Nature, work

A Day in the Life

56 Comments

Today’s post comes from Ben.

Been spending a lot of time in the tractor lately and I’ve seen lot of stuff through the windows or out the door. 

A view from the (tractor) door—

We started to see mama deer and fawns crossing the road. And then I nearly ran over this one: 

That’s the front wheel of the tractor on the right; the rear wheel of the tractor is just a few feet away. He must be brand new as he didn’t move.

Now I know you’re not supposed to touch them, but he’s in my way. And the woods are about 10’ to the right; this was the first round on the field. So I gently picked him up and carried him over to the grass. At that point he stood up and stumbled into the woods. Good luck, Godspeed!

The next day, different field, 20 yards ahead of me, a baby jumped up out of the grass and ran away. Same one?

And the day after that, another field, and another baby jumped out of the grass and ran away.

We have way too many deer and they eat my crops and actually cause me financial loss… but the babies are so cute!

 

And then there’s this:

Pulled it out of the ground last fall with the chisel plow, but forgot about. It’s about 6’ the long way and 6” thick.

Remember when I said I thought the rocks enjoyed being ‘rescued’? Some are more trouble than others…

Mostly my views are clouds and fields:

 

What is a day in the life like for you?

56 thoughts on “A Day in the Life”

  1. My day invariably starts at 5:00, when I wake up and spend the next 90 minutes trying to go back to sleep, which I usually accomplish 5 minutes before my alarm goes off.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. The wake up thing must be the curse of the menopausal woman. Lately I wake up at 12:30am. I might sleep right away, or I might sleep after two hours of a boring audiobook. Then I wake up at 5:15am. Sigh.

      Like

      Reply

  2. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    What a great post, Ben. Thanks. The fawns are so cute, as are the babies of my great enemy, rabbits. I guess it is one of life’s paradoxes. At least rocks are not cute, especially the featured rock.

    My days depend on the season. June? Get up. Weed the garden or transplant seedlings that the mama rabbit did not get last week. Rest. Weed. Rest. Weed. Get hot. Go in and sit in the AC.

    Take dogs to dog park.

    If it is a work day, go to work. Otherwise, do stuff like make jam, do art, sort through family pictures I am trying to scan. (too hot to garden)

    If it is evening, sit out on the deck or patio and slap mosquitoes. Rock in the glider.

    Watch an episode of something on Netflix (no bingeing during garden season).

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  3. My daily life is too boring to talk about: my health stuff, Sandy’s health, cleaning, trying to fill time. Pain.
    But, Ben, what memories you evoked for me. Spent my childhood driving in every tightening circles. Mowing thick clover surrounded by the north woods. People do not want to hear my encounters with the sickle and wildlife. But no fawns, too mature by then.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

    1. I thought you might like that Clyde and I hoped it would bring some memories for you.
      Unfortunately, I have a few stories of fawns and mowing that first crop of hay.

      Like

      Reply

  4. Delightful, Ben! Fun to see the photos from the tractor. At first I thought you said (about the rescuing of rocks) “Some are more troubled than others…” 🙂

    Morning ablutions, 5 minutes of yoga, and “waking up the house”.
    – tea and check email, blog
    – lignt breakfast if: going to t’ai chi Tu & Th
    – check gardens… if nice day, find some reading or writing (blog?) to do out on the patio before the sun hits it.
    – visit mom (every other day) in afternoon, run errands
    – Nia (aerobics Wed & Fri) in afternoon, and any meetings/appts.
    – whatever project is in the works: this week clean the basement, find rest of summer wardrobe(!)
    – cooking breakfast or supper is in there somewhere, (you’re on your own for lunch)
    – hoping to insert an evening walk to the river…
    – reading or watching PBS or a dvd

    – biking is in there, because a number of the above outings are close to here

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  5. My life at this time is all about getting our cabin home ready to put on the market….realtor coming to take pics on Thu am…so we implimented a deadline for ourselves.
    The major projects are completed and now it’s the boring but necesssry tasks..,clearing through un necessary cloths and plethora of ‘objects’, yard ‘clean up’=weeding, pick up sticks etc, organizing and clearing of stuff in my studio, trash & then the things to go to ‘recycle’ by way of local church store.
    We are very ready for Thursday….getting really tired of ‘detailing’…..’tho enjoying the outcomes.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. This is not good news to me….so sad you are leaving your lovely cabin/ home and my neighborhood. Kaffe Fika won’t be the same without you. Btw, will we have one soon?

