Archive for the ‘Chronicle’ Category
Today I’m
Today I’m not preparing to evacuate a hurricane zone. In the middle of the country, the biggest threat from hurricanes on the east coast is that they might temporarily stall the usual flow of high or low pressure weather systems that move across our region.
Today I’m purposefully ignoring anything that democrats or republicans want to tell me about how awful and scary the “other” party candidates are. Just not gonna allow them to sully an otherwise promising possibility for goodness and prosperity to spring forth from even horrifically dire situations.
Today I’m remembering how it felt to be chronically depressed and appreciating the grace that allowed me to discover I had power over my thoughts and my body chemistry to navigate my way to better health. Eat well, exercise often, focus thoughts and actions in the direction of optimal health. Repeat.
Today I’m revisiting my realization that I am the only one who sees things exactly the way I do while standing in my shoes, and the view from every other vantage point is not necessarily wrong. Many could even be the exact opposite. Whether you need to turn left or right to pull into our driveway depends completely on whether you are approaching from the north or the south.
Today I’m going to laugh at something, because the universe is filled with comical possibilities. Even our horses have demonstrated the art of prankish shenanigans. It’s all in the timing, and they obviously have a sense of it.
Today I’m publishing this post, because you might stop by to read it and I want there to be something for you that wasn’t here yesterday at this time. A morsel of *this* John W. Hays’ take on things and experiences that I captured in the moment. A glimpse of the ongoing drama from my world that I hope dances around being relative to something for you every now and again.
Today I’m sending you peace and love from beautiful Wintervale Ranch in Beldenville, WI, USA.
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Special Guests
Every night feels like a party for us lately, as we invited our neighbors, George & Anneliese, to stay with us while they are between homes in their process of moving away. It’s a blast to have their company for evening meals and after-dinner entertainment. 
Last night they helped make egg rolls to go along with a stir-fry pork and veggies dinner.
Later, we turned them on to a favorite 2007 NBC television series, “Life,” starring Damian Lewis and Sarah Shahi. I remember learning about the show from Cyndie’s brother, Ben, and his wife. They recognized it as something we would probably appreciate. They were so very right.
We figured George & Anneliese would feel similarly.
Cyndie and I were pleasantly surprised to find out that it had been so long since we’d watched any of the episodes, it seemed pretty fresh again to both of us.
Having company to share the viewing with us, and the fact they hadn’t seen any of it before, added to the experience. There is something about shared watching —like going to a movie in a theater— that expands the event.
Unfortunately, we needed to adjust to ignoring the occasional intrusion of little Asian beetles on the TV display, which doesn’t usually happen when going to the theater to see things on the big screen.
Between Delilah bringing her chewed-up bone over to the couch where they were sitting, and bugs pestering our view, George and Anneliese got a good dose of being included as family.
It has me already contemplating the probable withdrawal symptoms we will go through after their stay is over.
It’ll be like becoming empty-nesters all over again.
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Reluctant Fan
Two nights in a row now, I have stayed up past my bedtime to see evening entertainment. Last night it was the NFL Minnesota Vikings. I call myself a reluctant fan because I don’t like how the league and the games have changed over time.
I grew up in a household where Minnesota sports were always on the TV or radio. We had season tickets to the Vikings games starting back from the time the team arrived to the state.
If I couldn’t go to the games in person, I wanted to watch them on television. That television coverage is part of what killed the game for me. TV networks took over and began to control the timing of the breaks. I lost my love of watching the games in person.
Eventually, I lost interest in watching my team fail. Other things claimed that time slot for me and I figured I had broken the spell. I was free of the game’s allure.
That was before my old home team began to show signs of being successful again. The pull at the beginning of each season is hard to resist, so I tend to check them out, just in case they might perform well.
This year, it was made more dramatic by the loss of our quarterback right before the season was about to start. All the excited anticipation went out the door in a blink and our usual inevitable doom seemed to settle in before we had a chance to get started.
If that wasn’t enough, we lost our star running back in the second game. A smarter me would have bailed on the team right away. But something happened.
We won games. We put up good stats. We started earning respect, reminding me of teams of old, when I was a kid.
Against my better judgement, I slinked my way onto the bandwagon. The coaching staff seem to be leading the team the way winners do, and they are succeeding despite the loss of key players.
They are making me feel young again.
The pessimist in me is wondering how long this is gonna last, but the kid in me is going to just enjoy the ride for as far as it is able to carry me.
Like a fan, only with a little bit of baggage… called reluctance.
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Special Privilege
It felt like a special privilege to be in the presence of Brian Wilson performing the Pet Sounds album last night. It was a great experience that brought us a lot of joy.
