Winter 1946

For most of us living in the north, below zero weather is merely an inconvenience or an annoyance.  But we complain anyway.

Let me take you back to the home farm in central Wisconsin in 1946 and what it was like for my father on a morning when it was twenty-below zero.  He would crawl out of bed to a bedroom that was frigid as the wood stoves heating the house had gone out around midnight.  He lit the kerosene lamp that stood by his bedstead, pulled on his clothes, and walked to the dining room where he started the fire in the dining room stove.  Then to the kitchen where he started the kitchen cook stove.  Our drinking water, in a water pail as we had no indoor plumbing, had more than an inch of ice on it.  He would place the water pail directly on cook stove, so the ice would thaw and my mother would have water to make coffee for breakfast.

In between fire-starting, Pa woke me up by rapping on the stove pipe leading to the frigid bedroom above the dining room.

With both stoves going, Pa pulled on his wool barn coat, heavy woolen cap, and six buckle boots.  He lit the barn lantern and headed for the pump house, where he started the fire there—the one that kept our pump from freezing.  Then he walked the narrow path to the outside cattle tank, covered with ice.  He started the wood burning tank heater that would melt the ice so the cattle would have water when they were let out to drink later in the morning.

Next he walked the narrow, shoveled path through the snow to the potato cellar, a building built in the side of the hill just beyond the chicken house.  Here is where we stored our fall crop of potatoes as we waited for the price to come up a little before selling.  A stove in the potato cellar kept the potatoes from freezing and Pa started this next.

It was only now that he was ready to begin the morning milking.   Cows that we milked by hand.  By this time he expected that I would show up in the barn to help.

Not once did I hear him complain about the cold or about all the fire starting.  It was winter after all, and that is what you did when you lived on a farm in Waushara County in 1946.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes cold winter weather has to be endured; complaining doesn't help.

COMING EVENTS:

January 28, 5:00 p.m.  TV show, “Live at Five,” Channel 3 Madison.  The Quiet Season.

February 8, Sat. Garden Expo, Madison Alliant Center, 2:15 p.m. Garden Wisdom presentation.

February 9, Sun. Garden Expo, Madison Alliant Center, 10:15 Three Sisters Garden presentation.

February 23, 2:00 p.m. Gard Theater, Spring Green.  Showing of Winter on the Farm with questions and discussion.  Followed by book signing of THE QUIET SEASON. Sponsored by Wisconsin Public TV and Arcadia Bookstore.

For those interested in purchasing DVDS and Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fund raiser for them):

A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps, DVD $20.00 shipping included (An hour-long documentary that has aired on public television.)

The Quiet Season by Jerry Apps $25.00 shipping included (Hardcover book about winter memories—A Farm Winter is based on this book.)

The Bundle: A Farm Winter DVD and The Quiet Season hardcover book - Save $5.00 only $40!

Order from:

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St.
Wild Rose, WI  54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

King of the Hill

They feed peacefully at the bird feeder that hangs in a big spruce tree a few yards from the cabin window.  Juncos, chickadees, blue jays, a bright red cardinal, several nuthatches.  And then, unannounced, the menace arrived from the west, from the big black willow trees that have provided a windbreak for the cabin since 1912.

 A dreaded red squirrel, much smaller than the gray squirrels and fox squirrels.  So small that it doesn't weigh enough to trip the “squirrel proof” mechanism that closes the feeder door to unwanted critters.

The birds leave the feeder, some fly into the spruce tree, some sit on the ground.  And the arrogant red squirrel sits in the feeder and eats and gloats, while the hungry winter birds patiently wait for this bully of the natural world to leave so they can once more return to lunch.

 I notice that even birds have limited patience.  With more than a dozen of them waiting on the snow-packed surface beneath the feeder, occasionally one will do a fly-by at the red squirrel enemy, taunting it.   But the action disturbs the fat and saucy little squirrel not at all.  It sits munching on bird feed, seeming to enjoy its position of  “King of the hill.”

When the plump and satisfied squirrel finally scampers away, the birds return to feeding, I’m sure hoping that something will be left for them.

Is there a lesson here?

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Often nature provides an insight into human activity, helps us see who we are from a different perspective.

COMING EVENTS:

January 22, 6:30 p.m. UW-Eau Claire Woodland Theater (in Davis Student Center). TV show with live presentation. (Winter on the Farm) Book signing of THE QUIET SEASON.

February 8, Sat. Garden Expo, Madison Alliant Center, 2:15 p.m. Garden Wisdom presentation.

February 9, Sun. Garden Expo, Madison Alliant Center, 10:15 Three Sisters Garden presentation.

February 23, 2:00 p.m. Gard Theater, Spring Green.  Showing of Winter on the Farm with questions and discussion.  Followed by book signing of THE QUIET SEASON. Sponsored by Wisconsin Public TV and Arcadia Bookstore.

For those interested in purchasing DVDS and Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fund raiser for them):

A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps, DVD $20.00 shipping included (An hour-long documentary that has aired on public television.)

The Quiet Season by Jerry Apps $25.00 shipping included (Hardcover book about winter memories—A Farm Winter is based on this book.)

The Bundle: A Farm Winter DVD and The Quiet Season hardcover book - Save $5.00 only $40!

