Buffalo Gal

Today we spent time at a wonderful apple orchard planted by the Red River south of Fargo. My Sis and her husband live out there and we took them out for dinner to celebrate my Baby Sister’s birthday today.   She is in her early 60′s so she is not much of a Baby anymore but she will always be the Baby Sister I cared for and took out for stroller rides, rocked to sleep and sang lullabies to… when she was a baby and I was a third grader.

After our birthday dinner, we all trekked to the super-duper Cass County apple orchard and picked small apples for making apple juice and bigger apples for eating.  It was a hot job and I felt like I had "been rode hard and put away wet" after spending time in the hot wind  among the many, many apple trees that are planted there and free to the public to come and pick.

The origin of the orchard is even more fascinating than the fact that a County maintains it and allows people in to pick apples in the late summer and early fall.  Deer also harvest apples from the ones that fall to the ground.  The last time we visited the orchard, we met several deer among the trees who were eating fallen apples in the early dusk.  But back to the origins……a medical doctor who used to practice in Fargo was the person who planted all these apple trees years ago.  He owned a lot of river land along the Red and put it to use by planting apple trees and some oak trees (which are now growing large and producing acorns for the deer).  He had to have been a modern-day Johnny Appleseed planting trees for future apple lovers.  What a gift to a community!  His home is no longer standing—must have been torn down in flood prevention action of years ago, but the orchard stands as a tribute to his thoughtfulness and foresight and regard for future generations.  There are so many apple trees in this orchard I could not begin to count them and some of them have grafts on them—-he was also a Johnny Appleseed experimenter.  I saw at least one tree today that had two kinds of apples on it….tiny crabapples plus large eating apples.

Apparently the doctor sold his land to Cass County and that government agency has taken care of the orchard (mostly mowing the grass) ever since.  The trees are not sprayed so the apples are "natural and organic" as far as I can see.   It is such a treat to get northern apple varieties out of this orchard.  The apples range from crab varieties to larger eating apples.

It puts me in mind of another orchard planter of generations ago out in the Rollag MN area. A man named Petrus Folden was an early apple tree planter when most folks did not have such trees as part of their homes and yards.  Pete Folden planted many kinds of apple trees at the time and raised a lot of apple varieties that no others even attempted.  I think he may have even developed some new varieties with his orchard experiments. IN fact I seem to remember my Mother telling me that the University of Minnesota cooperated with old Petrus in developing some new Northern apples.      I wonder if any of his orchard survives today?  I do not know where his farm was but if my Mother were alive, she could tell me.  We so often do not pay attention to interesting things our parents tell us when we are young.  I wish I had listened to her because she was the one who told me the stories about Petrus Folden and his apple orchard.

I also have memories of picking wild fruit in the woods near my Grandma’s farm just east of Rollag, MN.  Juneberries (Saskatoon blueberries) were abundant in the 1940′s and 50′s before farmers began tearing down groves and woodlots for more farmland.  I loved picking Juneberries with my Aunts, wild currants, chokecherries, wild grapes and plums. These wildfruits were processed into either "sauce" or jelly.  The jars of home-canned fruit sat on many cellar shelves—to be eaten all winter long,fruit desserts for farm families.  They were loaded with sugar in the canning process, but oh were they good!!!!  Especially if you could dip home-made bread and butter in the juice to sop it up!!!!    Farm cream did not hurt the dessert either and I remember well,the canned rhubarb "sauce" with the thick country cream poured into it.

Visiting today’s apple orchard along the Red River brought back a lot of wonderful "fruit picking" memories for me.

On today’s news (Business and Media Institute)  there is a short piece about Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann of MSNBC (or MSLSD as Mark Levin refers to that channel!!)

Moore, when being interviewed by Olbermann made the comment that the coming Hurricane Gustav—- now packing possible Category 5 winds by the time it makes landfall on the same Gulf coast area as "Katrina" in 2005—is "proof that there is a God in Heaven" because this huge storm will interrupt the Republican convention in St Paul, MN.

Moore’s exact comment:  "I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven, Moore said, laughing.  To have it planned at the same time—that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention up in the Twin Cities—at the top of the Mississippi River."   ( at least Moore knows his American geography a little better than his candidate, Barack Obama, who has been "to all 57 states")

I knew before that Michael Moore was a perverted personality— but this really goes beyond the pale….to make such a remark about a killer storm approaching the same area of the Gulf Coast as the worst hurricane thus far, in 2005, shows not only his perverseness, but his incredible stupidity.   He did not acknowledge that plain fact that Hurricane Katrina is still wreaking havoc on the New Orleans area in that it did $43,625 billion dollars in damage. It has also caused American taxpayers billions of dollars and Michael Moore jokes about the new hurricane threatening the same area….laughs about what he considers his cute remark about "proof of a God in heaven."     If I were Michael Moore, (and I thank God that I am not,) I would be totally unprepared to meet the God he doubts exists— a God who he thinks exists  only if He is wreaking havoc on innocent people.   Moore’s perversity is unbounded and unmatched.

