Category Archives: Daily Wandering Blogs

The Secrets from Cemetery Hill

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A new week is here!

The news from the farm is that the wheat harvest is in.

You may have noticed a header picture of the combine harvesting wheat.  Here is the picture:

Do you see the white shape on the left horizon.  That’s the white cross at the Penelope Cemetery.  Here’s a picture of the cemetery:

Now, let’s look back at the 75-acre Patch from Cemetery Hill:

This is actually one of the header pictures and it has some secrets for the close of eye. Do you see the dust rising from the wheat field beyond the first line of trees in the distance on the left?  That’s the combine working.  (Hint: if you click on the picture, many programs will expand the photograph and give you a magnifying glass for closer perusal.)  Now, can you see two white elongated shapes, one far off against the trees in the middle right and part of another on the far right?  Those are the grain trucks waiting to be loaded.  Below is a picture of a grain truck to help you spy them:

And, if you look really closely, you might be able to spot a green John Deere Tractor with a green grain buggy attached.  These are hard to see.  Here’s a picture of the tractor and buggy to help your examining:

Now, when you see the picture of the 75-acre Patch from Cemetery Hill, you know and can find its secrets.

Enjoy you day and stay alert for surprises.  You never know where they may be hidden.

Grandpa Jim

 

Summer in Texas

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The mid-day heat is upon us.  In this part of Texas, what I call “high summer” runs roughly between the Holidays, Memorial Day and Labor Day, June, July and August.  In other parts of the State, the really hot weather starts earlier and lasts longer.  By now, most everywhere is hot during the day.

In the Northern Hemisphere, June 20, 2012 is the official first day of summer.  It is not a particularly significant date on the heat calendar.  It is a wonderful date for the day with the most daylight.  On that day the sun has traveled to its northernmost extent, appears to stop, and heads back south.  The following days each bring a little less light.  This continues until December 21, 2013.  On that date, the day with the least daylight, the sun appears to stop again and heads back north.  The sun-stop days are the solstice days because on those days the sun appears to stop.  Solstice derives from the Latin words “sol” (sun) and “sistere” (to stand still or stop), which together in our favorite dead language (and it really isn’t) literally means “sun to stop.”  Now, that should get some notice.

We live on an amazing planet in a fascinating solar system surrounded by an astonishing universe.  There is always something new to learn and observe.

Thank you for visiting.  “Uncle Joe and the Haunted House” is enjoying the attention.  I hope you are enjoying the story.

Grandpa Jim

Tomorrow is the Day.

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Good Thursday Morning to You All,

I just checked and it looks like Uncle Joe got rain at the farm overnight.  More may be on the way.  The corn will be pleased and the garden will go crazy.

We are close.  I am still getting comments.  There are some tweaks to make.  So far, it looks good.

“Uncle Joe and the Haunted House” should be published right here tomorrow morning at 9 am Central U.S. time!!

This is the first “storytelling” story, so get ready to storytell it to someone. That’s what storytelling stories are for — for storytelling. You can talk low and scary, loud and rushed with your hands waving in the air, slow and thoughtful with a finger on your chin, you can stand up, you can sit down, you can act out of breadth, and at The End you can wonder with your audience what it all meant.  That’s what storytelling is all about.  Have fun.

I’ll be storytelling with you.

Have a wonderful day.

Grandpa Jim

Wednesday Hello!

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I hope you all slept well.

The weather chased us back from Fort Worth last night.  Strong winds and a few limbs down.  Hopefully, the rain made it to the farm.  Uncle Joe could use 1 or 2 rains to finish the corn.  He said rain would be okay for the wheat.

I forgot to mention that after we left the farm on Sunday we stopped by the National Polka Festival in Ennis, Texas.  We arrived in time to catch the last set of Malek’s Fishermen Band from Garner, Iowa, which is just west of Clear Lake and only about two hours from where I grew up in Cedar Falls.  It was a delightful time to chat with the brightly outfitted and smiling Mid-Westerners, many of whom had caravanned down from Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin.  When the Fisherman finished, we visited the other halls to hear and dance to Czech and Then Some, a local band from Ennis, and The Texas Legacy Band from Columbus, Texas.  After about 4 1/2 hours of dancing to polkas and waltzes, my feet had just about worn out.  We headed home tired and happy with polka music playing in the car.

