2026, animals, Farming Update, History, Music, Uncategorized

Jumping the Hoops

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This weeks farm update from Ben

It was another Friday the 13th. Any issues for anyone?

And did everyone hang onto their hats Friday? Man, it was windy.

We had a few branches down, nothing serious. One tree down on a township road at 7:30 AM, and I was lucky one of the other supervisors took care of that.

I finally ordered 400 gallons of diesel fuel and 100 gallons of farm gas. The longer I waited, the more it was stressing me out. Prices on diesel fuel are up a about dollar from a year ago. Four hundred dollars isn’t going to make or break us.

Wednesday, we met our attorney to sign a paper regarding the Farm Trust, and I took that to the Farm Service Agency to see if that makes them happy. Sometimes you have to play the game and jump through the hoops. (And that afternoon I had a talk with summer padawan about bureaucracy and hoops, and you can either deal with it or fight everything all the way. That’s part of life. At some point there will be a person in charge of hoops, and they either take care of your hoop paperwork, or your hoop paperwork will never get approved. You get to decide what would be easier in your life. A couple pieces of chocolate and a smile sometimes helps. )

Had a “discussion” with John Deere about the big parts sale. The pitch of my voice went up, and I used a couple bad words. I got all riled up for the hour it took to straighten things out. Ag parts are supposed to be tax exempt, and I didn’t get the discount I expected WHICH WAS THE WHOLE REASON I ORDERED THE PARTS! It was one of those things where the local dealership works different than the online parts order place. I told the guy I wasn’t mad at him; I was mad at the situation. And the local guy was as frustrated as I was. I said they better make sure all the sales people understand because it was not presented to me that way when I called two days ahead to see how to make this work.

The Solution was to return everything (electronically) and redo it through the local dealer. And I filed a tax exemption form to John Deere Parts.com. That was how I spent Thursday morning. By Friday morning it was all straightened out and I saved $250. Almost made up for the diesel fuel! I told the parts manager I appreciated his work and we laughed about some stuff.

I sold the corn I had in storage at the elevator. Price wasn’t really moving. Probably lost money compared to selling it last fall, and I had to pay storage now anyway. As I wrote last week, I am spending money hand over fist, so can always use the money.

The anal weather station sold at the auction for $24. The Culti-packer / roller item I was watching sold for $17,000. Jeepers. 

I did get the drag I wanted. Paid more than I wanted. It looked like just me and one other guy bidding on it. I fully expected someone else to come in at the last minute like they do…but they didn’t. Isn’t it something how an item may not have much value until two people want it. Suddenly it’s valuable. 

But. It’s mine now. Went with my buddy Paul, and all the dogs, and picked it up Friday morning and pulled it home. Bailey stuck her nose in Paul’s ear for a while, and we learned Luna likes ice cubes.

I’m not exactly sure yet how it unfolds or stands up. There’s a crank and a cable…I’ll figure it out at some point. In the field it will look like this, except not so shiny, or clean, or new, or big, and not such a fancy tractor.

img_5752
Courtesy McFarlaneag.com

Kelly and I were watching the news the other night. Lamenting ordering diesel fuel and the price, lamenting how prices are going up on crop inputs like Urea, lamenting the cost of the drag, lamenting selling the corn I have in storage. And she said to me, “Are we having fun yet?”. Then we got the giggles.

I said that would be good in the blog and as I added that note to my phone list, I saw another note from a while ago: 

“Doris Day, annunciation, nice work if you can get it.” Hmmmm. Was Doris Day annunciated? Kelly thought maybe I met “enunciation” and that rang a bell. 

