Category Archives: Words

2026, Business, crops, Farming Update, Uncategorized, Words

IT’S A WHAT?

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This weeks Farming Update from Ben.

If I was smart, I would’ve ordered 500 gallons of diesel fuel a few weeks ago.

I called the supplier on Tuesday and he said diesel was six dollars a gallon. I didn’t even blink. Then he laughed and said he was just kidding. Well, let’s hope so. The price is up and was up more that day. Sometimes I fill the tank in the fall, sometimes in the spring, it just sort of depends. I won’t really need it for another month, but honestly, it’s anybody’s guess if it’s gonna keep going up or come back down at some point soon enough… my gut says I should just fill it now. Thankfully 500 gallons will last me the year. One farmer I watch on YouTube uses 7000 gallons / week. Ouch!

I got to the big parts sale at John Deere. I may not have mentioned a couple of weeks ago when I was picking up trees how I got the tractor over a stump and bent the driveshaft to the front wheels.  At first, I was hoping it was just a shield but no, it was the whole shaft that was bent.

That’ll buff right out!

That made it hit the bottom of the tractor with every revolution, and it was kind of sickening.

(I had to go back and look; I did very briefly mention it two weeks ago, cause I am embarrassed to talk about it.)

I knew the stump was there…but it was muddy, and dark, and frozen underneath, and one thing led to another and…. so it goes. But still.

Sigh. 

If only I had cut the stump 3” shorter.

Good thing there was a sale, saved a little money anyway. Which I spent on lawn mower belts and blades, digger shovels, chisel plow points, filters, rubber boots for the tractor steering knuckles. All that was about $1700.

Stopped and picked up the new bathroom door for the basement bathroom remodeling. It’s a few weeks out yet, but getting stuff around. Paid for that.

And then on another website I ordered some new LED lights for the tractors; just about have them all replaced now I think.

Got home and installed the new driveshaft. It’s really pretty.

Ooooo. Shiny!

Installation is easy; slip it over the splines in the back, four bolts in the front.

Forgot to get new bolts for the shields. They’re metric. I found a few at home, and then stopped and bought an assortment of metric bolts… knew the day was coming I’d need a collection of both standard and metric.

Try not to break this one, Ben.

I need to plan a road trip to Millerville MN. About five hours from Rochester, past Alexandria. I’ve purchased a ‘Track Wacker’. Everybody outta have a TRACK WACKER! (I can think of a few people I’d like to use a track wacker on.) I will mount it on the back of the 6410 tractor, and it covers up the tire tracks before drill comes behind planting oats. It was fairly cheap at $450.

There’s an online auction up in Plainview. The auction goes until Tuesday evening. I’ve marked several things to watch including a 32-foot wide, Brillion brand, Pulverizer / packer. One would use it to help break up clumps of soil, and firm the soil for planting. I knew it would be out of my price range, and as of Friday afternoon it’s at $13,000. That’s $12,000 more than I wanted to spend. 

I’m watching a 30′ drag / harrow. I use one after oats, and soybeans, again, just to help smooth the field. It’s over $1100 now…I’m still bidding on it, but by Tuesday I bet it will be $2800 and I can’t convince myself it’s worth that. My old drag is going to disintegrate someday…I bought it from a neighbor 40 years ago. Every year, I add another piece of chain to it, trying to hold it all together. 

Man… I am spending money like a drunken…. something. 

Included in the auction is one lot containing both a “Wood Duck Call and Vintage Anal Weather Station”. Yep, you read that right. And I checked, and that’s what it’s called. I think we all know what they really mean with the weather station and the three gauges, but it does give you pause, doesn’t it. I mean, it sort of boggles the mind! I really want to know what one would do with an anal weather station.

And there is always ALWAYS a dozen guns and boxes of ammunition. I asked up there one day and they said most of the guns come from estate sales. I bought a shotgun off this auction once, and a box of shells, if they sell cheaper than buying at a local store. All that stuff is officially transferred at a gun shop; you don’t just carry it off from the auction site. And the gun shop calls the state and I filled out forms, so it’s as safe as it can be, for what it is.

Among the shells this time, is an ice cream bucket, of 300- .223 caliber bullets. Called a FREEDOM BUCKET! Picture of a Revolutionary Minute-man and a US flag on it.

Give me a second while I put my head in my hands.

————-

A former student came to visit. She met a guy online, moved to Ireland, and has two of the cutest little girls.

Help me come up with an adjective for a bucket of bullets referred to as a FREEDOM BUCKET.

ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT WEATHER STATIONS?

2025, animals, books, Uncategorized, Words

Murder at Gull’s Nest

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As you all know, a lot of things strike my interest where books are concerned – recommendations from friends, stories online and titles.  Give me a good title and I’m all in.  At least to start with.

