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Wrapping Up

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

Sunday we saw ‘Aladdin’ at the Orpheum. It was big and fun. Everything you would expect of a Disney musical. Bright costumes, lots and lots of colorful lights, and a lot of magic. I still haven’t figured out how the carpet flew. It must have been magic.

I had feed delivered to the farm Monday. I had cracked corn put in the bulk bin by the barn and I feed it to the chickens. It wasn’t empty yet, but I didn’t want the truck coming down when the road gets icy or snow covered. I was planning ahead. The bin holds maybe 6000 lbs. I usually order 100 bushels (remember, 56 lbs / bushel, so 5600 lbs) about every 8 months. Because the bin wasn’t empty, I was gonna order 50 bushels. But the elevator / coop, wanted at least 4000 lbs to deliver. As long as the weather forecast was decent, we postponed for two weeks, and the corn fit with a little room to spare. The corn is from the ‘grain bank’; Corn I have the elevator store specifically for use as feed. (It’s not MY specific corn, it’s just an amount of bushels, so when I need corn, I don’t have to purchase that. I pay for the hauling and the cracking. $30 to crack it, $100 to deliver it.

I wish I had taken a picture of the truck unloading. Nothing has gotten smaller in the last 30 years…The driver said they have 5 bin trucks, and 7 bin trucks. This was a 7.  

The chickens are doing well. So well they’re doubling up on box space.

Maybe this is where the double yolkers come from!

One of our summer chickens turned into a rooster. So far, he hangs out with the hens and keeps to himself and hasn’t caused any trouble.

I’m not sure the other roosters even pay him any attention yet. Funny to think ‘They don’t know he’s around’, but maybe.

I stepped out one morning and everyone came to see what I had for them. The usual table scraps.

Crop insurance payment came in. It was enough I bought myself a new ladder. And I went for the heavy-duty fiberglass. I often see aluminum extension ladders on auctions, but not fiberglass.

I got a call from Samantha, my agronomist talking about 2024 crops. Input costs are down a bit from 2023, thank goodness. I expect Nate, my seed dealer to call soon. Early orders get discounts. Can I please just not have debt for a few weeks before taking out next year’s loan?

College semester is over. I finished the class with 94%. Whew. Creative Writing begins January 8th, and that will be an in-person class with a teacher I know well. Need about 22 credits yet and I’ll have a degree!

I baked the first batch of Amish Friendship Bread on Wednesday night. I had a bottle of Grape pop, I had my headphones on and I was listening to the first album of Chicago, when they were “Chicago Transit Authority”. It turned out OK.

WHAT WAS YOUR MUSIC THIS WEEK?

76 thoughts on “Wrapping Up”

  1. OT: Before I forget, I thought I’d share this tidbit of news with this bunch of avid readers: “Six hundred employees at independent bookstores – from Chapter One in Victoria, Minnesota, to The Cloak & Dagger in Princeton, New Jersey – will be receiving $500 holiday bonuses from author James Patterson.” I don’t know where James Patterson ranks on your individual ‘favorite authors’ list, but this surely will him a little boost.

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        3. From what I’ve read, he generates the ideas for the plot and generates the outline, and has several co-authors that write the stories for his review. I’ve never read any of his books, but he’s enormously successful as a writer. He’s incredibly productive, and quite the philanthropist, supporting reading programs in schools, libraries, and independent book sellers.

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        5. No matter you call him, he has done, and continues to do a lot to promote literacy and reading. Like I said, I haven’t read any of his books, so I’m in no position to judge him as a writer. But he has certainly found an effective way of getting his ideas out there. Arguably, his work method defies traditional ideas of what writers do, and I have no trouble with that.

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        6. he writes good stuff but this theme is easily run through its paces

          he doesn’t let it go to a bad ending or a weird close
          i’m just not a fan of the genre unless you go back to

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    2. I’m going to start with Murder House. My guess is that I won’t become a big James Patterson fan but I do like what he does with his energy and his money.

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  2. I actually discovered a new singing group this week that I am currently in love with. I asked Alexa to play “traditional carols” while I was working in the kitchen. At one point an acapella group sang a wild rendition of 12 Days of Christmas that included other carols and even “Down in Africa” You have to hear it to understand it but it was wonderful. This group is called Straight, No Chaser; they’ve been around for a while and I am now hoping to get their holiday CD in my stocking!

