Category Archives: Nature

2024, Mysteries, Nature, Stories, Travel, Uncategorized

April 30, 2024: Overboard! 

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Today’s post comes to us from Krista.

I wrote about our ride on the Doolin Ferry, about how wet it was. It was windy and cold too. The sea wasn’t too rough, but once in awhile a wave would hit the side of the ferry and it was easy to lose your balance.  

Anyway, when I came in from the lower front deck, I had noticed the door that opened onto the sea and was held shut by a simple sliding latch. I passed it by, noting it to another woman who was there. I found a seat inside and sat down. A pregnant young woman sat down beside me. She looked at me and indicated her backpack. I understood that she wanted me to watch it, so I promised I would. I stayed right there until she returned for it, then I went to find my friends. They had found a table near a window, so I joined them. It was really hard to take photos. The windows were all bleary with moisture and my hands were damp and almost frozen. Clouds of mist hung over the Cliffs of Moher, obscuring the best sites. Almost everyone was looking toward the side of the ferry that was moving along the base of the Cliffs.  

Suddenly everyone heard a loud banging which didn’t sound right at all. There were several loud bangs in a row that sounded like something smashing into the boat. There were quite a few people standing up in the central aisle. I noticed the look on their faces – they looked horrified. Suddenly someone started yelling, “OVERBOARD! OVERBOARD!” Some people started screaming, “Oh NO! She fell overboard! She’s in the sea!” Colleen and I looked out our window and there was the pregnant young woman whose backpack I had watched. There she was in the water, holding her backpack and a shoe above her head! The ferry backed up a little and someone threw her a life ring. She must have been shocked and cold, but she was able to slip the life ring over her head. She must have triggered it to release an orange dye. They began to pull her toward the boat. A rescue boat came quickly to assist. I think the woman was in the water for about 5 minutes. It seemed like more, but it probably wasn’t. She really kept her head together. I can’t imagine how cold she must have been. The water there is around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. They pulled her in and got her into the captain’s cabin. 

I don’t know what happened after that. They brought us back to the harbor immediately, and for us the event was over. We went into Doolin and did a little shopping. We talked to others who had been on the ferry, and they said she was seven and a half months pregnant. Everyone was really disturbed by the incident. Someone said she had been on the upper deck and a wave had hit the boat from the side. She lost her balance and fell, sliding, and hit a door similar to what I had seen on the lower deck. The door just popped open and she fell out into the sea! Someone else said that there was a woman who had once worked on a similar ferry who grabbed the life ring and threw it out to the girl. A man said he watched her slip and fall and caught her phone as she went. Everyone was worried about her.  

The roads are really difficult out there. It’s actually a fairly remote area of Ireland. When we came out of the stores about an hour later, we saw the ambulance finally coming from Galway. I hope they were able to help that young woman. 

We never saw a news report about it or heard anything more about it. I wish her the best.  

When have you been deeply concerned about a total stranger? Any cold water experiences to share?  

2024, Family, Kids, Nature

Vicarious Camping

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Today’s post comes to us from Barbara in Winona

Saturday of this Memorial Day weekend, Husband and I went for a walk on a woodland trail at Prairie Island, a few miles from downtown Winona in the Mississippi bottomlands. https://www.prairieislandcampground.com/prairie-island-park 

We brought a picnic lunch to eat afterwards, and Husband suggested we go down by the campground, a mile or so down the road. So at Prairie Island Park, adjacent to the campground, we found a table and were situated in a perfect spot to watch perhaps the last campers arriving and setting up in the remaining grassy spaces.  

We got to see a family of four unload two kids’ bikes, then setting up the screen tent. After biking a bit down the path, the two boys tossed around a football. Another family farther away had put up a net and the teens were playing badminton. Eventually a couple and their toddler returned to their site with fishing poles (though I saw no fish).  

Along the road into the campground, a couple of strollers rolled by powered by older boys, while two dads and another kid on a scooter brought up the rear. I’ll bet the moms were back at the campsite, setting up the “kitchen”. 

It was the best place we could have chosen for our picnic. I’d been sort of lamenting that we had no place to go on this long weekend. But we got to “go camping” in a fashion – vicariously. We watched people do things we’ve done before, just not for a long time. And none of the things I saw are things I want to do at this point – but it was fun to watch other people doing them! 

When was the last time you went camping? 

2024, animals, Nature, Stories, Travel, Uncategorized

April 30, 2024: Inis Orr

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Today’s post comes to us from our Krista!