Order from:

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St.
Wild Rose, WI  54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Country School in Winter

The below-zero temperatures this past week reminded me my of one-room country school when the weather was so cold.  Our little school was heated with a wood stove, one that the teacher was required to start an hour or so before the students arrived.  No matter how cold it was, and I remember days when it was thirty-five below, the school never closed.  We all walked to school, as did the teacher, so there was no reason to shut things down for a little cold or snowy weather.

                I especially remember that on the coldest days, especially if there was a wind, the front of the schoolhouse never got close to comfortable.  The school had no storm windows, and the building was not insulated so the cold could seep into the building with little difficulty.  When we arrived at school, we brought our lunch buckets (Karol syrup or former lard pails) into the school room so our sandwiches wouldn't freeze.  On warmer days, the lunch buckets along with our boots, caps, coats and scarves stayed in the entry way, where the day’s supply of wood for the ever hungry stove was stored.

                Once we all had arrived at school, still wearing our outdoor clothing, we huddled around the big wood stove, wondering what the teacher had planned for us.  The school had a wind-up Victrola—a machine that played 78 rpm records.  The school had maybe a dozen such records, and on these cold mornings, she would crank-up the Victrola, put on a John Phillip Sousa record and we’d all march around the school room in time with the music.  I thought it was about the dumbest thing I’d ever experienced.  Marching around a frigid school room to the sound from a record machine.  But the teacher knew what she was doing.  Wearing our coats and hats and marching warmed us up enough so when the record was over and we once more gathered around the wood stove, we were comfortable enough to participate in the day’s learning activities.  At the time, I was also too dumb to realize that she was also introducing us to a wonderful composer of march music, perhaps the very best.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Let’s never forget how special the one-room country school teachers were.

UPCOMING EVENTS:   

  

January 14. Paperbacks and Pieces bookstore, Winona, MN.  429 Mankato Ave. 12:00-2:00 p.m. Featuring THE QUIET SEASON.

January 15-16.  La Crosse Farm Show, Convention Center. Winter on the Farm featuring stories from THE QUIET SEASON.  Speaking each day at 11:00 and 1:00.

January 22, 6:30 p.m. UW-Eau Claire Woodland Theater (in Davis Student Center). TV show with live presentation. (Winter on the Farm) Book signing of THE QUIET SEASON.

February 8, Sat. Garden Expo, Madison Alliant Center, 2:15 p.m. Garden Wisdom presentation.

February 9, Sun. Garden Expo, Madison Alliant Center, 10:15 Three Sisters Garden presentation.

February 23, 2:00 p.m. Gard Theater, Spring Green.  Showing of Winter on the Farm with questions and discussion.  Followed by book signing of THE QUIET SEASON. Sponsored by Wisconsin Public TV and Arcadia Bookstore.

For those interested in purchasing DVDS and Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fund raiser for them):

A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps, DVD $20.00 shipping included (An hour-long documentary that has aired on public television.)

The Quiet Season by Jerry Apps $25.00 shipping included (Hardcover book about winter memories—A Farm Winter is based on this book.)

The Bundle: A Farm Winter DVD and The Quiet Season hardcover book - Save $5.00 only $40!

Order from:

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St.
Wild Rose, WI  54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Cold Walk

It was sixteen below zero at the farm on Friday morning, and by mid-afternoon the temperature had crawled to a balmy twelve above, but with a stiff southwestern wind.  A southwestern wind is supposed to be warm, not this one.  I walked only a half-mile or so and saw nothing but gray and white.  Not even a crow, one of our toughest northern creatures.  No deer, they know better than to wander around on a day like this.  Only the creaking of the cold snow as I hiked  and listened to the sound of the wind through the tops of bare oaks, and the pine trees.

I thought about the many days I walked to our country school on a day like this, with a cold wind blowing, and no creatures about.  Then I wore wool long underwear, wool socks, two pairs of bib overalls, a heavy wool shirt, a wool Mackinaw coat, a heavy wool cap with ear laps, leather mittens with wool liners, four buckle rubber boots—and to top it off, a woolen scarf that my grandmother Witt had knitted and which my mother wrapped around and around my head until only my eyes were uncovered.  If you fell down wearing all these clothes it was a challenge to get back up.

By the time I was half way back to the cabin, walking in the wind, I remembered all of this, and I especially remembered my wool scarf.  I wished I had it today. 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes a warm memory will make things better on a cold day.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 8, Downtown Madison Rotary, Noon.  Limping Through Life.

January 14. Paperbacks and Pieces bookstore, Winona, MN.  429 Mankato Ave. 12:00-2:00 p.m. Featuring THE QUIET SEASON.

January 15-16.  La Crosse Farm Show, Convention Center. Winter on the Farm featuring stories from THE QUIET SEASON.  Speaking each day at 11:00 and 1:00.

January 22, 6:30 p.m. UW-Eau Claire Woodland Theater (in Davis Student Center). TV show with live presentation. (Winter on the Farm) Book signing of THE QUIET SEASON.

February 8, Sat. Garden Expo, Madison Alliant Center, 2:15 p.m. Garden Wisdom presentation.

February 9, Sun. Garden Expo, Madison Alliant Center, 10:15 Three Sisters Garden presentation.

February 23, 2:00 p.m. Gard Theater, Spring Green.  Showing of Winter on the Farm with questions and discussion.  Followed by book signing of THE QUIET SEASON. Sponsored by Wisconsin Public TV and Arcadia Bookstore.

