Learning From Winter Jerry Apps photo

 

In 1956, I was in the army, stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia, which is a few miles from Williamsburg.  I arrived there in January and the first thing I noticed was—they had no winter.  I saw a fellow washing his car.  Unheard of in Wisconsin in January.

            As strange as it may sound, I found myself missing winter.  I liked skiing and snow-shoeing.  I liked ice fishing.  I liked being outside on a snowy day, when big snowflakes were falling.  I missed the subtle sound as they fell.  I missed how beautiful the countryside was all dressed in white. I missed all of that in Fort Eustis, Virginia, while I wore an army uniform.

            Many years later I wrote a book titled THE QUIET SEASON: REMEMBERING COUNTRY WINTERS. PBS Wisconsin produced an hour-long documentary based on the book, titled FARM WINTER.  In the book and the TV show I talked  about winter, and its positive points.

            Here is a bit from the introduction to the book: “Over the years I have come to appreciate and even enjoy northern winters.  But I’ve also learned that there is more to winter than snow and ice and bitter cold.  Winter has shaped me in ways that go deeper than I am even aware.  Living through a real winter—a northern winter—affects how we think, influences what we believe is important, and causes us to relate to other people in a particular way.”

In the last chapter of the book I wrote, “Of all the seasons, winter is the most striking and most influential on the lives of the people who experience it. . . winter is more than cold and snow, frozen water pipes, slippery road, and dark and dreary days.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Think about it. There is much to be learned from a Wisconsin winter.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books, including THE QUIET SEASON, at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Day

 

       Jerry Apps Photo

            Valentine’s Day at the country school that I attended was special.  We were generally in the middle of a long, cold and snowy winter.  And we all needed a break.  The country school Valentine’s party was the break we needed.  It began around 2:00 p.m. on February 14 as I recall.  The mother’s were invited. They had to walk, of course, some of them more than a mile. We all walked to school in those days.

            A big box, decorated with red and white hearts stood on the teacher’s desk.  Each student had a valentine for every student.  And every student had a card for the teacher.  We couldn’t wait to see the valentines that we knew were in that box.

            The mothers brought cakes and cookies.  Our teacher made Kool-Aid.  We enjoyed the treats as we waited for the distribution of the valentines.  Usually an eight-grader had the honor of passing out the cards. The cards we received were similar to ones pictured here.  What we looked for is for some special hand-written notes on our cards, especially when we were in the upper grades and boys and girls began noticing each other.  It was a special day. It helped to shorten winter.  Once Valentine’s Day arrived, we knew that spring must be waiting just around the corner. 

            Valentine’s Day is named after St. Valentine and began being celebrated as a “day of romance” in about the 14^th century. Another story says that a fellow named Valentine was in jail, and had fallen in love with the jailer’s daughter.  He wrote a “Valentine” to her before he died. Supposedly, Pope Gelasius declared the day of his death as St. Valentine’s Day.  This was in the 5^thcentury.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Valentine’s Day—a day to take a break from winter. Remember your Valentine.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

 

 

Selecting Garden Seeds        Seed catalogs Jerry Apps Photo

            Starting in late December, and continuing through January and into February, the garden seed catalogs began arriving.  One, two a day.  Until I had a pile of them.  They came from all over the country—East, West, South and of course from Wisconsin.  Sort of fun to see all those brightly colored vegetable photos on a cold winter day.

            As we have done for several years, my farm garden managers, Steve and Natasha, and I met for lunch and an extended discussion around which vegetable seeds to order this year. We have a map of what we planted last year, and where it was planted in the garden as our guide—we try not to plant anything in the garden where it was planted last year.  Cuts down on disease problems.  We also try to order vegetable varieties that have done well in recent years.

            We have the most fun trying to decide on tomato varieties—of course we always go with the old standbys, Wisconsin 55, Early Girl, and Big Boy.  We usually plant five to seven different varieties. 

After the old favorites we read tomato descriptions: “bursting with flavor,” biggest tomato ever,” “incredible tangy flavor,” “savory old-fashioned flavor,” “hands-down champion,” and much more. One catalog had 39 pages of tomatoes. Which ones to choose?