We decided to take the Doolin Ferry to Inis Oirr (Inisheer). We were all pretty excited about this trip. It was a cold, windy, damp day on the western shore of Ireland, near the Cliffs of Moher. We boarded the ferry in Doolin, a place that I will always remember fondly.  

We had paid for a round-trip excursion to Inis Oirr (Gaelic) or Inisheer (English). The ferry took us straight to Inisheer. On the way back, we would be treated to a longer ride along the base of the Cliffs of Moher.  

When we arrived at Inisheer, we were greeted by carriage drivers who were determined to get us to accept a ride in their carriage. Martin greeted us. Martin was an old, tough-looking seaman. He spoke both Gaelic and English and was cheerful about explaining things as well as he could in English. His horse’s name was Jack. Martin was liberal with the crop, and Jack seemed to be used to it and it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on him. He plodded along like he had done this at least twice daily for years. Martin and Jack took us to the edge of the island, where there was a shipwreck. I think we were supposed to be impressed with this. It just looked like an old, rusted wreck, with no interpretation to explain what had happened or how old it was. The ancient stone walls were far more interesting to all of us.  

Martin seemed to want to get as many of these trips as he could. He returned us to the village at the harbor. It was raining and I was really soaked already. My rainwear just didn’t cut it. We asked Martin about the stone walls or fences. He said they repair them as needed, but they really didn’t need much repair. I think those walls are extremely old, perhaps more than 1500 years old. Some may be from the Stone Age. They were everywhere.  

We went into the Ostan Inis Oirr (Hotel Inisheer) for a hot drink. I talked to a man who worked on the ferry. I asked him about the Gaelic language. He said a lot of Gaelic actually comes from the French, which does make sense. He said many of the names for vegetables are actually French. It was an interesting conversation.  

We went shopping for more gifts. I really only wanted to be warm and dry. I was drenched and cold. I bought a sweatshirt from the Hotel Inisheer and put it on. I looked for a raincoat, but I didn’t find anything. There were more Aran sweaters here, of course, but I didn’t need one. 

It was raining steadily, so we went back to the ferry. The next leg of our journey would include include a trip past the base of the Cliffs of Moher. It was stunning but hard to see due to fog, mist, and rain. There were puffins floating around in the sea and flying around past the boat.  

Martin and Jack 

Puffins (blurry photo) 

Seastack (very blurry photo)

It was a cold, wet ride. It was interesting but our views weren’t great and we were wet and cold. I tried to go out on the lower front deck to take some photos but it was very hard to stand up and keep my balance.  

I noticed a door that went directly out to the sea as I was out on the deck. It was closed with a simple sliding latch. I was surprised when I looked at it. I stayed toward the wall of the ferry as I went back inside. I said to another woman, “I hope that latch holds!”  

Describe your experiences with someone who spoke a different language from yours. How did you communicate with them?  

2024, Family, Kids, Nature, Science, Uncategorized

Cool Rocks

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Our grandson is now 6 and has developed an interest in rocks. I remember my mom getting me a cardboard box that displayed all different kinds of rocks when I was the same age, some polished and all quite colorful and interesting. I had them until our children were in elementary school and they somehow disappeared after that.

Grandson wants to identify and collect every interesting rock he sees. Our son got him some geodes in a rock shop that they had fun opening with a hammer to see the crystals within. Earlier this week I sent Grandson a set of very heavy and colorful polished quartz bookends we had in the basement. It is a win-win for all of us since they are just what Grandson is collecting these days and now we don’t have to find somewhere for them when we move. They also serve a double purpose as bookends.

What did you collect when you were a child?

animals, Family, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Uncategorized

Lilacs & Farming & Parts, Oh My!

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Oh, the lilacs! What a wonderful smell. It’s one of my favorite things about springtime.  

The neighbors who got corn planted before the rains, that corn is up. My oats is up and looking good. 
 
Every week I say what a crazy busy week the previous week has been. Same again. Life. It’s just relentless…  

I mentioned how Saturday I got most of my corn planted.

It makes a huge difference having the coop spread fertilizer before I plant. I do pay a little more for them to apply it, and it’s broadcast over the entire field, rather than when using the planter, it’s applied right in the row, but it also saves me refilling the planter every 7 acres. Seed I can plant 26 acres before refilling.  
 
