Birders are notoriously generous. We feed the bluebirds, cardinals, woodpeckers, titmice, bluejays, finches and all those who fly up to feeders – but what about the sparrows? The ground feeders? They get hungry, too. I do my best to feed them, along with others, like the snowbirds and doves. The most common backyard sparrows are the house sparrows and the song sparrows. Occasionally, a chipping … [Read more...]
The Post Office: Where Time Stands Still
Here’s a tough question.Which had you rather do, go to DMV for any reason or mail a package at the Post Office? But couldn’t I go to the dentist instead and get a root canal without Novocain? No, pick one. DMV or the Post Office. Let’s see. Let me weigh my options. At DMV, you have to go through two lines. The first line is to decide where you will wait in the second line. Then you get to … [Read more...]
Worms in The Driveway
I went out to get the paper a few days ago and saw a wonderful sight. There was a worm in the driveway after an evening’s rain. That’s a good sign. That means spring is not far away when lawns and gardens will teem with worms.I have always had an affinity for worms, dating back to the days when my dad and I went down to the creek bottom behind our house to dig them for bait. When I had a paper … [Read more...]
That’s a Lot of Tangerines
If you go to the grocery store and want to buy two oranges, they’ll let you buy two oranges. Of if you only want to buy one grapefruit, you can buy just one grapefruit. But you can’t buy just one or two tangerines. You have to buy a half bushel, or how many ever comes in a five-pound bag. I was in the store recently and really didn’t need a tree-full of tangerines. I tried to get another … [Read more...]
Skip the Super Bowl: Go Fishing
Photo by Micaiah Thompson Rather than watching Seattle trash the Patriots in a boring Super Bowl and bypassing a vulgar halftime performance, Iowa fishermen, Micaiah Thompson, and Dan Ginn took a group of church kids fishing instead. It paid off. The group was ice fishing in Lake of Three Fires in an Iowa State Park of the same name. The kids were after panfish, but the adults were hoping … [Read more...]
Playing Mumblety Peg
(Modern Mom) Hi, Honey. What were you kids doing out in the yard? (Modern Kid) Oh, we were playing Mumblety Peg. (Modern Mom) That sounds like fun. How do you play it?(Modern Kid) You get a pocketknife and balance it on the tip on your finger, then let it flip down so in one turn it sticks in the ground next to the other kid’s foot. The closest wins. (Modern Mom) You are grounded until … [Read more...]
Take Me out to the Ballgame
I have been a sports fanatic all my life. Every morning since I was 10-years old, I have devoured the sports section each day to see who won, who lost and how my favorite players performed. But in the past few years, my interest in sports has declined. The NBA is boring – huge guys running up and down a seemingly small court – grabbing, tugging, pushing and pulling all the way before a violent … [Read more...]
Ribeye Pork Chops
Aldi’s is my grocery store of choice when I want to save money. It’s hands-down the least expensive, but when I want a little variety, I like to stop by Food Lion. Their meat department is especially diverse. Last week, I poked around in their meat case and saw a package of boneless rib-eye pork chops, and they had been marked down. That was an easy choice. I fried the tender chops and they … [Read more...]
Brewer vs Squirrels: Chapter 16
If my war on squirrels were a book, it might surpass War and Peace in pages. It is the saga of the eternal battle between Man and Rodents and I’m not sure the humans will win this one. I have tried multiple gizmos to keep the squirrels out of my expensive sunflower hearts and most efforts end in squirrel victories. I have applied baffles to the feeder poles, yet there is one squirrel who can … [Read more...]
A Warm Blanket of Snow
Just before the recent cinder-block ice storm set in, I spread a bag of Bio-Tone Starter Plus on my little vegetable garden and now it sits under a blanket of snow, gradually leaking its blend of natural and organic ingredients into the ground. I had one of the best gardens of my career in agriculture last year, primarily because of a favorable amount of rainfall, but also due to the Bio-Tone … [Read more...]