Blue Shadows Farm

I have a new novel coming out from the University of Wisconsin Press in September, which is described as follows:

Silas Starkweather, a Civil War veteran, is drawn to Wisconsin and homesteads 160 acres in Ames County, where he is known as the mysterious farmer forever digging holes. After years of hardship and toil, however, Silas develops a commitment to farming his land and respect for his new community.

When Silas’s son,Abe, inherits Blue Shadows Farm he chooses to keep the land out of reluctant necessity, distilling and distributing “purified corn water” throughout Prohibition and the Great Depression in order to stay solvent. Abe’s daughter, Emma, willingly takes over the farm after her mother’s death. Emma’s love for this place inspires her to open the farm to school-children and families who share her respect for it.

As she considers selling the land, Emma is confronted with a difficult question—who, through thick and thin, will care for Blue Shadows Farm as her family has done for over a century? In the midst of a controversy that disrupts the entire community, Emma looks into her family’s past to help her make crucial decisions about the future of its land.

Through the story of the Starkweather family’s changing fortunes, and each generation’s very different relationship with the farm and the land, Blue Shadows Farm is in some ways the narrative of all farmers and the increasingly difficult challenges they face as committed stewards of the land.


Blue Shadows Farm is the third in my Ames County Series. Fictional Ames County is located in central Wisconsin. Its primary towns are Link Lake and Willow River. The first book in the series, The Travels of Increase Joseph, describes the settling of Link Lake. The second book in the series, In a Pickle: a Family Farm Story takes place in 1955, when small family farms were still prominent in Wisconsin. Link Lake is loosely based on Wild Rose and the area around it. See my website, www.jerryapps.com for detailed descriptions and reviews of these books.

To preorder BLUE SHADOWS FARM, go to Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com.
The Madison launch of the book is scheduled for Barnes and Noble West, 7:00 p.m. on October 20. The Wild Rose launch of the book will take place at the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose on October 24, 1:00 p.m.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: July is a good time to sit under a shade tree, sipping lemonade, and remembering what the weather was like just six months ago.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 23, a.m.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. a.m.. & p.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

July 16, 2:00 P.M. Wisconsin Historical Society Museum, Casper Jaggi, Master Cheese Maker.

August 15. Creekside Books, Cedarburg. 12-3:00. Old Farm.

August 16. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville.

Rabbit War

I thought we had an agreement. Twenty years ago when I moved my garden to its present location the rabbits and I worked out an accommodation. At least I thought we had. I would leave wild and untouched an area just west of the cabin where the bunnies had a stone pile for security and easy access to a two-acre grassy field for their grazing.

In return the rabbits would forever leave my garden alone. No chewing on my fresh lettuce, my cabbages and all the other rabbit-tasty vegetables.

But last week the bunnies broke the agreement. They chewed off four rows of beans. Almost to the ground. The hungry little buggers feasted on my hoped for winter bean supply.

Broken agreements lead to war. And war it was. I drove to Waupaca and bought a spray bottle of “Liquid Fence.” A rotten egg smelling deer and rabbit repellent with a 100 percent money back guarantee, although I’d rather have my beans back.

I sprayed my badly injured little bean plants, holding my nose for the smell was as advertised. I am waiting for the lead rabbit negotiator to contact me and see if a cease fire is in order, or if I must look for further attacks. In this gardening business, if it isn’t one thing it’s another. I’m getting a little long in the tooth to be fighting a war.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When you make an agreement, best to have it in writing.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 23, a.m.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. a.m.. & p.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

June 30, 7:00 p.m. Prairie du Sac Library. Old Farm.

July 16, 2:00 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Museum, Casper Jaggi, Master Cheese Maker.

August 15. Creekside Books, Cedarburg. 12-3:00. Old Farm.

August 16. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville.

Five Strawberry Plants

I have five strawberry plants in my front yard, in the flowerbed. My brother-in-law, Clarence gave them to me a couple years ago when he had some extras.

I expected little from them, perhaps a handful or so of berries in June to put on my morning cereal. Or maybe fewer than that, for after all it was a flowerbed with mums and day lilies and roses all clamoring for attention and their share of sunlight.

Cabot is the strawberry variety. According to the Jung’s seed catalog: The ideal strawberry for northern gardeners who want huge strawberries with great flavor. Yeah, right, I usually say when I read such hyperbole.

The strawberry season has a week or two to run its course. I have so far picked six quarts of strawberries from my five plants. I must eat my skeptical words as I enjoy my sweet, juicy strawberries.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Expect little and then be pleased when you receive more.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 23, P.M.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. A.M. & P.M.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

June 30, 7:00 P.M. Prairie du Sac Library. Old Farm.

July 16, 2:00 P.M. Wisconsin Historical Society Museum, Casper Jaggi, Master Cheese Maker.

August 15. Creekside Books, Cedarburg. 12-3:00. Old Farm.

August 16. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville. Old Farm and more.

potato bugs

The potato bugs are back. Colorado potato beetles to be more exact. Leptinotarsa decemlineata. In case you haven’t encountered them, I can’t image any gardener raising potatoes who has not, they have bright yellow/orange bodies with five brown stripes, and are about the size of a fingernail.

They are a menace to potato growers, whether you have a few plants in your backyard, eight long rows in your garden as I do, or several hundred acres, true of many Wisconsin potato growers. Given an opportunity, these hungry buggers will eat every last potato leaf leaving behind a few naked stems and no hope of a potato crop.

What to do? Well, when I was a kid, we’d walk the potato rows and pick off the adult potato bugs one by one and drop them into a little can with a couple of inches of kerosene on the bottom. Does in the little potato-eaters real well. Sort of labor intensive though if you have five acres or more of potatoes, as we did.

I still walk my potato rows, twice a day this time of a year, if I can. Today, I wear gloves and when I spot a potato bug, I give it a gentle squeeze and drop it to the ground. Well maybe not so gentle as I have no love for potato bugs.

All kinds of sprays, dusts and other potato beetle killers have come on the market. The result: some of the toughest, most resistant potato bugs on the planet.

Some years ago I remember seeing a potato bug killer advertised in a magazine. Guaranteed to work it said, or your money back. Send five dollars. Someone I know sent in the money. In a few days the bug killer arrived. It consisted of two small blocks of wood. The instructions said, place the potato bug on block number one. Strike block number one with block number two. By golly, it worked. Every time. But you had to work quickly because potato bugs have a tendency to not stay put on a block of wood.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice: not likely.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 23, P.M.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. A.M. & P.M.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

June 30, 7:00 P.M. Prairie du Sac Library. Old Farm.

July 16, 2:00 P.M. Wisconsin Historical Society Museum, Casper Jaggi, Master Cheese Maker.

August 15. Creekside Books, Cedarburg. 12-3:00. Old Farm.

August 16. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville.

Country School Visit

My brother Don and I visited our country school, Chain O Lake, west of Wild Rose, on Saturday. The woman who had made the old school her home had a moving sale, an excuse for us to stop by and look around. On the outside the school building was much as we remembered it. And some of the inside was familiar, too. The entryway was the same. The place where we left our muddy boots, and stored our lard pail lunch buckets on shelves. It seemed a little smaller. But I was a little smaller then, too.

We could see where the woodstove had stood, the source of the heat for the drafty building. I saw the back corner where our meager school library took up a few book shelves. And in the opposite corner a Red Wing water cooler once stood that provided us drinking water. We had to carry water from the outside pump.

Back outside we examined our softball diamond. I spotted what had been third base, a white oak tree in my memory, a scraggly, skinny, white oak. Now, 63 years later, it is a magnificent stately tree.

It was here under the tutelage of a string of teachers, starting with Teresa Piechowski my first grade teacher and ending with Faith Jenks, my eighth grade teacher that I learned how to read and write, and do my numbers. Eight years in that building, no electricity the first years, never indoor plumbing, no central heating, one teacher for eight grades where I and many other kids gained a solid foundation for future learning.

Today, the old school building stands on the corner of County Highway A and 15th Road. A building filled with stories and memories.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: You are never too old to learn. And remember, what you learn will forever be yours to keep.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 23, P.M.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. A.M. & P.M.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

June 30, 7:00 P.M. Prairie du Sac Library. Old Farm.

July 16, 2:00 P.M. Wisconsin Historical Society Museum, Casper Jaggi, Master Cheese Maker.

July 19-24. School of the Arts, Rhinelander.

August 2-8. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI.

August 15. Creekside Books, Cedarburg. 12-3:00. Old Farm.

August 16. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville.

August 20. Sheboygan Public Library. Writing Workshop, P.M.s

Colorado Garden

My Colorado grandsons, Christian (11) and Nicholas (9), watched carefully by their sister, Elizabeth (5) planted a vegetable garden back of their Avon, Colorado home last week. In between rain showers.

Avon, elevation above sea level about 7,500 feet and a growing season of about 65 days, presents special challenges to the gardener. Frost is a danger until about the middle of June. Autumn frosts start by mid-August.

For that narrow window of growing season we planted lettuce, radishes, green beans, carrots and a few other cool weather crops and hoped for the best as this will be the kids’ first vegetable garden.

For a Midwesterner, the Colorado soils are a mystery to me. I bought an inexpensive soil testing kit at the local Home Depot and Christian and I tested the soil. As I surmised, no lime would ever be necessary as the soil is naturally alkaline with sufficient amounts of potash and potassium. As for nitrogen, their soil essentially had none. We bought several sacks of compost and some nitrogen fertilizer, which we worked into the soil before planting.

Of course each day after we planted the kids were checking to see if anything had come up. Gardening teaches patience. I hope this high country garden also does not teach disappointment.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Doing something that is especially hard gets a lot harder if you do too much thinking about it.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 23, P.M.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. A.M. & P.M.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

June 30, 7:00 P.M. Prairie du Sac Library. Old Farm.

