A journey through discovery.
Too much to drink on mixed poker night might come to mind, but this category is about working with your hands.
Man this one was hard. I look out at my old smoker sitting in the backyard; thinking of all the years and hours we spent together; knowing how difficult that tube smoker could be, but remembering all the deep barked smoky meat which came from those hours of attention, and I feel like a traitor seeing it stand all alone with weeds growing around its legs. I remembered when we worked together to feed a whole round-up crew.
Continue reading “Pellet or Old School”
You know I spent over seven years as the manager of the meat and deli division of a $83 million Super Store. My division’s average sales topped $4 million annually. While I’d never place my experience as a manager above the experience of a well seasoned meat cutter, I learned a thing or two. I’d never make it as a vegan. Though I’m not one of those people who turn their nose up at vegetables, I prefer mine on the side paired with a great cut of meat.
Pork chops seasoned and grilled; spareribs or pork butt rubbed with spices and smoked with hickory until tender and mouthwatering certainly take center stage when thinking barbecue. Chicken has its place as well, especially in the smoker. And those ol’ boys from Louisiana have proved you can smoke almost anything that walks, crawls, or swims.
Continue reading “Meat Talk”
I’m laughing at the moment. Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year. Is it really? It should be right? It’s supposed to be all about family, celebrating the birth of Christ – the actual reason for the season, and about generosity. But even in the best of times the Christmas Holiday season is trying. It’s much better for me these days. After 30 years of retail, literally striving to commercialize every aspect of the season, it’s nice to just try to enjoy it. Still, with the economy the way it’s been, supply chain issues, a virus that just won’t go away, a country that is dangerously divided, the happenings throughout the world – it just seems to make it harder.
Continue reading “The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year?”
One of my favorite George Strait songs in that title, but it was an early fall chill on that last Saturday when we worked the calves. They were rather large, and in a mood. There was more snorting and dirt pawing than ever. As usual the heifers were more cantankerous than the bull calves. They were zeroing in on everyone. Even though the majority were only being violated by a vaccine needle, they were still having none of it. Guess you could call ’em anti-vaxxers.
Continue reading “Chill Of An Early Fall”
You know, I’ve always enjoyed working with cattle, but I don’t own them. Not that I would mind owning them. The fact is, I just don’t have the money to be a rancher. The farm fix usually comes from helping a friend with his cattle in the spring and fall. Still, there is something about cattle. Listening to them. Watching them.
Yet, I’ll never be a cattle rancher unless someone close to me wins the lottery.
But a chicken farmer? I never thought I’d be raising chickens. I live in town. I have a small backyard. And I get more than enough bonding with the animal kingdom feeding the dogs. Yet here we are. Truthfully, I’m trying to leave as much of the chicken care to my wife as possible. She tends to her “flock” each day. How five chicks and two ducks became a flock, I don’t know. They’re still in a plastic tub in the garage, but soon they’ll move to the chicken run.
Continue reading “Down on the Farm”
Although I fall far short of a woodworker, I do enjoy working out in the shop. Over the course of the past year, I’ve tried my hand at refinishing and building from scratch. Sometimes I get carried away, like when I made three of the children’s picnic tables just because I wanted to see if I could improve. I originally made one for my grandchildren to use on our deck, but it just seemed I could try it with a little different style or different wood. I ended up with one on the deck and two taking up space in the garage shop. I’m sure my wife would appreciate it if I could find homes for some of my projects so we could get both cars in the garage if needed.
During this hiatus from regular employment I have been free to do some of the things I enjoy doing without the hassle of consulting the calendar. For a number of years I’ve helped a friend of mine with working cattle in the spring or fall. My kids have grown up helping in the process as have his. Most of the time we have to juggle my work schedule, his work schedule, and the weather. Since my layoff, we’ve been able to simplify the scheduling.
Spring roundup is a great time of the year. It’s hard, dusty work — not quite the old cowboy way with horses and ropes, but still work. Closing and lifting the chute with calves weighing from one hundred pounds up to three or four hundred, can offer a real workout. Smooth success at sorting cows from calves, leading calves up the alley to the tub, bringing them into the chute all depends upon the skills of the cowhands and the attitude of the bovine.
Continue reading “Round ’em Up”Although far from a professional photographer, photography has been a part of me for many years. I can remember using a little Kodak 110 camera when I was just a kid. I used it to take pictures around town of things I found interesting. When I was in high school I became an editor for the yearbook and though I didn’t get to take a lot of the photos since I had staff photographers, I spent many hours working in a black and white darkroom.
In college I again served as yearbook editor and took every opportunity I could to get in the darkroom. In fact, there was a time when I considered going into photography as a career. I had the idea that I would merge photography and graphic arts, maybe do some advertising, but I moved on from that. In some ways I wish I had continued my interest in professional photography.
Continue reading “Frozen”In 2012 we experienced a house fire. Though much of the downstairs portion of the house was merely water damaged, much of the upstairs portion was destroyed. In it there were a few items we tried to recover due to sentimental value. My middle son’s room was beyond recognition and very little remained. There was a cedar chest which had been acquired by my wife in a garage sale many years earlier. It contained pictures and mementos. We were able to recover it, but it was badly singed.
As I began to look for things to occupy my free time I decided to pull the chest out of the corner of the garage, where it had been since we moved into the new house. (BTW the outlet you see in the background isn’t wired in yet. The garage is also a work in progress, but I’ve put in a lot of work since these pictures were taken. Maybe I’ll give you an update later).
Continue reading “Getting Handsy”