Saturday, May 28, 2011

Memorial Day Weekend

It's a beautiful, clear, warm day here in central Minnesota. I've grilled burgers for lunch - and am doing a little catch-up in this blog.

My son gave #3 daughter a hangul keyboard for her birthday - which was much-appreciated. And yes, I know: it's 'supposed' to be hangeul, Hangul, hankul, Han'gŭl, or maybe something else. It's actually 한글 - hangul is one way of writing 한글 with the Latin alphabet that English uses, and I'm sticking with that. Sounded out, "hangul" is pretty close to the way we pronounce it - although I suspect we've got an upper-Midwest accent you could slice with a knife.

Moving on.

#1 daughter may be coming tomorrow - which I'm looking forward to.

I've started exercising regularly - and cutting snacks. My wife suggested an approach that seems to be working. I felt tired, among other things, the first week - but that might have been springtime. Pollen and all that.

The folks across the street north have what looks like a some-assembly-required lawn table in their driveway, sunshine is taunting me, and I've still got a task or two to do.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Release the Chickens!

Our #1 and #2 daughters - the latter with our son-in-law - were home for the weekend, partly for the Mother's Day family get-together in one of the Twin Cities' northern suburbs. I made it down there for the first time in several years, which turned out quite well.

Back here in Sauk Centre, we did some more catching-up. My son-in-law told me that ticks make it hard to work with the tractor in the timber claim: a roughly 10-acre woodland north of their home.

I'd like to spin a story about those North Dakota ticks having developed a taste for motor oil. The truth is remarkable enough. Those blood-sucking pests are so thick in spots that he can see masses of them moving over the undergrowth.

He and #2 daughter have a plan for dealing with the ticks this summer. They intend to get a sort of porta-coop, a high-capacity water & feed unit, and about 30 chickens. Chickens eat ticks - which is why they've already got a small flock of free-range chickens in the yard.

I suppose I could call it 'green' pest control: but the fact is, that's the way folks in this part of the world have been keeping ticks in check for generations. Some of us, anyway.

Transitions

I didn't realize, until after Easter, that this family has passed another milestone. For the first time in many, many years we didn't color Easter eggs this year.

I miss that activity: but change happens. And if parents do their job right, children grow up.
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