Bean Patch

Anyone who has read Walden knows about Thoreau and his bean patch. He devoted an entire chapter to beans and wrote eloquently about his bean rows and how they attached him to the earth.

Not to be outdone by Henry David Thoreau, this year I devoted about a quarter of my large garden at Roshara to beans. Not snap beans, not pole beans, but navy beans or field beans as some call them. They grow until they ripen, then are harvested and threshed. I tried this a few years ago and they grew well. I planted a lot more this year. My new son-in-law to be is a cook and a darn good one. I have not told him yet, but I will have beans for him this fall. I hope lots of them. And I will encourage him to make baked beans with molasses and a little bacon. I can taste them now.

NOTE: Off to Colorado until the end of the May. Time for Ruth and me to check up on the Colorado grandkids.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Knew a fellow once who was so dumb he did not know beans when the bag was open.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 23, P.M.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. A.M. & P.M.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

June 30, 7:00 P.M. Prairie du Sac Library. Old Farm.

The Plunge

My friend Jim Kolka said about my unintended dunk in Gilbert Lake last week that I had done it on purpose so that I’d have something to write about.

Believe me, it wasn’t on purpose. The water was way too cold for that. But it did evoke considerable response.

Jeanne Engle wrote, Oh my, glad only your pride was hurt. (More than my pride got wet.)

Linda and William Schlaak wondered if brother Don all along knew the boat seat clamp was loose. (From the way he laughed, I suspect he did)

Fellow writer Howard Sherpe from Westby said, using Westby Norwegian language. The Plunge. Uff da, Jerry. What an adventure! Now if you had gone in the lake trying to land a trophy fish . . . (Yup, that’s what I was doing. Going for a trophy Northern Pike. Right.)

Kathryn Moore from Savanna, Illinois said: Talk about Two Stooges!!!!! What a laugh, at least from my seat. Sorry you got cold but you gotta admit it makes for a giggle for someone else. (Taking about giggling, my dear little brother, Don, is still laughing so hard he cannot even talk about the event, to say nothing about finding time to fix the boat seat.)

On a different note:

Yesterday, in Milwaukee, I was pleased to receive the Ellis/Henderson Outdoor Writing Award for my book OLD FARM: A HISTORY (Wisconsin Historical Society Press). The awards ceremony was sponsored by the Council for Wisconsin Writers. Always a humbling experience to win an award when I know there are so many good writers in Wisconsin.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: One of the most important things we can learn is how to get out of our own way.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 23, P.M.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. A.M. & P.M.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Old Farm: A History

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

June 30, 7:00 P.M. Prairie du Sac Library. Old Farm.

Adventure

There was a time when I went looking for adventure. Not so much anymore. But last Sunday adventure came looking for me.

To welcome in the new fishing season, my brother ,Donald and I launched his boat with new motor and even newer fish finder into Gilbert Lake east of Wild Rose. The day was sunny, but cool with a cold westerly breeze rippling the water.

We arrived at our agreed on fishing spot without incident. We were the only boat on the lake, so had many choices of where to fish. Don said the fish finder reported 18 feet of water with a water temperature of 58 degrees. He suggested I crawl to the front of the boat and loosen the anchor, which I did. On the way back to my seat—a new one he had just purchased which allowed the occupant to sit high and see far—it happened.

I grabbed hold of the seat to right myself. The seat, fastened with a clamp, came loose and yours truly plunged into the lake with a huge splash. The first time in more than six decades of fishing that I have fallen out of a boat.

My life preserver brought me to the surface immediately, but it did nothing to change the water temperature. I was now wide awake and thoroughly soaked, and unable to climb back in the boat. Don pulled up the anchor, fired up his motor and dragged me a hundred yards to shore, where I dumped the water from my boots, noted I still had my glasses, keys, billfold and cell phone. We motored back to the boat landing. Once my brother decided that I didn’t have a heart attack from the shock of dumping into cold water, wasn’t suffering too much from hypothermia and I hadn’t drowned, he was laughing so hard he could scarcely steer the boat. I wasn’t laughing.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: No matter what you do on water—boating, canoeing, sailing—wear a life vest. And check the seats on any boat you climb into, even if it belongs to your brother.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 6, 7:00 P.M. Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI. Old Farm: A History.

May 7, 10:30 A.M. Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Convention. Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Way, Wisconsin Dells. Old Farm: A history.

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Old Farm: A History

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

Plant a Vegetable Garden

I heard a lot from folks this past week about what they did to celebrate Earth Day (week). Some planted a tree. Others participated in Earth Day celebrations with speakers, booths, and locally grown food. Some celebrated at central Wisconsin’s Prairie Chicken Festival. Still others took time to read from A Sand County Almanac (Aldo Leopold’s classic book). Or they spent some time with Bill Christofferson’s biography of Gaylord Nelson, The Man from Clear Lake: Earth Day Founder.

I celebrated Earth Day by working up my garden and planting the early crops. My son, Steve and I planted five long rows of potatoes, a row of peas, half a row of radishes with carrots, a few feet of lettuce, some more feet of spinach, and several feet of beets. I’ll plant more in mid-May, and still more by the end of May. A frosty night in late May will often kill off my tomato plants, so I wait. Patiently I wait until the end of the month to set out the frost fragile plants and complete the planting.

We planted on Friday, and the rains came on Saturday. Great timing. Today, Sunday, my grandsons, Ben and Josh Horman and I put a fence around the garden. Nothing to eat there yet. But the deer, turkeys, raccoons, rabbits and assorted other critters (can you say ground hog) know about my garden. And they patiently wait as well.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: To become truly close to the earth, in more ways than you could ever imagine, plant a garden.


UPCOMING EVENTS:


April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

May 6, 7:00 P.M. Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI. Old Farm: A History.

May 7, 10:30 A.M. Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Convention. Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Way, Wisconsin Dells. Old Farm: A history.

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Old Farm: A History

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

Snapping Turtle

We found a snapping turtle on its back by our pond. It had bite marks on its neck and on its shell, and was nearly dead. A potential snack for a coyote or perhaps a pack of them?

Likely shaking off the lethargy of winter, the turtle had emerged from the depths of our pond, looking for spring. This old snapper had been attacked some time before we found it.

It was mean looking. Big thick neck. Beady eyes that supposedly see very well. Tail like an alligator. Legs with yellowish, curved claws. A middle sized one as snapping turtles go, maybe 10 or 15 pounds. Big ones will weigh 40 pounds and more. Live to 75 years.

Biologists say snapping turtles lived the same time as the dinosaurs. So whatever you might think of them—they are predators and eat many little ducks and geese—when you see one, you are with ancient history. Very ancient history. Something to consider.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Celebrate Earth Day. The first one was April 22, 1970. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson is credited with organizing it.


UPCOMING EVENTS:


April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Old Farm: A History.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

May 6, 7:00 P.M. Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI. Old Farm: A History.

May 7, 10:30 A.M. Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Convention. Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Way, Wisconsin Dells. Old Farm: A history.

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Old Farm: A History

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

The Pond in Spring

The pond at our farm is waking up after a long winter sleep. The ice has melted, finally. The sandhill cranes are back; a pair has nested on the west shore for several years in a row. I heard the first frog song this week, still rather tentative, but a sure sign that winter has finally retreated. A pair of wood ducks lifted up and winged off to the north when I approached the other day, a red tailed hawk, with its wings spread wide, sailed in big circles, riding the thermals above the valley. And I could smell new growth among the remnants of winter.

A surprise this year. We have a beaver that is busy dragging recently cut aspen trees into the water. Building a beaver house? Maybe. Building a dam? Why? No running water here. Do beavers get confused about what they are doing, like the rest of us from time to time?

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: If everyone is doing it, then this might be the time to question whether you should.

UP COMING EVENTS:

April 17, 9:15 A.M. Jefferson County History and Historic Preservation Conference, Hoard Museum, Fort Atkinson. “Lighter Side of Country Living.”

April 18, 1:45 P.M. Fox Cities Book Festival. Little Chute Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

April 19, 1:00 P.M. Historic Point Basse, Nekoosa. Old Farm: A History

April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Old Farm: A History.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

May 6, 7:00 P.M. Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI. Old Farm: A History.

May 7, 10:30 A.M. Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Convention. Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Way, Wisconsin Dells. Old Farm: A history.

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Book Signing.

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

Making a Difference

How often have you heard, we are only one couple, how can we do anything that matters? The short answer is, much more than you think.

Last Saturday Ruth and I attended a fundraiser to purchase a tri-county Red Cross Disaster Trailer. John and Vicki Jenks held the event in their home near Wild Rose. Two events really, 51 attended the first, 49 the second. John and Vicki retired to the Wild Rose area a few years ago, and they are making a difference in the community (John is a graduate of Wild Rose High School, Vicki is from North Dakota). They are demonstrating that one couple, with the help of some friends, can make an enormous difference.

John and Vicki are professional musicians. They performed for the crowd as did several of their musician friends—everything from country western, polkas and show tunes to classical pieces.

People came from all around, Madison, Markesan, Wautoma, Stevens Point, Coloma and of course Wild Rose.

The event raised a bunch of money, too. With a positive attitude, some enthusiasm, a can-do spirit, and friends, big things can happen.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: (Borrowed from Edgar Guest)

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 17, 9:15 A.M. Jefferson County History and Historic Preservation Conference, Hoard Museum, Fort Atkinson. “Lighter Side of Country Living.”

April 18, 1:45 P.M. Fox Cities Book Festival. Little Chute Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

April 19, 1:00 P.M. Historic Point Basse, Nekoosa. Old Farm: A History

April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Lighter Side of
Country Living.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

Return to Winter

Two inches of snow last night. Winter visiting one more time. Reminding us that seasons do not always change neatly. That there is a return to the old before we once more can enjoy the new. Like life itself. We move forward, confidently. And then something happens, a snow storm in our lives, and we are stopped. However, spring will come with brighter days. As in our lives.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Life’s journey is often two steps forward with one step back.