I remember hearing her sing ‘Nice Work if you can Get it’ on the radio and how well she enunciates her ‘T’s. An internet search says:

Key aspects of her vocal style include:

  • Precision and Clarity: She was known for her ability to deliver lyrics with exceptional clarity, often compared to jazz singers in her phrasing.
  • Breathy Quality: Some listeners identified a distinct, “breathy” quality in her voice, which was a hallmark of her singing and speaking.
  • Emotional Control: Day was noted for her ability to convey deep emotion in ballads without sacrificing vocal control.
  • Technical Skill: Her technique included an impressive ability to manage breath control and blend her belt register with her head voice. *AI Overview, Reddit*

Listen to her sing this. Crisp and clear!

And then I go to Mel Torme because he’s just so cool! 

I love that twinkle in his eyes when he’s having fun singing. 

From there I think to myself, “What is up with you and these singers??” As a kid, I wouldn’t have touched music like that or those performers with a 10’ pole. And now I love it.

We do evolve. One hopes.

HOW ARE YOU WITH HULA HOOPS?

HOW’S YOUR ENUNCIATION?

53 thoughts on “Jumping the Hoops”

  3. Yes, what Bill said. Mine too.

    I always think I have enunciated clearly, but I’m afraid I have a rather lazy tongue. And sometimes I find myself mentally critiquing someone else’s pronunciation, when I know I don’t pronounce things perfectly myself.

    I do notice a lot of lazy pronunciation, such as glottal stops in words with Ts. Sometimes I even say to myself that it’s really okay to pronounce those Ts.

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  4. today is albert einstiens birthday i know this because today is my daughter taras birthday 37 and son spencers 33rd birthday. we always let alberts celebration be part of the day. then we discovered its also kirby puckets birthday. we stood in line to get kirbys autograph years ago and told him that we all shared the same birthday. he was busy signing the next damn baseball and not in a mood to chat. we never had that problem with albert. i mention this because taras kids will be coming over today and i will get some film of luca crafting a sentance with no regard at all for enunciation. is articulation the same defination? i tell luca all the time that i sure am looking forward to being able to understand what he is saying and he laughs and replies with another unintellegable phrase.
    i have been a music fan of oddball music for many years. mel torme has been a favorite forever. i just saw a ditty on doris day kind of an inspirational bio telling how she discovered when her husband dropped dead of a massive heart attack that he had misappropriated her funds without her being aware and so she signed on to do the doris day tv show to pay her debts then retired to a non glamorous suburban life. she had an interesting place in the entertainment industry. great voice, great beauty, great figure but she had that suzy cream cheese halo that followed her everywhere.
    ill be thinking about my pi day friends as the blizzard picks up speed tonight. enjoy all

    i was looking for a story on the whacker today but ill settle for this one. what a drag

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  5. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    When I was ages 4-7 years, a hula hoop and my ability to keep the hula hoop going was one of my most important skills. At least important to me. I think at that time, it was a relatively new toy. The hula hoop, as well as the Annie Oakley six shooters and stick horse, were priority toys. I spent hours and hours in the back yard, wiggling my hips to keep the hula hoop aloft. I have not done this in years, and I suspect following my hip replacements, it now would not be a wise idea.

    The only problem with the hula hoop was that it did not fit in my suitcase. During those days when I went through my running-away-from-mom phase, I would pack my suitcase with my favorite things, but the hula hoop did not fit. I could wear the six-shooters and the cowboy hat, ride the stick horse, and pack my favorite books, my blue bandana, as well as the blue corduroy pants with the pockets, but not the hula hoop. It was left behind during every episode.

    Enunciation: Ever since I had chemotherapy for breast cancer I have had some brain fog, and I think it affected enunciation. Some things slide by my tongue. It drives me nuts. Maybe I should try the Church of Enunciation to remedy this.

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  8. OT The treatments my eye doctor has me doing leave me with very blurry vision at close range. Which is why I am silent. At moment I can see enough to type. Other eye issues and neurological issues have made me decide to quit driving. Four weeks later I’m still trying figure all that out.
    Tough last three days. My 56 year old son had his kidney removed 7-8 years because of cancer. At his annual checkup on Wednesday they found cancer in the other kidney. He will have an MRI next week to determine options.
    Clyde

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    3. hope they find a donor. i hear they cont need sn entire kidney these days. a chunk will grow into a good replacement kidney. let me know if you need to check for matching blood types or however they determine a match.