I see a lot of books on Facebook these days.  And as if they are tempting me personally, there are a lot of catchy titles.  Here are a few that I have on hold at the library right now that I chose simply from their titles:  The Dead Husband Cookbook, Inside of a Dog, Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests, And Then We Hit a Rock.  Based on my luck with these kinds of picks, most of these probably won’t get finished.  And Then There Were Scones only made it about three chapters.  Awful.

So I approached Murder at Gull’s Nest by Jess Kidd with a bit of trepidation.  I think if the library started a section of Cozy Mysteries, it would probably be shelved there and to be fair, it did tick off all the cozy “boxes”, but not in a way that is run-of-the-mill way.  The characters are real, the story is compelling and importantly I wasn’t able to figure out the murdered until almost 75% of the way through the book.

And even more importantly, the language was fabulous; I do love a good turn of phrase:

  • “Outside, the sky is brightening, which is of no concern to the room, daylight being dissuaded by heavy velvet drapes and the somber yews that crowd about the window.”
  • “Nora steps into a cheap café and orders a pot of tea. When it arrives it is what she hoped for:  decent and strong with a skin a mouse could skate on.”
  • “Humans can’t tolerate emptiness for long… if I’m empty then I can receive, if I can receive it means it comes from somewhere outside of me, if it comes from outside of me I’m not alone!”
  • “Jesus, who would want to read about a failed old nun, with her stipend, and second-hand shoes.”

So I’m recommending this book to everybody and have requested a couple more Jess Kidd titles

Have you read something recently just because it had a good title?  How did that turn out?

2025, Family, Food, home, Uncategorized, Words

Cooking With Gas

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One major adjustment to living in our new house is relearning how to cook with a gas stove. My parents had a gas stove until I was about 18 when we moved to a new house and they had a glass topped stove installed.

My mother instilled in me a fear of gas stoves. In her mind they were just bombs waiting to explode. I know there are lots of safety features in these stoves now, but I still am anxious. With a glass stove top, spilling liquids or having drips from lids that are slightly askew is no big deal. On one of my first forays into using the new stove last week I spilled a very small amount of water near a burner and it wouldn’t ignite, just clicked with no flame until a few minutes had passed and the water evaporated. We are being much more careful as we cook so we don’t spill on the stove top.

It is hard for Husband to hear the igniting clicks if he doesn’t have his hearing aids in, so I find myself surreptitiously monitoring his stove use. I hope I can relax as we get more experience with this stove. It cooks things really well and we seem to have more control as we cook and bake. The phrase “Now you’re cooking with gas!” was a marketing slogan to encourage people to switch from wood or coal burning stoves to gas stoves in the 1930’s. It then became a general idiom to indicate the someone was doing really well. I hope we can “cook with gas” as we learn to cook with gas.

What are your experiences with gas stoves? Any favorite idioms or sayings?

2025, Media, Music, Poems, Songs, Words

Tom Lehrer – RIP

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Like many musical artists, Tom Lehrer was introduced to me on the LGMS.  I loved his funny songs and they way he crafted them with language and great satire.  This is probably my favorite:

Sadly, Tom passed away four days ago at the age of 97.  He was born in New York City and began his musical studies when he was seven.  He entered Harvard at the age of 15, studying mathematics as well as entertaining his fellow students with his comic songs.  His mathematics career and his music career existed together for many years.  His last performance was in 1972 and he taught until 2003.

Another of his most popular songs puts the table of elements to a Gilbert & Sullivan tune:

There haven’t been too many artists who can skewer the world quite the way he could.  His voice will be missed.

Do you have a favorite Tom Lehrer song?  Or another satirist?

2025, Automotive, Fantasy, Government, Poems, Words

Mixed Messages

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As bunch of errands had me on the freeway yesterday.  A little congestion slowed everybody down in time for me to look up and see this on the highway signage:

Keep your speed down
Wear your safety gear
Get home in one piece

It was more interesting than the usual signage and as it was three lines, I automatically starting counting the syllables, wondering if it was MNDots idea of highway haiku.  Not haiku.

When I got home, I wondered if I could find any information online about the signage.  I was surprised to find out that there is actually a program called “Message Monday” that encourages safe driving.  You can even submit your own idea for a message on the website.  Some of the messages are actually quite funny:

Fly under
The radar by
Obeying speed limit

Give blood
The right way
Not on the highway

Don we now our
Fastened seatbelt
Fa la la la la la

I’m not sure I want to increase my highway time on Mondays to see more of these messages, but I do find it intriguing that this program exists.   Of course, if I submit something it will have to be

Speedy Gonzalez
You’re not.  Please keep the pedal
Off of the metal

What message would you like to submit?

2025, Baboon Achievers, Mysteries, Stories, Uncategorized, Words

To Be or Not To Be…

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We’re coming up on the 10th anniversary of the baboons taking over the Trail.  The math is pretty straightforward.  6 posts a week times 52 weeks a year times 10 years.  3120.  That’s not exact but close enough for horseshoes.

