My Father

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This past week, I’ve been thinking about my father.  It would be so good to sit down and chat with him over a cup of coffee.  I think we’d both like that.  I also have a lot of questions I would like to ask.

LeRoy E Hutchinson

LeRoy E Hutchinson — 1919 – 1990

Dad grew up during hard times.  One year, during the great depression, all his family had to eat was what they grew–a field of rutabagas.  There were other hardships, but that might have been the worst.  He worked hard, very hard, to make sure his family never had to go through that same experience.  Extra jobs in evenings and on weekends helped supplement the family income.

And yet he did volunteer work for people in need.  Particularly for widows without families to care for them.

After Dad had passed my sisters and I were sharing the things that he done with us.  Turns out he did different things for all four of us.  Each of us experienced his love in following our individual interests.  He did, however, encourage a love of weather observation in all his children.

Today, I give thanks for my father and the fine man that he was.

Personal Update & Salute to Briana

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Four months have passed since my last post on this blog.  Several times I took photos to post, but they weren’t very good.  There were the snow drops with their early beauty.  The focus was too soft.  Another shot featured our tree trimmer up in the birch tree.  The angle was all wrong.  In some cases, I couldn’t get past the chronic pain (my constant companion) to go for photos.

I’ve shed about forty pounds in the last two years.  This has helped reduce the pain level quite significantly.  In January, I switched to a grain-free diet.  This has reduced hand tremors.  At least it did until I cheated to indulge a craving for fish and chips.  The change was dramatic as terrible tremors returned.

The best thing that has happened in these past four months is that our granddaughter has completed the requirements for an MS degree in nursing education.  We are so very proud of Briana.

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Looks like she will be teaching the next generation of nurses.  I feel good about that.

Winter-Time Visitors

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Sylvia has a tradition of sharing Christmas cookies and candies with our neighbors.  Some of them give her gifts in return.  Last month one neighbor gave her a cup filled with seed-laden suet.  You are right.  That gift was for the birds, and the birds love it.

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This downy woodpecker may be acting coy.  More likely it is scanning for threats before getting to the food.  No threats present, and so . . .

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Yum yum!  Others also visit.

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When this big, blue boy comes around the others make room for him.  I haven’t had the camera ready when the nuthatch or the finches have come visiting.

While we were driving on the expressway yesterday, I saw a red-tail hawk flying with its prey (rabbit?) in its talons.  An interesting sight to behold.

 

Is it really 10 years?

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Clipart Number 10 15

This morning was foggy and frosty.  Fog had mostly cleared when I captured this image.

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The effect was most evident on the asparagus fronds.

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Ten years ago today, I posted my first tidbit on Secondary Rds.  That first year was fun and exciting.  I posted every day and sometimes more than once a day.

Lately that has changed.  It has been about a month and a half since my last post.  I’ve thought about posts, but they haven’t made it to publication.

About the time of my last post, Sylvia’s computer began to have problems–serious problems.  I checked for the last full backup of her system.  The program had stopped working over a year earlier.  (Note to self: check backup status at least once a month.)

The rescue effort started as I began to save data onto a thumb drive.  I got it all except her email addresses.  The last time I powered up her machine, it took two and a half days to boot.

We talked about alternatives and decided to put her on the Linux machine that I was not using.  I installed the data from her Win 7 computer on the Linux box.  Configured everything for her.  It worked well for a while.  Then Sylvia said, “How can I print?”

So I went to install a printer.  The system asked for a password.  I tried the words I had written on the sleeve of the installation disk.  They didn’t work.  Now what?

Next try.  I had a Win 10 computer hooked up to my amateur radio equipment.  I pulled that out and started to transfer data files.  That computer died in short order.

Fortunately, I had ordered a new hard drive.  I installed that in the Linux box.  After downloading the latest version of Manjaro xfce Linux, I installed that operating system on the new hard drive.  Once again, things did not work right.  Aarrgh!