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  10. Let’s see –

    My voice is pretty much gone, but I do try to bring my en unciation into play when singing in church as I have a friend with very little vision, and I figure that might help her as she likes to sing along if she knows the hymn.

    I had no gift for the hula hoop whatsoever. I was convinced early and thoroughly that I was “uncoordinated for age” (says so on a junior high report card, so must be so), so devoted very little time to it, but for some reason the innovation of the “shoop-shoop” hula hoop has always stuck with me. I think jingles have a way of watching into my memory. Also weird connections. I’ve seen several “reels” on FB of Native American dancing that’s done with bright-colored hoops that are held to form all sorts of patterns that I find fascinating, but don’t know what that’s called.

    Happy Pi Day all. Hope everyone is prepared to stay in, if the storm really materializes.

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  11. A couple of summers ago I was with a few fellow choir altos at another friends’ lake home. She had a couple of hula hoops and to my great surprise, I discovered that I can still do it. At home I have a weighted hula hoop which I used back in the early 2000s. I can still keep it spinning around my waist but it’s uncomfortable (the inner side of it is scalloped) so it will remain hanging up in the garage.

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  12. I loved the hula hoop. It was all the rage when I was fifteen. My girlfriends and I would practice for hours on end, sometimes using two hoops. We could move them up and down our bodies, and were really quite adept at it.

    Some years ago, maybe ten, I got my hands on one, and tried it in the back yard. No dice. It was an utter failure. The hoop is still stashed behind a cabinet in our dining room, I think.

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      1. Good question! To my way of reasoning, it’s not taking up any usable space, and as they say, it’s not eating any bread. Who knows? One of these days I might run into a younger person who might want to give it a whirl. Not saying that’s likely, but stranger things have happened.

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  13. I could never get a hula hoop to stay up around my waist, and yet I can do almost any other kind of dance movement, and taught folk dancing for a # of years… but it’s probably one of the things that had convinced me I was uncoordinated until age 29, when I found said folk dancing.

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    1. I let McGee out the front door. He was engulfed by snow after negotiating the steps which are buried in a drift. He loves snow and ran around like a mad dog. I would guess 9-12 inches so far. The kicked up about an hour ago which will become a problem. There is snow plastered on the west facing front window. Inside it is warm and cozy with oatmeal pancakes for breakfast.

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    2. Significant accumulations on the sidewalks here. I have a neighbor who has two dachshunds. I kinda worry about them when the snow is this deep and people haven’t shoveled. Their stubby little legs won’t get them through it.

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  19. Morning –
    Yes, warm and cozy. Can’t see out our South windows. The backyard is full of birds around the feeders. Junco’s, cardinals, and the Red Wing Blackbirds are back. The wind has really kicked up at the moment. Sure glad I’m not milking cows out in this. My goodness.

    Time for a nap!

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  20. OT – Got the news this morning that Paul Geremia has died.
    What a sad loss, but he had been in rough shape for several years after suffering several strokes. I’m guessing that not everyone on the trail will be familiar with Paul’s music, but he was a terrific acoustic blues player. Here’s an example of his work:

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  25. I try to enunciate. Sloppy enunciation catches my attention in the same way poor grammar does. When people say “pundint” instead of “pundit”, or “jewelery” instead of “jewelry”, or “higharchy” instead of “hierarchy”, I always feel like I want to teach them how to enunciate the word properly. And then there’s “Febuary”.

    My sister has a habit of saying the word “condominium” as “condominion”. Of course, in the larger scheme of things, the function of language is to make yourself understood, and the little stuff shouldn’t matter. If I know what you mean, your pronunciation is of lesser importance.

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