We have seen a relatively recent rendition of the Beach Boys in concert, with Mike Love and Al Jardine, and now we have this in comparison, a concert by Brian Wilson and an amazing combination of supporting musicians, including again, Al Jardine.
Last night’s show was aimed at an audience that is passionate about the full depth of what goes into a song, performed by artists who share that same passion. The difference was significant. The concert last night was transcendent.
The mental challenges that Brian Wilson has lived through resonate for me. I have always felt an appreciation for his artistry, and feel a morsel of connection with him.
It was thrilling to be able to stand among thousands of others who feel similarly, to thank him with a rousing ovation at the end of Brian’s singing, “God Only Knows.”
It was a privilege.
I couldn’t get myself to interrupt any part of the evening’s performance with the cell phone lifted into someone else’s view for a photo, so all I have is a before and after.
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It’s all I need to remind myself of the magic that took place in between.
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Ladder Work
Yesterday was a day on the ladder for me as we completed the job of applying a new coat of sealer on the wood siding of the shop garage. Climbing up and down all day is a fair amount of work, but I think the more intense exercise causing my residual stiffness today is from the unconscious-nervous-flexed-muscle tension while I was balancing on the precarious perch.
I’m not all that thrilled by heights.
It was worth the discomfort though, because what does thrill me is having the flaky siding now freshly sealed against the elements.
I wish that was all the sealing that needed to be done. The house really should receive a fresh coat, as well.
Will we have enough dry days for that to happen before cold weather sets in?
Time will tell. I have that pesky nuisance of a day-job that tends to get in the way of finishing projects at home.
Oh, and sometimes other distractions pop up on the weekends, like a fabulous barbecue event hosted by a special friend, followed by a trip to downtown Minneapolis to see Brian Wilson perform the classic Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album in its entirety.
Not a lot of work going to happen this dry sunny day. Tired muscles get a break.
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That Guy
I don’t think I’m that guy, but Cyndie says I might be. One of the reasons I have historically eschewed gas-powered equipment comes from the demands of maintaining the machines. If a device is electric, and all I need to do is turn it on to use it and back off when I’m done, that would suit me just fine. Maybe change the brushes if you keep it long enough, or take care of the batteries if it’s got ’em, but that’s about it.
It’s all the stinky gasoline, oil, air filters, fuel filters, and spark plugs of gas-powered engines that weighs on me. I don’t want to deal with them, so I wait. But how long can I get away with avoiding it without suffering performance problems? I prefer to have my machines functioning at their peak.
After putting our Craftsman lawn tractor through rather rough use, and suffering the consequences of a frustrating degradation in performance, I’ve adjusted my attitude about the machine.
Ironically, this ends up being less about the gas engine and more about the general use of the machine as a lawn mower. I really did use the thing with reckless abandon, mowing over rocks and sticks, heading down our rustic trails and over sharp drop offs, sometimes into wet areas where there was standing water.
The mower responded accordingly, bending and breaking when limits were exceeded.
I figured it was a piece of crap and that I should look into getting a heavy-duty commercial grade machine that could take such abuse. A mechanic at my favorite hardware store helped me to see it otherwise.
We already own a power trimmer. I should be using that appliance in all the afore-mentioned rough areas. My lawn mower is designed to cut lawn grass. If I use it as designed, it will do the job well.
In the past, when I finished driving the mower through all the abuse, I parked it and walked away, glad to be done with that nuisance of a chore. I was aware that grass would collect and build up under the mower deck, but it was hard to access, so I saved it for some other time.
I was tired, and the mowing was done. The last thing I wanted to do was mess with the job of clean up.
I wasn’t that guy.
Well, not entirely. Not yet, anyway.
Maybe I’m getting closer. Yesterday, Anneliese saw me cleaning the mower deck and asked if it had gotten plugged. That made total sense to my old way of thinking. You clean it when it stops working well.
Not any more.
No, it wasn’t plugged. Since the informative visit with the mechanic who gladly sells me products and services, I have changed my methods. I pull off the deck after each mowing, flip it over, and clean out the accumulated gunk, before the mower ever gets even close to plugging.
The same as the way that guy would do it.
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Cold Rain
Okay. About that idea I wrote of yesterday that we might have a string of dry days to celebrate this week… Not exactly. I drove home from work in rain and by the time dinner was done last night, the temperature had dropped into the 40s (F).
Our furnace got turned on yesterday morning, and we lit a fire in the fireplace last night.
If it weren’t for the leftover leaves still attached to the tree branches, I’d think it was already October. Wet and cold. Cyndie made apple crisp which helped take some of the edge off.
The horses got a night in the barn because Cyndie was concerned about preventing their hooves from being wet all night.
Part of me wants to lament over the rapid disappearance of September, but I’m thinking I should avoid moping about it and put my sights on what lies ahead. I might as well start waxing my skis and getting the snow blade mounted on the ATV.