The Many Faces Of Snow

Snow, for all of its inconveniences—driving challenges, shoveling, and slippery walking—also has a lot going for it.  The obvious of course is the beauty of a snowfall and the wonders of the countryside transformed from the drabness of late fall’s browns and grays to a world of white. Snow also provides an opportunity to ski and snowshoe and go sledding.  And a chance to build a snowman or a snow fort or maybe even experience a friendly snowball fight.

I did a little digging, no pun intended, into the characteristics of snow, and came up with some interesting information, at least interesting to me.

Snow is not always white.  It may also appear blue especially on a cold winter night when the moon is out.

Most of us have experienced how sound changes after a fresh snowfall.  Sound is absorbed by snow, muffling it.  But when the snow becomes hard and crusty, the opposite happens. Sound bounces off the snow’s surface and travels farther.  Of course we all know the sound packed snow makes when we walk on it, especially on cold days when it creaks and crunches, and sounds like it is protesting our presence.

Snow is also a great insulator.  Fresh snow is made up of from ninety to ninety-five percent air.  Many animals know about snow’s insulating qualities as they burrow into snow to keep warm.  Farmers know this as a good snow cover protects crops such as alfalfa from “winter kill.”  A good snow cover also keeps my septic system from freezing—not a good thing as it happened a few years ago when we had a stretch of below zero weather and no snow.

Snow also stores water.  Ten-inches of snow may equal one-inch of water.  Or ten inches of snow could contain as little as one-tenth inch of water.  It depends on whether a snowfall is enhanced by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, or comes from the dry plains of Canada.

This is probably more than you wanted to know about snow, but I find it all interesting as we plow on into the new year with many more snowfalls to come.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Let it snow, let it snow. Nothing much we can about it anyway.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 8, Downtown Madison Rotary, Noon.  Limping Through Life

January 15-16.  La Crosse Farm Show, Convention Center. Winter on the Farm featuring stories from THE QUIET SEASON.  Speaking each day at 11:00 and 1:00.

January 19, 2:00 p.m. Gard Theater, Spring Green.  Showing of Winter on the Farm with questions and discussion.  Followed by book signing of THE QUIET SEASON. Sponsored by Wisconsin Public TV and Arcadia Bookstore.

January 22, 6:30 p.m. UW-Eau Claire Woodland Theater (in Davis Student Center). TV show with live presentation. (Winter on the Farm) Book signing of THE QUIET SEASON.

Winter Solstice

The official start of winter 2013-2014 was December 21, 12:11 p.m., the date of the winter solstice.  It’s the shortest, darkest day of the year.  From now until June the days grow longer, and as my dad often said, “As the days grow longer the cold grows stronger.”  I always wanted to ask him why June, with its long days, wasn't the coldest month of the year, but I never got around to it.

Winter really arrived back in November, the week before Thanksgiving, when temperatures dropped well below freezing and stayed there into December.  Madison’s Lake Mendota froze up earlier (December 16) than it has for the past three years.  Last season it didn't completely freeze over until January so in 2013 the lake froze over twice in one year—one of those important pieces of trivia that’s worthy of sharing when Holiday conversation lags.

On this first full day of official winter, mother nature decided to wallop us with a snowstorm to remind us that yes indeed winter is here and we’d better get used to it, and enjoy it for it will likely be around until March.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: For all its inconveniences, winter is a beautiful season.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 8, Downtown Madison Rotary, Noon.  Limping Through Life.

January 15-16.  La Crosse Farm Show, Convention Center. Winter on the Farm featuring stories from THE QUIET SEASON.  Speaking each day at 11:00 and 1:00.

January 19, 2:00 p.m. Gard Theater, Spring Green.  Showing of Winter on the Farm with questions and discussion.  Followed by book signing of THE QUIET SEASON. Sponsored by Wisconsin Public TV and Arcadia Bookstore.

January 22, 6:30 p.m. UW-Eau Claire Woodland Theater (in Davis Student Center). TV show with live presentation. (Winter on the Farm) Book signing of THE QUIET SEASON.

Thank You

With Christmas but a few days away, and the New Year approaching, it’s seems appropriate to take time out and thank people who have been so gracious and helpful as I have traveled around the Midwest from Minneapolis to Chicago, from Green Bay to Hudson, from Milwaukee to Park Falls and many places in between.

  First of all, a huge thank you to my wife Ruth, who has traveled with me and who has heard my talks so many times that she could deliver them better than me.  To the fifteen libraries we've visited this past year, the ten bookstores and ten historical societies—thank you.  A special thank you to Kent Barnard and his staff at Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, my home town, for his gracious support of my work and the wonderful way they have organized launches for my books and TV shows. 

 Thanks to all who attended special events where I spoke from a homeless group in Madison, to a DTS Alumni meeting, the Winchester Academy in Waupaca, the Riveredge Nature Center, a German Heritage group in Wausau, the Monroe Art Center, and many more.

 Thanks to the organizers of four book festivals where I spoke: Egg Harbor, Grafton, Mineral Point, and the Heartland Festival in Chicago.

 A special thank you Mike Schneider and his wonderful staff at The Clearing in Door County, where I have taught creative writing for 22 years and continue to teach there.

 To Jim Massey and his staff at The Country Today that runs my bi-monthly column—thank you.

