THE RIDE HOME

7-16-2016

The Ride Home

The ride home is usually a non-stop ride.  This was an exception.  Tooling down old County M, we were suddenly called upon to brake and stop.  A young doe had been beckoned to nurse two 4 or 5 day old vividly spotted fawns right in the middle of the road.  They were, obviously quite insistent, but mom-noticing our stopped vehicle thirty feet away-rudely interrupted.  She walked into the tall grass alongside the roadway and called to her offspring who promptly pranced into the grass and laid down, heads at periscope height to watch us.

We proceeded another mile or so when forced to slow down again, allowing the crossing of two adult Sandhill Cranes shepherding their twin chicks to the other side of the road. 

After leaving the nursery area, we experienced no further delays.  So what's another five minutes travel time when nature calls.

REFLECTIONS ON RECENT BLOG

REFLECTIONS ON RECENT BLOG

You would have to dig deeply to find any political references in my blogs.  That is because I find it difficult to find anything particularly worthwhile in the current political atmosphere to elaborate upon.  I think it best to focus on trees, cabins and decks, rather than politics.  That is not to say that I am oblivious to the political climate currently enveloping our universe.  It would be more accurate to say that I would prefer to confine my memoirs to issues much more pleasant to contemplate.

I often opened personal discussions about politics or the cyber civilization with the oft cited tale about Abraham Lincoln having accomplished a good deal of his writing and ciphering on the back of a shovel with a piece of charcoal from the cabin cook stove.  Ah, how simple life was back then.

Now, our younger generations turn on the tube, or the cell phone, and hear about impending plans for prosecution, impeachment, Brexit, rioting crowds tearing down cities it took generations to build, bankrupt governments and trade wars.  And, would you believe it?  The messages even come in RAP!  What ever happened to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or “Look for the Silver Lining”?

Come to think of it, could it be possible that all of the current political rhetoric  was the reason that one’s “get up and go” “got up and went”?  And could it even be possible that some effectively applied rationalization could help us all find the lost “get up and go”?  Possible, yes!  Probable, no!  Unless some people who call themselves politicians come to their senses and grow up!

 

RUNNING OUT OF ..........?

One could be sitting on the tailgate of the truck, see a pile of logs and imagine what one could create.

Or, one could be sitting on the deck at the cabin and see a pile of logs, get up and create a good stack of split firewood.

That would be twenty years ago, or maybe even ten, or possibly even five.

Then, one would get up and “create” out of nature’s bounty.

Now, one more often sits back to decide whether, or not, to get up at all.

Just seems to be a more frequently mislaid case of “get up and go”. It certainly couldn’t be old age.  As least not yet. 

Well, might as well get up and start looking for it.  It appears that I’ll need it before the wood pile is depleted.

THE PASSING OF SEARS ROEBUCK AND COMPANY

Elements of "time" and the "responsibilities of life" have cut down substantially on the frequency of my blogs, but occasionally an event of weighty importance prompts the quill be dipped into the ink  bottle.  This is one of those events.

Sears has filed for bankruptcy. With it goes the Sear's Catalog, several hundred pages of everything a family would need to survive. Whatever the need, be it socks, shorts, overalls or chicken wire, it could be found in the Sear's Catalog.

A new and current catalog was delivered annually, with prices valid through the entire year. When the new current catalog came, the old one was relegated to the "outhouse", where it served a very necessary purpose, for as long as the several hundred pages would last. Selection of pages used was very important, usually retaining the sporting goods section until last so that one could lust over the JC Higgins shotguns and other sporting equipment one would contemplate for the next Christmas Holiday.

I often thought that my excellent eyesight was partially a product of circumstance, since the lighting in an outhouse left much to be desired. Obviously, there was no electical power out there, so lighting was usually limited to whatever eked in through the partial moon opening grandpa cut in the outhouse door. I am not sure that was a valid assumption , but it will do until a better one comes along.

There have been a multitude of catalogs produced, as you can attest by the content of your mail box and bookshelves, but few would rival the excitement generated by the annual arrival of the "new" Sear's catalog.

It will surely be sorely missed, although, admittedly, Kimberly Clark has stepped in and assumed some of its important duties.

I have been reminded that some readers may have to put on their mid twentieth century thnking caps for this blog.　

Grandpa Hill