Olbermann tends to fall into the same far-left spectrum as Moore,so he, no doubt,enjoyed the little joke about Hurricane Gustav proving his own perversity.  What a waste of air time— and  physical space in the studio where the interview took place!!!

A lot has happened in the last few days that I would classify as "Serendipity".   That word is defined as "an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident".  Now that I typed the definition I am not sure that all my nice surprises were accidental.

Going to the Bison opener was surely desirable!  We are fully hooked Bison football fans…not many other sports but Bison football—Oh Boy!   Last night at the Dome was a truly good night…a nice win by the 2008 team….great attendance by students and other Bison fans; loud roaring for The Thundering Herd….many TD cherry bomb explosions in the closed up Dome (Ouch! on the ears, for some) and most pleasant of all was the student cheering section which was absolutely full beyond full—even spilled over into one-half of the south end zone.There was so much good cheering and support that one could barely hear the outstanding NDSU marching band members playing their usual interludes during the game breaks.

Listening to John McCain announce Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate for the GOP presidential campaign was truly "serendipity".  McCain surprised everyone with his announcement this morning;  I followed it on TV and heard Governor Palin speak.  I was impressed by her mien, her articulate address to the crowd in Youngstown, and surprised pleasantly by what will be a MOST interesting race for the 2008 election between Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin.  We are seeing two Historic presdential tickets.   Choosing Palin has certainly diffused a lot of issues that the Dems might have planned to use against McCain.  Palin fills in just about everything that some voters considers lacking in McCain….her pro-life stance; her true conservatism, her work as a governor in Alaska where she has taken on corrupt pols in both parties and defeated two opponents caught up in political corruption….her husband is a long time Union man…both of them are true outdoors people…he, a champion snowmobile racer…she a hunter and a fisher-woman.   She really fills a bill for concerned ultra conservatives led by James Dobson and others.

One thing I encountered "by surprise" this week was an editorial on RealClearPolitics written

by Cando, North Dakota native, Dick Armey who is also a former Representative from the state of Texas, having served several terms in the U.S. Congress.   Armey’s editorial was titled "The Four Horseman of Economic Collapse" and it paints a grim picture of what might come if we elect a totally Liberal Democratic ticket to the presidency and also to both houses of Congress.    

Armey’s first identified "Horseman" is higher taxation under Liberals…."as students of Economics 101 learn, higher taxation destroys incentives to save, and invest, reducing economic growth."     It is a rational fear for a fiscal and social conservatives like myself. Liberals seem dedicated to destroying businesses that are truly the foundation of our economy and have been for all our years of existence of a nation.  How subsituting government control over such entrepreneurial functions can "grow an economy" baffles me and millions of others….Government control over our work and our every aspect of life has never been successful at any time.  Look at at the messes in Eastern Europe under Communisim and look at the now- renewed energy of business enterprises in the smaller nations of the former USSR.  Of course with "Generalissimo" Putin still calling shots in Russia, that enterprising growth in the small independent nations may come to a screeching halt—witness the Russian invasion of Georgian provinces recently.  Putin is truly a roaring old re-incarnation of the threatening "Russian Bear"  This is not at all serendipitous.

Armey further states in his discussion of higher taxes:   "By letting the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 expire, Congress will foist a crippling $280 billion tax hike on the American economy.  As if that tax hike is not enough, President Obama’s solution to the impending bankruptcy of Social Security is simple: raise payroll taxes."  

 Just what the American people need—more taxes to pay to shore up a government determined to control our lives at every turn.

Armey’s Second Horseman is Energy Regulation.  This was already tried in the Kyoto Protocol, turned down by Congress, but still lurking.   Should Congress succeed in overpowering opposition to energy control, "the government will be in the business of  implementing a complicated system of energy rationing and "carbon allowances’  creating not a free market for carbon, but an artificial market where politicians decide which industries live or die as revenues  and carbon permits from a cap and trade program would be doled out by the government."    Does that sound like an economic stimulus to our nation?  Hardly!!!

The Third Horseman identified in the editorial is the heavy investment by Union bosses to get  a 111th Congress elected who will support their agenda for increased Union building . Union membership has sagged and decreased in the recent past and what the Bosses want to see enacted is "the elimination of the secret ballot  when it comes to the important decision of whether workers want to unionize."   I was a part of a Teachers’ Union for many years and there would have been an uproar of protest  if our secret ballot privileges would have been taken away from us.   This attempt to eliminate certain Constitutional Rights to citizens is about as blatant as it gets.  God help us if Union Bosses get their way in the 2008 election.