A special thank you to the folks at Wisconsin Public TV, especially Mik Dirks, who takes my often rambling stories and makes something of them, and to Jon Miskowski who, at this late stage in my life, is teaching me once more the power of live TV.

To Larry Meiller, of Wisconsin Public Radio, where I have done radio shows for more than twenty-five years, and to the folks at KBRW, Barrow, Alaska where I do several programs a year.

And finally, to the many, many people who have read my books, listened to my talks, heard me on radio and watched me on TV, thank you so much.  It really means a lot to me.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: You can never say thank you enough.

UPCOMING EVENTS:     

January 8, Downtown Madison Rotary, Noon.  Limping Through Life.

January 15-16.  La Crosse Farm Show, Convention Center. Winter on the Farm.  

Speaking each day at 11:00 and 1:00.

January 22, 6:30 p.m. UW-Eau Claire Woodland Theater (in Davis Student Center). TV show with live presentation. (Winter on the Farm)

Winter Arrives

                In the morning, the land was a collage of browns, tans, and grays—the last remnants of fall that had most of the color drained from it as the countryside quietly waited for the return of winter.  The sky was heavily overcast, the wind was down—and the feeling was that something was going to happen, something important.

                At noon it began, a few tiny flakes of snow, light and fluffy but persistent.  And then more and still more as the snow accumulated, stuck to the roads and walkways, and turned boring browns and tans to a wonder world of white. 

                On the farm, winter does not arrive according to the calendar.  It arrives with the first serious snowfall.  So winter is now officially here, with all of its beauty and challenges, its inconveniences and its joys.

                “A Farm Winter” the hour-documentary that public TV did with me (based on my new book THE QUIET SEASON) couldn't have been aired at a more appropriate time as the snow fell over much of Wisconsin.  A big thank you to all who viewed the show and told me they appreciated it.  If you've not yet seen the program, you can watch it online by going to http://video.wpt.org/video/2365119687/

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Better to watch the weather than the calendar for the changing seasons.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 14, Fireside Books, West Bend, 10:00 to 2:00 p.m.  Presentation and book signing.

January 8, Downtown Madison Rotary, Noon.  Limping Through Life.

January 15-16.  La Crosse Farm Show, Convention Center. Winter on the Farm.  Speaking each day at 11:00 and 1:00.

Northwest Wind

At 6:30 a.m. the air was still and the temperature was eight degrees. I sat on the bench at a deer stand deep in my woods.  My coffee thermos was on my right, a book to read at my left, along with some note cards and a pen to capture an important idea (they usually arrive when least expected).

About 7:00 a.m., after two cups of coffee, no inspiring ideas to note, and hands too cold for book reading, the wind came up.  A stiff, serious, “winter is on the way” wind that blew out of the northwest.  It roared through the tops of the naked oaks and maples. It shook lose the still attached oak leaves.  It caused this old hunter to pull up the hood on his jacket and tuck his cold hands in his pockets. No book reading.  No note taking. Not even any more coffee drinking.

 By 7:30 a.m. the wind was howling through the treetops, reminding me of winter days on the farm, when the wind, this northwest wind, tore around the barn while I was tossing down hay from the hay mow for the comfortable cattle below.  Screeched around the corners of old farm house, sending a chill to the corners of the kitchen and dining room where the heat from the wood stoves didn't reach. Caused my brothers and me to pull up the collars of our wool Makinaw coats, pull down the ear flaps on our wool caps, and hurry us along our snow packed road to the country school a mile away.

 By 10:30 the wind was a near gale, shaking the trees, making a mournful sound as it rushed through the naked branches, a sound that I remember so well in years past.  Enough is enough.  I gathered up hunting equipment, my thermos, my untouched note cards, my unread book and I headed back to the cabin, poured a cup of coffee and crowded up to my wood stove.   And I tried to think of what I would tell my hunting partners when they learned that “a little wind” had sent me seeking a warmer place.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Oh, the great mysteries of the wind.

SPECIAL EVENT: December 4, 7:00 p.m. Premier showing of “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.”  All Wisconsin public TV stations.  

UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 7, Velveteen Rabbit Book Store, 20 Sherman Avenue East, Fort Atkinson, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.  Book signing.

December 8, Barnes and Noble West Madison, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Book signing.

December 14, Fireside Books, West Bend, 10:30 to 2:30 p.m.  Presentation and book signing.

December 23, Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, 11:00-11:45 a.m.

Annual Deer Hunt

In 1946, when I was twelve years old, I bought my first hunting license with the legal right to hunt rabbits, squirrels, ruffed grouse, and most importantly deer.  Deer hunting was on the top tier of hunting adventures.  Since I was old enough to know what was going on in the world I remembered Pa and Bill Miller, our neighbor, sharing tales of hunting deer.  And what wondrous tales they were.  Now, at age 12, I could join in. 

 I don’t recall I even saw a deer that first deer season when I was a legal hunter.  I lugged a double barrel 12-gauge shotgun, which if I had fired it, would have felt like a horse had kicked me in the shoulder.  But deer hunters, no matter what their age, don’t worry about such things.

Now, some 67 years later, I am still deer hunting—sort of—for I mostly enjoy being out in the woods, and deer hunting is one more reason to do it.  I have never missed a deer season since the first one—some kind of a record but a long way from the one Pa held as he hunted until his was 92.  Nothing got in the way of opening day of deer season for him.