I hooked onto the chisel plow one day.  I had one field that was soybeans last year, and never got harvested because the soybean crop was so poor due to the drought, and this field had weed pressure, so it needed to be plowed up this spring. It’s interesting the different weed pressure two fields right next to each other can have. Here’s the one that was beans last year:

And next to it is this field covered in lambsquarter.

Down the road, there is a guy who has a food plot for deer and turkey hunting, and since it’s next to a field I plant anyway, I work that field for him. And because he wants it to stand over winter, I have to make an extra trip back in the spring to chop up the corn stalks or plow up the stubble. He covers my cost, and it’s just and extra hour or two.

 Both those fields worked up really nicely. I was afraid they’d be a little wet yet, but it worked exceptionally well.  Then I switch back to the soil finisher to level off all the chisel plowed corn stalks, so the coop can spread fertilizer for soybeans. The plowing leaves the fields rough, and if they applied fertilizer on that ground, it would get buried too deep after being worked smooth. Now that it’s smooth, I’ll just work it a couple inches deep to incorporate the fertilizer. I have two corn fields to plant yet. They were a little wet when I planted the others.  

 A hydraulic hose blew out while digging. That hose lifted one wing of the digger. I was able to keep going, and finish what I wanted to finish, there was just a sag on one end when I lifted it to turn on the ends.  I took the hose off, and also replaced a broken shank that night.

The shovel on the new shank is worn a bit. When new, they have a much sharper point. But this one is good enough for another season. Seems like lately it’s been 9PM before I get in the house at night. Kelly is stage managing a show and has rehearsal every night, so we have a late supper together. Wednesday morning, the dogs and I made a trip to Plainview for parts. It was busy at the parts counter. The guy helping me answered the phone: “Jack, swamped! Five deep at the counter. Call you back!”   

Hydraulic hose is expensive. This was 1/2″  hose and it’s almost $9 / foot. I needed 10′, they cut it to length and crimp on the needed ends, $120. I also picked up some bolts for the gear box on the brush mower, some extra clips for the shovels on the soil finisher shanks (for when I lose the next one), an oil filter for the lawn mower and gator, plus cab filters for both tractors, engine oil, fuel, and air for the tractors, and some grease, and it was $998. The air filters are $100 each. Good thing they last for 3 years. 

I added 104 gallons of diesel fuel to the tractor, added 2.5 gallons of hydraulic oil that was lost due to the broken hose, and finished working up the corn stalk stubble. Course I had my two tractor buddies.

Luna doesn’t whine in the tractor, and once in a while she sits on Bailey. But otherwise, she just stands the whole time.  

I appreciate my tractors so much. I think I wrote once about not wanting junk, and that’s part of what I appreciate about the tractors so much. I enjoy being out in the field and driving them and when I get home and get out, I pat them on the hood. They make me happy, and I feel lucky to have them. 
 
Thursday the coop applied fertilizer.

End of the school year and I’m trying to spend down my budget. I do a lot of scenic painting using a hand pump sprayer. This yellow one has been here since I started here in 2006. I’ve used a lot of cheap ones, and this year I bought two new ones. They’re German, and they’re $90 each, but they are good! Spezial-Druckspruher! “Special Pressure Sprayer” indeed!

I have the Rochester Montessori School bringing ‘Annie Jr’ into the college theater, so I’ll be working here a few days. 
 
Mom turns 98 Sunday. More on her next week.  

FAVORITE FOREIGN ITEM?  

2024, animals, Family, Food, home, Nature

Squirrely Exercising

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We feed the squirrels.  We started out to feed just the birds; I’m not even remotely worried about squirrels not being able to fend for themselves.  But as anyone who has tried to feed birds without feeding squirrels will tell you – get over yourself.  We have one feeder that has things like corn and peanuts and suet.  The other feeders offer teeny bits that appeal to birds and have itty bitty openings that the squirrels can’t get into.  The last feeder holds a block of seed and meal worms but is laced with some kind of hot sauce.  Apparently birds aren’t bothered by capsaicin while squirrels are repelled it.  It seems to be doing the job as the squirrels ignore it completely and the birds seem to enjoy it.

Of course, having squirrels on the feeders and on the ground under the feeders makes Guinevere insane.  When you open the back porch door she can get to the feeders in about a nanosecond.  She has never gotten a squirrel although there is one who seems to go out of its way to mosey along to the tree with just a hairs breath from getting gnawed by the dog. 