The Fourth (and final) Horseman of Economic Collapse is government-run healthcare.  Remember the attempt by the Clintons to impose their complicated univeral health plan on America early in the first Clinton administration?  Thankfully it was quashed in the bud or we would have been subjected to a high -tax, highly controlled system of questionable quality health care.   The Liberal Dems are determined to bring it back to life if Libs take over the Congress and the Presidency.   Be careful what you ask for… should be our watchword as voters this year.  Armey says this about the 4th Horseman:   "Our health care system is facing a crisis of spiraling costs, but what is lost in the rush to socialize medicine is  that the federal government is already the  largest buyer and provider of heatlh care services.  Much of {our} higher costs are driven by government mandates as well as  expensive regulatory mandates open to abuse under the current system.  Not to mention the Medicare Trustees Report estimates that Medicare alone has an unfunded liabilty of $48 million."

Armey’s editorial was a serendipitous one for me;  it clarified issues that have been troubling me since the beginning of this latest campaign for president and for the Congressional races that go along with it in 2008.

I cannot see how such total Governental interference and regulation will enhance our economy.  I agree with Armey that imposing these "Four Horsemen" will cause further deterioration and possibly, ruination, of our already-shaky economy.  We could destroy our own viability as a nation by choosing such Liberal "solutions" to many national problems. Every  citizen needs to carefully consider what they are "asking for" when they vote this November.

On the infrequent occasions of my life that I participated in a shooting gallery, I was a true non-markswoman (no Annie Oakley for sure).  I was more of a scattershot, as in the time my Dad tried to teach me to hit a target with his .22 pistol out by the Buffalo River one winter long ago….I totally missed the target and shot a hole in the ice.

This blog is also a "scattershot" as there are many things rolling around in my mind today.  I was out inspecting the lawn today and watering the flowerbed close to the house which gets pretty dry really fast and all of a sudden, right by my foot, a small furry creature ran out of the thick plant foliage.  I did the only thing I could do—-I screamed—-and the Furry One ran away very fast.  It was a baby rabbit with the cutest little ears.  I was glad the Princess of Everything (the cat) was not around or she might have dispatched the little rabbit right in front of my eyes.  I am glad the Little One got away from the screaming big human monster.(me)

I spent a wonderful Saturday (August 23).   I went to a benefit Quilt Show in Lake Park organized by one of my departed Red Hat friend’s daughters.  Peggy did a magnificent job of putting the Quilt Show on in her large and beautiful yard surrounding one of the stately older homes in that town (which she and her husband have brought into wonderful condition.)   Not only were there scads of beautiful handmade quilts on display…hanging on lines strung between trees; hung on the sides of old buildings in the yard and displayed on the old fashioned front porch—but Peggy has transformed the yard into a show-garden spot.  She has the healthiest looking plants—both flowers and veggies scattered artfully together in the many garden beds surrounding the house—and when asked her secret she says she buries all her kitchen garbage in the garden beds and mulches with lawn grass and straw.   Just that!     I have never seen such luxurious morning glories in my entire existence.  Her cosmos and Mexican sunflowers were HUGE!  She has a mix of annuals and perennials and so many clever ways to plant and display them—and old baby stroller, a red wagon, window boxes. trellises, and many other clever articles that only a very art-oriented woman could create. Peggy , herself , makes beautiful quilted items.  Each of us visitors were given a card with 5 blanks in which to record our favorite quilts.  I am curious to know the results.  Young girls, in red hats, came around with plates of goodies and refills of tea and coffee (in teapots and served in real tea cups and saucers)  for those who were inspecting the myriad of quilts and also admiring the gardens.  It was a most satisfying and serendiptitous morning!!!!   I  hope Peggy continues this tradition, raising money for a favorite scholarship honoring her younger sister who died a few years ago, leaving hher husband and  three mostly grown children… but one little preschooler whom Peggy is helping raise, along with the father of the kids.  It is a bittersweet family story….the littledaughter was there with her Dad racing around Aunt Peggy’s yard and helping with the goodies when she could.

CHANGING GEARS COMPLETELY——Have you ever collected strange little sayings that are both funny and charming?  I like to do that….and a few of my  favorites.  From my first "boss" a lovely older lady in Washington State…the assistant registrar at Washington State University in Pullman, WA:   "Now don’t you girls stick beans up your noses while I am gone."  She would tell us this almost everytime she left the office on some business matter! She also referred to wasted time or wasted anything as "Pouring sand down a rathole" .    I had never heard that til Miss Jimmie Williams said it in my presence.    A friend of one of my sons, whom he met when he was a student at Northwest Chiropractic College, Ted ….(a real true CHARACTER  in the best sense)…. referred to people who were way too serious about everything or very uptight,  as looking like "they had been sucking golf balls out of a gopher hole".  The first time I heard him say it, Ted was preaching on a Sunday morning and in spite of the surroundings I laughed so hard and so long (silently which made it even worse) that I shook the pew I was seated in.  I could not stop shaking it and kept up the silent hilarity for the rest of the time we were there.   Ted had started out his adult life as a motorcycle -riding hoodlum who smoked long stogies and went around looking for fights.  As a mature adult, he changed his ways completely and had become a Lay Preacher in a small congregation on Maryland Avenue in St Paul.  He was full of "sayings" but the "sucking golf balls out of a gopher hole" is the one I remember .     My late broher- in- law used to refer to people who had really gone through a hard physical day of work as being "rode hard and put away wet".   I have had many occasions since hearing that one to use it in referring to myself and others.   "Drug through a knothole backwards" was another descriptor my brother- in- law used often in referring to the same hard – worked people who had been "rode hard and put away wet".