COMING EVENTS:

March 31, 5:30 P.M. Joint Council of Extension Professionals Conference, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. “A Better Tomorrow: One Eye on the Past: One Eye on the Future.”

April 17, 9:15 A.M. Jefferson County History and Historic Preservation Conference, Hoard Museum, Fort Atkinson. “Lighter Side of Country Living.”

April 18, 1:45 P.M. Fox Cities Book Festival. Little Chute Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

April 19, 1:00 P.M. Historic Point Basse, Nekoosa. Old Farm: A History

April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Lighter Side of
Country Living.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

Fond du Lac Public Library

It is spring. Says so on the calendar anyway. Says so in my yard, too. I uncovered my daffodils and tulips yesterday. They are alive, well, and poking their little yellowish green spikes out of the cold, but now frost free ground.

Robins were singing their hearts out this morning, punctuated by a cardinal whistle and the backdrop of sandhill crane calls. I am waiting for a hint of green grass to convince me that winter has retreated to where winter lives during the other seasons of the year.

Hats off to the Fond du Lac Public Library and their March Fond du Lac Reads program. Ruth and I attended their chili supper and program last Thursday evening, which they held at the University of Wisconsin Fond du Lac campus. About 100 people turned out for the supper; around 160 attended the program.

The Fond du Lac Library selected my book LIVING A COUNTRY YEAR for the month-long program with several book discussion groups meeting throughout the month. What a great way to encourage reading, discussion and story telling. It surely hurries up March, too.

For those who may want a copy of the Fond du Lac Reads book, or related books: IN A PICKLE and OLD FARM: A HISTORY, visit your nearest bookstore, or order directly from my website.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Happiness comes from doing interesting and worthwhile things. Most of us find happiness when are not looking for it.


COMING EVENTS:

March 26, 6:00 P.M. Watertown and Jefferson County Agri-Business Clubs, Watertown. The lighter Side of Country Living.

March 31, 5:30 P.M. Joint Council of Extension Professionals Conference, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. “A Better Tomorrow: One Eye on the Past: One Eye on the Future.”

April 17, 9:15 A.M. Jefferson County History and Historic Preservation Conference, Hoard Museum, Fort Atkinson. “Lighter Side of Country Living.”

April 18, 1:45 P.M. Fox Cities Book Festival. Little Chute Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

April 19, 1:00 P.M. Historic Point Basse, Nekoosa. Old Farm: A History

April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Lighter Side of
Country Living.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

Better Than Me

Why is someone always better than me? I have heard that question again and again over the years. I suspect I have asked it myself from time to time. Why does so and so make more money than I do, live in a bigger house, have a better job, look younger (and thinner) and on and on.

No question pulls down a person’s spirit more than that one. The constant comparing, the ensuing competing, and the resulting jealousy.

Far better, I believe, is to compare you to yourself, to come out from behind yourself and take a good look, accept what you see and be pleased.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to improve, try to better ourselves, set goals and have hopes. But the competition and comparison is with us, not with others.

My dad said it best: Do the best you can with what you have got. He kept saying that well into his 90s, when his capacities for doing were considerably diminished. But he kept doing, and he had long before quit comparing himself with his peers.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Who you are is more important than what you have accomplished.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

March 17, Watertown Public Library. 6:30 P.M. Lighter Side of Country Living.

March 19, Fond du Lac Public Library. 6:00 P.M. Chili supper. UW-FDL Commons and Prairie Theater. Featuring Living a County Year.

Sounds of Spring

I heard a robin on my morning walk the other day. The first one this spring, clear, confident, optimistic. Looking for the early worm?

A day later, when we traveled near Waupun, I saw several flocks of Canada Geese winging north, calling to each other and to us. Sounds of seasonal change. Announcements of spring.

I remember well the sounds of spring when I was a kid, and how we looked forward to them after a long and hard central Wisconsin winter. Some sounds were subtle such as the dripping of melting snow from the barn roof. Other sounds were melodious, at least for me. A small gully in the twenty-acre field north of our farmstead had been filled with field stones to stop the washing. When the snow melted, it ran through and over the rocks making the most beautiful of sounds.

Some spring sounds were loud and window rattling. The first thunderstorm of the season for instance.

Are you listening? Spring is announcing its presence.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: 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.


UPCOMING EVENTS:


March 17, Watertown Public Library, 6:30 p.m. Lighter Side of Country Living

March 19, Fond du Lac Public Library, 6:00 p.m. Chili supper. UW-FDL Commons and Prairie Theater. Featuring LIVING A COUNTRY YEAR.

March Meant Mud

March is upon us. A transition month. A month filled with hope and anticipation as once more the seasons change and we look forward to winter retreating and spring blossoming forth in all its glory.

But when I was kid, March meant mud. Oozing, sticky, boot grabbing, mud. My brothers and I walked to our country school, which was a little less than a mile from our farm, along a dirt road that almost overnight turned from a smooth, snow packed surface to deep rutted mud. The morning walk was fine because the mud froze over night. But the return trip in the afternoon was memorable, if one could call sloshing through mud memorable. It was the fault of the milk truck, mostly. With a heavy load of milk cans, the milk hauler scarcely made it through on these warming days of March, creating new and deeper ruts each day it seemed.

Every spring at least someone lost a boot to the sucking mud as we made our way home from school. Of course one of us would retrieve it from the muck, chuckling at the misfortune of our brother who stood on one leg, waiting for his boot. The one who retrieved the boot didn’t hurry either. On those muddy days, there was little to smile about. A brother losing a boot was as funny as it got.

The Old Timer Says: Watch out for them fellas that use a lot of big words. Like as not if they knew what the words meant, they would not use them.

Upcoming Events:

March 2, Neenah Public Library, 2:00 p.m. Barns of Wisconsin.

March 5, Bridgewood Resort Hotel, Neenah. International Right of Way Association annual meeting. Old Farm: A History

March 7, Governor Dodge Convention Center. Platteville. 3:00 PM. Doing a Genealogy of Your Land.

March 17, Watertown Public Library, 6:30 p.m. Lighter Side of Country Living

March 19, Fond du Lac Public Library, 6:00 p.m.

Lone Black Crow

On a bright sunny day last week, with the temperature in the teens, I strapped on snowshoes and walked to the top of the hill above the pond. It was the first time for several weeks that I had returned to this favorite site on the farm. I gazed across the side hill that Steve and I had cleared of black locust trees, and saw the pond buried in snow in the valley. Resting. Waiting.

It was a world of gray and white, with the occasional accent of green from a pine tree. And it was quiet, so quiet that the only sound I heard was from my heavy breathing for snowshoeing is not easy. Then I heard it, far off and beyond the pond, in the woods to the north, a lone crow calling. A winter survivor in this land that can take its toll on wild creatures. Whatever you might say about them, crows are tough. And proud of it, too. A big black bird with an attitude.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Being comfortable is more important than being stylish.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 24, 4:30 p.m. Demeter Winter Event, West Madison Agriculture Research Facility. Farms, Barns, Your Stories and Mine.

February 27, Southern Wisconsin Educational In-service Organization. Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison. 8:30-9:30: Old Farm, A History. 9:45-10:45: In a Pickle, A family Farm Story. 11:00-1:00 PM. Book signing at Barnes and Noble Booth.

March 2, Neenah Public Library, 2:00 p.m. Barns of Wisconsin.

March 7, Governor Dodge Convention Center. Platteville. 3:00 PM. Doing a Genealogy of Your Land.

March 17, Watertown Public Library, 6:30 p.m. Lighter Side of Country Living

March 19, Fond du Lac Public Library, 6:00 p.m. Living a Country Year

Fond du Lac Reads

The Fond du Lac Public Library has selected my book, LIVING A COUNTRY YEAR for their Fond du Lac Reads program. I am flattered by the selection and am impressed with the library encouraging folks to read in these late days of winter. With spring just around the corner, what a great way to get your mind turned away from snow shoveling, frozen pipes, ornery autos, and chilly fingers.


Here is the announcement from the library’s website (www.dfpl.org):
Fond du Lac Reads is a series of programs designed to get as many people as possible in the community to read the same book at the same time. It is held annually in March.
The goal is to foster community by providing a forum for public discussion and interaction—and most of all—demonstrate that reading can be fun!
The 2009 Fond du Lac Reads selection is Living a Country Year: Wit and Wisdom from the Good Old Days by Wisconsin author Jerry Apps. In this warm-hearted memoir, Apps tells of growing up on a farm near Wild Rose in the 1940’s. The chapters are arranged from January to December and talk about love and respect for the land and for a vanishing rural way of life by using personal incidents, adventures, recipes, observations, and thoughts for each month. Come and join us in reading this delightful book!
-----
Along with several other events, I will be speaking at a special banquet as part of the program. Here are the specifics:
Chili Supper and Presentation by Jerry Apps, Author of Living a Country Year Thursday, March 19, UW-FDL Commons and Prairie Theater
Dinner at 6:00 p.m. – Tickets $10 in advance available at FDLPL; $12 at the door
Dinner Entertainment provided by local guitarist Daryl Rogers
Jerry Apps Program – 7:00 p.m., Free, No Ticket Required.
Enjoy a down-home country dinner featuring recipes from the book Living a Country Year. There will also be a book signing following the program. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the FDL Public Library, Linstrom’s Catering, and UW-FDL.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Books do not scold when you blunder, laugh when you are ignorant, or hide when you seek them



UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 24, 4:30 p.m. Demeter Winter Event, West Madison Agriculture Research Facility. Farms, Barns, Your Stories and Mine.

February 27, Southern Wisconsin Educational In-service Organization. Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison. 8:30-9:30: Old Farm, A History. 9:45-10:45: In a Pickle, A family Farm Story.

March 2, Neenah Public Library, 2:00 p.m. Barns of Wisconsin.