            Our second interesting discussion revolves around sweet corn varieties.  We always have trouble deciding on which to order.  Here are some of the descriptors: “most widely used hybrid in the world,” “delectable describes its taste,” “filled with 14 to 16 rows of tender, creamy kernels,” “phenomenal eating quality,” “explosively crisp, sweet flavor,” “sweetest of all,” and much, much more.

            Of course, there is always discussion around each of the other vegetable varieties we should order—beans, carrots, kale, lettuce, etc. sometimes jokingly— “Which will the rabbits leave alone?”

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Ordering garden seeds is a peek into Spring.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books including my book, Garden Wisdom, at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

 

Window on Nature. Steve Apps Photo

 

On these cold, snowy, often dreary days of midwinter, cabin fever, enhanced by fears of COVID, comes visiting.  Ruth has discovered a remedy for this problem. A simply remedy.  Look out the window.  In front of our bedroom window is a bush about five feet tall.  On a sunny morning, little birds gather there. A bunch of them.  Ruth watches them and listens to their chipping, which is loud enough to hear through the window. She imagines they are talking to each other. 

“Did you hear about Charlie, he rammed into a window the other day.  He was a bit dazed,” says loud chipping, Ethel.

“Charlie is usually dazed,” says Joyce who continues, “I found just the best bird feed. Only a few doors down, too.”  Just as each bird seems to be talking at once, a pair of cardinals, a male and a female appears.  The little birds fly off, and now Ruth listens in on the Cardinal talk. “Just about time to start whistling in the morning,” says Clarence, the bright red male.  “Days are getting longer.”

“Do you have to whistle so loud?” asks Clarence’s mate. “You are such a show-off.”

And then there are squirrels, what fun they seem to be having on these cold snowy days.  Chasing after each other through the snow.  Climbing up the maple trees and leaping from snowy branch to snowy branch.  Digging in the snow for some food stored away last fall.  Climbing on the empty bird houses.  Curious.  Never resting it seems.  Not bothered by the snow one bit. Or the cold.

A pair of rabbits sits by the woodpile, watching the squirrels, one squirrel says to the other, “Don’t those squirrels ever get tired?”

When you tire of looking at the four walls of your house, look out the Window.  You might be surprised what you see.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: What would we do without windows?  A joy to see nature in winter.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

Winter Nights

 

  Steve Apps Photo

The winter nights on the farm, when I was a kid were long, cold, and dark.  No one in our farm community had electricity until after World War II.  So, there were no yard lights piercing the darkness, only lamps and lanterns creating slivers of light in farm homes and barns. And there were no flashlights.

We didn’t let the darkness prevent us from having winter fun.  One thing we did fairly often was walk to Chain O’ Lake, which was about a mile and half from our farm and have a skating party.  There might be a dozen of us, all schoolmates from our nearby country school.

First thing we’d do upon arriving at the lake was to build a good size fire on the shore of the lake, which provided enough light so could see to clamp on our skates.  The fire also warmed u if the night happened to be one of those that was below zero.

One of us would bring a shovel from home, and we’d clear a goodly size area on the ice.  And then we’d skate, forward and backward. Fast and slow. We raced each other across the ice.  We played crack the whip.  We’d stop when we would hear a loud bang.  We knew what it was, it was ice contracting, creating long cracks.  We said this was the lake talking to us.

As dark as the night might be, especially if there was no moon, we could see quite well.  It was walking by starlight, something that few people can or would want to experience these days.  Maybe it was because our eyes were accustomed to dim lighting—that which a kerosene lamp or lantern might provide.  Or maybe it was because that’s all the light there was.  Stay home or walk by starlight—and be thrilled when there was full moon, and more light, much more light as the moonlight bounced from the snow-covered fields.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Don’t let a dark night prevent you from having fun.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books. 

 Tracks in the snow.  

    Steve Apps Photo

“Just tracks in the snow,” the person said when glancing at this photo.  For some people that’s all they are.  Merely tracks.  But to my dad, tracks in the snow were much more.  They were nature lessons.