I am curious if any readers have other folksy sayings that are as delightful as my small collection.

The last scattershot topic is Dennis and Patsy’s 50th wedding anniversary party—-another highlight of August 23.  This couple have been my friends since we started Sunday School together…. probably at about age 3 or 4.  We went to the old white clapboard Lutheran church in our town and right across the street was the old yellow brick elementary school house where we all started first grade together during the last year of World War 2.  Dennis’s dog "Jiggs" was our classroom mascot and I know I have mentioned Jiggs before. Dennis and Patsy were probably "sweet on each other" by the time we were going into junior high and about to enter the hallowed "High School" building where we had only brought Red Cross money to the office previously, but finally we made it into the Big Kids’ building about 1950.  By the year we graduated, Dennis and Patsy were "steadies" and after 50 years of marriage, they are a testimony to a small town romance that has lasted and lasted!!!   Happily married for 50 years, their 3 children and many grandchildren and daughters- and son- in- law were there on Saturday to make it a wonderful occasion for all of us who were there to celebrate with them.  The highlight for me was when Dennis announced that he was going to sing a lovesong to his Bride.   All of us who have known him for so long were stunned because Denny never "excelled" in our music classes of long ago and was not known for wanting to sing anything, let alone a big solo in front of a huge crowd of people.  But times have changed and so has Denny….he crooned "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife" to HIS wife and when he came to the line about his wife needing to be honored in Heaven because she had gone through HELL with him on earth…the crowd exploded in laughter, knowing Patsy’s patience with her exuberant husband who has embarassed her on many occasions with his lively humor and great wit, (at her expense).   His "solo" was greatly enhanced by the original artist singing the song while Denny "lip sync-ed" beautifully, while  all of us roared our approval with hoots and cheers!!!   It was a great wedding party beside lovely Big Cormorant’s Pike’s Bay and it was as unforgettable and wonderful as the couple whom we celebrated that afternoon.

Today (Sunday) we went to our most favorite eating spot for Sunday dinner….the Royal Fork of southwest Fargo near West Acres.  We were stunned to read a sign on the desk where we pay for dinner that said "This Royal Fork restaurant will be closing on August 31. Thank’s for your patronage through the years.  We will miss you."

We will miss YOU?   How about us missing THEM.   For 23 years we have enjoyed this King of Buffets at many meals including the pre-wedding meal for our third son’s wedding in 1991.  We have eaten at the Royal Fork many Thanksgiving Days when our children and their families could not make it home at all or would be coming on Friday instead of Wednesday.  It is our place of choice for a good old fashioned Sunday dinner featuring roast beef and turkey and baked ham along with all the side dishes and the best salad bar in Fargo/Moorhead in our opinion.

We heard others around us discussing this shocking news of the imminent closing of a truly good buffet restaurant.  "They’re closing?"  "On August 31st"   "I wonder why"    We wondered why also and took the time to ask one of the senior staff members who informed us that the firm who owns the building (Royal Fork does not) had issued an ultimatum for the signing of a three- year lease and the RF corporation refused to sign it.  Instead they are closing this particular restaurant and all of us who have enjoyed so many meals over the years are much saddened and wondering where we will find such an alternative.

It is my opinion that among the massive number of eating places in Fargo, there is not an equivalent to the Royal Fork for quality and tastiness and presentation of food in a buffet. At first, upon hearing the news of the closing, I thought immediately of the opening of the Golden Corral buffet last fall and that it may have affected business at the RF negatively…but it was not the factor…it is the lease that was forced upon the business,which the business refused to sign and pay for.  Now I wonder if other businesses will be affected.  What about the popular and much appreciated "Carol Widman’s Candy Shop in the same mall?  Are they being forced into a three -year lease situation also and will they also close their doors?

Where will the true "buffet buffs" go for their huge plates of fried chicken? (and not much else unless it is a bit of mashed potatoes and gravy).  There are, among us, conoisseurs of fried chicken which they can load up on at a buffet restaurant.  Usually they are easily recognized by their "Super-Sized" bodies fed upon fried chicken a lot of the time, it appears.   Where will those of us who really love a GOOD salad bar go?   I am talking about high quality fresh veggies and fruits that is never stale or wilted.  Not many salad bars measure up to the Royal Fork’s.