March 17, Watertown Public Library, 6:30 p.m. Lighter Side of Country Living

March 19, Fond du Lac Public Library, 6:00 p.m. (See above)

Viroqua Elementary School

Last Friday I talked with students at the Viroqua Elementary School in Viroqua, WI. I shared stories about one-room country schools, early Wisconsin history, and life on the farm before electricity, indoor plumbing, and central heating. I worked with third through fifth graders, in four different sessions.

The school has a special project for third-graders about one-room schools, so the questions bubbled up with little encouragement. Did your teacher beat you across the knuckles with a ruler when you did something wrong was a common inquiry. I answered that in my years at a country school, I was never struck with a ruler, nor was anyone else that I remember.

How many snow days did you have? Answer: none in the eight years I attended Chain O’ Lake School in Waushara County. Looks of disbelief on faces of the students. How could that be? Didn’t you have winter then? I explained that we all walked to school, students and teacher, so it didn’t matter how much it snowed.

Students in fourth and fifth grade were working on Wisconsin history projects, for them I talked mostly about early agriculture in Wisconsin, when the state was a major wheat growing state, indeed became the second largest wheat producing state in the U.S. in 1862, after Illinois. Then we talked about how Wisconsin became a dairy state.

I talked about how important I thought it was for them to study the history of their own community and what makes it special and different from other places. Their home county, Vernon, was a major tobacco growing area with a rich history associated with that crop..

After spending the day with about 250, interested, polite and full of questions youngsters, I left feeling good about the future. (Need I say I was also ready for nap.)


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A good teacher is one who helps students become their own teachers.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 24, 4:30 p.m. Demeter Winter Event, West Madison Agriculture Research Facility. Farms, Barns, Your Stories and Mine.

February 27, Southern Wisconsin Educational Inservice Organization. Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison. 8:30-9:30: Old Farm, A History. 9:45-10:45: In a Pickle, A family Farm Story.

March 2, Neenah Public Library, 2:00 p.m. Barns of Wisconsin.

Blizzard Memories

It began with a few flakes of snow striking the windows on the country school as my brothers and I and fellow schoolmates sat at our desks, trying to pay attention to schoolwork and waiting for noon and chance to play outside.

By eleven, the northwest wind had picked up and began rattling the windows and causing the rusty wood-burning stove in the back of the schoolroom to send an occasional puff of smoke into the building. Scattered snowflake had turned into a wall of snow, flying on the wind, and accumulating on the windows.

No playing outside today our teacher, Miss Thompson told us. After eating our lunches from our dinner pails, most of us gathered at the tall, snow covered windows and watched the storm growing in intensity and wondered about our walk home that afternoon.

By two o’clock, the first fathers began arriving to walk their children home, bursting into the school room with a shower of snow, pounding their hands together to warm them by the stove, before bundling up their offspring and disappearing into the storm.

One after the other they came, each following the same ritual, each with words about the storm and its fury. Pa finally arrived, and my two brothers and I set out behind him, walking up Miller’s hill on our way toward home, trying to step in his tracks, trying not to lose sight of him in the swirling snow. Past Miller’s farm, finally, with only a half-mile more to go, stumbling behind Pa, first me, then Darrel, then short-legged Donald trying to keep up in the rear. We stopped to rest on occasion, out of the wind behind huge snow banks piled up alongside the road from previous snowstorms, while the snow sifted over our heads.

Then it was back into the storm, into the worst of it, facing it head on, marching on toward home, one step at a time. Finally, when it seemed we were too tired to move another foot, we glimpsed our red barn through the snow, and then our house. We burst into the kitchen, snow flying everywhere as four snowmen emerged from the storm to the smell of vegetable soup steaming on the kitchen wood stove.

It was back to school the next day, even though the storm drifted shut the road. Our school never closed, not once in the eight years I attended.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Enjoy a bowl of homemade vegetable soup.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 30, Viroqua Public Schools. One room-schools early farm life.

February 24, 4:30 p.m. Demeter Winter Event, West Madison Agriculture Research Facility. Farms, Barns, Your Stories and Mine.

March 2, Neenah Public Library, 2:00 p.m. Barns of Wisconsin

Blue Shadows Farm

I learned last week that my newest book of historical fiction will be published by the University of Wisconsin Press in August of this year. It is my third novel in the Ames County Series, which so far includes THE TRAVELS OF INCREASE JOSEPH and IN A PICKLE. In these novels, I examine how history has influenced family farms and the direction for agriculture in the heartland of this country.


The new book is described this way:

BLUE SHADOWS FARM follows the intriguing family story of three generations on a Wisconsin farm. It begins as Silas Starkweather, a Civil War Veteran, is lured to Wisconsin and homesteads 160 acres in Ames County. Mysteriously, his first interest is not farming. He quickly becomes known as a peculiar man who is forever digging holes and putting up new fences.

Through years of hardship and tragedy, Silas discovers a respect for his community and a love of his land. His son Abe, an alcoholic, continues to live on the farm during Prohibition and the Depression. Abe doesn’t inherit his father’s love for their land, but continues farming out of economic necessity.

Abe’s daughter Emma, a contemporary character, has remained and cared for the land, fences and buildings. She shares her farm with school children and families who also appreciate and respect this place. Emma is faced with a difficult decision, she must sell the family farm, but to whom? A for-profit educational organization is interested in buying. Within a controversy that disrupts the entire community, Emma looks to her past to make decisions for the future of Blue Shadows Farm.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When you think you have gotten something about right, consider that as the starting place for making it much better.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
January 19, 6:00 PM, Portage (Columbia County) Historical Society dinner, Old Farm featured. Call 608-742-1445 for further information.

January 30, Viroqua Public Schools.

Winter in 1915

Several people responded to my request for winter prose or poetry. I received the following from Jean Sweet of Madison, WI. Jean shared excerpts from letters her mother, Marian wrote in 1915 to her Arizona family. At the time Marian was a 4th grade teacher in Plymouth, Wisconsin and lived in a boarding house with other teachers. Otto Holzschuh and his parents lived a block from the school. He and his father operated a livery stable, which was next door to their home. As they said in those days, Otto was sweet on the school marm.

Jan 28, 1915: "I have promised to go sleighing with the Priscillas (a women's group) but think it is too cold now for sleighing. After supper:--We are not going sleighing. It is too cold and too many people have colds. I think I would have backed out it is so cold, to load up in a sleigh. A cutter would be bad enough."

Tues. Eve. Feb. 23: "I went to Sheboygan with Otto Sat. We left on the 4:58 car. (There was interurban service between Plymouth and Sheboygan.) Otto took a suit back that he had had made. It wrinkled a little in one place and he took it back to be fixed. He is a regular old maid when it comes to clothes. We went to the nicest restaurant in town. Had beef steak, rare, and onions, a movie, and then home on the 9:00 car."......We had a fine ride Sun. in the slush. Wish you could have been with us. The snow is going fast. It rained yesterday and today. You should have seen the rivers."

[On Nov. 2, 1915 Otto and Marian were married, and eventually had three children, Jean was the youngest born in 1925]

. "Dec 17, 1915 "Since I wrote you last we have had snow. It snowed all day last Sunday. Otto and I took our first cutter ride. (Black team & sleigh bells). Tues. PM I took one of the black teams and a yellow cutter and Mae Lowe and I rode around town until we were very nearly frozen. Then she came home with me and we sat in front of the coal stove and toasted and drank tea.......Otto is riding on a hearse this PM here in town. There is a funeral Sat., also Sun. They have a man figuring on an auto hearse now. They want to get one before someone else gets in ahead. They are going to get two Fords for the livery, too. More expense."



After reading what my brother wrote last week, several people wondered if Wild Rose in winter was to his liking. He may complain, but he tells me he enjoys all the seasons, winter included.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: There is a difference between understanding and knowing. Understanding involves the mind; knowing requires the mind, plus the heart and the soul.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 14, 9:00 AM, WTMJ 4 TV, Milwaukee. Old Farm featured.

January 19, 6:00 PM, Portage (Columbia County) Historical Society dinner, Old Farm featured. Call 608-742-1445 for further information.

January 30, Viroqua Public Schools.

Winter Willies

During these dark and dreary days of January in the north, people often take to wood carving, or painting, or quilting, or in some instances, writing.

My brother Darrel, a long time resident of New Jersey where he worked as a horticulturist and plant breeder returned to our home town of Wild Rose a year ago. Last week, in a brief moment between snowstorms he found a piece of paper and a pencil and scribbled the following (I include only a portion of his rendering). He gave me permission to include his words here

Ain’t Nobody Knows-Wild Rose
Darrel Apps

Do you think it is unkind to suppose
That our village was not meant for a rose
From December to April, frigid winds blow
Without fail tender plants succumb to the snow
Why anyone lives here ain’t nobody knows!

January and February in Wisconsin are no joke
It’s even colder than stories told by some old folk
Brutal cold spells slide cruelly from the north
As tales are told and retold back and forth
Why anyone lives here ain’t nobody knows!

Winter leaves late with the roar of a lion
While snow melts slowly no one is crying
Four months of winter is one long time
Even Easter can be less than sublime
Why anyone lives here ain’t nobody knows!


Anybody got a paragraph, or two about winter, or a short poem to share? Does not have to be a good poem (although there is some question these days about what is and what is not good poetry). Does not have to be a great piece of prose either, just something that is heartfelt, and will take away a little of the winter willies.

The Old Timer Says: Write it down, you will feel better.

Upcoming Events:

January 14, 9:00 AM, WTMJ 4 TV, Milwaukee. Old Farm featured.

January 19, 6:00 PM, Portage (Columbia County) Historical Society dinner, Old Farm featured. Call 608-742-1445 for further information.

January 30, Viroqua Public Schools.

Christmas Break

What did you do during Christmas break when you were a kid? It is a question my grandkids ask me, wondering how my brothers and I could keep busy with no TV, no computers, no electronic gadgets to listen to, watch, or, in the case of the newer ones, interact with, no cell phones to call friends.