In addition to being out in the woods, deer hunting has long been a family tradition for the Apps clan.  My brother, his sons, my son, and this year my Colorado grandsons, Christian and Nicholas—their first time—all hunt deer.  And eat together and tell tall tales of earlier hunts and what was seen and not seen.

For the Apps family there is much more to deer hunting than bagging a deer—it is a tradition filled with memories, stories, and high adventure.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Deer hunting is one more excuse for spending sometime in the nature.

SPECIAL EVENT: December 4, 7:00 p.m. Premier showing of “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.”  All Wisconsin public TV stations. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 7, Velveteen Rabbit Book Store, 20 Sherman Avenue East, Fort Atkinson, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.  Book signing.

December 8, Barnes and Noble West, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Book signing.

December 14, Fireside Books, West Bend, 10:30 to 2:30 p.m.  Presentation and book signing.

            

Wild Rose

Hats off to my home town community of Wild Rose—located in central Wisconsin and a goodly distance from any major city.  And a special thanks to the staff of Patterson Memorial Library, its Friend’s Group, and Director Kent Barnard.

On an evening when the leaves had mostly fallen from the trees, the grass was dead, and it felt like winter was just around the corner, people gathered at Wild Rose High school to enjoy cookies and cider, and to see a special premier showing of Wisconsin Public TV’s new documentary, “Winter on the Farm with Jerry Apps.” More than 300 people watched the show, chatted with each other, asked questions, and shared their stories.

It was a wonderful example of groups cooperating in putting on the event: Wisconsin Public TV, Wisconsin Historical Society Press (publishers of The Quiet Season on which the show was based), and the village of Wild Rose--its high school, the Kiwanis Club and of course Patterson Memorial Library.

Much thanks to all for a very special evening for my wife and me.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: For those of us who grew up in the north, winter is a season that never leaves us.

SPECIAL EVENT: December 4, 7:00 p.m. Premier showing of “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.”  All Wisconsin public TV stations. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

November 21: Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (On the Square). 6:30 p.m. The Quiet Season.

December 7, Velveteen Rabbit Book Store, 20 Sherman Avenue East, Fort Atkinson, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.  Book signing.

December 8, Barnes and Noble West, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Book signing.

December 14, Fireside Books, West Bend, 10:30 to 2:30 p.m.  Presentation and book signing.

Second Saturdays

Thirteen years ago the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center began offering a special series of lectures they called “Second Saturdays.”  The Center is located in Sheboygan Falls and for many years, the programs were held in the community room of the Sheboygan Falls public library.

 I was one of the first speakers for “Second Saturdays” and I remember the day well.  It was a blustery fall day and I was scheduled to talk about Barns of Wisconsin, the title of one of my books.  It was an experiment—who would turn out to hear some guy from Madison talk about barns?  But the room was full (coffee and sweet rolls certainly helped to swell the crowd).  Ruth usually travels with me and sits in the back of the room.  She heard a couple of farmers talking.  “Too wet to work in the fields today anyway, so thought we’d come and hear something about barns—and drink some coffee.”

This past Saturday I appeared on the program for the thirteenth time.  The program has outgrown the Sheboygan Falls Library for many of its offerings.  We met at the Plymouth Art Center and one-hundred-thirty people turned out to hear about Limping Through Life—my memoir describing my bout with Polio back when I was 12 years old.

In many ways, it was like coming home as many people in the audience had been there as many years as I had.  I told stories.  People laughed—they  enjoyed coffee and sweet rolls—and I hope  learned just a little more about a disease that ravished this country and Wisconsin, especially during the years 1945 to 1955.  To learn more about the research center go to: http://www.schrc.org/events-and-programs/second-saturdays/

SPECIAL EVENT: December 4, 7:00 p.m. Premier showing of “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.”  All Wisconsin public TV stations.  This hour-long documentary is based on Jerry’s new book, THE QUIET SEASON.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Never forget your friends.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

November 13: Wisconsin Public TV Documentary Screening, “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps” and book signing. Wild Rose High School Auditorium, 6:15 p.m. Free and open to the public. (In cooperation with the Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose.)

November 17: Lebanon Historical Society.  Fire Hall, Lebanon, 7:00 p.m.  Letters from Hillside Farm and Limping Through Life.

November 21: Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (On the Square). 6:30 p.m. The Quiet Season.

December 7, Velveteen Rabbit Book Store, 20 Sherman Avenue East, Fort Atkinson, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.  Book signing.

December 8, Barnes and Noble West, Madison, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Book signing.

December 14, Fireside Books, West Bend, 10:30 to 2:30 p.m.  Presentation and book signing.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “A FARM STORY WITH JERRY APPS” DVD

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

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

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

Telling Your Story

With the maple leaves at The Clearing in Door County still in prime bright yellow and brilliant red.   Cool invigorating early November temperature surrounding the place.  And yes, with the occasional spit of rain, forty of my writing students gathered to learn about stories and how to write them based on personal memories and experiences. 

How to craft a story so people keep reading.   How to write about joy, and loss, how to use humor and appreciate the power of it.  How to write about the weird uncle and a bullying aunt.  How to write about the place where people grew up.  How to write about a person who made a difference in their lives.

            How to write about the ordinary and make it extraordinary. How to shape a memory into a story.  How to release the creativity that is inside each of us.  And above all, how to have fun while doing it.