I am really going to miss the Royal Fork.  I have eaten once at the "Golden Corral" and found it severely wanting in taste and quality of food.  Who wants to stand in line for an hour for a less- than- superior "steak"???   I am going to miss that traditional Sunday dinner available at the Royal Fork with the delicious roast beef and turkey.   I will miss the option of eating a brunch/breakfast from that section of the buffet….the scrambled eggs are so tasty and homemade-tasting, the bacon done to a perfect crisp and the French toast also so tempting.  It is a sad day for those who have loved the Royal Fork for its 23 years of existence just west of the big mall.    I hate fast food and am not impressed greatly by most of the sit-down restaurants I have eaten at and I am wondering what is going to occur after August 31.  Perhaps we will have to cook our own home made Sunday dinners—-at least until the Sons of Norway opens up again in the fall—if they do; their membership is aging and there are no younger ones taking the places of the Old Faithfuls who have operated the Sunday dinners at the Sons of Norway for many years.

It is looking bleak this Sunday night after getting the bad news at noon today.

We are in the Dog Days of August for sure.  The skies above us can only be described as "brassy"  or  "Hot".  There is a different color to the August skies.  We can only remember the pure blue of the May-June skies. 

Yesterday and the day before, the winds were blowing akin to California’s Santa Ana winds that are responsible for spreading a lot of dry-grass fires in the hills where homes should never have been built in the first place.  I can understand how the pioneers who first settled this area feared the hot August days when a lightning bolt could start a fire on the Prairie where the grass was thick and high and perfect material for setting ablaze.

During the days of Hot Winds and Brassy Skies, there is plenty of harvest dust in the air as well as many kinds of pollen being spread abroad by such plants as Goldenrod and Ragweed. Our hills are covered with Goldenrod.  I learned last week from my neighbor that Goldenrod is the state flower of Nebraska.  In honor of her native Nebraskan parents, she planted goldenrod in a flower bed that is very close to her bedroom window.  Now she understands why sleeping with an open window at this time of year is causing a lot of sneezing and snuffling and sinus miseries.  Live and learn, she says.  She is new to being a "country woman"!   Moved here from Minneapolis two years ago and is loving country life!

I have spent a lot of time under the Hot August Skies even if it is rather uncomfortable. The winds were so fierce that I could see my vine crops wilting under its influence.  I have been out with hose and watering wand fighting against the effects of the Hot August Winds recently. I cannot let my "decorator pumpkins" go dry and wilty….there are 3 or more huge and healthy looking "Cinderella" pumpkins;  several blue / green  pumpkins (Once In A Blue Moon variety);  some "Spooky’s" (pure white pumpkins);  the Turk’s Turbans squash are appearing and I think there is even hope for a few  apple-green Birdhouse Gourds.  I have to keep them watered and fed to encourage them in spite of the Brassy Hot Skies and Winds that August keeps bringing.  Yesterday in the high winds (40 mph or more…that would have been a blizzard in January!!)  the raspberry bushes looked like they had been turned inside out in the wind….the backs of their leaves are silvery and that is all you could see all day.

The Wild Flower seeds I planted hopefully in May are in their full glory and the prettiest of all is a flower called "The Rose of Sharon".  It looks like small bright pink hollyhocks on a leafy bush and they last and last—- and even  in a  vase of water.  Not all wild flowers do that…they usually do best in their garden bed.  The delicacy of some of the wildflowers is amazing…they look like pieces of lace in pretty pastel hues.  I do not know what they are, but they are elegant.

The carrot seeds I thought the Cat had dug up in June are up and growing after a VERY slow start…I think I shall taste fresh garden carrots after all.  There is no taste like a fresh carrot dug up from rich black soil….unless it is a fresh green bean or a fresh tomato!!! I am eating cucumbers and green peppers and Kale salad every day now.  I am getting so healthy from all this, I probably will have to drink a fifth of whiskey and smoke a pack of Camels to offset the healthy Kale, Peppers, Cukes and Tommy-Toes!!!

I am enjoying the Hot Brassy Skies of August and all that goes with them.  Sitting in my little cabin yesterday, the high winds were actually a boon in keeping the little "Hytte" comfortable.   My grandkids were with me and all of us spent time reading and lounging. 

Only two more days left in this Dog Days month.

Thanks to my astute older cousin, I have been introduced to Project Vote Smart via a manual titled "The Voter’s Self-Defense Manual".   It is a wealth of information about every Congressperson—Senators and Representatives—and contains pertinent information for voters who want to be fully informed about the voting record and other information about the candidates in this year’s election.   I went immediately to the two Senators—Barack Obama and John McCain—to peruse their voting records in the recent past.  Sadly, both of them were absent on most of the key votes this year….too busy out selling themselves to the American Public.   

This manual and the website (www.votesmart.org )  are rich sources for voters who are concerned with voting intelligently and being completely informed.  I have only begun to study the manual and explore the website but it is apparent that the information is bi-partisan and not skewed in any way.  The records of the Reps. and the Sens. speak for themselves… plus the website contains even more information about the individuals who are running for office.   One interesting feature is the "Political Courage Test" results for each Congress person.  This Political Courage test measures how willing  the candidates are to share all their issue positions.  Most I looked at were marked "Failed" meaning that they had not answered the questions, thus the conclusion that they were unwilling to share their positions.  My cousin informed me last night that this "test" is being dropped since its results or non-results can be used in a most partisan way.