            By the time I was able to walk and wallow along in the snow, I would tag along when Pa went for a winter walk.  When we’d see a track in the snow, he’d say, “Look close. That’s a cottontail rabbit track.  Or that’s a fox track, or a squirrel track, or maybe a tiny field mouse track.  Or maybe a huge jack rabbit track—jack rabbits were commonly seen at the farm back in the 1930s and 40s.  But that’s not all Pa wanted me to see and learn.  Not only did he want me to identify what kind of critter made the track, but he wanted me to figure out what they were doing when they made the track.

            “See this squirrel track,” he would say.  “See what the squirrel was doing, where it was going.  We’d follow the track and see where the squirrel did some digging in the snow.  “Looking for something to eat,” Pa would say.  “Looking for some acorns it buried last fall.”

            We might follow a rabbit track, and then see some strange looking marking along side the track and then see the rabbit track no more.  “Hawk got the rabbit and flew off with it,” Pa would say. Or, we might follow a fox track for a bit and see where the fox dug in the snow, looking for something to eat.  Maybe a field mouse.

            Tracks in the snow are nature’s history lessons, who was doing what, and how.  Lessons that I never forgot.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: So much to learn from an animal track in the snow.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

See my book Whispers and Shadows for more about nature’s lessons. You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in north central Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 ICE SKATING SURPRISE

Pond ready for skating. Steve Apps photo.

            As we moved into the depths of winter on the farm when I was a kid, the barn chores seemed never ending, as did snow shoveling.  Walking to our country school when the temperature was minus twenty-five was no treat either.  Nor was waking up in a frigid bedroom each morning.

            On the plus side we did a lot of sliding down the hill just back of the school, and having our choice of several hills at the farm.  Same with skiing.  We even skied to school on occasion.

            One winter something special happened.  Around mid-January the temperature rose above freezing for several days, creating a pond in the field just east of the farmhouse.  Then winter returned and the pond froze.  On a Saturday morning at breakfast, Pa said, “You boys—I have younger twin brothers—should try ice skating on that pond.  We knew nothing about ice skating, and had no skates, which we reminded Pa.

            “Tell you what,” Pa said. “When we finish the barn chores, let’s drive down to Wild Rose.  I think Hotz’s Hardware might have some skates.”

            And they did.  They had skates that fastened on the bottom of your shoes.  Fifty cents a pair.  Pa bought three pair.  Not long after we returned home, we three boys, with our new skates were at the pond, attempting to ice skate. Pa came along with us. We spent more time sprawled out on the ice than skating.  We discovered that ice skating was a whole lot more difficult than sledding or even skiing.

            After a few minutes of doing more falling than skating, Pa said, “Let me give it a try.”  I took off my skates, and he clamped them on his shoes.  I was a bit worried that he might fall and hurt himself and then we’d have even more chores to do. But that didn’t happen.  He sailed around the pond with nary a stumble. “This is how you do it,” he said with a big smile on his face.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Never underestimate what your dad could do.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

  If you want to learn more about my Polio experience, see my book, Limping Through Life.  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books. 

 

Winter at the Farm. Photo by Steve Apps.

            As 2021 limps its way into history, I look forward to opening the door to 2022.  With COVID continuing to menace almost everyone in one way or another, it’s difficult to look forward to another year without wondering “what next?”  Another version of the virus yet not seen? More cancelled events? Is there any hope?

            I remember the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Polio was rampant across the country. Wisconsin was especially hit hard. Thousands of young people suffered from the disease, many of them with paralyzed limbs, some of them confined to iron lungs that helped them breathe. A close neighbor boy died. I was one of them with Polio a paralyzed right leg, which prevented me from walking.  Which kept me home from school for several months.

            For me, a 12-year old at the time, it was a time of little hope.  A time of “why me?”  I will never forget my father’s words at the time, “Next year will be a better year.”  He said that to me often, as he helped me learn to walk once more. At the time, not only could I not walk, but I felt worthless. After several weeks of his therapy—mostly driving the tractor where I had to use my paralyzed leg to drive it—I could walk but with a limp. 

