Monthly Archives: August 2012

Sights and Sounds: Lost Pines, Crush Crash, Pteradactyl Noises and Mauna Kea!!!!

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A Fabulous and Fantastic Friday,

So, I walked to the mail box yesterday, opened the door, pulled out the latest copy of Texas Highways magazine and saw the trunk of a burnt loblolly pine from the Lost Pines. It was right out of “Uncle Joe and the Lost Pines.” Then, I turned to the article on kolaches, and right there on page 20 was a picture of the interior of the Village Bakery in West, Texas, which is about 15 minutes from Uncle Joe’s farm, and on the wall behind two young boys, I could see the picture of the great train wreck spectacle that occurred in Crush, Texas on September 15, 1896, right there on the wall in the picture was the picture, exactly where I first saw that picture and first learned of the Crush Crash that is in “Mary and the Red Shoes, A Haunted Closet Story.” Wow, Wow, which is a Double Wow and a Yipp Yipp Yipp of happy excitement. In my hands, hot off the magazine presses of Texas Highways, were the settings for the most recent Uncle Joe and Mary stories. Don’t you just love stuff like this? Some might say “coincident” and I agree, and I would also say “just plain fun, too!!” Two much!!

Grandson Baby Felix is doing very well. He is home with Mom and Dad. The young man had his first visit to the pediatrician yesterday and passed with flying colors. It is reported that the babe sleeps a couple of hours at a time, stretches a lot and make sounds like a pterodactyl, which is a prehistoric soaring dinosaur. I can’t wait to hear that noise and give the little guy a hold and a hug.

Hawaii is the 50th State of the United States, having joined the Union on August 21, 1959, getting close to 53 years ago. It is the only state that is all islands, and it is located some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the California Coast in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Out there by themselves are hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400) of salt water. The eight main islands are grouped more closely — it is about 173 miles (278 kilometers) for the main airport of Kona on the Big Island of Hawai’i to the Honolulu airport on O’ahu. On the Big Island of Hawai’i sits the tallest mountain on the planet. Mount Mauna Kea is 13,796 feet (4,205 meter) above sea level, but if you measure its height from the sea floor, that mountain stands 33,500 feet (10,200 meters), which would make it taller than Mount Everest. We will be staying on the Big Island of Hawai’i not that far from Mauna Kea, so I hope to see that mountain and maybe make a report back. I’ve never been over that way so it will be an adventure. There may even be a story out there somewhere.

You never know what you may find when you look around.

Enjoy the sights and sounds,

Grandpa Jim

What Is Milo And Why Does Uncle Joe Like It?

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A Terrific Thursday,

Last weekend, Uncle Joe and Brother Charles started harvesting the milo. What is milo and why do the brothers grow and harvest milo?

In the United States, milo, which is also known as grain sorghum, is primarily a food grain for livestock. Its feed value ranges from 90% to nearly equal to corn, and it is quite a tasty meal for those hungry critters.

Grain sorghum is a grass derivative similar to corn. The Vavilovian Center of Origin for grain sorghum is Ethiopia. See the article entitled, “Who is Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov?” at https://www.unclejoestories.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=310&action=edit

Before 1940 milo was 5-7 feet tall, which made it hard to harvest, but the scientists figured out how to dwarf it to 2-4 feet with even more grain on the head. The head is called a panicle, with spikelets in pairs. Here are two pictures from last Saturday showing that spikey old sorghum head:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, here’s looking at a field of milo near Uncle Joe’s house:

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the reasons Uncle Joe likes and grows milo is that grain sorghum likes hot weather, which he has in Central Texas. Milo enjoys a day-time temperature of at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), and those temperatures are very normal here in June and July. So, milo has a potential advantage over corn in a hot weather region such as Central Texas.

Sorghum is harvested as a standing crop using a combine. Here is a picture of Uncle Joe’s combine leaving the field loaded with milo — see the red grain piled on top (be careful, don’t get too close, it is very itchy stuff, so don’t get it on you):

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the standing milo on the right that still needs to be harvested.

You have to be careful harvesting because the sorghum seed is easily damaged. That is why the combine platform is operated as high as possible. After the combine does its work, most of the plant remains standing in the field, with only the heads threshed. In the picture below, the combine has just off-loaded the milo seeds into the grain truck and is turning around. Notice the height of the trimed plants in the back:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, here is the combine heading back for another load. You can see the complicated head arrangement with all the spinning wires. I bet these help to protect the seeds from bruising during the harvesting operation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

There you have it: a day in the milo fields with Uncle Joe and Charles.

Enjoy your day and may it be productive,

Grandpa Jim

“Uncle Joe and the Strange Creatures of the Lost Pines”

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The Wonder of Wednesday to you and yours,

Today is the day. “Uncle Joe and the Strange Creatures of the Lost  Pines” has arrived. I just posted this brand new original Uncle Joe story on the Home page.

I am excited and I hope you are too, and I hope you enjoy this story very much.

The Lost Pines is a unique and fascinating place. When I drive into those tall loblolly pines, I feel I am moving into another land. The atmosphere is different, time changes. You can believe that anything can happen and strange creatures can appear.

It is a place of wonder for you to visit,

Grandpa Jim