The manual is extremely well organized, going through the criteria for Senators first and then moving on to the same criteria for Representatives.   There are 17 major issues from the recent past that are coded to show how the person voted on bills in the House or Senate.  The issues are 1. Abortion issues  2. Agricultural issues  3. Appropriations  4.Budget, Spending and Taxes  4. Campaign Finance and Election issues     5, 6, 7,8 all deal with National Security issues    9, 10 and 11  deal with  Immigration issues in separate bills   12.  Energy issues   13. Family and Childrens’ issues   14. Labor  15. Stem Cell Research  16. Trade issues     17. Transportation issues.                         

The manual is very complete in its coverage of pretty much every issue that has come before the US Congress in the recent past and gives a clear picture of the candidates’ records on voting on them. 

Instead of relying on the highly partisan TV and radio ads (a sure fire way to an election disaster) the Voters’ Self Defense Manual gives an intelligent and fair appraisal of each candidates’ votes, their biographies, their backgrounds and their education plus other factors I cannot recall at the moment….but the website is very extensive and I would highly recommend going there and doing research on your own candidates who are up for election in November 2008.  The website will have a place where you can order your own paperback copy of the Voters’ Self Defense Manual.  It is a marvelous document and one that every voter who is concerned about casting a well informed vote should read and study.

There is also a a telephone number:  1-888- votesmart.I am sure you could order a copy of the VSD Manual there also.

   Here are a few reviews of this document from leading news sources in the United States:"Project Votesmart would make the Founders weep with joy."  (U.S. News and World Report.               " Project Votesmart is so good that even the Federal Government recommends it."  (NY Times)     "At Project Votesmart you can see which candidates in your district have the guts to provide the public with a record of policy positions—and which ones bend to political consultants"   (L.A. Times)    "Project Votesmart jammed a wrench into the spin machine, the political and media apparatus that anoints candidates." (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

If I were you, I would investigate this valuable tool for intelligent voters.

We have been hooked on the Olympics coverage (even if it is on NBC…I have bones to pick with that particular channel)       Watching Michael Phelps win his gold medals in the mens’ swimming events has been a real highlight of this years’ Summer Olympics.  We also enjoyed the Gymnastics, especially the womens’ events.  Last go round of Summer Olympics the twin brothers(the Hamms) on the USA Olympic gymnastic team was kind of like watching Phelps succeed in this one.  Too bad the Twins were injured and could not be on the mens’ team.  I just watched one of the events that is not what would be called a "high interest sport"—-the team rowing in which the US won the gold medal.  I really like some of the "off" sports like Fencing, Ping Pong, horse jumping, polo…. (haven’t seen any yet because I cannot stay awake for the really late- at- night things)  Finally saw a game of indoor court Volleyball…saw the US womens’ team beat Poland earlier this afternoon.

The Olympics Puzzle is really not so hard to solve;  Why are certain events shown in full on Prime Time?   What I have noticed is that the mens’ swimming events were always on Prime Time and so was the Womens’ Beach Volleyball.  That is not puzzle at all…..beach volleyball featuring bikini – clad young things is obvious….that attracts male viewers by the millions and probably not because they are entranced by the sport itself.  You all know what entrances male viewers and womens’ beach volleyball has the key ingredients!!!   This past week Rush Limbaugh (the Lech) said he watched beach volleyball no matter who won; he did not really care WHO won!!  That is probably why that sport is on Prime Time.Why for instance, do the mens’ beach volleyball team not appear in skimpy Speedos?  They are clad in  big, long baggy shorts and tank tops…not very sexy huh???  It appears to me that the women who play beach volleyball allow themselves to be "used" for the purposes of viewers’ preferences.  Maybe I am wrong but I have not figured out why the women players cannot play in ordinary volleyball clothing while the mens’ team does.  "It is a puzzlement," as the King of Siam said in "Anna and the King of Siam".

I can see why womens’ gymnasticss is a Prime Time feature too….cute shapely girls in really tight, somewhat revealing outfits(nice buns)  that Gymnasts always wear.  I remember the cute and bouncy Mary Lou Retton in her white gymastic outfit in 1984—-white with some red stripes and some blue stars.  I really liked the first outfits I saw in this Olympics…shiny red with a  distinctive huge blue star outlined in white.  I thought they were really classy and nicer than alot of the other gymnastic clothing on display.  Shawn Johnson was this year’s "cutie".     But again, it appeals to male viewers more than female viewers and that must be the population that NBC goes after in their coverage.

I loved watching the womens’ breastroke events in womens’ swimming.  It gave me an opportunity to once again revive the story about "Lena" who was the best breaststroker on the Norwegian Swim team.  She had set records in Norway and had out-swum all her competition.  Of course she was number 1 on the Norwegian Olympic swim team but when she got into the breaststroke events at the Olympics, she lost every race…came in last in fact.        When she found out that the other girls were using their arms, she was furious but her protest was rejected and she had to go home without any medals.  I told that to the two grandkids who are still with us and they "got it" immediately and laughed themselves silly.   Our boy said "that would never work for the men breaststrokers"…he is no dummy at the age of 11.

