The First Annual "Rock Pickers Triatholon"

It was a beautiful summer evening in rural Minnesota when my husband (the Agricultural Engineer) asked me to give him a hand and pick a round of rocks in the soybean field. I was working on my stairway project but agreed to wrap it up and head over to meet him at the 'Olson' farm about four miles from our place. He and the dog had taken the 'Gator' to the field and planned to keep the little safari vehicle there for a few days in order to finish the rock harvest.

I arrived and we took off up the soybean rows, finding plenty of rocks that could potentially end up in the combine if they weren't gathered. The round was a long half-mile and after we finished, we decided that one of us ought to walk 'overland' to the next farmsite toward home with the dog. Copper had been swimming in the pond and hunting in the field... he was filthy. Riding in the car wasn't an option for him.

I volunteered to take the walk across the pasture, through woods and down another field to the farmsite...a little over a mile away. On the way, a doe ran across my path...not 20 yards ahead. I should have counted all the little critters I saw, many of which scolded me for being there.

I walked through an open meadow where, two years earlier, we had planted some pine trees right out there in the sod. It was fun to see them peaking above the tall grass, showing off their new soft green needles.

I rounded the edge of a pond and picked a nice little bouquet of wildflowers and watched the geese and their fuzzy little ones swim away from me. One of the parents led the family and the other followed a distance behind, stretching its neck to be sure Copper and I weren't dog-paddling toward them.

Finally, I made it to the farmsite, hopped on the waiting bicycle and headed home with Copper following along in the ditch - tongue hanging out (the dog's not mine..okay, well maybe my tongue was hanging out, too). The wind was strong and fought with me all the way down the highway. I had only gone a mile when Paul appeared in the car. He must have known about my aching legs and my losing battle with the wind. I traded my bicycle for his car and drove home, leaving he and Copper to finish the last leg of the race.

As I arrived at home I congratulated myself for taking first place in the Rock Pickers Triatholon. It was then I realized that I had been joined in the event by an army of woodticks... 19 of them to be exact. What a prize for my first place finish!

Time for Planting

This past Memorial Day weekend, we decided it was time to plant our garden. Paul took one look and determined that it was way too lumpy and needed a better seed bed than he could prepare with just the walk-behind-tiller. He asked me to help him hook one of his tractors to the disk so he could run through the plot a couple times and smooth it out.

This is what a disk looks like all folded up.

I walked over to the disk and yelled at Paul to stop backing up the tractor. He jumped down out of the cab and came over. I pointed to a problem. There, propped on top of one of the folded up disk wings was a robin sitting on her nest, looking a bit nervous.

I told him, "If you unfold the disk, the nest will fall out...I'm sure she's got eggs in there. We better not bother her."

I was kind of surprised but he agreed that we didn't want to disturb the little family. I figured we'd just have to wait a week or so until the babies were gone.

Here's the nest...can you see the mom sitting there...scared to death? Poor thing!

Then, Paul had a brilliant idea. (He gets those sometimes.) He suggested that we lift the nest off the disk and place it temporarily on the digger that was parked close by. Then we could work the garden, bring the disk back and return the nest to its place.

That's just what we did. While I was busy moving her nest, the mama robin flew nervously overhead chirping and calling. I kept telling her it would be okay. But, she disappeared. I was hoping she'd stick around and watch where I set her nest down while we used the disk, but she didn't.

Here's what I found in the nest as I was moving it. Not too cute, are they?

We finished our work and carefully put the disk back into its place all folded up and neat, just the way it was. I moved the nest with the ugly, naked, fuzzie critters back to the exact spot they were before we invaded their world.

I thought maybe the mama wouldn't come back to her mobile home after all the craziness.

So I waited and watch....and she came back!

I'll probably check back in on her in a few days to see how the naked little uglies are doing.
For now, I'll leave the little family alone. I've caused them enough stress.

Taking it One Step at a Time

I like to take on a new 'house project' each spring -- a 'legislative assignment,' if you will.

This year, I'm refinishing my staircase...actually it's not fancy enough to be called a 'staircase.' It's just a tired old stairway that leads to the second floor of this 100-year-old house. I know it's tired because it complains OUT LOUD with squeaks and wails whenever someone walks up or down its 13 steps.

I started the assignment weeks ago and I've done six steps...that's it...SIX! (Why is it that every assignment I tackle is way harder and much more complicated than it seems at the start?)

I'm just guessing here, but I'd say this stairway was stained and varnished by the builder and remained that way for, say 40 years. Then, someone came along and decided to glue down some rubber treads and call it good for another 40 years.

Then came the 'carpet days.' Anderson (only people with the name 'Anderson' have lived in this house) pieced together some old carpet pieces on top of the rubber treads, stapled the pieces down and added a tad of glue just to make sure the 500 staples on each step would hold forever!

Then, years later, another Anderson ripped up the carpet pieces with great anticipation, hoping to find beautiful hardwood steps shining underneath. Instead, that Anderson found rubber treads and a hard layer of glue on top of them...and underneath them. Enthusiasm may have dimmed as she pulled out hundreds of staples from each step and attemped to scrape the rubber treads and the glue layers that were completely fused to the wood. Overwhelmed, she tacked down some rubber-backed carpet treads on the steps to mask the hideous layers underneath and things were good for a few more years.