            It’s easy to feel hopeless today, as hospitals fill with COVID patients, and every newscast begins with dreaded stories about the virus swirling through our communities. My father’s words were words of hope, “Next Year will be a better year.”  One way to avoid the feeling of hopelessness is to think about the good things in life.  A beautiful winter day is one of good things.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Hope is powerful, never, ever leave it behind.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

  If you want to learn more about my Polio experience, see my book, Limping Through Life.  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

 Photo by Steve Apps. Herman Apps with Tipup

When I was nine or ten years old, during Christmas break from school, we went ice fishing. Every day.  No matter if it was 10 degrees above zero or ten degrees below, we went ice fishing.  We would hurry up the morning barn chores, gather up the minnows Pa kept in the pump house, the tipups, ice strainer, and ice chisel.  And not to forget our lunch that Ma had prepared that she stuffed in a lunch pail along with a thermos of coffee.

We were off to Mt. Morris Lake, between Wild Rose and Wautoma, about a half hour drive in our 1936 Plymouth.  Arriving at the parking spot, we gathered up our equipment and trudged a half-mile or so through the cold and snow to the lake.  Once there, Pa decided where we should fish, meaning where we would cut holes through the ice with ice chisel—not an easy task.  By this time, the lake had ten or more inches of ice. We fished for northern pike and used tipups to try and catch them. (See photo for a tipup).

Once the holes were cut and the tipups were in place, we each could have two tipups, we returned to shore.  We started a little campfire, using cattail heads, and twigs and small branches that we gathered.  Soon the little fire was sending a lazy thread of smoke into the air as we sat around it warming ourselves, and watching the tipups for a flag to fly up meaning we had a bite. The Kolka boys and their dad might join us, Uncle Wilbur sometime did, as did the Nelson boys and others, too.

It was a time for story-telling—maybe better called truth stretching—as fishermen have a bad habit of catching more and larger fish in their stories than what really happened. It was a time that I have never forgotten.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Christmas break evokes ice fishing stories and wonderful memories.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

Christmas Creativity

My mother-in-law, Ella Olson, was one of the most creative people I had ever met.  She and my father-in-law, Otto Olson, lived on a farm west of Westby.  She did all the work that farm women did, but she also found time to express her creativity.  Especially at Christmas time.  She had little Christmas displays all around their home.

My wife, Ruth, inherited a goodly measure of my mother-laws’ creativity. Our home, is decorated for fall, for thanksgiving, for winter, for spring, for summer.  But especially for Christmas.  Ruth has a collection of snowmen, from tiny little ones to big stuffed ones that she displays.  “Because I can keep the snowmen displayed well after Christmas,” she says.

Ruth’s collection of Santas is also quite remarkable—from tiny little ones only an inch or so tall, to those able to sit up in a chair.  And not to forget the Scandinavian gnomes.  Some so homely they are cute. Daughter Sue and daughter-in-law, Natasha help arrange the displays.

Her most special collection are angels, she inherited these from her mother and she has added to the collection as the years go by.  And the nativity scene collection is quite remarkable with wise men, angels and of course Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in a little straw manager.

The center piece of it all, is our home-grown Christmas tree, decorated with story-remembering ornaments.  Our Christmas tree is really a history tree, as Ruth lists the events of the past year in a little book made from match boxes that are hung on the tree each year.

Visiting our home before Christmas is an experience. For the family, memories come flooding back as the kids (they are far from kids) and grandkids visit each of the displays and talk about them.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Ruth’s creativity comes bubbling forth, especially at Christmas time.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

Searching for the Perfect Christmas Tree

 .   

 Steve Apps Photo: Rob Zaleski and grandson, Zale.

It was a cool, clear, quiet Saturday morning at Roshara, our Waushara County Farm.  A hint of snow covered the grassy areas on the north side of the windbreak, but walking was easy. The subtle smell of pine was in the air.

It was the day of our annual Christmas tree hunt, and a hunt it always is as we have trees of many sizes and shapes, none of them sheared but all growing naturally.  The hunt is complicated by the fact that we have 60 acres of trees, about 40 of them pine and spruce and 60 of them hardwoods, with spruce found here and there among the maple and white oak trees.

Since we bought the farm in 1966, we have planted trees each year.  In the early years we planted a thousand or more trees each year, one year even 7,500.  Mostly we planted red pine, but also a few Norway spruce.  Naturally growing at the farm are white pine, seeded from a white pine windbreak the Coombes family planted in the 1930s.  Jack pine is native to the area, and we have a sprinkling of them here and there on the property.  And Scotch pine also grow naturally. Some consider them an invasive, weed tree, but they make a fine Christmas tree, Scotch Pine are relatively short needled and the needles stay put on the tree.

