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Check it off from the To Do list.  The garden is nearly done for this year.  It is almost hard to believe, but only last month (seven weeks ago) it looked like this.

Everything was so green.  Those squash vines were going crazy!  We harvested over three dozen butternut squash this year.  Sylvia will be happy to not see a tomato in the near future.  We ate and will eat well from this year’s bounty.

Yesterday, we had a little relief from what has been a very rainy pattern.  The morning brought sunshine and mild temperatures.  Sylvia donned her work clothes and when I took a break for a fresh cup, she was out prepping the garden for winter.  This morning, I looked out the window to see this sight.

Looks dreary, right?  Only asparagus and rhubarb remain.  Yes, dreary.  And damp.  After a late lunch yesterday, I retrieved the mail and went to put it on the kitchen table.  That’s when I heard, splat.  Splat.  Rattaty tat tat tat, etc.  Within seconds we were in a deluge.

This morning I found 1.3 inches of rain in the gauge.  We are getting caught up on all the rain we missed earlier this year.

One more task remains.  I’ll go to the neighbor’s and return with a load of natural fertilizer, which I’ll then apply to the garden.  What will my lady plant next year?

There are three types of tracks in the photo.  Can you identify them?

The weather front passed, and my hand and wrist are doing better.  Nevertheless, I still have to limit the time I put in here at the computer.  So this will be brief.

Saturday evening, we enjoyed ourselves at a gathering at the home of and organized by friends of Sylvia.  The couple had been on the mission trip to Honduras.  We sat outdoors around a bonfire and enjoyed a lot of talk and a pot-luck supper.  One of the attendees was a teen in a Bible study that I lead over 30 years ago.  He still remembered the study and still has the notes.  (I have them too.)

My friend went on to a Master’s degree in Christian ministry and was a pastor for several years.  These days, he teaches in a local school, but is ready to return to a pastoral ministry now that he and his wife have become empty-nesters.

He is the second member of that group that has told me how much it meant to them.  At the time I wasn’t all that encouraged.  It seemed that not much was happening.  At least it seemed that way to me.

Now I understand that on my journey I left tracks.  Tracks across the path of others.  Even as others have left their tracks across my path.

Where are you leaving your tracks? :think:

Perhaps it’s the weather.  I’d like to think that it is.  The arthritis in my hand and wrist has flared up again, and I need to minimize my time at the computer.  Please excuse me, and I’ll see you next week.

Before I go, let me leave this thought with you.  It comes from John Wesley, who had this to say 238 years ago:

Good advice!  What could be more timely in this day?

Yesterday, I reported on Facebook that I had poured two inches of partly cloudy out of the rain gauge.  It does seem to work that way at times.  Lately it seems like this:

I thought about this haiku that I wrote last year.

Sun and Rain

Brightly shone the sun
Soon clouds ruled and rain fell
Then the sun returned

At least this story has a happy ending.

What do you expect for this time of year in Michigan?  Me?  I expect rain.

Sun promises to return late next spring.  Until then, expect only cameo appearances.

Saturday, I attended a coffee-cupping class at Sozo Coffee Roasting and Expresso Bar.  What that means is a class in how to taste and evaluate coffee.  The class is at an introductory level, which is exactly what I need.

We started  with two table spoons of coffee in a 6 oz cup.  We were instructed to smell the coffee and note the fragrance.  Fragrance being the smell of the dry grounds.  To help us in that task, we were introduced to the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel.

We didn’t spend much time looking at the chart.  Rather, we zeroed in on the sensory experience.  The gals seemed to be better at detecting and describing the fragrance of the coffee.  It was fun as our small group (nine folks) shared observations with each other and we tried to detect what the others were reporting.  I might not have appreciated how subjective this process was before, but as we went through this it was becoming increasingly obvious.

Evaluating aroma (the smell when the grounds are wet) is the next step.  We added water just off the boil to our cups and smelled them.  Two minutes later, we used a hot spoon to crack the crust on the top of the cup and noted the aroma.  The strongest aroma is let loose as the crust is cracked.

We all noticed a huge difference between fragrance (dry) and aroma (wet) of the coffee.  During the entire process, our teacher, Rodney, is teaching, explaining and helping us through this process.  There were lots of interesting stories along the way.