I explained that after the chores were done, we skied, ice skated, went sledding and ice fished. We ice fished a lot, nearly every day between Christmas and New Years. We sat around a smoky campfire built on shore and watched our tip-ups (a simple standalone ice fishing device stuck in a hole chopped in the ice). We listened to my dad and uncle’s fishing stories, hunting stories, farming stories, logging stories. The same ones told over and over, always the same but always different because with each retelling, I would hear some twist, some new angle to the tale.

Of course my grandkids also do their share of outdoor winter stuff; all five of them ski, go sledding, and ice skate. But no ice fishing, no smoky campfires and no uncle embellished stories.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Always remember as through life you roll, to keep your eye on the doughnut and not on the hole—except when you are ice fishing.

Happy New Year!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 14, 9:00 AM, WTMJ 4 TV, Milwaukee. Old Farm featured.

January 19, 6:00 PM, Portage (Columbia County) Historical Society dinner, Old Farm featured. Call 608-742-1445 for further information.

January 30, Viroqua Public Schools.

Christmas Gift

When I was a kid, the weeks before Christmas my brothers and I pored over the Sears Christmas Catalog. What a wondrous book it was, filled with photos of electric trains and wood burning sets, air rifles and books for boys. Also shoe skates (ours clamped on the shoes we had) and skis. Fancy skis with a contraption that fit around the backs of your boots so the skis did not come off.

In those days, the waning years of the Depression and World War II, my brothers and I could each pick one special thing we wanted for Christmas. Beyond that special thing, we received new socks, maybe a sweater, a new cap with ear laps, or even a new Mackinaw coat if ours had worn out.

When I was twelve I asked for a new pair of skis. I picked out the exact ones I wanted from the Sears wish book.

We did not open presents on Christmas morning until we had milked the cows, fed the chickens, carried in wood and did the other necessary farm chores. When we got to the presents there were no skis for me under the tree. Merely some new mittens, a blue flannel shirt, and a pair of wool socks. I said nothing. Disappointment visited our family often during those years.

--I have forgotten something--, Pa said, with a smile on his face. He walked out to the pump house and brought in a pair of skis. He handed them to me. --You wondering about these? --he said.

One ski was brown and one was black; apparently something had happened to the other brown one and other black one so Mr. Hotz at Hotz Hardware in Wild Rose said Pa could have them for half price. Color did not matter much to me. They did not have any fancy bindings, merely leather straps that fit over my boots. No matter. I now had a pair of store-bought skis to replace the home-made ones my Grandpa Witt had made of birch boards he had steamed and bent up on the ends.

It was a Very Merry Christmas.

THE OLD TIMER REMEMBERS WHAT HIS MOTHER OFTEN SAID: It is more blessed to give than to receive.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 14, 9:00 AM, WTMJ 4 TV, Milwaukee. Old Farm featured.

January 19, 6:00 PM, Portage (Columbia County) Historical Society dinner, Old Farm featured. Call 608-742-1445 for further information.

January 30, Viroqua Public Schools.

Christmas Program

The annual Christmas Program at our one-room country school was the highlight of the year for our farming community. Everyone in the neighborhood attended. Parents, grandparents, cousins, folks from town, bachelor farmers. Everyone was there.

I remember fondly the year a trio of girls stood on the rickety plank stage and sang Away in a Manger. Mrs. Jenks, our teacher, played the accompaniment on the piano and could only see the stage out the corner of her eye. As the girls began, Away in the manger, no crib for his bed, a little field mouse that had taken up residence in the old piano was awakened by the clatter of piano hammers pounding against wires.

The trio continued, The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head, as the mouse crawled out of the piano, where Mrs. Jenks could not see it, and proceeded to prance across the stage in front of the girls. They abruptly stopped singing and rushed off the stage. The audience of course saw it all and began laughing loudly. Mrs. Jenks, not knowing what had happened, was furious. Why were people laughing during Away in the Manger? And then she saw the mouse and joined the crowd in their merriment.

A Christmas program that no one forgot, and fondly recalled as the year a field mouse stole Christmas.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes the harder you look, the less you see.


UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 14, 9:00 AM, WTMJ 4 TV, Milwaukee. Old Farm featured.
January 19, 6:00 PM, Portage (Columbia County) Historical Society dinner, Old Farm featured. Call 608-742-1445 for further information.
January 30, Viroqua Public Schools.

Winter Sounds

The sounds of the country change with the seasons, especially here in the Midwest, where seasonal change is often dramatic. The sounds of winter are the northwest wind sifting across my prairie, picking up wisps of snow and dropping it again in intricate patterns, rills and ridges, swirls and squiggles. On a cold night in January, the sound of winter is the wind tearing at the cabin, trying to seep in around the windows and doors, challenging my woodstoves, and making a most mournful sound in the process.
Winter sounds can also be the most subtle. On a still day in November, when the temperature is just below freezing and the first heavy snow of the season arrives, the snowflakes, some of them huge, fall ever so lightly on naked tree limbs and dead prairie grass.
An unexpected sound is that of tree fibers exploding on below-zero days. I remember walking in our oak woods one quiet January morning, when the temperature was ten below zero. The only sound was the occasional crow calling in the distance, until I heard what I was sure was a rifle shot. I learned later from my father that it was tree fibers loudly protesting the cold. The sound happens infrequently enough to surprise the cold-weather walker in the woods each time he or she hears it.
The most mysterious of winter sounds might be the northwest wind shaking the dead leaves of the black oaks that still hang on the branches. Some have called this sound a death rattle and in a way it is. The oak leaves hang on until spring and then finally fall off to make way for new growth and the summer sound of warm breezes moving through green leaves. (From OLD FARM: A HISTORY)

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Doing something hard gets a lot harder if you do too much thinking about it.


UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 9, 6:30 PM, Watertown Public Library. Old Farm and other stories.

December 12, 2:00- 3:00 PM, Book Signing, Fireside Bookstore, West Bend (December 6 was canceled because of weather).

December 13, 9:30-11:30 AM, Sheboygan Falls, Library. Sheboygan County Historical
Research Center. Old Farm: A History.

December 14, 1:00-3:00 PM. Barnes and Noble West, Madison. Books signing. Old Farm.

January 14, 9:00 AM, WTMJ 4 TV, Milwaukee. Old Farm featured.

Christmas Tree

We cut our Christmas tree this past week. A self-seeded white pine from the farm. It is a third generation white pine. John Coombes, who owned Roshara before us, planted a row of white pines as a windbreak during the 1930s. Today some of these pines are more than three feet across, forty feet tall and have scads of cones.

A six or seven acre cornfield was located east of this windbreak when my family bought the farm in the mid-1960s. After a year or two of no corn, we noticed little white pines growing everywhere. Today these self-seeded white pines (from the original windbreak pines) are one of the unique aspects of our farm. Many of them are now twenty and more feet tall. One of my favorite hikes, all seasons of the year, is among these pines. If there is a slightest breeze, the trees talk to me, a gentle soothing message as the wind rustles the soft needles.

Now there are third-generation pines growing everywhere, naturally growing with no help from us whatever. And one of these little white pines is our 2008 Christmas tree.


The Old Timer says: When it is too late to do something, it is usually too late.

Upcoming Events:

December 6, 10 AM, Washington County Historical Society, West Bend. Address, 320 South 5th Avenue, West Bend. Old Farm. Fireside Books, 2:00 PM-3:00 PM West Bend, WI. Featuring Old Farm. Presentation and book signing.

December 9, 6:30 PM, Watertown Public Library. Old Farm and other stories.

December 13, 9:30-11:30 AM, Sheboygan Falls, Library. Sheboygan County Historical
Research Center. Old Farm: A History.

December 14, 1:00-3:00 PM. Barnes and Noble West, Madison. Books signing. Old Farm.

Deer Season

Opening morning of deer season. Five degrees above zero. Cold. But so quiet. Not a sound. No crows cawing in the distance. No squirrels chattering. No pileated woodpecker destroying a dead white pine. Not even a chickadee calling.
Then it is six-thirty and a rifle shot shatters the silence and echoes over the hills and through the valleys.

And once more it is quiet as I pull up my collar and pour a cup of steaming coffee and stare through the early morning cold. What could be better?

The Old Timer says: Try and try again, and maybe once more. But then try something different.

Upcoming Events:

November 28, 7:30 PM. Wisconsin Public Television, Here and Now program. Old Farm.

December 6, 10-2:00 PM, Fireside Books, West Bend, WI. Featuring Old Farm. Presentation and book signing.

December 9, 6:30 PM, Watertown Public Library. Old Farm and other stories.

December 13, 9:30-11:30 AM, Sheboygan Falls, Library. Sheboygan County Historical
Research Center. Old Farm: A History.

December 14, 1:00-3:00 PM. Barnes and Noble West, Madison. Books signing. Old Farm.

Making Wood

We make wood once a year at Roshara, a couple days in late October or November. Making wood is an old farm term. It means cutting down trees and splitting blocks and piling the sliced pieces so they can dry.

My son, Steve and I cut down three dead black oak trees last week, on a day when snowflakes drifted from the sky and the woods was filled with silence.

It is hard work, especially for someone who doesn’t do it regularly. But the satisfactions are many. Smelling fresh cut oak wood. Meeting the challenge of an oak block that defies splitting. Seeing the pile of freshly split wood grow ever taller as pieces are added.
Enjoying the heat from our wood burning cook stove at the cabin. And remembering how we made wood for days on end when I was a kid, as we heated our farmhouse, the pump house and the potato cellar with woodstoves.


The Old Timer remembers this saying from his German relatives: Let us all stick together. Everyone for himself.

Upcoming Events:

November 20, 12:30 UW-Baraboo, Baraboo, WI. How technology has changed farming and rural life: a historical perspective.

December 6, 10-2:00 PM, Fireside Books, West Bend, WI. Featuring Old Farm. Presentation and book signing.

December 9, 6:30 PM, Watertown Public Library. Stories from the land.

