Rural Life

Early Autumn, Late Afternoon

November 23, 2007

[Note: This week I was doing cleanup and going through my old pads of note paper. On one pad, stuck in among some other writing, I found this short descriptive essay. It had no date attached and I can't recall exactly what year I wrote it. It was probably about four years ago, and I [...]

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This Little Piggy

October 6, 2007

Happy piggy, concerned responsible dog One of the fun things about taking bicycle rides is you never know what you will come across. Sometimes you might see turkey vultures, other times . . . a pig. Yes, this little piggy went to market. At least, he started that direction before he was sidetracked by the [...]

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Those Darn Geese

August 28, 2007

Remember those neighborhood geese I wrote about previously? They have made themselves unwelcome. I have watched with some amusement as the neighborhood has soured to the geese. I wonder how many of the local residents saw where things were headed when the geese took up residence. I’m not surprised at how it has turned out, [...]

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Small Dramas

August 15, 2007

There is that saying, “Stop and smell the roses,” but even if some of us do slow down and enjoy the flowers occasionally, how many of us stop to notice the little dramas in life? I mean the very small dramas in life. So caught up in our hustle, we don’t notice the birds, bees, [...]

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Geese and a Turtle

June 12, 2007

Wild geese reproduce at a prolific rate. I have read about how wild Canadian geese populations have become a problem in some areas, their numbers have grown so large. We don’t have that problem in this neighborhood. Yet. But, watching the wild geese that live in this area, I see how it does happen in [...]

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Vultures Waiting

May 15, 2007

One Vulture I did a double-take. I had just set out on my bike ride and wasn’t even a half mile from the house when I passed the old burned out house and the abandoned barn. As my gaze slid across the barn I half registered something different. Strange shapes–almost like huge bird statues–wait, there [...]

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Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Spring

May 13, 2007

Sights One of the many good things about spring is that without it, and without the absence imposed by fall and winter, we flawed mortals might fail to appreciate the beauties around us. So much of the wonder of spring is found in the return of what was absent. Would the appearance of new leaves [...]

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True Story: Headless Chicken Alive!

February 11, 2007

Faithful readers know that I have kept chickens, and they would make a somewhat regular appearance in my writing, along with all the other barnyard mischief. But since I moved away from home to take care of my Grandfather the chickens have been left behind. There will be no more funny chicken stories in the [...]

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Hauling Feed

September 4, 2006

In this modernizing world there are still bastions of days-gone-by. One such bastion exists in Berkshire in the feed store next to the railroad tracks. When I was growing up there was an old Agway down by our railroad tracks. We would pass it on the way to the library and there would always be [...]

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The Savior in Underpants

August 31, 2006

“Rundy, something’s got one of the chickens.” “Huh?” I sat up in bed to see Titi standing in the doorway. “Something is in the chicken house. I can hear one of the chicken’s screaming.” “Oh.” My first thought was to turn over in bed and forget about it. The chicken must be a goner, the [...]

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