Hauling Wood

The other week my good friend Cal and his wife drove over a load of wood for our future firepit. The kids got out the wheelbarrow and we all worked at stacking it behind the shed and then covering it to keep out the rain and (eventually) snow. Doing this took me back to the farm and hauling wood during the winter. If my sister and I didn't haul the wood in everyday, our house wouldn't be heated. On the farm, we had two wood stoves for heat and they needed new fuel daily. It didn't occur to me how important our job was then-- it was just something we did to contribute to the family-- and it kept us busy, which was a good thing!

Watching my sons move wood with their arms and sometimes a wheelbarrow gave me a glimpse of what it would have been like for my parents to see Kati and me endeavoring to get the job done. Hauling wood gives one an immediate sense of accomplishment; you can see what you have done in a tangible way. We are "only" going to use our firewood for entertainment purposes, not as a necessity, but we will all feel again that sense of accomplishment when we are able to put a fire together and know we had a hand in taking care of the resources we will use.

The most credit, of course, should go to my friend Cal. Hauling the wood is no comparison to finding it, cutting it down and splitting it. Which makes me think about all of the work that my dad put in to making sure we had what we needed. He made our job easy-- for all the grumbling we may have done on cold winter days about carrying wood, we were not responsible for getting it ready to carry. My dad was the kind of man who did what needed doing. He never once referred to all of the time and effort in the hot days and the cold days that he put in getting that wood ready. He was a man who didn't need proof from others about his worth; he created his own worth-- with his own hands.

The Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!

One of the fondest memories I have of the Fourth was in 1976. In honor of the Bicentennial, our 4-H Club entered a float into the annual Spooner Fourth of July Parade. My mother sewed Prairie Dresses and Bonnets for my twin sister and me. She even sewed a set for two of our dolls. We rode in the float on some bales of hay and represented the prairie settlers that went out West to farm the land.

I admire my mother in that she sewed and did home "crafts". I admire anyone who takes the time to develop a skill like sewing, crocheting, knitting, etc. It was this use of "home" skills that helped families in the early days of this country. They are skills that aren't generally seen in most households now that we have commercial companies that will make quilts, clothing and other necessities for us and often times at a fraction of the cost of doing it ourselves. Because of my mother and other women I know who are like her, I own a sewing machine. I love that I have one ready in case I decide to sew a pillow or hem a tablecloth. I know I want to carve out some time to do more sewing and to develop more skills in that area. And to use those skills to help me have the freedom to create what I want and not necessarily use only what's available.

Happy Birthday, America!

Farmville Reality

All right, I admit it. I play Farmville. If you are my Facebook friend, you already know this. Lately, I've been playing a bit more than usual. I am off for the summer, and I can't seem to resist planting and growing crops and harvesting XP. Though I would consider myself mildy into the game, I can't help but see Farmville around me. For the past couple of days, the kids and I will be driving and I'll see a picturesque house or tree and my immediate reaction is "Farmville". The kids, keeping it real, remind me that Farmville is actually copying real life, not the other way around. Still, it's really interesting for me to see a grove of trees, different in height, shape and coloring and think about Farmville and its different trees. Or, take this rock that I noticed in one of my gardens:

It looks just like a Farmville rock that I have:

I know this makes it seem like I may be a bit over-obsessed, but I thought it was interesting that I was making comparisons between what I see in life and on Farmville. I wonder if people do a similar thing if they play World of Warcraft or The Sims or Second Life. I do know that if farming in real life was as easy as it is in Farmville, we could take care of hunger in the world. We'd have more barnraisings and crop growing together, more interesting looking animals and an easy way to store it all when we wanted to change things up!

Double your Money, Double the Fun?

A couple of days ago, I brought my younger son in to the clinic for his puffy, swelling eyes and non-bacterial infection (he had already taken pink eye meds for several days). The Dr. suggested we get Zyrtec, the next step up in the allergy medicine we had already tried. Of course, I asked if the generic form would work just as well and he said it did. So, we trucked off to Target to get the meds.

Ever since my kids could understand the monetary system of paying to get goods, I have taught them to look at the quantities available and compare them to determine what is the better buy. Most of the time, the difference is minimal, less than a dollar, sometimes it is a dollar or so. This day the difference was major. The 24 count was $13.79 and the 12 count was $10.49. Just by doing the simple math you can see that buying the 24 count would save you $7.20! I brought the card in the aisle to the pharmacy (because it has psuedoephidrine in it, it is regulated). The lady came back saying that they only had the 12 count. I asked her to check the back and she came back with a shake of her head. We left and went to another Target and it had the 24 count.

Now, I wonder how many people would have bought the 12 count without even doing the math. Sometimes it's NOT worth it because you can't use it all up before the due date, but this medicine expires in October of 2012, which gives us another shot at allergy season next spring and summer. And, since I am experiencing similar symptoms, I have begun taking it, too.

Some of the time I consider not checking the price per quantity, but it's times like this that make me glad that I do it diligently!

Moments that Take You Back

The other night I returned home from a friend's house and got myself settled in. As I do on most nights, I went and sat in the four season porch to relax before going to bed. I usually sit with the lights off so that I can see out the windows, but on this night I looked out and could see-- fog! Since moving here, it's been nice to be able to sit in this room and look out at the backyard with its two leafing trees and bits of sky. There's so much more than I could see in our townhouse.  So I sat and I looked at the fog. And it took me back. Back to when I was a kid growing up on the farm. There, the house is surrounded by a hill on one side, a creek on another and a naturally fed spring on another. The living room had windows on 3 sides, much like the porch here in our "new" house. And it would get surrounded by fog on many, many nights. And sometimes I would be alone in the house and not be able to see more than 10 feet out as I sat by the windows. And here I was again with the same sensation; I was 15 again! And I could just barely make out the creek flowing its way downward through the barnyard and out into the woods. And I could just barely make out the spring and the hill rising behind it on its way to the hay fields. And I could hear the rustling in the yard...and the pale moonlight trying to make its way through the thickness as I waited in silence for the sound of the car that carried my mother and father home to me.

Where to Start?

Well, I've gone and done it.  I started that blog I've been thinking and talking about for a while now. And here it is. Now, what to say? Do I need to explain that this blog won't be like any I have described to my friends and relatives? Do I need to explain that I just wanted a space where I could put into words (and sometimes pictures) what I want to record or share? My first inclination is to ramble on, justifying and explaining why I want to do this.  I won't. I'll just begin. And the doing will take care of itself.

So, won't you please, once in a while, take a moment to sit back, relax and visit me in the Lohse Lounge? I am sure we will find much to talk about.