Have a great day,

Grandpa Jim

Happy Memorial Day!

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Today is the U.S. Holiday of Memorial Day.  The paper said it well this morning: “On the last Monday in May each year, Americans pause to pay tribute to the men and women who have given their lives in our nation’s defense.”  Yesterday, on Sunday, over a 1,000 volunteers of all ages and backgrounds spread out across the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery to decorate each and every one of the 28,000 graves with a flag.

My parents served in World War II.  Mom lost her first husband in the Pacific.  She wanted to help and she joined the Red Cross.  Dad was in the artillery in Europe until they discovered he could sing and play an instrument.  He was sent to Nice in Southern France to entertain the troops, where Mom had been assigned as a Donut Girl.  The story goes that they first met on the steps of a casino, which was now a theatre, where he promptly told her that he would marry her.  She slapped him so hard that he fell the rest of the way down those stairs.  Apparently it didn’t work because after the war I was born with the first wave of baby boomers.

In the US, our summers are framed by the two holidays:  this day, Memorial Day, near the end of June and the end of the school year, and Labor Day near the beginning of September and the start of the next school year.  I admit I could never remember which was which, until I realized they are in reverse alphabetical order, “M” first before “L.”  I need little helps like that.  Perhaps, you can use it too.

Today is a time of transition and of tradition, of remembering those to whom we do owe so much, who have gone before us and are with us still.  I think I’ll give Mom and Dad a call.  They are in their nineties, with the challenges that accompany growing older.  People notice that they still hold hands and smile and joke with each other.  Admittedly, it is more difficult when one is in a wheel chair and the other a walker.  Their lives have changed, but I don’t think they’ve changed.  Dad still has to be careful what he says or he might get knocked down the stairs again.  Just kidding, she’d only throw a cough drop at him.

Thanks for listening and do enjoy your day,

Grandpa Jim

Have a Great Friday and a Fantastic Weekend!

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Good Morning to All,

First a Big Thank You to Granddaughters Katelyn and Finley for visiting the website for the first time and for both sending me emails.  They listened intently last night to the second Uncle Joe story, which I just finished writing in time to tell them.  They both really liked it.  I am heartened and will be doing more work to get that one ready for the site.

It is a bit overcast with a hint of rain.  You can see the blue peeking through, so it should be clear for an early Texas hot day, 90’s not 100’s yet.

I am off to the Bread Ministry to pick up day-old breads and cakes and pies (they look fresh and yummy to me) from two groceries and deliver them to the Brady Street Mission and Austin Street Shelter near downtown.  Then, I’ll try a bit of writing — Ms. Colleen was so kind as to give me some excellent editorial comments to “Uncle Joe and the Haunted House.”  Later, Ms. Mary and I will head down to Waco for a graduation at Baylor.  Afterwards, we’ll stay the night at the farm and spend Saturday with Ms. Christine and Uncle Joe.  Perhaps, Uncle Joe will relate some recent happenings or older recollections for a another story.  In the country, you never know what you will hear or see.  I’ll take the camera.

Have a fantastic weekend and tell someone a story,

Grandpa Jim

A New Story In the Works

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Good Day and Hello,

A warm wind blowing this morning.  Thursday is here and tomorrow the weekend starts!!!

I spent yesterday afternoon and part of the evening working on the next Uncle Joe story.  It is a story that has been told but never written.  Ms. Mary suggested some changes and I will work on those today.  Tonight, I will tell the revised story to my granddaughters, Katelyn and Finley, and receive their critiques.

In some ways, writing a story is like making soup.  You start out with your soup and ask some people to taste it.  One suggests more spices, another more vegetables, this one a bit more thickening, over here a sweet touch, and that one slips something into the pot when your back is turned.  You look at the soup and it looks the same.  You taste it and it tastes, well, different, but good, Ok?  You taste it again and smile and realize that this is a better soup.  Then, you invite some friends in and have a party.  I like to think of writing that way.

Oh, Uncle Joe is combining and working on water leaks.  He’s a busy guy, but  he promised to read  “Who is  Uncle Joe.”  So, hopefully you will see that blog post article soon.

Have a wonderful Thursday,

Grandpa Jim