I bet if the women swam the breaststroke, Lena-style, there would be a huge audience for Prime Time and most of them would be males.   Am I right?????   Or am I an Olde Crank???  (don’t answer that one)

Today I drove west on Highway 10 and saw the first harvested grainfield (for me).  I know summer is getting very short.  Later as I drove to I-94 on the southbound county 336, I saw three big combines in action, one following the other as they swathed and harvested the dead-ripe wheat in a big field north of I-94.  The clouds of grain dust rose up into the air and I knew that allergy sufferers in the Valley are going to be sneezing, wheezing, coughing and wiping their watery eyes and noses for the next weeks to come as the harvest is completed.  Of course,  they are not done yet….grain harvest will be followed by the corn, soybeans and potato crops to be reaped with clouds of dust both from the soil and the crop itself.  Sneeze City, for awhile yet.

Last night I looked out the window and saw a huge golden full moon and my first thought was "Harvest Moon!"    Then I thought of the old song that goes like this:  "Shine on, Shine on, Harvest Moon,up in the sky; I ain’t had no lovin’ since January, February, June or July….Snow time ain’t no time to sit outdoors and spoon, so shine on, shine on  Harvest Moon,  for me and my gal". 

The reason I say it is an OLD song is that the phrase…."sit outdoors and spoon" would not be understood by many of today’s young generation…they have no idea what "spooning" is.  It is the old fashioned term for holding hands, kissing, hugging and all the innocent things of young love in years long gone by.  The young people of today would laugh at "spooning" outside or any place…they are far more advanced when it comes to showing affection!!!!   Enough said.

Harvest  time also takes me back in time to when I was very young—a preschooler in fact.  Harvest did not mean combining…it meant threshing with the old threshing machines that looked like prehistoric dinosaurs spitting out golden straw from one end and spewing the grain into truck boxes on the other end.  It meant teams of horses hitched up to hayracks with sturdy men driving the horses around fields picking up "shocks" of grain with their pitchforks and filling the hayrack with the bundled grain, ready to be "gobbled up" by the gaping maw of the threshing machine.  It was a noisy affair, the threshing machine.  Gears and cogs groaned and creaked and the well-oiled thresher would do its job during harvest, powered by a tractor with long canvas belts running between the tractor and the thresher. The threshing machine was not an independent machine at all—you had to have the tractor to run it.  

My mother and I would spend harvest time out at my Mom’s cousins’ farm where Mom would help Agnes cook huge meals twice a day; bake bread, cakes, pies and cookies in a wood-burning range in an incredibly hot kitchen;  they would prepare two lunches for morning and afternoon, and haul it out to where ever the men were working.  Agnes would fire up their old Ford sedan and over the fields we’d go, bouncing over the rough ground with my Mom holding the big white enamel coffee pot, wrapped in towels, between her feet to keep it from spilling the sweet smelling egg coffee all over the floor of the Ford.  In back with me, were two huge dishpans covered with white dishtowels; one was full of sandwiches…meat, egg salad or peanut butter; the other was full of fresh-baked cookies or sometimes there was a fresh-baked chocolate cake with brown sugar frosting (no cake mixes in those days)  also covered with a white dish towel.   Having morning and afternoon lunch in the field with the sweating men who were covered with grain dust and field dirt was a highlight of each of my Harvest Days.   When the men came to the farmhouse for "Dinner" (noon) and Supper (evening) there was a wash bowl laid out for them on a table under a leafy tree with towels and soap at the ready.  The water would get so dirty you could not see through it and sometimes it was replaced with warm clean water from the big reservoir in the wood stove.  The men would come to the table, damp and mostly cleanon their necks, faces and hands…some of them would have washed their hair in the wash bowl so their hair would be sticking up in a spiky manner.  They would pass the plates of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob, carrots, cole slaw or jello salad, fresh sliced bread or fresh hot buns slathered with butter and homemade jam or jelly, plates and bowls of homemade pickles…dills, sweets, watermelon or pickled beets.   They would wash it all down with cold well water and more egg coffee, especially when the fresh apple pies were cut up for dessert.  Sometimes the pie was  pumpkin or a cherry or peach.  Then the men would go outside and lie in the shade of the big tree for a noon nap.  In about a half an hour, they would be up and climbing aboard their hayracks…the horses would have been fed and watered during the meal by ….someone… who took charge of the horses so they did not go hungry or thirsty either. You had to take good care of the horses or the harvest would come to a halt if they could not pull the hayracks back and forth to the threshing machine.    At dusk I watched the procession of hayracks, teams and men leave the farmyard in the dusk—-going home to sleep off their exhaustion of the day after feeding and watering their horses again, taking off the harnesses and giving the horses a time to sleep the night also.  Morning would bring the same routine…hitch up and drive to Jack’s farm to work on the harvest once again.  Then later, the threshing rig would move on , with the men and the horses and hayrackcs to the next farm for more harvesting.  Everyone helped each other harvest the grain in those days of fellowship and neighborliness.  Good times, hard work… but good times of good food and honest work under the blazing sun of the harvest days.

