2025, animals, Automotive, Farming Update, Nature, Seasons

May

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

The barn swallows are back.

Often we get one that stops in about this time of the year, just as the scout, and then it’s gone again until about May 6 when they generally return to stay. This year we had one back on April 26. I joked that mom came back as a barn swallow. And a few days later, she brought dad with her. And this pair moved into the usual nest on top of the Windchime next to the front door. They seem to be here to stay.

I’ve been saying I couldn’t remember what day it was for the last month. Heck, throw in a funeral and I’m totally discombobulated now. 

Finished our spring play at the college last weekend, then had a spring concert this past week. Commencement isn’t until the 14th, so this coming week, maybe I can farm a bit between other things. 

It has rained enough I haven’t gotten much fieldwork done or anything planted yet. I think the damp conditions are Gods way of telling me just to relax, it will be OK. Ha! “Relax.” Clearly God isn’t aware of how my mind works.

We moved the chicks to a bigger pen. They’re enjoying that, eating A LOT and growing well. Just starting to get some tail feathers. 

After cutting down all those trees, last week I got them all cleared off the fields. That was more involved than I expected, but it’s done. And I didn’t break anything on the tractor nor hurt myself. 

I did some repairs on something I had bent on one of the tractors last winter, and I graded the road. The chickens sure love a fresh pile of dirt or even if it’s gravel. The first grading of the spring, I’m pulling in rock from the edges, and cutting down the edges so rain water will run off the side and not down the road. It kinda makes a mess for a while. It will get better. Eventually.

I got my final rabies shot got so I got my rabies tag now.

You all know, with any death there is a lot of details. There’s a scene in one of my favorite movies, Mr. Magorium‘s Wonder Emporium, where one of the characters says he’s just the guy that makes sure all the papers are in order. I kind of feel like that sometimes. I made a lot of phone calls this week. I thought when mom passed away I would be complete blubbering mess. But honestly it was a huge relief. It felt like such a weight off. And I’m lucky that I have such a supportive family and we all get along so well. (Well, there’s that one… we’ve had enough together time for now.)

We laugh together at the meeting at the funeral home, we laugh over stories with the minister during the meeting at the church.

I asked the funeral home director for a tour. He said he couldn’t give me a tour. I told him I didn’t want to see a dead body, I just wanted to see the “backstage” areas, so he did show me the garage. I remember when Dad died, there was a framed picture of Bea Arthur in the casket room. I couldn’t figure out if she was the celebrity spokesperson or what?? Her picture isn’t there anymore. And the guy wouldn’t believe me that it was there before. But I know what I saw!

Mom had requested a private burial and then the service will be in a few weeks because all the grandchildren were already planning a “cousins reunion” and we didn’t want them to make two trips this close together.

So we’re at the cemetery for a quick little service, and I’m looking at dad‘s headstone “over there”, but the casket and hole over here. And somebody else questions that as well. Finally I get the attention of the funeral director. He went pale for a second, and he started to sweat, and then we realized they had moved the headstone in order to dig the hole and get the mechanism in place for the casket. Oh. OK, that makes sense. He teased me I was gonna give him a heart attack.

Kelly and I stayed after and talked with the cemetery crew and watched them lower the casket into the vault. It’s all part of the process.

And the world just keeps on going round.

IS THERE A CELEBRITY SPOKESPERSON YOU’D BELIEVE?

56 thoughts on “May”

  1. Believe about what? Belief is personal and implies a leap from what is established empirically. Some things, mathematics and much of science for example, are true whether or not you believe them.

    If she can be considered a celebrity, I generally believe the political commentary of Heather Cox Richardson. I think in part that’s because she presents information—facts—rather than opinion. You can of course glean her opinion from the facts she reports and that opinion happens to coincide with my own but that’s the way it is with belief. At the same time, I have no idea whether I would share her belief in other matters.

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    2. Mostly, I have no idea what celebrities are saying so I have no basis for believing them or not. I scarcely recognize any celebrities anymore.