Winter is not far off. It’s a good thing it’s my favorite season of the year. Looking forward to it is so much more fun than dreading what is to come.
If it weren’t for all these constant distractions, I might make better progress at living fully in the present moment. The art of doing that continues to be something I struggle to accomplish.
It doesn’t help that lately the present moments so often involve rain around here. Who can be blamed for needing a break from that repetition?
I like to imagine what it would be like if our temperatures were already below freezing during these recent batches of precipitation. Speaking of which, I wonder where I put my igloo making fixture.
Of course, the next thought that comes to my mind when thinking about snow this year is, I should have purchased that fat bike I was looking at over the summer. 
See how one thing leads to the next?
It’s the kind of mental exercise that one falls into when the weather outside gets cold and rainy.
Looks like Thursday through Sunday holds some promise for dry sunshine. That would go a long way toward helping me enjoy the last days of September to the fullest…
Completely, in each and every one of those moments.
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Autumn Ambiance
I stepped outside to search for some fall scenery to photograph after I got home from work yesterday and was rewarded well beyond my expectations. It helps to never grow too accustomed to the beautiful surroundings we enjoy here.
It would be a shame to ever take this gorgeous place for granted.
The key factor yesterday was that it wasn’t raining. There was actually some blue sky visible. With a high pressure system moving in, we are hoping to for several dry days in a row. It is likely to deliver a dose of our best of autumn weather.
Many of our trails are developing a carpet of fallen leaves that provide a crunch when you walk. More importantly, they are filling the air with the unmistakable scent of the season. When I walk toward the pastures and pop out of the trees, the horses show signs of wondering what huge creature is making all that racket.
Just this huge creature, is all.
When I got down to our Rowcliffe Forest Garden Labyrinth, the sunlight was getting low. Cyndie had recently mowed and weeded the labyrinth, which gave it a well-tended glow anyway.
I walked to the far side and paused to stare at the beauty all around me. I was looking away from the entrance for the shortest of moments, and when I turned back around I was startled by the sudden silent presence of a lone young deer happily standing nearby.
It was as if it had magically materialized in the spot. I realized right away that it was totally unaware of me standing there. When it stepped through our fence and walked into the pasture to graze, I stealthily moved to a rock nearby and lifted my camera to capture the scene in video…
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Coop Foundation
Just in case we someday get chickens, I have continued to chip away at a snails pace to design and construct a homemade coop out of mostly found materials. As of this weekend, I have now completed the foundation posts and laid the first floor.
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I’ve reached the point where I should probably commit to the floor plan and figure out how I’m going to build the walls, including the desired doors and windows. The roof is already figured out, as I intend to make it very similar to the one I constructed for the wood shed. The roofing panels are one of the few things we chose to buy for the project.
Most of the lumber for this coop is coming from pallets and shipping crates I have salvaged from the day-job. It’s a benefit for both parties, since the material needs to be removed from our warehouse due to limited storage space.
The foundation posts are from old fencing that was removed shortly after we moved here. Having the coop up on stilts will keep me from needing to sandbag it in protection against the unrelenting downpours that have been turning our soil to soup this year in this new climate we seem to be facing.
The progress of getting the floor in place is a nice milestone, but based on past behaviors, it’s going to be a while before I achieve the next step. There is a lot of uncertainty about construction detail that I need to resolve before I go throwing up walls willy nilly.
That, and the fact that I have yet to settle on an actual design for where doors and windows will be, and how I will construct them.
Details, details.
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Boot Treatment
Last Christmas, Julian gave us a gift of a two-step “hydrophobic” water-proofing spray. I didn’t use it right away because I wanted to wait for warm weather before applying it on my boots. With the end of summer looming, I finally got around to treating my most oft-worn work boots.
The first-step spray made my freshly cleaned and dried boots look almost brand new. The second coat created a chalky, uneven finish. It was difficult to get an even coat without over-applying. The front edge was looking too wet with product, so I didn’t spray more, but after it dried a bit, there was little chalkiness there.
A day later, after just a short walk in the boots, it appeared the crease lines where the boot flexes became breaks in the new chalky coating. Luckily, that didn’t seem to make any difference in the hydrophobic properties of the new coating.
Certainly, the canvas portion of the boot was much more resistant to soaking up the moisture of dew when I walked through our grass in the morning, but the vinyl edges didn’t look all that much different.
I showed off the results in a snapshot and video for Julian and he asked how the new coating was handling mud and manure.
I think I’m going to need to apply another coat. That challenge with that will be getting the boots clean enough again to receive the application.
I realize now that the biggest cause of the delay in getting around to using this gift wasn’t the weather. It was finding a time when the boots would be clean and dry.
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