I have to admit that sometimes I egg Guinevere on.  “Go get `em Tiger” is the most used phrase although sometimes I mix it up.  I don’t actually want her to get a squirrel and I’m very sure that my giving her positive feedback isn’t increasing her speed but I do like to think I’m tricking her into getting a little more exercise. 

I only think like this because I have to trick MYSELF into getting more exercise.  I’m just not crazy about organized exercise, so I disguise it as something else.  Yardwork is the biggie and walking the dog is good too – I don’t even think about these as exercise.  I’ve taken over trash/recycling duty from YA the last year as this is something that needs doing and the long driveway on the hill is some good movement.  I’ve even taken to bringing up the neighbors cans (they keep their cans next to their back door which is right off my driveway).  Extra trips and it’s a neighborly thing to do.  If science actually came up with a pill to replace exercise, the neighbors would probably be on their own every Thursday!

Until I figure out a way to make exercise my friend, I guess I’ll be tricking the dog into chasing after all the teenage mutant ninja squirrels in the back.

Are you and exercise friends?  How do you manage it???

2024, animals, education, Farming Update, Nature, Uncategorized

Randomness

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Well, as the monkey said when he got his tail caught in the screen door, it won’t be long now. It’s been raining enough in the last two weeks. I haven’t missed any fieldwork. And commencement was on Wednesday, so that’s over,

my writing class is done, (I got an ‘A’) and on Thursday I worked around home with a wonderful sense of free-time. I will still be employed at the college, going halftime until June 4, as I have three rental events coming through. And a lot of stuff to clean up, and the paycheck is always welcome. I’m leaving out a long uninteresting story of the 40 foot tall scissor lift, which is crucial to a few of us at commencement, and the problems it was having and why one department can’t seem to talk to another department, and how come it was the last day before anybody told us, there was another lift a quarter-mile down the road. But it’s over now, we all survived, and it’ll be a good story we can laugh about. I’ve picked up soybean seed so all the seed is home now and I can take the loader off the tractor.

I moved the snowblower out of the shed too. The co-op should be applying corn fertilizer on Friday, maybe Saturday I can start doing some corn planting. One of our guineas got under our deck somehow, and then she couldn’t figure out how to get back out. I had to remove a piece of lattice on the side for her escape. Propping it open and making a bigger hole, didn’t seem to work. I thought guineas were smarter than that. I refilled our birdfeeders in the yard, and it’s been fun to see Orioles eating suet, I didn’t know they did that, (I haven’t got the regular oriole feeders up yet), Grossbeaks are pretty, and today I’m looking at an eastern bluebird, which I didn’t know ate seeds. We even had a pileated woodpecker on an electric pole here in the yard.

The baby chicks are doing well, they are pigeon sized and they sure do eat a lot.

A 50 pound bag of feed last about five or six days. Remember a few months ago, I wrote about some of the college kids coming to the theater and helping me out. And I mentioned the ring leader, Jessica. This is me and her. She’ll be around one more year.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU FELT REALLY RELAXED?

2024, Family, Food, gardening, home, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized

The Power Of Tarragon

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Last summer Husband bought four tarragon plants to put in the big front garden bed. We had never grown tarragon before, and I hadn’t cooked with it that much. We found it a delightful addition to the garden and to our cooking. I was sad to see Autumn come and the plants die in the first freezes. I also thought the same thing about the spinach, a late season Italian variety called Gigante d’inverno, that we plant once the peas are done in August. It is a dark green, highly savoyed spinach with large leaves. It is pretty fast growing and cold hardy. It doesn’t like heat, but likes it cool, even if it gets snowed on.

Much to our surprise, all four tarragon plants survived the winter and are growing nicely. The same is true for the few stray spinach plants we didn’t harvest last year. I never realized that a tender herb like tarragon was hardy to Zone 4, and that if well mulched, the spinach can winter over even in North Dakota. I find that amazing.

Husband plans to have lots of herbs in the garden this summer. It is also a basil summer, as we are getting low on pesto in the freezer. Can you tell I am excited about getting into the garden?

What herbs do you like to grow? What do you like to use tarragon for? How are your garden plans coming?

2024, animals, education, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized

Barn Swallows

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

The worms sure did come out after the all-day rain on Thursday. I even had some inside the doors at the theater. 

And the Barn Swallows are back! Kelly saw some on Tuesday and they immediately started hauling grass to the nest on top of the wind chimes by our front door. Pretty cool they come back and reuse the old nesting spots. We sure do enjoy hearing them chatter.