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      1. Last summer while I was waiting for my root canal (woo hoo), I picked up a People magazine in the waiting room. I didn’t recognize one single “celebrity” in the entire publication. Not one.

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  2. Not a one. Do old actors really need the money to be hawking crab? Really?
    Cemeteries produce many funny moments between funeral directors and pastors and sometimes families. Russian funerals are very elaborate. The funeral procession on foot after a pure white snowfall from chapel to grave site in subzero weather—priest leading stepped back to us and said “We’re walking through movie Zhivago.”

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      1. Clyde. Sandy’s father’s funeral was amazingly awful except for that moment. At the viewing the night before, of a body that was deteriorating, his brothers broke into the box where people dropped their cards and donations and gave the money to the church.

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  3. I can’t think of a celebrity I’d “believe” right now. I’m often so naive about people and their motives. I might believe someone to be so earnest, and to have such integrity… and then I find out the truth.

    I can think of some people whom I’ve admired, but would I believe them? I don’t know. I guess it would depend on what I was asked to believe.

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  4. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I would believe our Baboon Celebrity Chicken Farmer and Agricultural Spokesperson, Ben, on the power of Chicken Poo in my gardens, as well as the desirability of his chicken eggs.

    But that is about it. Regarding most things, I am with Bill. How would I know that someone’s values or beliefs resonate with mine. RFK Jr. is a great illustration of this. When I was age 15, I loved his father as a presidential candidate due to his progressive agenda. I was watching TV when he was shot, which was such a terrible moment. His pathetic son is a pseudo-celebrity with little to recommend him. Why would I believe anything that he recommends?

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    1. When you say you believe Tom Hanks (or Joni Mitchell, or anyone for that matter) are you saying you believe whatever they say or are you saying you believe THEY believe it?

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      2. If Tom Hanks told me a reverse mortgage on my house was a good idea, I’d at least look into it if I needed one.
        If Bea Arthur told me that, I wouldn’t.
        I barely pay attention to commercials. I turn the channel.

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        2. But you have to look at the character (as much as we can) about the person doing the shilling. I believe Tom enough that if he was doing it he must believe it. I don’t think Tom does stuff for the money. But of course, honestly, how can we know.

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        3. I guess I’m not talking about a celebrity in a commercial ad, but more in an interview answering questions about themselves. If it’s an ad, I’m with you – don’t believe anyone, and don’t necessarily thing they really believe it, either.

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      4. All that I have seen and heard from Hanks lends me to believe that he has excellent character. Is he perfectly trustworthy? Can any human attain that? Not me. If Hanks said the Sun orbits the Earth, I’d question his sanity.

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    2. I read Tom Hanks novel about making a movie in Hollywood. I was willing to do that because he makes movies that I often like, and he knows that business inside and out. It was not a bad book and I learned a lot about making movies. I also inferred a lot about actors who may be a lot of trouble on location. They were, of course, unidentified.

      What was in it for him? Just getting people to read his book. He does not need that income. He apparently had a creative urge. He also hosted Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me years ago. In an interview he said he just wanted that experience. Not much else in it for him, and he was really good at it.

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      1. I listened to Tom Hanks’ book on audio… he was the narrator and that was very nice but the book itself — just four stars.

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  7. Although he isn’t a celebrity outside of NDSU, I believe Don Kinzler, the head of NDSU Extention service regarding gardening in ND.

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      1. Which begs the question: what makes someone a celebrity? How widely do they have to be celebrated?
        Does it matter what they are celebrated for?

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        1. That depends entirely on who you are.

          I suspect that if you are a Swiftie, you may well be in the demographics of an extremely large and potentially influential group. What’s more, your own political views may not be well founded in knowledge of history and facts. Alas, this appears to be also true of most of the American electorate. I don’t mean to disparage Swifties or Taylor Swift’s artistry, I know little about either. I know she’s hard working and extremely successful, but her music just doesn’t grab me. But I certainly recognize that she has a lot to say, and millions of young people are listening.