I think Renee and Ben would agree with me that the QUESTION is the hardest part of writing so many posts.  What question relates to what you just wrote?  How many times have we asked a similar question.  Will the question lead to some good discussion during the day?  Will it be too hard to answer?  Too personal to answer?  Too inane to answer?

Richard Feynman once said “I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”  That’s all fine and good for a world-renown physicist but he never had to come up with a good question every day!

So here’s your chance to beat Richard Feynman at his own game.

What question would YOU like to answer today?

2025, Family, Gatherings, Kids, Uncategorized, Words

Baby Sprinkle

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We will travel to Brookings, SD early next month for a Baby Sprinkle, a smaller sized Baby Shower that is being put on by friends of our son and dil who are expecting their second child in August.

I never heard the term Baby Sprinkle before, but I gather it is now the term for used when someone already has had a child and doesn’t need as many things as first time parents do. Son and dil are pretty well stocked with equipment from the birth of their first child seven years ago. We are so happy for them.

I have some baby afghans crocheted by my maternal grandmother from when our children were born and I plan to bring them, as well some other things I have in a cedar chest like family christening outfits. It will be fun.

What are some new terms or phrases you have encountered lately? What would you bring as a gift to a baby shower or sprinkle?

2025, books, Fantasy, Words

Last Lines

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The joy of occasionally re-reading a book is that you come across phrases or paragraphs that spark recognition, especially if you enjoyed them the first time around.

I’ve been reading the Gamache series by Louise Penny recently (my other book club had the first one on it’s list earlier this year) and I’m liking them just as much as the first time around.  Yesterday I came across section in The Cruelest Month.  The characters are taking part in a séance when they are frightened by an interruption:

A window pane rattled and a horrible face appeared at the glass.  The circle gasped and recoiled.   “For Christ’s sake, Dorothy, I know you’re in there,” screamed the voice.  It wasn’t what Clara had imagined would be the last words she’d hear on earth.  She’s always thought they’d be, “What were you thinking?”

This paragraph made me laugh out loud – again.  I know there are folks that like to find out the last words of famous and a quick internet search finds a lot of hits.  The only one that I can ever seem to remember is attributed to Oscar Wilde.  “This wallpaper is killing me.  Either it goes or I go.”   I’m not sure this is accurate but because it’s the kind of thing that Oscar Wilde would have said, I’ve always remembered it.  I also remember another quote attributed to him – “Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first.”

I’m pretty sure my last words will be “Will there be donuts?”

Anyone’s last words that you remember?  That you’d like attributed to you?

 

2025, books, Mysteries, Words

Search Engine

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I drove down to the Eden Prairie library yesterday to pick up a copy of Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler for the next Blevins.  I’ve seen the Robert Montgomery movie but haven’t actually read the novel yet.

The library app showed it checked so I headed to the Mystery section.  There were a few Chandlers there but not Lady.  Next checked in Fiction; same deal.  Finally decided I should look back at the app to make sure I hadn’t mis-read it.  On the app it showed this particular tome in Non-Fiction.  WT….  Headed back to Non-Fiction, and found it using the Library of Congress classification.  The sign on the shelf said “World Fiction”. 

I didn’t look any farther to see if maybe he’s shelved anywhere else.  I know there are lots of subgenres of all kinds of lit these days but I’m perplexed about why some Chandler is in Mystery, some if in Fiction and some is in World Fiction!

Do you have an author you think should be included on the World Fiction shelves?

2024, Government, Uncategorized, Words

The New Normal

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Well, today is my last day of full time work. I will be off for a month, and then start part time work at my agency doing evaluations after March 1. I am quite happy about this. I have no unfinished  paperwork, and my therapy clients have been transferred to other therapists. Husband will keep on with his part time work. He is housed at my agency but is employed by the Human Service Center in Bismarck.

The past several months have been stressful because of getting all the necessary paperwork in to the the State Retirement office, applying for Medicare B and Social Security, and tying up loose ends. I had to formally apply for the part time position that was only advertised at my agency. I was the only applicant, as expected, and I had to dredge up my old resume, something that I haven’t had to use for a couple of decades. My colleagues are upset, and I find myself comforting them and reassuring them that I will only be gone for a month and then I will be back. That is getting tiresome. I feel  like a parent having to reassure anxious children. They also kept asking if I wanted a retirement party, but I said that since I was returning in a month that would be sort of silly. 

Everyone keeps asking me what I am going to do when I retire. My stock answer is “Clean the house”.  I have discovered that at my age I can either have a clean house or work full time. I can’t do both. People seem to expect that I will do exotic travel. My new normal will be to have more time to sort through our things preparatory to moving and feel less stressed.

How do you handle life transitions? What do you miss the most from your longest held job? What don’t you miss at all?