Category Archives: animals

2025, animals, Automotive, Farming Update, Nature, pets, Uncategorized

NIGHTLIFE

40 Comments

The weekend Farm report from Ben

Every day this week, five AM pretty much right on the dot, Bailey barks outside. Luna and Humphrey bark inside until I can get to the door and get them out. And then everyone runs in separate directions and Bailey quietly wanders back to the garage, thinking, “suckers”. Pretty sure there’s been a coyote around for all the sniffing the other two are doing. Luna, she’s just running in circles barking. Humphrey is on the trail of something along the trees and around the crib, and down the field road. He’s got his nose to the ground and his tail is up and going. Bailey may sit and watch a bit, but mostly she’s letting the others take care of it. She will not engage until she has back up. Raises the alarm well, but not going to do anything about it on her own.

An hour later, they’re ready to come back in. Luna with a gentle bark. Humphrey with a scratch at the back door. Very randomly Humphrey might get locked in the feed room and he will not bark for attention. We realize he’s not around, call and call him and he will not bark. Eventually we backtrack enough we find him in the feed room, just waiting for someone to let him out. Not a sound from him. 

And every night for the last week, there’s been barn owls calling. The first night, there was one in a tree right in the back yard and I had a flashlight and it just bobbed back and forth looking at me. I didn’t know what the noise was; I thought Kelly was whistling in her sleep. Sometimes they’re further away from the house, and Thursday night there was two of them right here, plus at least one more further away. A soft, whistling, screeching noise. 

Daughter and the dogs take their daily walks. Sometimes, especially in this hot weather, daughter will text us asking for a rescue pick up. And Humphrey, just because he’s 10 years old and has a sore leg, sometimes we just go pick him up to give him a break. Bailey and Luna don’t always go for the walk. Bailey especially, as Luna is a bully to her, she’ll opt out just to get a break from Luna. And Luna sometimes thinks there are more interesting things happening at home with me. But Humphrey always ALWAYS goes for that walk, sore leg or not. I went to pick him up one day, and, not thinking, took the 4 wheeler, rather than the gator. He does not like being picked up, which is the only reason I was able to pick him up and put him on the front rack of the 4 wheeler; he didn’t expect this! And he sat there quietly and didn’t have to walk home. A win-win. 

Last week on one of those hot days, the fan in the chicken coop stopped working. What was in there was an old box fan from the theater because their other fan had stopped working last summer. And that fan was a replacement for a previous barn fan. I’ve always thought electric motors were interesting what with stator and rotors, the windings, the capacitors on some of the bigger ones, brushes, ect. We have had a lot of electric motors on the farm, many more when milking cows and they were vital to daily operation. Big 5 and 7.5 hp electric motors on the silo unloaders, a 5HP on the feel bunk, a 5HP on the vacuum pump, a ¾ HP on the milk pump, and any of them failing was a bad day. The ones on the silo unloader might be 35 feet up in the silo, so if it failed, it was a pain in the butt not to mention an expense. I learned how to check and change capacitors, and most of the time that was the only problem. They could be replaced in the silo. Getting the motors out of the silo was a much bigger deal. Ropes and pulleys were involved. 

So the chicken’s fan. The box fan I threw out. I took the one motor apart, found decayed wires deep inside and tossed it into the scrap bucket. The old barn fan motor; it would run for ten seconds, quit for ten, run for another ten, repeat. I pulled it apart. Well, first I watched some You Tube videos, then I pulled it apart, which first meant getting the fan blade and the cage guard off. (A torch was involved, just to heat up the set screws and shank to facilitate removal, not to cut it off.) I remember Dad buying this fan as an exhaust fan for the dairy barn, maybe 40 years ago, and it was too powerful; it got too cold in the barn in winter, so he took it out and it collected dust for a lot of years. Then I rescued it and hung it in the middle of the barn alley so I had a fan on those hot humid summer days milking cows. And I sold the cows 22 years ago and it’s been gathering dust again. Not really surprising the motor had quit working. I got it apart, found a wire shorting out on the windings, added a piece of heat shrink tubing to protect it, and Viola! It works! The chickens are pleased to have a fan back. 