People came from Iowa and Illinois, from Wisconsin and Michigan.  High school age and octogenarians and all ages in between.  Husbands and wives.  Brothers and sisters.  People who had been in my classes before, and many who were new and were at The Clearing for the first time.   Accomplished writers and those who were just beginning—trying to figure out where to start. 

All writing their stories.  Lots of laughter.  Some sadness.  A reflection of life itself with its peaks and valleys.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Never forget the power of the story.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

November 6, 3:30 UW PLATO group, Oakwood West, (Mineral Point Road), Madison.  Quiet Season.

November 7, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Public Library. Ringlingville U.S.A.

November 9, 9:30 a.m.: Sheboygan County Research Center, Plymouth, Limping Through Life.

November 10: 3:30 p.m. Books and Company bookstore, Oconomowoc, The Quiet Season.

November 13: Wisconsin Public TV Documentary Screening, “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps” and book signing. Wild Rose High School Auditorium, 6:15 p.m. Free and open to the public. (In cooperation with the Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose.)

November 17: Lebanon Historical Society.  Fire Hall Lebanon, 7:00 p.m.  Letters from Hillside Farm and Limping Through Life.

November 21: Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (On the Square). 6:30 p.m. The Quiet Season.

December 4, 7:00 p.m. Premier showing of “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.”  All Wisconsin public TV stations.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “A FARM STORY WITH JERRY APPS” DVD

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

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

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

            

Read the Wood

“Read the wood,” my dad would say when we were splitting huge blocks of oak wood and my splitting maul would stick in the block.  It was usually this time of the year and more times throughout the late fall and winter that we spent many hours splitting wood for the ever hungry wood stoves in our farm house.  The cook stove in the kitchen and the Round Oak heater in the dining room, and the stove in the pump house that kept the pump from freezing in below zero weather.  And the stove in the potato cellar that kept the potatoes from freezing until they were ready for sale in January or February when the prices were a little better than in the fall.

“Read the wood” meant to study the block before taking a swing at it, looking for the direction of the grain, looking for any knots.  A few seconds of study saved several minutes of embarrassment as I tried to extract the splitting maul from a block that I had not read—or had read incorrectly.

My son, Steve, has become quite a good wood splitter, as we continue to heat our cabin with wood stoves.  Steve has learned how to read the wood, and he has taken the idea a bit further.  He says learning how to read the wood is similar to working with people.  Take a little time to “read” them before reacting can often avoid many difficulties.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Read the Wood

UPCOMING EVENTS:

November 2, 9:00-4:00. The Clearing, Door County. Writing From Your Life Workshop.  Workshop is filled.

November 2, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Book signing.  The Clearing, Door County.

November 6, 3:30 UW PLATO group, Oakwood West, (Mineral Point Road), Madison.  Quiet Season.

November 7, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Public Library. Ringlingville U.S.A.

November 9, 9:30 a.m.: Sheboygan County Research Center, Plymouth, Limping Through Life.

November 10: 3:30 p.m. Books and Company Bookstore, Oconomowoc, The Quiet Season.

November 13: Wisconsin Public TV Documentary Screening, “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps” and book signing. Wild Rose High School Auditorium, 6:15 p.m. Free and open to the public. (In cooperation with the Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose.)

November 17: Lebanon Historical Society.  Fire Hall Lebanon, 7:00 p.m.  Letters from Hillside Farm and Limping Through Life.

November 21: Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (On the Square). 6:30 p.m. The Quiet Season.

December 4, 7:00 p.m. Premier showing of “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.”  All Wisconsin public TV stations.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “A FARM STORY WITH JERRY APPS” DVD

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

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

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

Frost

Twenty-six degrees at the farm this morning.  White frost on the woodshed roof, on the cabin roof, on the bench outside the door, on the green lawn.  Peak fall color is past.  The maples in the woodlot, beautiful reds and yellows last week, are now bare branches, their colorful leaves on the ground, mixing with the oak leaves and aspen leaves, creating a collage of color, and a rich stew of smells that only autumn can create.

            As I travel the trail through my woodlot, I hear a hint of the winter wind moving through the bare branches of the trees, creating a sound that takes me back to the home farm and the wind on October nights reminding me of ghosts and goblins and the fright of Halloween, as well as the fun of it as there were no trick or treats—only tricks.

            The maple tree in front of the cabin, the one my children gave me for my 60^th birthday is a special a tree of course, and it is bright red this morning, as if it was waiting for me to see it (I have been in the far north doing book talks this past week).

            Rain is predicted for this afternoon and evening, so most of my birthday tree’s brilliant red leaves will drop as well—but so good of it to wait for me to see it in all of its fall beauty before it once more begins looking like the rest of my woodlot.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Take time to “read” a block of wood before you swing the splitting maul.  Take time to “read” a person before you open your mouth.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 22, 3:00 p.m. Brillion Library. Rural Wit and Wisdom

October 23, 2:45-3:30, Wisconsin Library Association, Green Bay. Letters from Hillside Farm

October 26, 10:00-2:00 Grafton Book Festival, Liberty Memorial Library, Grafton. Limping Through Life.

November 2, 9:00-4:00 The Clearing, Door County. Writing From Your Life Workshop

November 2, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Book signing.  The Clearing, Door County.