          Personally, I also don’t have a clue who the Kardashians are, or what they are known for, but apparently they have a large enough following that they are considered “influencers.”

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        2. I agree. And you can’t avoid recognizing that certain persons seem to have the attention of a great many people. I have to allow that they are some sort of celebrity. Those are the easy ones. But there are many public persons whose names or faces are recognized by groups of people beyond those who know those public persons personally. Are they celebrities? What separates mere public persons from celebrities?

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  9. Nice. My daughter and s-i-l just board a plane in Boston. Doubtful his father will be alive when they reach Cities an drive to Sioux Falls

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  10. I believe John Oliver, because his show is reportedly pretty rigorously fact-checked. I also really like to hear what David Brooks has to say on PBS Newshour and in his writing. Does he qualify as a celebrity?

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    1. I enjoy David Brooks. He has been open about his transformation from conservative to a somwhat,oderate. His work on moral character was important.

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      2. I will admit I don’t follow David Brooks or read or listen to what he says. But anyone, no matter how seemingly reasonable, who looks at the Republicans and what they do and concludes, “Those are my guys” will never gain my respect.

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        1. Why is it always Republicans, whether David Brooks or William Bennett, that presume they can represent moral character?

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        2. That is not David Brooks approach at all. He did a thorough reading of psychological literature about how character is formed, then wrote about the prevalance of weak character in government is a problem (i.e. taking bribes). He is not lecturing from above, but rather really searching. This occurred about the time he got a divorce and remarried, so I think some of his interest was quite personal.

          I really have an aversion to the “moral police” who do judge and lecture from on high, and that is not his approach at all. If it was, I would not read his opinions or listen to his lectures.

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        3. It’s easy to disapprove of taking bribes. If he’s not decrying the Trump administration, that choice of silence is a moral failure in itself, one that negates, in my opinion, anything else he might say.

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        4. I agree with Jacque on this. David Brooks has never been a Trumper, and he certainly does not embrace this administration’s policies. What’s more, he isn’t afraid to say so. He most definitely does not see the current regime as “my guys.” In fact, he openly opposed 47 prior to the election.

          I think there are many old school Republicans who are aghast that their party has been hi-jacked by the MAGAts and Musk.

          Brooks does not see 47 as representing Republican values and has publicly condemned much of what’s going on. I disagree politically on many issues with people like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, but I don’t question their moral fiber. It’s people like Vance, Rubio, and Lindsey Graham that make me wonder at what price they sold their souls. To my mind what’s unfolding under the current regime is not a fight between Republican and Democratic values. 47 and his sycophants do not represent traditional conservative or Republican values.

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  12. Today is the 80th anniversary of Denmark’s liberation from occupation by German troops during WWII. It’s also the 55th anniversary of the Kent State shootings, after which all hell broke out on college campuses all over the country.

    On a more personal note, today is the 30th anniversary of my first cancer diagnosis. I’m grateful to still be here.

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  14. Someone had asked what mom didn’t want served at her service. She specifically said “NO CAKE” and “NO POTATO SALAD”. She really avoided potatoes in all her meals since she quit making meals. Said she’d ate enough potatoes over the years.
    And worked enough funerals, she didn’t want cake or potato salad. She asked for an assortment of bars, and ham sandwiches. On white and dark bread, cut in half.

    As you wish, Mom, as you wish.

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  15. I’m kind of in a I-don’t-believe-anything place these days. I’ve pretty much quit looking at YouTube and anything except animal and stamping posts on Facebook because the untruths as just massive and ubiquitous. It’s like there’s a handbook for social media that says once you get a “platform” you have to start making crap up.

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  16. Maybe Keanu Reeves. It seems pretty clear that he wouldn’t shill for anybody unless he really believed in it himself. He might not shill for anybody anyway…..

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