The padawans managed to get the theater boiler apart and out on the boulevard. One of the neighbors asked if he could have the metal. I said “If you can move it,  you can have it”. And he did! I don’t know how, but it’s over in his yard now!  

One of the padawans brought his car to my shop.

He was replacing some part of the exhaust, to make it louder or sound “cooler”… I didn’t follow the full explanation. He and a buddy spent many hours removing the old parts. Started at 8PM, went for supper and came back, left at 2AM, back at 4AM, left at 7AM. Every time they came back the dogs barked. By 9 PM the next day it was reassembled. Padawan’s girlfriend drove him out. She hung out in the shop, played with the dogs, made a chicken friend that she sat with for an hour, and helped daughter do chores. We like her a lot. 

WHEN WAS THE LAST ALL-NIGHTER YOU PULLED?

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOU TO DO IT AGAIN?

2025, animals, Family, Nature

Tapir Zoomies

17 Comments

When YA and I go to the zoo, we normally follow a particular pattern of what we see in what order.  I’m not sure why, it’s just a habit we’ve fallen into. 

There’s been a lot going at the new zoo (Minnesota Zoo – it will always be the new zoo to me – unless a third zoo opens up in Twin Cities – then I’ll have to revise).  There is the sea lion show which has been getting good reviews, new Bennett’s wallabies from Australia, a new Black Water Monitor, the new Red Panda / Crane exhibit, the summer Llama Trek AND the bird show has moved outside for the summer. 

You can’t just show up at the zoo and get in these days – you have to get reservations ahead of time (this is a post-covid thing) and you also have to get reservations for the sea lions and the bird show.  No charge for these.  For the sea lion show if there are still seats at 5 minutes before the show, you can get in without the reservation.  For the bird show, YA and I were there fairly early to get the seats we wanted and to settle in and drink the pop we had just bought – if they were asking folks to show their reservations, we didn’t see it.

SO… with all this going on, we had an agenda and as the day went on, we adjusted as needed.  First Tropics.  This took longer than usual because the tapir had just gotten out of its pool and decided to do zoomies:

I’ve hardly ever seen a tapir walking around much less running.  Clearly nobody else had either, judging by the crowd it was drawing.  Even the two zoo staff were filming!

We had time to do the Minnesota trail before we headed over to the sea lion show.  YA got some good photos of the coyote and the mountain lion.

Sea lion show was great and so was Llama Trek.  It was almost as if the llamas had all had a “Photo Op” seminar over the winter:

The tiger waterfall was turned on and the bird show was very nice, ending with a flurry of beautiful macaws free-flying into and out of the exhibit.  We got to everything we wanted and at the right times. Fabulous day at the zoo!

When was the last time you had to keep to a schedule?

animals, Business, Food, Gatherings, Stories, work

Relishing Every Bite

42 Comments

On the phone with my friend Pat last week, she reminded me of the following story.

This was about 20 years ago.  Cell phones were a thing but not the ubiquitous kind of thing they are today.  In a department meeting, Lydia’s cell phone (names changed to protect the innocent) buzzed in her pocket.  When she looked at it, she got a funny look and zipped out of the meeting room.  About 5 minutes later she came back in and announced to all of us that she needed to leave.  I don’t know about anybody else, but all kinds of dark thoughts jumped right into my brain.  Sick kids, husband in car accident, mother fallen down steps… that kind of thing.

Apparently her dog had gotten out of the yard and wandered several blocks over to a local gas/convenience store.  He headed straight over to the bread section and proceeded to help himself to a couple packages of hot dog buns before anybody noticed him.  Luckily Lydia and her family had a chip so the local animal control was able to get hold of them pretty quickly.

After she rushed off, the meeting broke down completely.  Apparently we had all thought the same kinds of horrible scenarios and were really relieved that it was a funny story instead of a tragic one.

The next morning when Lydia showed up, her desk was covered in packages of hot dog buns.  I can’t say whose idea that was, but I do remember who did the leg work with a handful of collected cash!