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

        1. To clarify: I thought of you and realized that I miss hearing from you on the blog and hoped that you would join in the conversation again soon. So, welcome back!

          Liked by 2 people

  6. We are in an agricultural drought, so much of my day, when not at work, is taken up with connecting and disconnecting soaker hoses. We hope for rain tonight.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Everything I know and most ways I have of connecting with the world are in my computer. It is in three boxes in the back of my daughter’s car. I’m probably chopping up fawns in the hay, moment by moment, only without my computer I don’t know it. And just at this moment, I have a raging dental emergency. I only wish, Chris, that my life could become “mundane” again! I love mundane.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Love this, Ben. Thanks. What a great way to spend some solitary time riding around in a tractor. I realize that it is work, but you seem to embrace it and find delight in the subtle beauty of it. Good for you.

    Wish I had something interesting to contribute, but the fact is that my life at the moment is fairly restricted because of an unpredictable bowel condition. While the condition itself is a pain in the posterior (sometime literally!), it’s the resulting fatigue that has brought me to my knees. Every little chore, and every little commitment is the source of frustration and guilt. It’s really hard to ask for help when you know full well that you’ll never be able to repay the debt.

    Day to day I usually manage to cook dinner, and by hook or by crook, have the fridge stocked so there’s something to cook. Hans is a great shopper if I give him a list. What I miss are the unadvertised specials that I would routinely incorporate into our meals; he just doesn’t see or think about it.

    I’m beginning to understand what it means to have your lifestyle limited…regardless of what’s causing the limitation.

    Like

    Reply

      1. I’d like to point out that this is not an age related problem, Steve. Lots of people my age, and older, are enjoying good life quality. My issues are related to a separate medical condition that could happen at any age.

        Twenty-two years ago I had endometrial cancer. One of the remedies, after surgery of course, was radiation treatments to the abdomen, and a 48 hours radioactive implant in the vagina. While these treatments may (or may not?) have saved my life, they caused great damage to organs in the lower torso. The side effects of these treatments started already during the treatments, but after I learned their pattern, was able to work around them to lead my version of a normal life. Now, however, long-term side-effects have set in, and sad to say, it’s not likely to get any better. I have declined to have a colonoscopy for two reasons. I already have abundant evidence that something is seriously wrong, just don’t know exactly what’s causing it. One of the long-term side effects of radiation is leukemia and other cancers, and frankly, I don’t feel ready to tackle either at this juncture, and I’m fearful that the procedure itself may cause problems because of an already weakened bowel. I’m pretty sure the recommended solution is a colostomy. At this stage I’m not wiling to go there. I may change my mind, time will tell.

        I have not shared much of this information on the trail before because it’s one of those subjects where you very quickly reach the TMI limit. Don’t be alarmed, I’m coping as best I can. This evening, Helen and Sarah, two of my neighbors came and pulled weeds for me for two hours. They also brought me a gorgeous bouquet of peonies and irises. My life is far from perfect, but I have so much to be grateful for; good friends and good neighbors are among them.

        Liked by 3 people

        Reply

        1. Secondary effects of treatment tend to be a mixed bag, don’t they? I always think, “. Well, I am grateful to be alive. And I am not grateful for this part. And I am alive for the misery!” Glad you told us.

          We should get together and tell our war stories.

          Liked by 1 person

        3. One of the worst things about cancer is that you have to make decisions about whether to have these harmful treatments without knowing if you need them or not, relying on percentages and likelihoods.

          I like to think that the next big oncological advance will be some sort of new highly accurate method of detection, rather than a new drug. If patients had cancers found at earlier stages they’d be more likely to be treatable with surgery alone, and would have more confidence to choose surgery alone, rather than throwing a bunch of other treatments at it for good measure.

          It’s a tough place to be. I hope there are good options for you.

          Liked by 1 person

    5. Thanks PJ. I do enjoy my time in the tractors. Although trying to finish beans last Friday I hit a ‘funk’; I had been listening to NPR all day and I was feeling beat down by the news, plus with the rains this spring, planting took longer than normal and I was tired of STILL working at it and it all just kinda piled up.
      But we keep on keeping on, don’t we?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. Every single year when I perform the “start-up summer” routine, it’s so much work that I tell myself “This is it! I can never do this again!!”, then a year later I do it all over. This year is different, though. I’ve been working out five days a week for four months, and it’s made a noticeable difference in my stamina.