The final step involves taking a spoonful of hot coffee and aspirating (slurping) it into the mouth to cover the complete tongue.  Once again, you observe the individual characteristics.  The focus being on flavor.  I was most comfortable with this step.  For years, I have been aware of the tongue’s ability to detect different tastes on different parts of the tongue.

We went through this process with three different coffees. The class concluded with this: “The secret to becoming a good coffee cupper is simple: trust yourself by practicing regularly and be humble enough to continue to learn from others.”

On the way to the register to pay for the class, I picked up a bag of Guatemalan coffee.  I bought my way to freedom and signed up for the brewing class to be held next month.

I’m looking forward to the brewing class.  I want to retire my Mr Coffee machine.  I hate the flavor of the paper filters.  Yes, I really can taste it in my cup.  I could before I attended this class.  Yuck!

My view out the office window.

I’m still sore from moving the office back upstairs.  It’s nice to sit here this morning with a cup of hot brew and look out the window.  Birds are frolicking, and the sun is shining.  It’s cool outside, but warm in here.  As I’m writing this the neighbor walks through the upper part of the scene  in the picture.  He is taking household trash out to burn.  The orange tiger cat comes bounding along behind him.  Do you suppose he is curious?  (What cat isn’t? 😉 )

After my corner desk fell apart, Sylvia and I made plans to go shopping for another.  As I thought about that, I began to think about moving the steel desk in the basement upstairs.  The movers had put it there when we moved here over a dozen years ago.  I took some measurements.  It would work! :up:

But could we move that steel desk? :dontknow:   Only one way to find out.  I cleared off the desk and removed all the drawers and the two writing shelves.  A test lift made me think it might be possible.  I also began to think of younger, stronger guys who might help.  Or . . . maybe Sylvia and I could do it?

Slowly a plan developed in my mind.  I retrieved a four wheel dolly from a corner of the basement.  I slid it under one end of the desk, which I had laid on its back.  I lifted the other end and was able to easily walk it across the concrete of the basement floor.  By then I could tell I needed a way to keep the dolly in place under the desk.

A length of rope did the trick.  By looping the rope around the desk with an extra loop around the front of the dolly we were able to smoothly move our load.  Even across the rough lawn when we went out of the basement walkout.

Then up the driveway and into the garage.  It took a while and a few rest periods to move the desk off the dolly and up three steps.  One more lift and we moved it through the mudroom and into the house.  Time for a rest and a glass of water.

Replace the dolly under the desk and move it to the office end of the house.  There’s a jog in the hallway into the office.  (A crank if you’re from New England.)  We removed the dolly and Sylvia laid down a tarp.  I tipped the desk up on end and onto the tarp.  We easily slid the desk across the laminate floor and into the office.

Since then, I have reassembled the desk and have our computers reinstalled in the office.  I’m feeling good.  Good and sore that is.  But good! :up:

Photo courtesy Sentinel-Standard

Yes it is that beautiful.  This photo was posted in the local paper and was taken by pilot, Margaret Wint.  This is Sessions Lake in the Ionia State Recreation Area.

Excuse me please, today I am moving the office back upstairs.  Be back with you tomorrow.

Straight out of the camera

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I went out yesterday to capture a couple of images of the garden.  It is mostly finished for this year, and I wanted to do a before and after comparison for you.  As I walked back toward the house, I saw how busy the skunk has been lately.

Much of our upper yard looks like this.  The skunk, or skunks, have been feeding well on the insects.  The warm summer was good for the bugs, but the skunk is evening the score–and that’s okay by me. :yea:

It was mid afternoon and Sylvia and I had just enjoyed some melon and were resting in front of the TV watching an episode of The American Bible Challenge.  The door bell sounded, I said it was probably the neighbor coming to help me trim some trees.  It was and he did.  My father-in-law’s old chain saw wouldn’t start for us, so we resorted to muscled power and pruning saw.

We trimmed back the cedar that was rubbing on the house.  We also ripped out a burning bush that was far too close to the house.  I’m not sure which of the two previous home owners had planted the tree and the bush in those locations, but they had to go. 🙁

It took four trips with the tractor and front-end loader to haul away the brush and debris from our trimming.  I soon had it done.  It should be a great night for sleeping. 😀