Why do all hot dogs look the same?

2025, animals, Gatherings, Music, Nature, Uncategorized

Don’t Pet The Fluffy Cows

33 Comments

Yesterday we left the house at 7:15 am to drive to Medora. Our church bell choir had a gig at the Congregational Church there. Medora is a little town just outside Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the heart of the ND Badlands. It is full of tourists and tourist attractions. The church only has services in the summer now, with guest pastors each week. It is a small, one room church with about 20 pews.

On the way there, we saw a couple of Forest Service trucks on the side of the road near a deep ditch. There were about four guys there, along with a big bison. We gathered that the bison had somehow got through the very tall fence that marks the park boundary along the interstate. The fence is presumably high enough to keep the elk and bison from jumping over. I wouldn’t want to have the task of herding an angry bison, intent on roaming, back through the fence. They are fierce creatures. I don’t understand why any sane person would think they could walk up to one and pet it.

We encountered another wild creature once we made it to the church. The preacher for the day was a well-known local Lutheran minister, retired now, with a reputation for being a real character. The mild mannered librarian in our bell choir muttered “Oh s##t” when she saw his name in the bulletin. She has known him since she was a young adult and had him as a pastor for a while. He is a kind, gracious and well-intentiond man, but one who is all over the place in terms of his sermons and impulsive changes to the liturgy. He would be as hard to manage at a church council meeting as that bison in the ditch would be. He named several people sitting in the pews told and anecdotes about them and their familes (including the librarian) from years past, somehow connecting them to the theme of his sermon. His sermon didn’t run over the time allotted, though, and he only digressed from the order of service in the bulletin a couple of times.

On the drive home we saw the forest service trucks along with a Sherriff’s Department truck a mile or so west of where we saw them on the way to Medora. I guess the bison was still on the move. I hope they can get it back through the fence without anyone getting hurt.

What up close and personal experiences have you had with wildlife? Who are some characters in your life?

2025, animals, Automotive, Farming Update

Say What?

38 Comments

Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

I was watching Luna’s ears the other day and got to thinking about how dog ears can move so much considering how thin they are. Down the rabbit hole I went. Dogs have eighteen muscles in their ears, humans have six. They are born deaf as the ear is sealed up for about the first three weeks. You can get dog hearing aids! I’ve always loved how soft a dogs ears are.

I was headed to Plainview the other day, updating and getting quotes for a new farm insurance policy, and I had time so I took one of the scenic back roads. I don’t know if y’all have noticed these silhouette Bigfoot cut outs that are becoming popular. I see a few here and there, and I drove past one farm that must have a dozen of them. I frequently pass one farm that has one painted red, white, and blue, but for sheer volume this place was the winner. They have one life-size with two child size ones tagging behind, then there’s one in the yard carrying a couple of steel wheels, there’s another one by the shed, and there was a few others in the pasture. I guess we’ve just never got the appeal of yard art like that. We never had the bent over butts, although we have done the pink flamingos, and I do have an old road grader parked in the lawn now and mostly it’s just a pain to mow around. A friend of mine said he liked to put art in his yard because he didn’t have to mow the grass under it, which is a worthy point, but every couple of months I have to move this road grader to a different spot or the weeds get so bad you can’t see it amongst the weeds. I know we could do some landscaping around it. ‘It’s on my list’ ™.

The oats is heading out, a little area went down one day last week. And with the storms this week, more went down. It’s still green so that’s a little unusual.


Looks like some of the peas have started to be harvested by the canning companies. They sure make a mess when it’s raining like this. The canning companies don’t stop for weather. As I understand it, they have a schedule and they need to stick to it. Again, it’s all about those Growing Degree Units. Stop for the rain and they’re behind next week. We’re about 160 GDU’s over normal.