I loved to stand in the grain truck and watch it fill up with oats or wheat or barley.  One time one of my rubber  boots came off and Cousin Jack found the boot and momentarily panicked thinking I was buried in the grain.  Great relief to find me on the ground watching something else,but after that I was not allowed to stand in the grain truck and watch the golden grain pouring out of the spout on the threshing rig.  I was, literally, "grounded".

Amazing what the sight of some combines rolling in a field of grain and the sight of a full Harvest Moon can bring back to memory.   Soon the sunsets will be tinged with the grain dust in the air when Harvest is in full swing.  The sunsets will be a brilliant red for a few days or weeks, and a member of my family will be miserable from the effects of the grain dust in the air. 

 Meanwhile I will be waiting for another Harvest Moon in September and later, the Hunter’sMoons in October and November. By then the fields will be stubble or chisel-plowed and the frost will shimmer on the cold nights in the white light of the full moon.  It will bring memories of stories about Foxes Out On Chilly Nights baying at the Full Moon and making their way to a chicken house for Fox Mischief.  

 Full Moons can bring all sorts of memories and all sorts of imagination, especially if it comes on Halloween.  I used to think I saw witches flying across the Full Moon then and the deliciousness of the pretense scared me silly.   I still love to go out on Full Moon nights and watch the golden orb rise up above the horizon…first a red apparition that slowly changes to gold and finally to silver as the night advances.  Now I am at a disadvantage…I fall asleep much too early to fully appreciate the Full Moon’s glory.

Everyone who has owned and loved a dog or any other pet has gone through the grief of their dying.  We, as a family, are now feeling that sadness for Beagle Bailey, our oldest son’s family’s beloved pet, who had to be "put down" yesterday due to kidney failure.  My 3 granddaughters are devastated; the parents are feeling deep sadness for their dog and their sorrowing girls.  All of us in the family are feeling it.

The three girls want Bailey to be buried on the farm beside other beloved pets already in our little pet cemetery at the bottom of one of our big hills.  The graves of Freckles, Mac, Trudi, and Mikey the cat are already in place.  A few springs past, some of the grandkids and I put silk flower sprays on all the graves so we can easily identify where they lie.  Trudi has her own headstone, sent by her "grandmother" in Montana.  Mikey and Mac have big rocks marking their graves.  All of them have fading silk flowers (we have to replace those soon)

Does it sound dumb to care so much for pets that you maintain a little graveyard?  Some of the more hard-hearted among us might judge it to be a form of silliness and admonish us for grieving the loss of pets.  Most would not.   Pets are a big part of our lives.   Nursing homes would not have in-house dogs and cats if pets did not perform a valuable service.  Older folks in these homes find the presence of a pet most comforting especially if they have had pets in their lives before entering their last years of life.   Other public institutions have used pet dogs and cats for therapy for patients.  

When I was a first grader and school rules were not so stringent, we had a classroom mascot named "Jiggs" who followed Dennis, his boy, to school each day.  In the nice weather, Jiggs would wait outside all day but in the cold weather, our wonderful Miss MIckelson would let Jiggs come into the classroom where he would sleep away the school hours and wait patiently to return home with Dennis.   We all loved Jiggs and he was a great classroom pet

that whole year.  He surely did no harm in his role as first grade mascot.  He did a lot of good.

I am not ashamed to admit that I grieved a lot when ever we lost one of our dogs or cats. Mac was a good friend for over 15 years and when his feebleness necessitated his euthanization, I cried for 6 weeks or longer every time I turned into our driveway at the end of my school day, and knew he would not be there to greet me.  It took time to heal the sadness I experienced.  It was pretty much the same for Freckles our first dog, gotten when our first two sons were still preschoolers.  She lived to over 15 also and had to be "put down" finally when she could no longer get up on her own.

Pets are so loyal and loving to their owners.  Dogs, especially, are super sensitive to their owner’s feelings.  I remember one time of great sadness when our dog would actually put his head on my lap knowing I was feeling deep sorrow.  They attend to their people in wonderful ways.  Our old dog Freckles seemed to go through her own grief when we lost "Annie" her companion.  Freckles did not bark or make a sound for more than 6 months after Annie died.

Now it is our turn to feel sadness for our Bailey-Bopper, an exuberant Beagle in her good times who could stretch longer and farther than any dog I have known….especially if there was a sandwich on the edge of the kitchen counter.  She stole my food more than once and somehow because she was so sweet, we could not get angry with her!!!!  She was too cute.  We are all going to miss Bailey but she will be with our other pets down the hill.  The family is going to bring her ashes to the pet cemetery sometime in September.