Crushed, I spent some time pouting and feeling sorry for myself.  Then I took my XP laptop out of storage, hoping that it would be my rescue.  It was another miscue.

Inspiration struck.  Sylvia had been using Win 7 on her [now dead] computer.  I had an installation disk for that same version of Win 7.  Using the code from her old computer, I installed it on the new hard drive in the Linux box.  Joy!

The process took about six weeks, but Sylvia is back in business.  However, she is still reconstituting her email address book.

Another week went into fixing the Win 10 computer.  I only had to re-seat the four memory cards.  I’ve removed Win 10 and am now using Manjaro Linux on that machine.

Sylvia’s old computer and my old laptop, both without hard drives,went to recycling.

What’s Next?

Then our daughter-in-law’s father passed away.  It was not unexpected, but it still was painful.

Returning home from visitation, Sylvia stopped by the grocery store.  While I waited for her I watched a sparrow land on a beautiful red Cadillac.  What happened next had the makings of a blog post, but sorrow overcame.

More

Then our church’s new website went live.  Others had done that, but then it became my turn.  Because we are moving to a new domain name, my task was to setup two mailing lists and some email addresses.  Sounds easy, but it is not.

Most folks and ISPs have spam filters set very tight.  Each person on the list must be contacted directly.  They have to add an email address to their address book or contacts list.  Then I can get an invitation through to them to join the new list.  That is still ongoing.

Future Plans

No big plans here.  We are taking it one day at a time.

The Biggest Baddest Bird Gets First Bite

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It was a dead woodchuck.  He would chuck no wood, because he couldn’t chuck wood.  For that reason the old question was moot.  There he lay when the turkey vultures found him.

They came in large numbers, but only a few came near at one time.  Those would have their disputes, which were not particularly violent nor did they last very long.  The dominant bird would eat first.

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It only took a couple of days to remove all signs of Woody’s existence.  While the vulture’s diet seems unpleasant to me, I’m glad to have the clean-up crew on the job.  Soon these birds will head south for the winter.  I’ll miss seeing them soar in the sky overhead.

Life Abounds – Just Look Around

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There has been much to report since my last blog post.  Today, I’d like to share three items with you.

Fall has fallen.  One sure sign is seedum in blossom.

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We keep milkweed around just for these regal folk.  I took two step to my left to get different light on this beauty.

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It was some time later that our tree guy came to give us an estimate on removing a couple of dead trees and trimming others.  As we walked across the lawn, I saw one . . two . . . three puffballs.

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As puffballs go, they were not very big.  They were, however, tasty.  Found two more in the days that followed.  Sylvia pickled some, which we have not yet sampled.  But soon.

The third item has no supporting pic.  Sorry.  You’ll have to take me at my word on this one.

It was Friday and a friend was dropping by to pick up a couple of things from me.  As I looked toward the road, I saw a pair of turkeys.  Then three and eventually four.  As the friend’s vehicle neared, the turkeys were sent scurrying across the lawn.

After the friend left, I went to the far end of the house and saw the four big birds sauntering across the lawn.  I walked swiftly to the office, retrieved my camera and returned.  Too late.  Those turkeys had left no trace when they exited the lawn.

I felt bad that I missed capturing an image, but I also felt good that I had seen them.

These Are Not City Construction Cranes

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It was August 24 and the anniversary of my mother’s birth.  It was also the day before my birthday.  In the morning, I opened the blinds and saw a family of sand hill cranes.

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Left to right: Father, mother and [big] baby.  They spent most of the day digging bugs out of the ground.  It was fun to watch.  The young one would would have to stop for rest from time-to-time.  It was a very special day.

Sunday

The Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we attended the neighborhood chili cook-off.  That was fun to see old friends and neighbors and to meet new ones.  There were an interesting variety of chilies and side dishes.

Our hosts raise turkeys and they have free range, so they were in view most of the afternoon.  Some the kids would approach them for a better look.  Usually they had a stick in hand . . . just in case.

