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.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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
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
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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)
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)
Sunday, February 01, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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
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
Sunday, January 18, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
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.
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.
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