November 6, 3:30 UW PLATO group, Oakwood West, Madison.  Quiet Season.

November 7, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Public Library. Ringlingville U.S.A.

November 9, 9:30, Sheboygan County Research Center, Plymouth, Limping Through Life.

November 10: 3:30 p.m. Books and Company bookstore, Oconomowoc, The Quiet Season.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “A FARM STORY WITH JERRY APPS” DVD

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

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

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

More Than One Meaning

            When I talk to groups about early farming activities, I've learned to be careful and share the meaning of the some of the words I use.  For instance, I was talking to some young people about farming with horses and mentioned hitching a horse to “singletree.”   An alert young fellow asked, “Did you only have one tree on your farm, and why did you hitch a horse to it? (A singletree, also known as a whiffletree, is a wooden device to which the harness tugs are attached.)

            I also talk about a walking plow, and again, some kids believe the plow is walking when in reality the walking is done by a team of horses and the plowman, who holds onto the plow’s handles, trying to keep the plow in the ground.

            The confusion over the meaning of words extends beyond farming.   A little girl was on her way to visit her grandfather in the hospital.  When they arrived at the hospital she entered the room before her grandmother, and walked up to her grandfather, looked at him and asked, “Can you make a sound like a frog?”

            “Why should I do that?” answered her grandfather.

            “Because Grandma said that when you croak we’re going to Disney World.” 

            The little girl obviously did not know that “croak” had more than one meaning.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes the words we use can be confusing.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 17, 7:00 p.m. Park Falls Library, Park Falls. Limping Through Life.

October 20, Noon. Rib River Ballroom, Marathon City. German-American Group. Limping Through Life.

October 22, 3:00 p.m. Brillion Library. Limping Through Life

October 23, 2:45-3:30, Wisconsin Library Association, Green Bay. Letters from Hillside Farm

October 26, 10:00-2:00 Grafton Book Festival, Liberty Memorial Library, Grafton. Limping Through Life.

November 2, 9:00-4:00 The Clearing, Door County. Writing From Your Life Workshop

November 2, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Book signing.  The Clearing, Door County.

November 6, 3:30 UW PLATO group, Oakwood West, Madison.  Quiet Season.

November 7, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Public Library. Ringlingville U.S.A.

November 9, 9:30, Sheboygan County Research Center, Plymouth, Limping Through Life.

November 10: 3:30 p.m. Books and Company bookstore, Oconomowoc, The Quiet Season.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “A FARM STORY WITH JERRY APPS” DVD

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

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

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

End of Garden Season

The sun was bright, the day was cool, the maples, (not all) were in full fall color as we put our big Roshara garden to bed for the winter.  The process is simple.  We started by cutting the remaining corn stalks into small pieces, using a corn knife that my father used on the home farm sixty years ago.

A couple weekends ago, Steve and Natasha dug the remaining potatoes, picked the late ripening tomatoes, dug the carrots and beets, cut the last heads of cabbage, picked the pumpkins, squash and gourds, and chopped up the early sweet corn stalks into small pieces.  They also removed all the tomato vines from the garden site (keeps down potential disease).  Likewise for all the dead pumpkin, squash, cucumber and zucchini (they plug up the disk).

Today we wound up the electric fence wire and pulled the fence posts—not an especially easy job, but a necessary one as the tractor needs room to work.  With the fence put away, Steve hitched the tractor to the disk and a half-hour later, the garden was transformed to a field of freshly turned soil, with all of its rich smells.

Once the garden was disked, we broadcast (that’s a word that means flinging grain kernels by hand) winter rye and wheat to cover the soil, which we worked in with yet another pass of the tractor and disk to cover the kernels.

And the thus the 2013 garden season came to an end.  The garden, with its cover crop of wheat and rye will rest the long winter, waiting for the tractor and plow in April when we do it all over again.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Gardening has many seasons.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 13, 1-4 P.M. August Derleth Celebration, Circus World Museum, Baraboo.

October 17, 5:30, Park Falls Library, Park Falls.

October 20, Noon. Rib River Ballroom, Marathon City. German-American Group. Limping Through Life.

October 22, 3:00 p.m. Brillion Library. Limping Through Life

October 23, 2:45-3:30, Wisconsin Library Association, Green Bay. Letters from Hillside Farm

October 26, 10:00-2:00 Grafton Book Festival, Liberty Memorial Library, Grafton.

November 2, 9:00-4:00 The Clearing, Door County. Writing From Your Life Workshop

November 2, 4:00-6:00 p.m. The Clearing Door County.  The Quiet Season

November 6, 3:30 UW PLATO group, Oakwood West, Madison. Winter on the Farm, TV show with talk..

November 7, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Public Library. Ringlingville U.S.A.

November 9, 9:30, Sheboygan County Research Center, Plymouth, Limping Through Life.

November 10: 3:30 p.m. Books and Company bookstore, Oconomowoc, The Quiet Season.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “A FARM STORY WITH JERRY APPS” DVD

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

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

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

A Walk in the Rain

I walked in the rain yesterday, the quarter mile down the hill from my cabin to the pond, just before dark.  I wore my knee high rubber boots, a decent rain coat, and my old Filson hat.  Soon water dripped from it, and the sound of the rain drops on that old hat reminded me of the many nights I spent in a tent, with raindrops drumming on the canvas.