We got .8” of rain Wednesday, then 2.4” on Thursday. That makes over 6” in June. Ok, that’s enough, FOR NOW- I say that carefully. Down in our valley we can’t tell how windy it is. There have been two tornado warnings for us this week. Course I was standing in the machine shed door watching the rain come down. Ever been in a steel building while it’s raining? Rain on a steel roof is so loud you can’t talk over it. And it sounds much worse inside than it really is outside. But in my new shop, it’s quiet and cool and nice. Except for a few leaks… We’ve caulked all the roof nail heads, sealed all the joints and the sides and roof peak, and I still get drips.

After the first day of all three padawans, I split them up the next week. I’m better with them one at a time. Although it depends what’s happening. Next week we start some summer projects at the theater and I may be able to use all three.

We cut brush down around the barn and got rained out and did a bunch of stuff in the machine shed. Still working on that ‘to-do’ list. Finished a few odds and ends in the shop. Got plywood on the new pallet racking, took the battery out of the Farmall ‘C’ and found the smoking wire on that, literally. Working on the 630 and the new air cleaner, muffler, fan belt, radiator hose, throttle plate, ect. The four bolts that hold the muffler are all corroded (they’ve been there since 1959) and I believe I’m gonna have to drill and tap new holes for those. I did take the tractor down and power wash it.

Ordered parts for both tractors. And I thought before I get too far into this I better call a friend of mine that works on old tractors and get his opinion. He’ll be out one of these days.

The corn is a good knee high and just about canopied, meaning there shouldn’t be any weed pressure after this. And I can’t see the water standing between the rows now. The soybeans, the ones the deer haven’t eaten, yet, are looking good. They’re about 8 inches tall, but when you look across the field it looks very ragged and uneven and upon closer inspection it’s because the dang deer keep eating them right down to the ground. It’s so darn frustrating! The weed pressure is getting pretty bad on the beans and I know they need to be sprayed, and the co-op knows it, too. We need a little less rain and wind so they can do that.

We’ve let the little chicks out and they’re very happy about that.

WHAT PARTS OF YOUR BODY CAN YOU WIGGLE INTENTIONALLY?

2025, animals, Government, Uncategorized

Feeling Mulish

38 Comments

We live about 40 miles from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It is very rugged, with buttes, gullies, strange rock formations, rattle snakes, big horn sheep, bison, and prairie dogs. We have enjoyed hiking there since our children were little.

In about 1998 the United States Forest Service built a 144 mile trail that connected the South Unit of the park with the North Unit. It is called the Maah Daah Hey Trail, which is a Mandan Indian word for “grandfather”. Bicyclists, hikers, and horse riders use it a lot. We have hiked a mile or so on it.

In 2023 a bridge near one of the trail heads collapsed into a gully, and that area of the trail has been closed. The Forest Service is responsible for its upkeep, and recently started bridge repair. Although motor vehicles could have hauled in the bridge materials, the Forest Service chose to use some of their pack mules to do the hauling so as to not disturb the landscape. The Forest Service has about 300 pack mules that are kept in Missoula, MT and help out with projects like this in our region. They only make the mules carry about 150 pounds of material at a time, which is about only half of what the average mule can haul. They retire the mules when they are about 25 years old and care for them for their remaining years. I think that is sweet. Who knew the Forest Service owned mules?

Where are your favorite places to hike or ride? Any experiences with mules or donkeys? Felt mulish lately?

2025, animals, Gatherings, holidays, Uncategorized

Up North

33 Comments

Happy Solstice, Midsommar, or whatever you call the first day of summer! The days are longer now, which I appreciate.

I have heard from two friends lately who have experienced some very long days. One is a college friend who lives way up north in Sweden near the Arctic circle. She posted a photo of her and her husband dropping her brother off last week at the nearby train station at 2:00 am. It was fully bright out. She then mentioned that when she and her husband arrived home at 3:00 am, the sun was starting to rise. It must have not got dark there at all! She and her husband are evangelical ministers. I doubt they will be doing too much carousing at Midsommar festivities, which I understand can get pretty wild.