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  3. Ever since the news of Shane MacGowan’s death, the ear worm of “Fairytale Of New York” has been swirling around in my head. Then, a couple of days ago, a friend of mine posted this tidbit on Facebook: “Fun fact: Emily Dickinson’s use of the common meter enables one to sing pretty much all of her poems to the tune of Gilligan’s Island. Because I could not stop for Death -. He kindly stopped for me -. The Carriage held but just Ourselves -. And Immortality.” I think you get the picture.

    I need to get out more! Left to my own devises I’ll drive myself crazy.

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    1. That’s me, PlainJane. (I rebooted my computer after my first comment because WP wouldn’t let me “like” anything. I signed in, but apparently it didn’t take.) I’ll try again.

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        4. I haven’t looked but I’ll bet it’s not the only Frost/Hernando’s mashup on the web. That felicitous conjunction is probably as old as Fernando’s Hideaway and Robert Frost’s poetry. So it’s far from original.

          What I thought was remarkable was that those people thought that video was worthy of sharing with the world.

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        7. Bill, I’m surprised that you’re surprised about what people think is worthy of uploading for the world to see. I’ve always figured that at least 90% can be easily bypassed!!!

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        8. You forget perhaps that I’m not on Facebook so I’m shielded from and innocent of much of the most egregious crap unless someone brings it forward.

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    3. Luna sort of torments the chickens, I think she’s trying to play. And one of the three older roosters, I think it’s number three, stands up to Luna and backs her off. It hasn’t quite evolved to the video, but Kelly said she thinks they’re playing.

      Speaking of which, Luna and Bailey are getting along decent these days. So we hope it was just hormones for Luna and once she’s spayed, that will help.

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  5. Well, there was Amahl and the Night Visitors music in my head for the first couple of days, as we’d seen that last weekend and then played the music here.

    Then the past couple of days it’s been this lovely Peggy Seeger song for my friend’s memorial service:

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  6. I have been listening to Le Vent Du Nord, a Quebecois folk group, the MPR Holiday Stream, and a bell tune for our Lessons and Carols service tomorrow that is an amalgam of Carol of the Bells and O Come. Come, Emmanuel.

    Our Lessons and Carols service follows the King’s College Christmas Eve Service. Our pastor doesn’t do much in the service except enjoy herself with the rest of the congregation. I get to read the Welcome, Bidding Prayer, Closing Prayer, and Blessing. We had to alter some of the language since it would seem rather odd to the ask the congregation to pray for his Gracious Majesty King Charles. Some of the children get to read several of the Lessons. Our boy soprano who sings Once in Royal David’s City is a 12 year old girl. She does a good job. I get strangely tearful during my readings, which is annoying.

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    1. The boy (girl) soprano was also Amahl in last year’s Badlands Opera production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. Her mother sang the part of Amahl’ mother.

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  7. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    My music listening of late has been influenced by two audiobooks. The wonderful thing about these is the singers narrated the books and also sang samples of the music as they illustrated various musical concepts. The first was Barbra Streisand’s memoir of her career. I experienced trepidation about buying this one. It is looooong. But I found it engaging and interesting, especially when I sped up the narration to 1.15 (she narrates very slowly). Streisand, her music, and her movies were a backdrop of my adolescence and young adulthood. She was just everywhere in the late 60s through the 70s, into the 1980s. She also discusses the many incidents of sexism and assumptions about what she could and could not do because she was female. That lined up with my own experience of that. So as I made my way through the book I watched several of her movies and listened to music again to understand what she was talking about. I particularly admire the fact that at a very, very young age (18 and 19) she had the presence of mind to insist on artistic control of her work. How, at that age, did she know to do that? Especially when she was so correct about many of her points of conflict. I came away from her memoir thinking she is far deeper and smarter than I ever thought she is. Yes, she is neurotic, and yes she is brilliant.

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    1. The second memoir is by Mary Gauthier (Cajun–she pronounces it Go-Shay). Her lyrics combined with her rough voice are just soul-piercing. She is an artist, whether in a role as chef or songwriter/singer; she is an addict/alcoholic; and she struggled with LGBT issues but stayed true to herself early on, despite the other strugglesof her life which are reflected in her music. I find her story astonishing.