So, what kind of a tree for Christmas? The goal: A tree for Ruth and me, a tree for Steve and Natasha, a tree for Paul and Sue, and a tree for our friends Rob and Cindy Zaleski.

Earlier, I had selected a white pine about six feet tall, fully branched and quite beautiful.  So that was the first one cut.  After that, the crew was on its own as I had not tried to second guess what each family would like.

By noon, everyone had a tree of their choice.  Smiles all around as he sat down in the cabin for our noon lunch.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: There is something special about selecting a Christmas tree among so many choices.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

December Memories 

For me, December is a month of memories.  Christmas tops the list, of course, with its preparation, anticipation, and hope. But there are also many other memories as well.

December is the month when winter claims its place among the four seasons of the year, often showing us that it is the most important of all the seasons—with its cold and snow, and short, and often dark, dreary days.  But as a kid, I looked forward to the change.  Now the farm work turned from field work to never ending barn chores as the cows were now kept in the barn nearly all of the time.  They were let out each morning, and sometimes in the morning to drink at the stock tank in the barnyard.  A special wood burning tank heater kept the stock tank water from freezing.

At our one room country school, December an eighth grader was in charge of keeping the woodstove in back of the school room going and struggling to keep the school room warm enough for learning.   It was a time for snow forts and snowball fights.  Riding our sleds down the hill back of the school and playing snow games where during warmer seasons we played softball.

One special memory was of my Grandfather Witt, who lived on a farm a mile or so from ours.  One winter, he made me a pair of skis out of birch wood. He turned up the fronts of the skis by holding the wood over a steaming kettle.  The skis were six feet long, about four inches wide and had strips of harness leather across their middle where my boots would fit. They had no grooves in the bottom.  This meant it might be skiing downhill straight ahead, or I may be going sidewise.  Always an adventure with Grandpa’s skis.

And not to forget the beauty of poinsettias—Christmas always means poinsettias.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: December is for slowing down and remembering a bit about yesterday and what the month of December meant.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

75 Years of Deer Hunting

 

Somewhere in my upbringing, the words “don’t brag” have stayed with me.  I can hear my dad saying it now, as I write the words.  But I do want to mention that this was my 75^th year deer hunting, without missing a year.  Not when I was in the army.  Not when I was in college.  Not when I wasn’t feeling well—I was always ready for deer season.

I remember that November day in 1946, when I, for the first time, could join my dad on the annual deer hunt.  I carried my dad’s double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun. The barrel was nearly as long as I was tall, and it weighed a ton—or so it seemed for this little 12-year-old.

In those days, there were few deer in Waushara County.  If I as much as saw a deer track, it was an exciting moment.  Several days during the annual hunt, my dad and our neighbor, Bill Miller, drove a few miles west to Adams County where a few deer could be found in the vicinity of the Roche-A-Cri River. I rode along. My dad was born and raised in that neck-of-the-woods, so he knew the area well.  Few people lived there at the time, it was a place for hundreds of acres of woods—and some deer.

Dad dumped me and the 12-guage out on a bridge that crossed the Roche-A-Cri.  His words, “Walk along the river to the west and kick out any deer might that be there. Follow the river and you won’t get lost.”

It was a cool, but sunny fall day.  As I walked along the river, I spotted something swimming in the water. It was a beaver, and it along with other beavers, were building a dam on the river.  I had never seen a beaver before, only pictures. I leaned the shotgun against a big white pine tree and watched the beaver’s work.

When I finally arrived where Pa and Bill Miller were waiting at the ready with their deer rifles, they were certain I had gotten lost.  I didn’t tell them I had been watching the beavers and not driving deer.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: There is much more to deer hunting than trying to bag a deer.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

Migrating Geese and Seasonal Change

                                       

 Steve Apps photo. 

You could usually hear them before you saw them.  The Canada Goose call is very distinctive, as are the Vs of them winging south each fall to return again in the spring.  It’s a sure sign of seasonal change—fall to winter, winter to spring, when the Canada geese are flying.