I also heard from my friend the international pet sitter. Her most recent gig took her and her husband to Dawson City, Yukon, to take care of a Great Pyrenees dog. It was a huge, friendly dog who wanted to sit on her lap. They loved the Yukon. The permafrost makes it impossible to pave the streets. The local liquor store and Drivers License Bureau share the same office space. She took a photo at 10:00 pm and it looked like she took it at noon.

I think the farthest north I have been is Gimli, Manitoba. I like it dark when I sleep, and I don’t think I would adjust well when it would be light all day.

What us the farthest north you have ever been? Any Midsommar celebrating today and tomorrow?

2025, animals, books, Family, gardening, home, Uncategorized

Too Much Of A Good Thing

23 Comments

About three years ago, Husband and I planted a climbing rose along the railing of the stoep. The rose did very well. It is a winter hardy Morden Rose from Manitoba. Two years ago we planted two more of the same variety along side it. I had no idea they would take off the way they did. You can see them in the header photo and below. There are hundreds of blooms and buds on them. The only problem is that the railing isn’t high enough to support them, so I have to tie them to the railing with twine. I have tried to wind the stems and branches in the railing, as well. We often underestimate how well our plants and shrubs are going to do. It really is too much rose for the area, but I love them.

Our raspberry patch has exploded with new growth this spring, and I anticipate having one of our largest crops ever.

Our neighbor trimmed a tree that had been shading them, and we got lots of rain. I am sure we will be giving lots away, since there is no point in freezing them since we are moving.

We also have far too many books. The shelves in the next photo were full of books until yesterday, when Husband culled some and packed the remainder into 15 banker boxes, the boxes all labeled as to genre and topic. The books will stay in the boxes until after we move to Luverne.

We had to do this so that the painter can paint the wall behind the shelves. The culled books are in the back of his pickup and are going to the landfill on Tuesday. Our next chore is to move the remaining bookcases away from the wall so that she can paint behind them.

We will just empty the bookcases and put the books and record albums somewhere temporarily until the paint is dry, then put them back in the bookcases. We won’t box them up until we actually move. Many of them are our cookbooks, so we will need access to them.

It is hard to decide if I would rather have too many roses, too many raspberries, or too many books. I suppose there are worse things to have in excess, like a friend of ours who has 17 house cats.

What do you have too much of? What are your favorite roses? Any favorite raspberry recipes?

2025, animals, Farming Update, home, Nature, Uncategorized

This Is A Life?

42 Comments

Today’s farming update comes from Ben.

It’s been a good busy week, got a lot done this week. Finished planting those two food plots, got the four wheeler running again, set a tractor on fire, fixed several little odds and ends, and I felt pretty brilliant. And then I forgot to check the fuel in the big tractor and ran it out of diesel fuel. Diesel engines you have to prime them to get running again. Dad always warned me about not running a diesel out of fuel. I’ve done it twice now. It’s not as big a deal as he was afraid.
The typical highs and lows that we should expect from a life, right?

A few weeks ago I talked about getting a ton of chicken layer ration and it was meal, not pellets. The co-op did agree to take it back and get me pellets.
I loaded the pallet of meal in the truck and hauled it to Plainview. They took that out and when he picked up the new pallet I thought the pile was leaning precariously as he put it in the truck, I strapped it down and I made it 19 of the 20 miles home. When I slowed down to talk with a sheriff deputy at least it fell into the truck. I was pretty sure I was gonna lose it at some point; the question was where.

It’s been a while since I had to unload a ton of feed by hand, but this way I could re-stack it properly. Evidently there is some skill to stacking bags on a pallet because it was hard to get them level and flat. Five bags per row, 40 bags total, and it depends on how full the bags are and the density of the material inside and how that all works. But it is stacked in the feed room and it’s not going back in the truck. It will be fine.

Bought some 12 foot tall, 12 foot wide pallet racks at an auction. My summer padawans are back so we assembled one of them in the shop in place of the loft. The whole loft idea, while good in concept, wasn’t really gonna work too well in my application, so this was a better idea.

Hauled some machinery I’m not using anymore up to the next Plainview auction: a 6 row cultivator that’s been parked in the weeds for many years, I probably only used it a handful of times after I bought it. I washed off all the lichen and it looks pretty good now.