No fieldwork done in the last week since it’s been raining. I worked in the shop a bit, and I’ve been doing a lot of prep work for college Commencement next Wednesday. 

Here’s my ‘patch’ for the lighting; the document in the lighting controller that says how each light is addressed so the lighting console knows which light it’s talking to, and so I know which light is which.

 The number in the first column is how I refer to the light. The 5th column is the actual ‘patch’. Those first fixtures are 21 channels each. A channel is a parameter, for example pan, tilt, red, green, blue, intensity, zoom, strobe, ect. and a universe can handle 512 channels. Some lights are only 6 channels. Intensity, red, green, blue, white, amber. All the lights are in universe 1. The first light is address 1. (1:1) It uses 21 channels, so the next lights is also universe 1, address 22. (1:22) Repeat until all the lights are patched. If I have more than 512, I go to the next universe. This Hog console can do 4 universes. Bigger events might have dozens of universes of lighting.

Thursday I was over in the sports center hanging the lights over the stage (which I can’t get too once the stage is in place) and doing a little other prep work.

I meant to get a better picture of the lights, but the genie lift I was using wouldn’t go back up in the air. Huh. Thanks to the training I had back in Seattle in March, I knew enough to check the batteries. Three of the four were low on water. And I heard it’s had some other issues lately. Thank Goodness somebody in charge agreed we better rent another lift just in case. Both the video guys and I will be using lifts for commencement and not having one will be a problem. 

While working on lighting, I heard there was water coming into a back room. The sump pump was working, but water was coming through the floor or something. It wasn’t my concern. 

Friday, I picked up the other rental lights, and it was quiet in the sports center, the batteries have been topped up with water and recharged, and I was able to finish hanging my stuff. It should make Monday an easier day for me. I have more lights on the ground to install, but I can’t do that until the stage is set.

The overheard door to the sports Center has been broken and is scheduled to be replaced Monday. The same day EVERYTHING loads in for commencement; chairs, band equipment, food, staging, ramps, ect. And it all goes back out that door Wednesday night. 

Sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it. Or a cluster. One of the two… 

I sold some straw to the Rochester Fire Department. They add a bale to their practice fires because it makes a good amount of smoke.

Had a good talk as the two of us loaded the trailer. He said some of their ‘turn out’ gear (the typical fireman’s hat, coat, pants, and boots) need to be replaced as it’s nearing end of life. $8000 for one outfit. And the guys have a second pair to wear while the first outfit is being washed and dried after a fire. Takes 8 hours to dry, and they can’t wear if wet as they could get steam burns. The things you learn! 

Creative Writing at the college is almost over. I’ve submitted my poetry project and now the last thing dues is the final portfolio, which are revised versions of things we’ve submitted earlier in the year. When things get slow I’ll just recycle some of them here. 🙂

The chicks are doing good. They’re not afraid of an open door anymore so I have to pay attention while I’m in there filling their water and feed. The dogs are right at the door, so they’re paying attention for me.

I had 55 dozen eggs in April! Zoiks!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CONSTELLATION OR CELESTIAL EVENT?

2024, animals, Family, holidays, Nature, Uncategorized

Up Close And Personal

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One highlight of our trip to Tacoma was a side trip we took to the northern part of Puget Sound to Orcas Island to see. . . orcas!

We took a ferry to the island and stayed in an Air B and B that was up a single lane, vertical dirt road to a place that was lovely and that afforded a gorgeous view of islands and the Sound. Vancouver Island was quite close.

The crew of the whale boat were three marine biologists who loved their work and who loved to tell us all about the animals. There were about 30 people on board, including some very lively children. We were very lucky to encounter a pod of seven orcas, including a young orca. We saw them chase a harbor seal, but we didn’t find out if they caught it. At one point the pod divided into two groups and we had orcas on both sides of the boat. The marine biologists somehow knew the lineage of the pod, and showed us the pod family tree going back to the great grandmother. We were also thrilled to see the largest and oldest orca in that part of the Sound, a huge 62 year old with a notch in his dorsal fin, probably from the bite of a Stellar’s Sea Lion.

With regard to the sea lions, they were the only animals stationary long enough for me to get a photo. They were lying on a large rock, grunting and bellowing, and roaring. You can see them in the header photo. They smelled terrible!

The orcas leaped and swam but were too fast to catch on camera. So were the otters. It was nice to just sit and watch with my eyes and put my phone camera down for a while.

What are some memorable “up close” wildlife encounters you have had? Did you ever want to be a marine biologist?