accept checks or cash, they’re sorry but they don’t have any way to accept credit or debit cards, checks should be made out to the Friends of Patterson Memorial Library.

Thoughts of Spring

As some of you know, periodically I do an “over the phone” live radio show with Public Radio Station, KBRW in Barrow, Alaska.  For those of you complaining about the cold and the reluctance of spring to show its face this year, here is what was going on in Barrow Alaska last week.  While I was waiting to go on the air, I listened to the Barrow weather report.  For last Thursday it went something like this: High today, ten to twelve below zero, low tonight, minus twenty-five.  It sure puts complaining about a plus 40 degrees in perspective.

            Here is a little of what I shared with the Barrow audience about spring:

In spring we shake loose the shackles of winter and make big plans and think big thoughts.  We celebrate what has passed and look forward to the future with joy and hope.  In no other season is there such anticipation.  Spring is melting snow and mud.  Mud in the road.  Mud in the fields.  Mud tracked into the kitchen. Spring is maple syrup and flooding streams, green grass and frisky calves, open windows and cows on pasture.

            Different from summer and winter when we speak of mid-seasons, we do not speak of mid-spring, because there is no such thing.  Spring comes in fits and starts, one day warm and sunny, the next day cold and even snowy.  And then spring abruptly disappears and we have summer.  One thing that is different in spring—the amount of light each day increases as spring days pass.  A glorious contrast to the dark and gloomy days of winter.

ANNOUNCEMENT:  For 22 years I taught a week-long writing course at The Clearing in Door County.  This year, rather than a week-long workshop, I will be doing two, one-day workshops.  The dates are Saturday, June 22, 9-4, and Saturday, November 2, 9-4.  Contact The Clearing for further information and/or to sign up (www.theclearing.org).

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Patience, patience.  Spring is out there, waiting its turn.

UPCOMING EVENTS (Partial List):

April 8, Poynette Library, 6:30 p.m. Garden Wisdom

April 16, Frederic Library, 2:00 p.m. Garden Wisdom, Rural Wit and Wisdom

April 18, Monroe Arts Center, 2-4 p.m. Writing Workshop and evening panel presentation.

April 19, Waupun Library, 6:30 p.m. Stories from the Land

April 23, Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, 11-11:45.

April 25, Walworth Big Foot Historical Society, 6:00 p.m. Horse Drawn Days

April 30, Barnes and Noble, West Madison, 7:00 p.m. Launch of Limping Through Life and Letters From Hillside Farm.

May 1, Downtown Rotary, Madison.  Noon

May 4, Plainfield Library, 10:00 a.m. Ames County Novels.

May 8, 6:30, Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (Downtown Madison) 

Breweries of Wisconsin.  Dinner, need reservations.

May 9, Reedsburg Library, 7:00 p.m. Garden Wisdom

May 14, Trempealeau Library, 7:00 p.m. Jerry Apps: A Farm Story.

May 15, Magers and Quinn Bookstore, Minneapolis.  Presentation and booksigning.

May 18, Dregni’s, Westby. 10-2:00, Book signing.

May 19, Books and Company, Oconomowoc. 2:00 p.m. Book signing

May 22, Women’s Group, Madison, Noon.  (More info to come)

May 23, Richfield Historical Society, 7:00 p.m. Stories from the land

May 24-31, Colorado

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “JERRY APPS: A FARM STORY” DVD

DVD Jerry Apps: A Farm Story List $16.95 The Patterson’s price only $15.00 ($20.00 shipped)
Special Bundle Offer exclusively by the Patterson:
Tamarack River Ghost & Jerry Apps: A Farm Story – List $43.90
The Patterson’s Price Only $35.00 ($43.00 shipped)

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St. PO Box 305
Wild Rose, WI 54984

(All items are sold by the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library. They will accept checks or cash, they’re sorry but they don’t have any way to accept credit or debit cards, checks should be made out to the Friends of Patterson Memorial Library.