As a kid, on cool, clear fall days, I remember seeing long Vs of Canada geese stretching from one horizon to another.  Always curious, I did some checking as to why the Canada geese flew in long Vs while other migrating song birds did not.  By following closely behind each other, the leading goose creates a slipstream, which helps pull the trailing birds forward. The lead goose also creates little pockets of spinning air, which helps provide lift.  Of course, the first goose in line benefits not at all from this, and has to work much harder than those coming behind.

When the lead goose gets tired, it falls back and another takes its place, and the flock continues on, honking happily as they look forward to a warm winter in the south.  Geese prefer flying when the wind is down—understandable.  It takes a lot of energy when there is no wind.  It takes much more if the flock has fly into a brisk wind.

 On a windy day, the migrating flock will “layover” on an available body of water until the wind dies down.  The pond at our farm is sometimes a layover place.  One day I stopped by and saw the pond nearly filled with resting geese.  Each talking in its own way—no doubt grumbling that they had to interrupt their travels because of the wind. Geese that migrate over our farm follow the same “flyway” year after year.  The route is familiar to them and they don’t get lost in their migration. 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Everything seems right with the world when I see a flock of migrating Canada Geese

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WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

It’s not too early for Christmas shopping.  Books make great gifts.  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

Shocking Corn

                                                        Sheboygan County Historical Research Center Photo

Nothing has changed faster in Midwestern agriculture than how the crops are harvested each fall.  Take corn for example.  Consider how it was commonly done when I was a kid—back in the 1940s and 1950s. In those days we grew about 20 acres of corn.  None of it was sold off the farm, it was used to feed our livestock during the long winters.

After the first frost, the corn plants began to dry down.  Pa would hitch the team to the one-row corn binder, which cut the corn and tied it into bundles. Once the corn was cut, we stood the bundles into corn shocks for further drying. About ten bundles in a shock. I was describing shocking corn to a class of fourth graders a few years ago.  A young fellow raised his hand, “Mr. Apps, why did you try to scare the corn?”  He interpreted the word shocking to scaring the corn.

Shocking corn was hard work.  But usually, the days were crisp and cool.  I have never forgotten the smell of drying corn stalks.  It was the smell of fall, not at all an unpleasant one.

After a few weeks in a shock, a fellow with a corn shredder made the rounds of the neighborhood farmers.  Just as in threshing oats, we had a corn shredding bee.  The machine separated the ears from the corn stalks and cut the corn stalks into a little pieces that were blown into the barn loft.  The corn stalks were used for bedding the milk cows during the winter.

The corn ears were stored in a corn crib, a little building with slats a few Inches apart so the air could easily flow into it.  The corn ears continued to dry.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Sometimes it’s important to stop what we are doing for a moment and think about how it was done at an earlier time.

 

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

It’s not too early for Christmas shopping.  Books make great gifts.  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

  

Remembering The Home Place

 

Apps Farm Home. Steve Apps Photo.

               Every old house has a story to tell.  I was born in the house pictured here.  It had five bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room, and a parlor (living room).  But no bathroom as we had no running water.  Nor did we have electricity until I was in high school.

               In early November, dad closed off most of the house as it had no central heating. It had a wood burning cookstove in the kitchen and a Round Oak wood burning stove in the dining room.  The only rooms heated were the kitchen, dining room and one downstairs bedroom.  The upstairs bedroom where my brothers and I slept had indirect heat—the stove pipe from the dining room stove thrust through our bedroom and into the brick chimney.

               When the stoves went out around midnight, a great chill came over the house, especially if the outside temperature had dipped to thirty below zero.  Frost covered the inside of our upstairs bedroom windows, so much that we couldn’t see outside.  The frost took many shapes, often resembling giant ferns.

               Being the oldest, I had to get up at five-thirty for the morning milking.  I would grab up my clothes and rush down the frigid hallway, and down the stairs to dress in front of the wood stove that dad had started before leaving for the barn.  I didn’t warm up until I arrived in the barn, where it was always warm.

               I have many memories associated with that house.  Most of them good. Except for the cold winter mornings.

THE OLD TIMERS SAYS: Take time to think about the house you lived in when you were a kid.  You may be surprised at what memories that result.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

It’s not too early for Christmas shopping.  Books make great gifts.  You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.