    In just the last two weeks, I’ve: cleaned out a heavily-weeded tree stand, got new edging timbers, and spread 30 bags of cypress mulch the entire 30 foot length spread 20 bags of mulch in a large landscape bed; dug up several wagon’s full of arid soil and replaced it with 20 bags of quality soil; replaced several shrubs, planted a whole row of perennials and filled my flower boxes with flowers. All in two weeks. Now my property will only need mowing and watering for the rest of summer! This place is a botanical garden now and looks better than it has since we moved in.

    The real reward for all of this hard labor, is taking a glass of wine and my computer out to the lake swing each late afternoon and feeling proud that I did all of this ONE MORE YEAR.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  13. Since I am self employed and the work I do is mostly on demand with usually only a few days notice, there isn’t much routine in my life. Tuesday afternoon we entertain the granddaughters, but just about everything else is variable. Weekends and weekdays are about the same.
    Yesterday (Sunday) was a pretty typical day. I woke up at 5:45 AM— lately that’s when I’ve been waking up for some reason. I’ve tried going to bed later, but I still wake up within a minute or two of 5:45, only less rested.
    I started water heating for coffee for Robin and tea for myself. I ground coffee. I put away the dry dishes in the dish rack. I made tea for myself and sat down to catch up on emails and the news and the blog until I heard Robin stirring. Then I finished making the coffee and brought Robin some.
    I noticed the laundry hamper was full, so I took it downstairs and started a load. By then, Robin was awake and reading. I joined her and read some more. Then I got dressed and went out for a 3 mile walk.
    The rest of the morning I spent in my office working on a book I was rebinding and scanning and digitally restoring some 45-year–old negatives I had been inspired to dig out. Somewhere in that time I moved the laundry from the washer into the dryer and then into a laundry basket and took it upstairs.
    In the early afternoon, Robin and I went over to the Goldstein Gallery on the U of M St. Paul campus to check out a show about historic clothing construction. The campus was idyllic and almost deserted.
    When we got back, I spent a couple more hours working on the negatives until it was time to start dinner.
    Dinner was simple— I baked a couple of trout and made some corn on the cob. Sliced tomatoes rounded out the plate.
    We watched television while we ate and then read until bedtime. That’s our typical day. Only the specifics change.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  14. Lately, I spend a lot of time feeding cats, or anyway, one cat in particular. He has a tumor which crowds his digestive tract, so he’s sort of like a person who has had gastric bypass surgery. He can only eat a little at a time. So I bring him some milk, and some baby food, and shredded cheese, and bacon bits, over the first couple of hours of the day, trying to get a few calories into him. Over the course of the day, whenver I can, I keep bringing him milk and treats. It’s kinda like having a newborn.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    2. Is this one of your own cats, Linda, or one that your cat-sitting? Either way, that cat is lucky to have you as a caretaker.

      Like

      Reply

      1. its her own. it made an appearance on the blog last week. glad to hear you are able to hang in there together a while longer linda. tough stuff.

        my day int he life is different from yours. it starts at 5 normally but since my return from china i have been exhausted and sleep til 7. i wake at 5 wiht sunrise and get up before 7 to see my kids off to school. thursday is the day for that so i will have a lost reference point
        i have a new life that is pretty exciting but i am having to learn restraint because i have 7 or 8 things i am trying to start all at once. i am in heaven but keep getting further behind because now is the timew to go for it.
        my new job, my move, my trips to china and vegas,
        my new lotsa stuff has me buzzing but missing the blog for the first time in years. i will get caught up some day but not tomorrow.
        my view out the window is of boxes in the living room and garage and basement and then on to the warehouse where i am sorting through boxes and reorganizing hats coats and stuff to make room for 5 or 6 truckloads of stuff thats being delivered to challange the 5 lb bag with 6 more pounds of stuff.
        i have been hoping for the 100 year old man book to pop up so i could finish it. i am loving it but i set it down and it disappeared. it showed up today. life is good.
        i have a post or two in the works. i will try to get back on it.
        pj sorry to hear about your deal. hope you come up with a workable plan/solution. try shopping on the amazon shopping app and ill bet they have impulse foodie items that will call out to you.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        2. Thanks, tim. Glad you chimed in on this, but I was disappointed that we didn’t hear from you on the day when we were talking about voices in our head. I’d love to hear what’s going on in your noodle.

          Liked by 1 person

  15. yeah thanks sorry i missed it. i dont like missing al the good interaction. life goes through cycles and this is my catch up cycle. i am enjoying but missing the familiar too

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.