Sylvia and I hope they do it again next year.  We have ideas for a chili that will stand apart.  Of course we’ll have to experiment with those ideas here at home.  That’s what I most look forward to.

Return of the Cranes

September 7, we burned the second of two brush piles.  The family of three cranes had returned that morning, but our activities at the burn piles made them nervous and they left.  I was sad.

The morning before our 57th anniversary, September 8, the cranes were back and they stayed with us until sunset.

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They had come very close to our house, but when I tried to capture an image, they retreated.  For my part, I hope they are eating the bugs that burrowing critters like too.

The next day, Sylvia and I celebrated our anniversary and had a very nice day.  We especially enjoyed that evening’s sunset.

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Sunrise and sunset times are changing daily and rapidly as we approach the autumnal equinox.  The cool days and warm earth make this my favorite time of year.

Recent Visitors on Our Lawn and Passersby

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The last couple of weeks, I’ve been seeing four of these fellows on our lawn.  They particularly like to congregate beneath the mulberry tree.

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For a while, I thought they might be immature turkey vultures.  I have yet to spot one, even though they nest nearby.  But much observation and the above photo show that they are American crows.

While the American crow enjoys his freedom, children in the area are not.  The new school year started today.  In my days as a scholar that didn’t happen until after Labor Day.  Today, the students end their school year earlier.

That came back to me when I saw a bus whizzing by yesterday.  Strange that it was neither early morning nor in the mid to late afternoon.

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Sylvia informed me that it was a new driver who was driving the route under supervision of an experienced driver.  That makes sense.

Do keep an eye out for the school bus and obey the safety rules for the children’s sake.

In Front of Our House

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This morning I took camera in hand to get a picture of the Suzies that grow on the front side of our house.  They are always very charming.

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This one was entertaining a visitor.

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These two shots I added to the two images I capture Sunday evening.  I went out Sunday to capture a photo of my favorite day lily before it was too late.  (It [they] grow[s] on the front side of the house.)

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You can see why I particularly enjoy this beauty.  After capturing that image I turned 180 degrees to see the sun low in the western sky.

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We had received a quarter inch of rain to supplement the 1.5 inches we’d received a couple of days earlier, so the sky was cloudy.  The peeking sun did put some drama in the scene.

In the Garden

I haven’t done a good job of reporting on out garden, so this morning I captured this image.

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On the left, fence-climbing peas.  Behind them are onions that heavy rains have bent down.  We’ve harvested about half of them already.  Potatoes and tomatoes are behind the onions.  Rhubarb grows along the far fence.  It doesn’t look big, because we keep it well harvested.  The taller green plants are zucchini, which are as prolific as you would expect.  Beyond them is New Zealand spinach–a favorite of ours because it doesn’t bolt in warm weather and gives us great greens from spring until first frost.  Beets grow along the fence beyond the blue spinner.  They are quite tasty this year.  We are fed up.

It’s all about timing

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Perhaps I’ve learned my lesson.  I hope that is true.  It wasn’t easy.

Sylvia’s friend, Shirley, gave here some hollyhock seed.  She had white holly hocks, but these were different.  The new ones came into blossom this year.  I saw them and went out, camera in hand, to capture the beauty.

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I was so glad that I didn’t wait . . . like I did for the beautiful red rose.  The weather had been hot and I had terrible pain in my feet so I waited.  Obviously too long.

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The day before it had been beautiful.  Yes, I was sad, but willing to own my own neglect.

For years, turkey vultures have nested in an old hollow oak tree.  I could never remember to take my camera when I’d go that way.  Last winter a storm split two main portions of the upper tree.  I was putting the pro in procrastination.  (apologies, Scott)

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The turkey vultures nested there again this year, but it is not the same.  At least it’s not the same to me.  Can’t say what the vultures think about it.

There is another beautiful oak tree that stands in the middle of a field.  I love seeing that tree every time we drive past it.  I think, “Next time I must bring my camera.”  I hope to remember one of these days.  Perhaps I will.