December 13, 9:30-11:30 AM, Sheboygan Falls, Library. Sheboygan County Historical
Research Center. Old Farm: A History.

December 14, 1:00-3:00 PM. Barnes and Noble West, Madison. Books signing. Old Farm.

National Farm Toy Show

I have just returned from three days at the National Farm Toy Show in Dyersville, Iowa. Signing books and talking with farm folk from throughout the U.S. and Canada, along with more than a few from other countries of the world.

Often three generations, grandpa, son and granddaughter or grandson walking around together. Looking at toy tractors. Talking about farm life during an earlier time. Sharing stories. Passing along history from generation to generation. So important during these times of rapid change.

The Old Timer Says: When I am alone, I prefer to be by myself.

Upcoming events:

November 20, 12:30 UW-Baraboo, Baraboo, WI. How technology has changed farming and rural life: a historical perspective.

December 6, 10-2:00 PM, Fireside Books, West Bend, WI. Featuring Old Farm. Presentation and book signing.

December 9, 6:30 PM, Watertown Public Library. Stories from the land.

December 13, 9:30-11:30 AM, Sheboygan Falls, Library. Sheboygan County Historical
Research Center. Old Farm: A History.

Enjoy Autumn

--Keep close to nature's heart . . . and break away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.--

John Muir said this many years ago, and it is so true yet today. Although you may have some trouble finding a real mountain in the Midwest, you can still climb to a high place and look over the countryside. Or just take a walk in the woods and smell fall all around you. A time of celebration. A time for thinking back to the season just past.

The Old Timer says: Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it is curiosity that keeps a person alive and thinking.


Upcoming Events:

November 5, 5-7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble, Green Bay. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.

November 7-9, National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville Iowa. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.
November 7, 6-9 pm
November 8, 9-6 pm
November 9, 9-2 pm

November 20, 12:30 UW-Baraboo, Baraboo, WI. How technology had changed farming and rural life: a historical perspective.

December 6, 10-2:00 PM, Fireside Books, West Bend, WI. Featuring Old Farm. Presentation and book signing.

December 9, 6:30 PM, Watertown Public Library. Stories from the land.

December 13, 9:30-11:30 AM, Sheboygan Falls, Library. Sheboygan County Historical
Research Center. Old Farm: A History.

Smell of Oak Smoke

Oak smoke once again trickles from the chimney of the wood stove at the old farm. A reminder of fall and winter soon to come. A tantalizing smell that brings back memories of when we heated our drafty farm house with wood stoves, one in the kitchen and one in the dining room. Memories of making wood. Sawing down huge old dead oaks in the woodlot back of the farmstead with a two-man crosscut saw for there were no chainsaws in those days. Hauling the limbs and tree trunks to the farmstead and piling them. Hard work. Dangerous work.

And then inviting the neighbors for a wood sawing bee when a power-driven circle saw sliced the limbs and trunks into blocks of wood of a manageable size. A reminder of threshing, silo filling and corn shredding when the neighbors helped each other. But the work was not done when the neighbors left, for the blocks of wood had to be split into pieces that would fit in the kitchen stove, in the dining room heater, in the pump house stove, and in the potato cellar wood burner that kept our potato crop from freezing.

Today, I enjoy cutting wood, even doing some of the splitting. Mostly because it is my choice to do it. And because I enjoy the smell of oak smoke on a chilly fall morning when the sun is just peaking above the horizon and white frost covers everything.

The Old Timer says: Take time to smell the oak smoke. It is a mysterious smell filled with memories of an earlier day.

Upcoming Events:

October 27, 7:00 PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 28, 1:30 PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 30, 2:30-3:45 PM WEAC Teacher Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

November 1, 10:00-2:00 PM Land Genealogy Workshop. Wisconsin Historical Society
Museum, Capitol Square, Madison. How to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land. (See below for details)

November 5, 5-7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble, Green Bay. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.

November 7-9, National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville Iowa. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.
November 7, 6-9 pm
November 8, 9-6 pm
November 9, 9-2 pm

Land Genealogy Workshop
November 1, 2008, 10 am-2pm. Check in begins at 9:30.

Contact InfoE-mail: museum@
wisconsinhistory.org
Phone: 608-264-6555
Fax: 608-264-6575 Registration Deadline 10/25/2008
Ticket Info: Cost is $45 for Wisconsin Historical Society members, $50 for non-members.
Jerry Apps, author of Old Farm: A History, reveals how to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land, including its geology and discovering who lived there over time. Participants will receive a copy of the book, and lunch will be provided.

Location: Wisconsin Historical Museum, 30 North Carroll Street, Madison.

Family Celebration

We celebrated my brother Donald and his wife, Marcie’s 50th wedding anniversary this past weekend, near Tomahawk in Wisconsin’s North Woods. A wonderful weekend of story-telling, reminiscing, roasting and toasting. All of us wondering how it was that 50 years slipped by, so quickly, so very quickly. A reminder of how important each day is, no matter what the challenges, problems and other disturbances that pop up in front of us.

The Old Timer Says: Never forget. Family comes first, no matter how important everything else may seem at the moment.

Up Coming Events:

October 21, 6:30 PM Prairie du Sac Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 23, 6-8PM. Conkey’s Bookstore, Appleton. Book Signing. Featuring Old Farm

OCTOBER 25, 1:00 PM. PATTERSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WILD ROSE.
CENTRAL WISCONSIN LAUNCH OF OLD FARM. PRESENTATION AND SIGNING.

October 27, 7:00PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 28, 1:30PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 30, 2:45-4:00PM WEAC Teacher’s Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

November 1, 10:00-2:00 Land Genealogy Workshop. Wisconsin Historical Society

Museum, Capitol Square, Madison. How to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land. (See below for details)

November 5, 5-7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble, Green Bay. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.

November 7-9, National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville Iowa. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.
November 7, 6-9 pm
November 8, 9-6 pm
November 9, 9-2 pm


Land Genealogy Workshop
November 1, 2008, 10 am-2pm. Check in begins at 9:30.

Contact InfoE-mail: museum@
wisconsinhistory.org
Phone: 608-264-6555
Fax: 608-264-6575 Registration Deadline 10/25/2008
Ticket Info: Cost is $45 for Wisconsin Historical Society members, $50 for non-members.
Jerry Apps, author of Old Farm: A History, reveals how to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land, including its geology and discovering who lived there over time. Participants will receive a copy of the book, and lunch will be provided.

Location: Wisconsin Historical Museum, 30 North Carroll Street, Madison.

Geese Migrating

The Canada Geese are on the move again. I saw several flocks yesterday. Flying high in long, sometimes ragged Vs. Calling loudly as they flew from north to south. Telling us the seasons are changing and that fall is fading and winter is near.

I remember as a kid standing with my dad out back of the barn on a cool late fall afternoon, watching the geese high overhead, impressed with their strength, their sense of direction, and hearing Pa say: Weather is about to change. Geese know about it first.

And today, so many years later, I still marvel at the migrating geese. Each time I see a high flying flock, I relax a bit, for at least one thing is still right with the world. The seasons are changing and the geese know it.

The Old Timer says: When you hear the flocks of migrating Canada geese, look upward. See the grace and beauty, cooperation and respect.

Upcoming Events:

October 14, 6:00PM, Kewaskum Public Library, Presentation and signing. Featuring Old
Farm

October 15, 11:45-12:30PM Larry Meiller show, Wisconsin Public Radio

October 16, 7-8:30PM Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison. Panel
Discussion: A half-century of change in rural Wisconsin.

October 19, 12:00-1:30. Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison.
Presentation, “For the Love of a Farm.”

October 21, 6:30 PM Prairie du Sac Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 23, 6-8PM. Conkey’s Bookstore, Appleton. Book Signing. Featuring Old Farm

OCTOBER 25, 1:00 PM. PATTERSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WILD ROSE.
CENTRAL WISCONSIN LAUNCH OF OLD FARM. PRESENTATION AND SIGNING.

October 27, 7:00PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 28, 1:30PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 30, 2:45-4:00PM WEAC Teacher’s Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

November 1, 10:00-2:00 Land Genealogy Workshop. Wisconsin Historical Society
Museum, Capitol Square, Madison. How to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land. For further information: museum@wisconsinhistory.org

November 5, 5-7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble, Green Bay. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.

November 7-9, National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville, Iowa. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.
November 7, 6-9 pm
November 8, 9-6 pm
November 9, 9-2 pm

Garden to Bed for Winter

I put my garden to bed for the winter last week, just ahead of the first frost. Took me two days, starting with taking down the fence that kept out the deer and turkeys (well), and the groundhogs and rabbits (not so well).

Then I dug the potatoes (average crop), lifted out the onions (good crop), dug the carrots (best crop in years), picked the last of the tomatoes (average crop), cut down the sweet corn stalks (average crop), picked the pumpkins and squash (terrible crop), dug the beets (lost most of them to critters), cut the cabbage (excellent crop), and pulled out the cucumber and zucchini vines (August dry spell did them in).

When the harvesting was done, I hitched my John Deere tractor to the disk and worked up the patch. Finally, I sowed winter wheat, which grows well in the late fall, stays green all winter and takes off in the spring. A treat for the deer and turkeys I have kept at bay all summer. I will plow down the wheat in the spring and start all over.

The Old Timer says: Remember, in this business of farming, next year will be better.

Upcoming events:

OCTOBER 7, 7:00PM BARNES & NOBLE, West Towne Madison LAUNCH OF OLD FARM

October 9, 6:30PM Barron Public Library, Barron. Presentation and signing.

October 11, 11-2:00PM, Apple Blossom books, Oshkosh. Featuring OLD FARM.

October 12, 2:00-4:00PM, Old World Wisconsin, Eagle. Book signing. “Autumn on the
Farm Celebration.” Featuring OLD FARM.

October 14, 6:00PM, Kewaskum Public Library, Presentation and signing.