And the old running gear from this spring when I put the seed wagon on the new running gear.

Got the grain drill and the corn planter cleaned up and put away.

Had the boys haul the empty seed bags out, and we picked up a bunch more sticks from the new waterway.

I put the seed wagon away and I even sat in the office and did some bookwork one day! We’re six months into 2025, it’s about time I started doing bookwork.

I went to a seminar on oats that was very interesting. Learning the lifecycle of fungal diseases was interesting, like how the spores can travel and how it might take two or three disease cycles for certain fungus’ to reach what we call ‘economic threshold’. Perhaps my biggest take away was that oats and straw are really two different crops. I’m gonna sacrifice one to get the other. Typically the stalk (straw) isn’t quite dry and ready to be cut, when the grain is at its optimum point. But cut too green and it won’t go through the combine.


Oh yeah, that tractor I set on fire. It was just a little fire. The old 630. There’s a 4 inch piece of rubber fuel line that I knew was old and cracked, and in fact I bought some new hose just last week.
I used the tractor and left it sitting outside running for about 15 minutes while I moved some stuff inside. When I walked back out to the tractor, the fuel line was on fire, and it had dripped down onto the block, which is covered with some grease and oil, and that was on fire, too.

I may have panicked just a little bit. The first thought in my head was to push the clutch lever ahead, (because the clutch / belt pulley was rattling and I was going to put it in neutral and engage the clutch to stop the rattle) And I had walked out there to do that, so the hand clutch was the first thing I grabbed. Butu then the whole fire thing… and it was still in gear and I was standing in front. It just nudged me a little bit and then I turned off the key and then my mind was racing and I thought about dirt and I thought about gas and I thought I should really just go get the fire extinguisher and I sort of chuckled as I walked into the shed thinking ‘well good for you having a fire extinguisher out here’, and at the same time thinking ‘if I use this I have to get it recharged’ and when I came back the fire was mostly out. The little bit on the hose I was able to blow out, but some of the grease underneath was still burning and I thought oh heck, just do it, and I pulled the pin and squirted a little powder on it and then figured, well it was already open, may as well hose the whole thing down just to be safe. I should replace the hose now.

HIGHS AND LOWS THIS WEEK?

2025, animals, Business, Family, Gatherings, Travel, Uncategorized

As the World Turns…

33 Comments

Having YA living here makes me ruminate on almost a daily basis about how much the world has changed. 

She’s in San Antonio now, at a conference.  For once she is a participant, not a staff and she is enjoying that juxtaposition.  One of the things that has changed significantly in the travel/meeting/conference world is the choice of activities.  I organized a group in San Antonio once and the activity options were golf, tennis and the San Antonio city tour (with lengthy stop at the Alamo).  Golf was the activity of choice on almost all trips except Hawaii, where the catamaran tour was always the big winner.  As the years went by, people got more adventurous and wanted more options.  Golf fell out of favor and “experiences” got more popular.  Cooking classes, art encounters, biking, kayaking, horseback riding, ATV adventures. Zipline infrastructure grew and grew as did the number of folks wanting to try it.

The activities that YA had to choose from included morning walks, morning jogs, the traditional city tour, Seaworld and…. puppy yoga!

I’d never even heard of yoga until I was in college – heard a talk about transcendental meditation and Ram Das and yoga.  That was it for probably over a decade.  Once onboard a ship with a client, I did a session of yoga with her and promptly pulled a muscle in my back that took weeks to feel better. 

Now there are multitudes of yoga types (Kundalini, Kharma, Buti, Tantra) but lots of stranger versions that I’ve seen.  Hot yoga is done in an overheated environment that encourages sweating.  Naked yoga – well, I don’t have to explain that.  Goat yoga.  And, of course, the popular puppy yoga.  YA signed up for puppy yoga on both of her allotted activity days.  She has sent quite a few photos and it doesn’t look like any yoga is getting done at all.  That’s my girl!

Have you ever tried yoga?   Do you have a favorite activity when you’re traveling?