      There could not be two more different artists or kinds of music than these two. What they have in common is their determination to express themselves in their own voices, despite the culture’s desire to thwart how they see and interpret the world. Their books and their music felt like riches coming my way.

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      1. I read “Mercy Now” when it first came out, and liked it. I haven’t mustered the fortitude to tackle Barbra’s memoir yet, it’s such a tome. Maybe audio book is the way to go?

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  8. We have been asking “Alexa, play Will Ackerman” for dinner music. Recently we got “Playing Will Ackerman, Happy Road, and similar artists.” I liked “happy road”, so began asking for it specifically. That’s been my music lately.
    There were a few years when it was all Springsteen all the time, but lately, not quite so much.

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  10. My music for several weeks has been silence. My hearing has been deteriorating. Then starting at Thanksgiving my hearing went rapidly downhill to almost nothing. Better now. Very plugged head. GP wanted to put me on a drug that eye doctor nixed. See audiologist Wednesday after going to pancreas specialist at NW Abbott on Monday, which has nothing to do with hearing of course. This has kicked off migraines. Sandy had a bad patch but is doing well now.

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  12. i’ve noticed what i really like is miles and mingus and monk steve goodman john prime with a gershwin backbeat

    i feel inke i sent a note but i cant find it

    i broke my femer wednesday and who woulda thought that all this while later im still not getting around

    have a great nite
    happy holidays baboons

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      1. slipped on a delivery driveway little patch of ice
        came down hard on right back pocket
        big pain couldn’t move
        called 911 5 minutes later ambulance fire truck delivery lady and woman across the street who stuck her head out and said are you ok? i yelled back that i broke my leg and i called an ambulance . she said now?…. i said yep
        had the lady at the house take in her box of groceries and then sent my son over there 20 minutes later with deb to get the car
        i don’t know much about breaks but this was a ragged break through the thick part of the femer where the ball joint joins the hip area
        they inserted a rod from my front pocket top to my knee with a couple sets of screws holding it in place but it can bear weight immediately
        just some pain to deal with at this point and a review on plan b financial pursuits for christmas and january
        i should have time to stick my head in while i take over the tv in my great room
        nice set up
        sorry to miss white elephant night
        it’s become a favorite event
        hope fun was had by all

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        1. I wondered what kind of a break and whether or not you had surgery. It sounds like you’re keeping a good attitude. I’m sorry about the break and about the pain in the butt it must be for you. It will be nice for us to hear from you more often.

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    3. Wow, tim! I hope it wasn’t a serious fracture requiring surgery. Please get well soon. I’m glad to know that while your femur heals you will be forced to sit still long enough to comment here more often!

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  13. I’ve been so busy lately. I think I can take some time for myself now, so my favorite winter and solstice music can come out of hiding. I like some older Windham Hill music like George Winston’s “December,” and William Ackerman’s “Past Light.” I also like Michael Hedges, as well as Loreena McKennitt’s “To Drive the Cold Winter Away.”

    I had to practice hard for an event that we had at the senior center. We played holiday music for a lunch so I was listening to Here Comes Santa Claus and Silver Bells a lot. That stuff just sounds too commercial to me now and I don’t like it very much. I’m glad that event is over. We played terribly too.

    Last night on the way home, I got to listen to part of Handel’s Messiah followed immediately by Beethoven’s Sixth. Both of those pieces move me to tears – without fail. I was almost out of gas when I got back to Northfield and I had Beethoven’s Sixth cranked full blast at the Holiday station with tears running down my face. It always reminds me of Morgan (kind of like a wasband but we weren’t married.) He passed away in 2015 – just an amazing person, a wild mind, a brilliance too bright for this world to hold anymore. He taught me to love Beethoven, especially the Sixth. It was his favorite. After music like that, it’s hard to listen to White Christmas, or much of anything else.

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        2. turns out he probably didn’t notice

          whenever i’m tempering behavior because of what the other guy might think i am reminder that for the most part the other guy doesn’t think of you that often

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  15. Enjoyed reading your farming update, Ben! The chicken antics made me smile. Congrats on the successful semester and the new ladder. Excited for your Creative Writing class—any favorite writing inspirations lately?

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