It was a patch of brown in a world of green. I was traveling one of my trails in a red
pine patch I planted back in 1967 or 1968, slowly driving my ATV on a quiet,
warm summer evening. And then, among the
tall pines and the green undergrowth I saw the patch of brown. I stopped, allowing the machine to idle. Soon a head appeared on one end of the patch
of brown, and a bit later the tail. The
big doe was feeding on the underbrush.
She stopped and looked at
me. I looked back, not moving. She flicked her tail; a fly must have been
bothering her.
I turned off the ATV and continued watching. She quit eating for a bit and stared at me,
only a hundred feet or so away from where I sat. She raised her head, no doubt trying to catch
my scent which was hidden by the smell of the ATV.
Then, as if I wasn’t even there, she went back to eating,
and coming ever closer to where I sat. I
remained motionless, watching and wondering how close she would come to this
guy who was interfering with her supper.
When she was maybe twenty feet away, she looked at me once
more, sniffed the air, turned and walked away, occasionally flicking her tail. I watched her disappear into the underbrush
to the west where she crossed into my neighbor’s oak woodlot.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: One of life’s simple pleasures is
watching a deer up close
A FEW OPENINGS
REMAIN:
My one-day writing
course on “Writing From Your Life,” is scheduled for Saturday, October 17 at
the Clearing in Door County. Go to http://theclearing.org/current/classes_workshop_description.php?id=26 for detailed information.
BOOK OF THE WEEK:
THE QUOTABLE NATURE LOVER, edited by John A. Murray (Lyons
Press, 1999) is one of those books you pick up and enjoy for its vast
collection of quotations from famous and not so famous nature writers. Here are three examples:
“The
beauty of the natural world lies in the details . . .,” Natalie Angier
“The
universe is wider than our views of it,” Henry David Thoreau
“In the
end, we conserve only what we love. We
will love only what we understand. We
will only understand what we are taught,” Baba Diuom
Purchase Jerry’s
DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin
(a fund raiser for them):
The library now has available signed copies of
Jerry’s DVDs, Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter
with Jerry Apps and Jerry Apps A Farm
Story.
Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books
including The Quiet Season (on which
the DVD A Farm Winter is based), as
well as Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm, (which are related to the DVD
Jerry Apps a Farm Story). Also
available is Jerry’s new novel, The Great
Sand Fracas of Ames County.
Contact the library for prices and special package
deals.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
UPCOMING EVENTS:
August 12, 6:00 p.m., Westfield Library. Whispers and Shadows
August 26, 9:30 a.m. Farm Technology Days, Sun Prairie. Farm
Stories.
August 30, 1-4 p.m., Book World, West Bend. Book signing.
September 3, Noon.
Old World Wisconsin, Wisconsin Agriculture: A History (New book)
September 3, 7 p.m. Books and Company bookstore, Oconomowoc,
Whispers and Shadows.
September 12, West Madison Agriculture Research Station,
Wisconsin
Agriculture: A History. Time
to be announced.
September 17, 11:-a.m.
St. Luke’s Church, Middleton, WI
Stories From the Land
September 19 , Stonefield Village, Cassville. Whispers and Shadows.
September 23, Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose.
Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.
September 26, 10:30 -2:00, Dregni’s, Westby, Book signing.
October 4, 1-3 p.m.
Readers Realm bookstore, Montello. Ag. History
October 7, 6:30 p.m. Reedsburg Library, Whispers and Shadows
October 10, Heartland Forum, Chicago.
October 11, Old World Wisconsin
October 15, Prairie du Sac Library, Whispers and Shadows
October 17, 9-4 Teaching writing workshop at The Clearing,
Ellison Bay, WI
October 17, 4:30-6:00 p.m. The Clearing. Book signing, Whispers and Shadows, Wisconsin
Agriculture: A History.
October 29, Brown County Library. Premier of TV Documentary,” The Land With
Jerry Apps. “ Book signing, Whispers and Shadows.
November 5, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Library, Whispers and Shadows.
November 7, Edgerton Book Festival, The Land (TV
documentary) and Whispers and Shadows
November 14, 9:30 -11:30 a.m. Sheboygan County Historical
Research Center. Wisconsin Agriculture:
A History.
November 15, 9:15 Midvale Lutheran Church, The Land (TV
documentary) plus discussion of Whispers
and Shadows.
November 18, Preview of TV Documentary, “The Land With Jerry
Apps” Wild Rose High School Auditorium.
Whispers and Shadows book signing. (Time to be announced)
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