October 15, 11:45-12:30PM Larry Meiller show, Wisconsin Public Radio

October 16, 7-8:30PM Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison. Panel
Discussion: A half-century of change in rural Wisconsin.

October 19, 12:00-1:30. Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison.
Presentation, “For the Love of a Farm.”

October 21, 6:30 PM Prairie du Sac Public Library. Presentation and signing.Featuring OLD FARM.

October 23, 6-8PM. Conkey’s Bookstore, Appleton. Book Signing. Featuring OLD FARM.

OCTOBER 25, 1:00 PM. PATTERSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WILD ROSE.
CENTRAL WISCONSIN LAUNCH OF OLD FARM. PRESENTATION AND SIGNING.

October 27, 7:00PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing. Featuring OLD FARM.

October 28, 1:30PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring OLD FARM.

October 30, 2:45-4:00PM WEAC Teacher’s Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

Old Farm at MBA

Ruth and I just returned from the Midwest Booksellers Association show in St. Paul. An event where publishers and authors show their wares to the booksellers.

OLD FARM: A HISTORY, my newest book from the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, got considerable attention, and less than modestly I must say lots of praise. Everyone who saw the book was immediately impressed with Steve’s photos (Steve is my son and we did the book together).

Now we begin a heavy schedule of events to tell folks about the book. Come if you can.

One needs only attend an event such as MBA to realize that the book business is very much alive. Or to paraphrase Mark Twain and to change his words a bit: “The death of the book has been greatly exaggerated”.

The Old Timer says: “So many books. So little time to read them.”

Upcoming Events:

October 4, 10-2:00 PM. Dregne’s, Westby. Book signing.

October 5, 1:30 PM Edgerton Library. Presentation and signing. Edgerton Book Festival.

OCTOBER 7, 7:00PM BARNES & NOBLE, WEST MADISON. LAUNCH OF OLD FARM

October 9, 6:30PM Barron Public Library, Barron. Presentation and signing.

October 11, 11-2:00PM, Apple Blossom books, Oshkosh

October 12, 2:00-4:00PM, Old World Wisconsin, Eagle. Book signing. “Autumn on the
Farm Celebration.”

October 14, 6:00PM, Kewaskum Public Library, Presentation and signing.

October 15, 11:45-12:30PM Larry Meiller show, Wisconsin Public Radio,

October 16, 7-8:30PM Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison. Panel
Discussion: "A half-century of change in rural Wisconsin."

October 19, 12:00-1:30. Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison.
Presentation and signing. “For the Love of a Farm.”

October 21, 6:30 PM Prairie du Sac Public Library. Presentation and signing.

October 23, 6-8PM. Conkey’s Bookstore, Appleton. Book Signing.

OCTOBER 25, 1:00 PM. PATTERSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WILD ROSE.

CENTRAL WISCONSIN LAUNCH OF OLD FARM. PRESENTATION AND SIGNING.

October 27, 7:00PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing.

October 28, 1:30PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing.

October 30, 2:45-4:00PM WEAC Teacher’s Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

Schumacher Farm

Yesterday Ruth and I attended Schumacher Farm's Heritage Fest. The farm, a Dane County Park but once an operating farm, is located just east of Waunakee, WI.

I had the difficult task of serving as a judge for their pie contest. Thankfully, I could rely on the other judges--Roberta Bauman, editor of the Waunakee Tribune and Karen Crossley, Dane County Cultural Affairs--who seemed to know what they were doing.

After wading through nine pies, that's right nine of them ranging from green tomato to several apple pies, cranberry, chocolate, rhubarb and still more, we discussed, compared, tasted a little more and declared a cranberry nut pie the winner.

I avoided stepping on the scale this morning.



The Old Timer says: "You can have your pie and eat it, too."

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 4, 10-2:00 Dregne's, Westby, WI Book Signing.

October 5, Book Festival, Edgerton, WI Library Presentation and book signing.

October 7,7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble West, Madison. Launch for OLD FARM.

Old Farm: A History

My newest book, OLD FARM: A HISTORY, is out. Check details on my website. I introduced it last night at a Mineral Point, WI Historical Society meeting. My photographer son, Steve took the pictures--and they are all in color, from a beautiful Karner Blue Butterfly to Big Blue Stem grass. It's the story of my farm, from the time of the glacier to the present time, with lots of central Wisconsin history. The Wisconsin Historical Society Press is the publisher.

Launch party for OLD FARM: Tuesday, October 7, 7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble West, Madison.

The Old Timer Says: "Do the best you can with what you've got."

Upcoming Events:

September 20, 2:00 PM. Cheese Days, Monroe, WI. Presentation and book signing featuring CASPER JAGGI: MASTER CHEESE MAKER biography.

September 21, 1-4:00 PM Schumacher Farm, Wauankee. Heritage Fest. Book Signing, and pie judging.

October 4, 10-2:00 Dregne's, Westby, WI Book Signing.

October 5, Book Festival, Edgerton, WI Presentation and book signing.

October 7,7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble West, Madison. Launch for OLD FARM.

Silence

The barber in my hometown, Wild Rose, WI, was a talker. He went on and on about anything and everything. One day, an infrequent customer sat in his chair.
"And how would you like your hair cut?" the barber asked.
"In silence, please," the customer said.

Silence is difficult to find these days. If it's not a cellphone jingling, a TV ad blasting the airways with political ads, its the never ending sound of traffic, day and night.

My son, Steve and I spent last week in northern Minnesota, canoeing in the Boundary Waters. The only sounds were the gentle lapping of waves against rocks, the occasional call of a loon, and the chatter of a pesky red squirrel intent on stealing our lunch.

Silence! How I enjoy it, but infrequently find it.

The Old Timer Says: "Keep things simple. They'll get complicated enough, soon enough, without you intending that they should."


ANNOUNCEMENT: My new book for this fall is titled OLD FARM: A HISTORY. The Wisconsin Historical Society Press is the publisher and it will be in the stores by the end of September. My photographer son, Steve and I did this one together. Go to www.wisconsinhistory.org/whspress to learn more.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 10, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing, Borders West, Madison. In A Pickle.

September 11, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing. Mineral Point Historical Society, Opera House, Mineral Point, WI. "Stories From the Land."

September 20, Saturday, 2:00 PM Monroe Cheese Days. Presentation and Book Signing.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes. Easy to grow and wonderful to enjoy. This is the time of the year to eat those grown in your garden and allow the juice to run down your chin, while you are smiling all the while. Not like the tomatoes that one finds in the stores in January that look like tomatoes and taste like . . .well is cardboard close.

I plant enough tomatoes so Ruth cans tomato juice and tomato soup, which we enjoy all winter.

The Old Timer says: "Don't matter none if tomatoes are a fruit or a vegetable. Those grown in your garden can't be beat."

ANNOUNCEMENT: My new book for this fall is titled OLD FARM: A HISTORY. The Wisconsin Historical Society Press is the publisher and it will be in the stores by the end of September. My photographer son, Steve and I did this one together. Go to www.wisconsinhistory.org/whspress to learn more.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 10, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing, Borders West, Madison. In A Pickle.

September 11, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing. Mineral Point Historical Society, Opera House, Mineral Point, WI. "Stories From the Land."

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

September 20, Saturday, 2:00 PM Monroe Cheese Days. Presentation and Book Signing.

Threshing Days

About this time in August, when I was a kid, the threshing crew came by our farm. What a great time going from farm to farm in our neighborhood. Teams of horses hauled the grain bundles from the fields to the enormous machine that shaked and shuddered and sent a stream of golden yellow oat straw onto an ever growing straw stack. Oat kernels trickled down the grain pipe and men, sturdy men, carried sacks of oats on their shoulders to the farmer's grain bins in his granary.

When I was 13 or 14, I made the rounds with the threshing crew. Working hard, but eating well. Oh those threshing meals. Never to be forgotten. A great social event it was as well with storytelling, practical jokes and one more way for neighbors to get to know each other well.

The Old Timer Says: "Know your history, but avoid being stuck there."


Coming Events:

September 1: Paperback edition of IN A PICKLE available.

September 10, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing, Borders West, Madison. In A Pickle.

September 11, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing. Mineral Point Historical Society, Opera House, Mineral Point, WI. "Stories From the Land."

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

September 20, Saturday, 2:00 PM Monroe Cheese Days. Presentation and Book Signing.

Rose Bush

A tough old rose bush grows at the corner of my cabin at the farm. I planted it more than thirty years ago. Not once have I sprayed it, dusted it, or covered it for the winter. It's a little shaggy around the edges and prickly enough so no rabbit, deer or other critter comes near it.

Best of all, it begins blooming in the spring and blooms all summer without any attention whatever. It attracts bees and old farmers who stop and look--and yes, stick their noses up close to the red blossoms as the flowers smell like I think a rose should.

My rose is a bit like some people I know--a little shaggy around the edges, but dependable and require little attention. And are a joy to have around.

The Old Timer says: "Get yourself one of those old fashioned rose bushes--and take time to enjoy it."


Coming Events:

September 10, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing, Borders West, Madison. In A Pickle.

September 11, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing. Mineral Point Historical Society, Opera House, Mineral Point, WI. "Stories From the Land."

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

September 20, Saturday, 2:00 PM Monroe Cheese Days. Presentation and Book Signing.

Tell Your Story

Everyone has a story to tell. That was the theme of the writing workshop I taught at The Clearing in Door County, Wisconsin last week. Sixteen students, examining their memories, jotting down their stories, and sharing them with each other. Laughter, tears, smiles and smirks. A great week.

The Old Timer says: "When something gets in your way: Don't try to go around it. Don't try to crawl under it. Don't try to step over it. Meet it head on."


Coming Events:

August 16 and 17. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI I will be there both days to sign books. I will also speak at 1:00 p.m. each day, "Every Farm Tells a Story."

September 1: IN A PICKLE available in paperback. If you've not yet gotten the book, here's a second chance.

