It’s been said that “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” In a recent reflection on my life, I see a clear parallel between my personal journey and that fabled stone, leaving behind most moss I’ve rolled past. I’ve known or read about people who’ve gained enduring friendships, even when they’ve moved several times over the…
Read moreNavy Tall Tales
I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1966. After thirteen weeks of basic training, I was assigned duty on an aircraft carrier, the CVA Ticonderoga. CVA was the designation for attack carriers, and this one was the oldest in the fleet, having been built in 1942. Her home base was in San Diego, California. On…
Read moreTalking Chickens
Can you imagine if chickens could speak English, Japanese, German, or Swahili? Even if they spoke in a language we didn’t understand, we’d be shocked by the remarkable event. If you’ve ever been around them much, you’d know they talk about everything, using their own innate language. Of all farm creatures, they tend to be…
Read moreOld Wives’ Tales and Traditional Medicine
An “old wives tale” that is a supposed truth, which is actually untrue, may have originated from suspicion based on fear. These tales concern ways to handle life to keep unwanted things from happening, are passed down orally by older women in society to the young in decades and centuries past. People once thought that…
Read moreFeeling Sheepish
One of the definitions of “sheepish” in Webster’s dictionary is “Feeling or showing embarrassment, especially over being discovered having done something wrong or foolish” – certainly something I’ve experienced lately. My recent bout started with a purchase of several Painted Desert “hair sheep” to raise for the table. I’d assumed that their disposition would be…
Read moreLove and Marriage
Prior to my teens, my life was a stress-free, very happy-go-lucky time spent playing with my brothers, attending school, and doing light chores. Puberty hit suddenly, with the stresses that accompany the teen years. Hormones brought about a desire for females, yet they were initially foreign and fearful to me. Later, the stress was magnified…
Read moreSweet Memories
Like other typical farm boys in the 1950s and ’60s, Dad taught my brothers and me to drive in our fields as early as twelve years old. Perhaps I should say, “By the time we could reach the pedals and see over the windshield.” By age fourteen, I was driving our old 1949 Studebaker flatbed…
Read moreEating Dirt and Other Outdoor Forage
During a recent phone conversation, I mentioned to a stranger that I’d eaten dirt as a farm kid. To my surprise, she said she had too. I’d thought my brothers and I were the only kids that had ever eaten soil. I agreed with her that the best tasting dirt always came from a fresh…
Read moreRetirement and the Unexpected
I’ve often quipped that retirement can be defined as “tired all over again.” That may not apply to many folks who consider retirement their time to rest and relax. They might think in terms of travel, watching movies, attending social events, or spending their days with other leisure activities. Some of us “tired all over”…
Read moreFading Memories
Though the farm of my youth was only ten miles from town, we depended upon our nearest neighbors for association, help as needed, and a sense of community. Unlike most families in the more mobile generations, we seldom made trips to town more than two or three times per month, and then only for groceries…
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