ENTER: one more Anderson, volunteering to be the 'committee chairperson' for the assignment. (That's me!)

I tried a number of different strategies: an electric sander, putty knives, steel wool, steel brushes, liquid stripper......and lots of elbow grease!

Now that I've done six steps, I have it down to a routine. It involves all the above mentioned tools plus a hammer for pounding in the nails and staples I can't pull out with my needle-nose pliers, two more electric sanders, each with a different purpose and a vacuum cleaner.

Each step takes about 4 hours.

Last week I 'unalloted' the assignment....or maybe it would be better to say that I 'tabled' it.

But today is a new day...I have made a motion to take the assignment off the table and move forward with vigor!

All in favor of the motion say "aye." Opposed "nay."

Plant a Tree...Save the Earth!

Arbor Day always brings back memories of the spring afternoon when our son, Matt, then about 6, decided to save the earth...all by himself.

I was out in the yard when he came tripping off the bus and up the driveway, backpack bouncing, shoes untied, struggling with a huge bundle of 'sticks' that was nearly as big as he was.

He and his classmates had learned about the benefits of planting trees and each were given a 'stick' (seedling) to plant at home. For some reason, many of the kids left the doors of school and chucked their 'sticks' as they ran to the bus or to their bikes. Upon seeing this, Matt positioned himself and began piling the abandoned seedlings. More kids passed by and added their sticks to his pile.

When I asked about the bundle he was toting, Matt told me how he was going to make the air better for us to breathe...."Trees suck up all the bad stuff in the air...." (Translation: Trees absorb carbon dioxide.)

Without being told, he changed his clothes, found a good shovel and began his task. He was on a mission! I didn't pay much attention but this little project kept him occupied for a long time. He finally came to the house for supper, red-cheeked and dirty...and all smiles!

After supper he proudly took me by the hand to show off his little plot. He had planted all his seedlings in the woods near our house. Oops, one problem. He had put them only a few inches apart! (Matt's compact reforestation project)

We sat down on the steps, had a popsicle and a little visit about how planting trees was like planting corn......and how it was different. In the end, he allowed me to help him transplant some of his precious seedlings to other places around the yard.

Twenty-seven years later here are some of Matt's treasures...

If every American family planted just one tree, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere would be reduced by one billion pounds annually.

Plant a tree....save the earth!

One Foundation.......Volume 2

I just have a 'thing' for churches! I like visiting them, exploring them and taking pictures of them. I hope to feature some of those we visit during our weekly wanderings.

United Methodist Church

This week, we didn't travel too far from home to enjoy fellowship and a good meal. Our wanderings took us to the United Methodist Church in Villard. Although the church is 127 years old, its members are enjoying their new building, dedicated last summer. It stands proudly across the street from a building that previously housed the congregation.

Clearly, new life has come to this congregation.

After the meal, I left the church's large gathering area and I took my little walk-about, ending up in the sanctuary. As I approached the front I could see an inlaid wooden cross fitting like a giant puzzle into the wood floor beneath the altar. It was beautiful! Turns out that a local craftsman was responsible for the amazing work of art. A member told me that the young man did most of the work by the light of a kerosene lantern as the sanctuary hadn't yet been wired with electricity. I could just picture this young man, on his knees, consentrating on the details of fitting, measuring and cutting the small individual pieces of teakwood in the intricut pattern until, at last, the final piece was tapped into its place.

I see him stepping back, looking at what he had done, and saying to himself, "It is finished."

Holy Humor

At our church last Sunday, we celebrated "Holy Humor Sunday." People wore funny hats, team jerseys and lots of different garb. I didn't participate in the dress-up part but enjoyed the day and took some pictures. But it wasn't until today that I saw first hand God's sense of humor. Let me tell you about it.

It's my birthday today! And I started the day like I start every day...with a shower. And, as usual, I had a talk with God in the shower. (No, he's not in the shower...he sits right outside the shower curtain on the toilet.)

Anyway, on THIS day, I told him what my dreams were for the next year..what I wanted to do...what I wanted to achieve...where I wanted to be in a year...you know, that kind of stuff. I remember mentioning that I'd like to lose the pounds that I've gathered over winter..."I'm going to need your help with that," I said.

The girls at the office gave me a nice little birthday party, complete with sugar free Cool Whip! Mmmmmm! I had the rest of the day off so I headed home. I turned into our mile-long driveway and my 'little plastic car with the paper roof' quit...it died! Not a murmur nor a groan. There was no convincing it back to life. . . believe me, I tried. I even slapped the dashboard...no ducks! Battery was good, full tank of gas...no logical explanation what so ever!

I pondered what to do. Please understand, I could live in my car for a week with no problems. I've got blankets, clothes, treats and lots more. But today when I looked in the back seat, the first thing I saw was my tennis shoes! And I laughed. Yup, God does have a weight loss plan for me. It involves walking...and probably other things too, like sugar free Cool Whip! Of course I thanked him for answering my prayer...and told him how funny he is!

Anyway, I strapped on my walking shoes to begin the long trip up the driveway. I had a hard time deciding what, if anything, to take with me. I ended up taking my purse....and the sugar free Cool Whip. (Just in case I felt a little faint at the half mile point!)

Yup, I believe it. God has a great sense of humor...and a plan!

More Than Optimism...

"Who plants a seed beneath the sod and waits to see, believes in God..."