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

The Clearing

I'm off to The Clearing in Door County, Wisconsin where I will teach a week-long writing workshop. Jens Jensen, a Dane by birth, established The Clearing as a residential learning center in 1935. He was then 75 years old. Jensen saw The Clearing as a place where city people could renew their contact with the "soil" as a basis for life values.

The Clearing has continued over the years offering classes in natural sciences, fine arts, skilled crafts, and humanities including writing. Jensen's dream was to offer a year-round folk school in a natural setting. And that's what it is. I've been teaching there for 18 years, and for Ruth and me, it's one of our favorite places.
To learn more, go to www.theclearing.org.

The Old Timer Says: "To walk forty rods on a never before traveled trail is far more difficult than traveling five miles on a well-used road."


August 16 and 17. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI I will be there both days to sign books. I will also speak at 1:00 p.m. each day, "Every Farm Tells a Story."

September 1: IN A PICKLE available in paperback. If you've not yet gotten the book, here's a second chance.

A Bigger Boo

A grandfather story. Our four-old granddaughter walked into a fairly dark room where I was sitting. I said, "boo."

She stopped, put her hands on her hips and and looked at me. "Grandpa," she said. "You've got to have a bigger boo than that to scare me."

So I'm working on a bigger boo.

The Old Timer Says: "This time of the year, stop by a pond. Listen for the bullfrogs singing slow and deep, a strange but beautifully haunting tune."

Upcoming Events:

August 16 and 17. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI I will be there both days to sign books. I will also speak at 1:00 p.m. each day, "Every Farm Tells a Story."

September 1: IN A PICKLE available in paperback. If you've not yet gotten the book, here's a second chance.

Farm Tech Days

I spoke at Farm Technology Days this week on a farm in Brown County, WI--always a fun thing for me. Farm Tech days shows off the newest of the new in farm equipment and agricultural research--the future of the industry. But I talked about the old, what it was like to farm without electricity, when farmers listened to battery operated radios, got their local news from the party-line telephone, milked cows by hand, and farmed with horses.

Great changes in my generation, because I grew up with the old, when electricity was a welcomed novelty, a milking machine was a wonder, and a new tractor--according to Pa--just might make his boys lazy (I have two brothers).

The Old Timer Says: "Some people are hard to listen to because their actions speak more loudly than their words."

Coming Events:

August 3-9. Writing From Your Life Workshop at The Clearing in Door County. (Class is filled)

(September 13, One Day Saturday writing workshop at The Clearing has open slots. Call toll free 877-854-3225 for more information)

August 16 and 17. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI I will be there both days to sign books. I will also speak at 1:00 p.m. each day, "Every Farm Tells a Story."

Wild Turkeys

The other day I was walking in my field, checking on some trees I'd planted back in April. The grass was knee high and I was concentrating on finding trees when a wild turkey hen exploded up in front of me, her huge wings pounding the air. I was no more than six feet from her. Slowly I walked to where she'd flown up and saw the grass moving in every direction. Little turkeys were trying to hide. All except one. It sat there looking up at me, it's big brown eyes checking me out. Not moving. Not doing what his nest-mates had done. Taking a chance. There's always one.

I quickly walked away because I knew the hen was watching me from the top of the hill and would return to her little family--not so small, there must have been a dozen of them.

The Old Timer Says: "Don't forget the importance of a good example."

Upcoming Events:

Farm Technology Days, Greenleaf, WI Wednesday, July 16, 12:00. "Stories From The Land."

Farm Technology Days, Greenleaf, WI Thursday, July 17, 11:00 AM "Stories From the Land."

Garden Tour and Book Signing, Governor's Mansion, Madison. Thursday, July 17 4:30-6:00 PM

Pitch forks

I have fond memories of pitchforks, mostly. About now we were in the midst of haying season on the home farm. We "made" our hay loose in those days, which meant after it was cut and raked we piled it into bunches with a pitch fork. Tossed it on a steel-wheeled, horse drawn hay wagon with a pitch fork. And moved it into the upper reaches of our barn with a pitch fork.

I had my own pitchfork, a three-tined, hickory handled beauty that slid through my hands with ease, was well balanced, and did what I wanted it to do.

You could tell who was a city person in a minute by the way he handled a pitchfork. We tried to teach our city cousins the nuances of pitchfork use, but they never seemed to catch on. How dumb they were, they thought. As I think back, we were the dumb ones. We did the hay pitching while they watched, pretending ineptness.


The Old Timer Says: "There's lots of talk these days but little being said."


UpComing Events:

Barnes and Noble Madison West. Wednesday, July 9, 12-1:00 Booksigning.

Barnes and Noble Madison West. Wednesday, July 9, 1:00 p.m. "Who Was Casper Jaggi?"

Circus Camp, Mazomanie. Thursday, July 10, 12:00 noon. "The Ringling Boys and Their Circus."

Barnes and Noble Wausau. Saturday, July 12, 11:00-2:00 PM. IN A PICKLE and more.

Farm Technology Days, Greenleaf, WI Wednesday, July 16, 12:00. "Stories From The Land."

Farm Technology Days, Greenleaf, WI Thursday, July 17, 11:00 AM "Stories From the Land."

Garden Tour and Book Signing, Governor's Mansion, Madison. Thursday, July 17 4:30-6:00 PM

Bluebirds

Thoreau once wrote, "The bluebird carries the sky on his back." I would add, "and the sun on its breast." I watched a busy bluebird pair out my back window this morning, flitting in and out of the house we built for them a couple years ago.

We have many bluebird houses at our farm. We've placed them several yards apart for the half-mile that separates our farm from my brother, Don's place. Rather than a fence, we define our boundary with bird houses. What a joy it is from early spring through the summer watching bluebirds and tree swallows--the latter in greater number than the former, but equally fun to watch.

The Old Timer says: "Take a child for a walk in the woods. You'll both see more than either expected."

Coming Events:

Barnes and Noble Madison West. Wednesday, July 9, 1:00 p.m. "Who Was Casper Jaggi?"

Circus Camp, Mazomanie. Thursday, July 10, 12:00 noon. "The Ringling Boys and Their Circus."

Barnes and Noble Wausau. Saturday, July 12, 11:00-2:00 PM. IN A PICKLE and more.

Farm Technology Days, Greenleaf, WI Wednesday, July 16, 12:00. "Stories From The Land."

Farm Technology Days, Greenleaf, WI Thursday, July 17, 11:00 AM "Stories From the Land."

Garden Tour and Book Signing, Governor's Mansion, Madison. Thursday, July 17 4:30-6:00 PM

Garden Produce

I pulled my first radishes from the garden a couple weeks ago--big red ones. Each with a bit of personality that was muted with a spot of salt. Not like those wimpy radishes from the supermarket with no kick whatever.

I sow carrot seed in the same row as the radishes and with the radishes pulled the carrots are growing wildly--happy to be on their own I suspect.

Last week I filled a bowl with fresh cut leaf lettuce and spinach leaves. What a treat.

The Old Timer says: "Always nice to know where your food comes from. Even more special to grow it yourself."

Want some help in writing your own story? Consider looking into the one-day workshop I offer at The Clearing in Door County. It's from 9-4 on Saturday, September 13. The fee includes a catered lunch. Call 877-854-3225 for details, or check www.theclearing.org.

Hoeing

When I was a kid, I hated hoeing. Just when I thought we'd caught up with farm work and might go fishing, Pa would say, "Potatoes need hoeing." It seems the potatoes always needed hoeing. In those days we grew three or four acres of potatoes and it would take my dad, two brothers and me several days to do the job. Row after long row we hoed, stopping only long enough for dinner and maybe a drink of water now and then from a Red Wing jug kept under a shade tree on one end of the potato patch.

I'm still hoeing. Only now I enjoy it. I hoed my garden yesterday morning. It took me an hour and a half--I'd done the potato rows the previous day. The birds were singing, the sky was a deep blue, a slight breeze blew from the west and tree swallows circled above their birdhouse a hundred or so yards away. I could smell the freshly turned soil and I could immediately see the results of my work.

Funny how a few years--quite a few years--changes one's perspective on a once boring task.


The Old Timer says: "Teach your children to hoe. Never can tell what they might do with the skill."

Coming Event: Saturday, June 21, 1:00 p.m. Stanley Historical Society, Stanley, Wisconsin. "The Lighter Side of Country Living."

Gone Fishing

My twin brothers and I went fishing last week. The first time the three of us have fished together for more than forty years. Gone was the fierce competition I remember. Who caught the first fish, who hooked the largest fish, who could brag about the most fish? Now it was mostly storytelling. Remembering earlier fishing days when we were much younger, recalling fishing trips with our father, marveling at the beauty of the lake and the splendor of the day.

And realizing that fishing can be much more than catching fish.


The Old Timer says. "Find some time to go fishing."

Coming Events:

Tuesday, June 17, 12:15 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (on the Square in Madison). A brief history of Wisconsin cheese making with the story of Casper Jaggi: Master Cheese Maker.

Saturday, June 21, 1:00 p.m. Stanley Historical Society. "The Lighter Side of Country Living."

Weather Talk

Growing up on a farm I remember how critical weather was to everything we did. Dad knew many of the weather sayings, some are familiar to most people, some not.

Examples:

Red sky in the morning, sailors take warming. (Rain coming)
Red sky at night, sailors delight. (Nice day tomorrow)
Rain before seven, stop before eleven.
No dew in the morning, rain within 24 hours.
Ring around the moon: major chance in weather coming.
If among the clouds, there is a patch of blue sky large enough to make a pair of Dutchman's britches, clear weather is on the way.
April showers bring May flowers.
Rain in May is a barn full of hay.
Rain in June is a silver spoon (Meaning the crops would be off to a good start with ample moisture on our sandy soils.)


The Old Timer says: "Enjoy the wind. Feel it. Embrace it. But always respect it."


Coming Events. Saturday, Book signing, June 7, 1-3PM, Waldens, West Town Mall, Madison.