As I walked through the falling rain I spotted woodbine, a brilliant red vine that had crawled all the way to the top of several trees along the wet trail, a reminder of the many fall colors to come.

When I arrived at the little field just west of the pond, I spotted a flock of turkeys, a half-dozen or so.   Mama turkey and this year’s brood ran like racehorses through the wet grass when they spotted me, into the dense brush near the pond, and disappeared, one by one.

A few of the aspen leaves showed yellow, and a scattering fluttered to the ground around me, dislodged by the rain.  They added to the smells of fall that I so much enjoy.

Arriving at the pond, I watched the raindrops on the pond’s surface, each one made a subtle little tinkling sound, and each one created a little circle that widened and then disappeared.  One circle after the other, appearing and disappearing; nature’s magical artistry.

And through the mists I spotted a maple tree on the far side of the pond, in full fall splendor—a brilliant red among mostly green leaves.  Turning red early this maple, avoiding the competition from all the other maples in my woodlot that will soon follow with brilliant yellows and reds. Showing off.

A glorious walk in the rain, when the landscape offered a special set of sights, sounds, and smells.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Take a walk in the rain; you won’t melt

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 1, 6:00 p.m. UW Memorial Library, Room 460, Wis Public TV “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.” Book signing, A Quiet Season. Free and open to the public. Parking in Lake St. Ramp.

October 4-5, Heartland Fall Forum (Book Festival), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Chicago. O’Hare.

October 13, 1-4 P.M. August Derleth Celebration, Circus World Museum, Baraboo.

October 17, 5:30, Park Falls Library, Park Falls.

October 20, Noon. Rib River Ballroom, Marathon City. German-American Group. Limping Through Life.

October 22, 3:00 p.m. Brillion Library. Limping Through Life

October 23, 2:45-3:30, Wisconsin Library Association, Green Bay. Letters from Hillside Farm

October 26, 10:00-2:00 Grafton Book Festival, Liberty Memorial Library, Grafton.

November 2, 9:00-4:00 The Clearing, Door County. Writing From Your Life Workshop

November 6, 3:30 UW PLATO group, Oakwood West, Madison.  Quiet Season.

November 7, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Public Library. Ringlingville U.S.A.

November 9, 9:30, Sheboygan County Research Center, Plymouth, Limping Through Life.

November 10: 2:00 p.m. Books and Company bookstore, Oconomowoc, The Quiet Season.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “A FARM STORY WITH JERRY APPS” DVD

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

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

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

The Quiet Season: Remembering Country Winters

MY newest book, The Quiet Season: Remembering Country Winters, is now available in bookstores, and also may be ordered from my website, www.jerryapps.com.  Wisconsin  Historical Society Press is the publisher. 

One writer said this about the book.“[Jerry] shares stories of growing up and keeping warm on a farm in central Wisconsin in the 1930s and early '40s. His memories are of a quieter season, a winter world that existed before electricity when farmers milked cows by hand by the light of a kerosene lantern. It was an era when a major part of every winter's work was 'making wood' to heat drafty farm homes and rural country schools, and when a lack of indoor plumbing meant every morning began with a rousingly cold dash to an outhouse.  Wisconsin winters then were also a time of reflection, of planning for the next year, and of families drawing together, a "quiet season" that profoundly influenced those who grew up with harsh northern winters]

The Quiet Season book is the subject for a hour-long TV documentary produced by Wisconsin Public TV and will be aired for the first time on Wisconsin Public TV stations December 4, 7:00 p.m.

For those who want a preview of the show, stop by the UW-Madison Memorial Union for a showing on October 1, 6:00 p.m. or the Wild Rose High School auditorium, on November 13, 7:00 p.m.  I will speak briefly at each showing and answer questions.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Different from what many say, winter has a lot going for it.

 UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 23, 6:30-7:30 Mount Horeb Public Library. Limping Through Life

September 26, 5:30 p.m. WPT, Premier Showing, “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps,” Green Bay, Rock Garden, 1951 Bond Street.  Book signing, A Quiet Season. Tickets required, includes dinner.

September 28, 1:00 Barnes and Noble, Wausau, Book Signing. Limping Through Life and Quiet Season.

October 1, 6:00 p.m. UW Memorial Library Commons, WPT “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.” Book signing, A Quiet Season.

October 4-5, Heartland Fall Forum (Book Festival), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Chicago. O’Hare.

October 13, 1-4 P.M. August Derleth Celebration, Circus World Museum, Baraboo.

October 17, 5:30, Park Falls Library, Park Falls.

October 20, Noon. Rib River Ballroom, Marathon City. German-American Group. Limping Through Life.

October 22, 3:00 p.m. Brillion Library. Limping Through Life

October 23, 2:45-3:30, Wisconsin Library Association, Green Bay. Letters from Hillside Farm

October 26, 10:00-2:00 Grafton Book Festival, Liberty Memorial Library, Grafton.

November 2, 9:00-4:00 The Clearing, Door County. Writing From Your Life Workshop

November 6, 3:30 UW PLATO group, Oakwood West, Madison.  Quiet Season.

November 7, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Public Library. Ringlingville U.S.A.

November 9, 9:30, Sheboygan County Research Center, Plymouth, Limping Through Life.

November 10: 2:00 p.m. Books and Company bookstore, Oconomowoc, The Quiet Season.