Beau June 10th, 2009
My goodness, the rain just keeps on coming. Someone asked me recently what I was doing financially these days with investing. I said I’ve been saving for a rainy day, the only problem is that its been raining for over a month and I’m out of money…
We’re due for some warmer, sunnier days and I know they’ll come. I really do appreciate the cooler weather for getting work accomplished, but the bugs and weeds have gone crazy. I think the birds thrive on the moisture at this time of year because insects are so abundant. Its fun to watch flycatchers and bluebirds chase insects around beneath the trees. And the flowers love the rain too- this hydrangea is showing off.
Nesting birds are really busy everywhere it seems. I was excited to see my first Baltimore Oriole nest high in an oak tree on the hillside overlooking the pond. I had seen the female oriole around for a couple of weeks, and one bright morning the nest just stood out in the sunlight, hanging pensile near the top of the oak tree. I went out early and waited for over a half hour to try and get a photo of an oriole together near the nest. The nest would move and shake but the oriole would not appear… so I went out a second day and finally the oriole made it’s way back to the nest in a secretive fashion. I captured a shot with the bird nearby, but it went in and out of that nest so quickly!
The garden has shown a few surprises this year as well. We have many dill plants that have grown as volunteers from letting plants go to seed in previous years. One plant is growing near the base of a Saint Francis statue, with a little friend happily munching on it.
The caterpillar is the larval stage of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly, fairly common in our region. We’ve got enough dill around, so I enjoy watching these guys. But I’m on the lookout for tomato hornworms- they can tear down a tomato plant in a matter of days, and that’s my sauce for the next year.
For some more exciting news I saw a flying fish today! I was out early checking on the bees, and saw a heron catch a really big bluegill. I started down the hill to chase it away, and it took off across the pond with the fish flopping in its bill the whole way. It was kind of funny looking, but I was miffed. Those bluegill are prized for catching with the boy! And if they’re too big to swallow, the heron just drops ’em on the bank and goes for more. Practical bird, huh? There’s lots of smaller bass and I suppose the heron eats some of those too. But man that gangly bird has been around every morning lately- I wonder how many pounds of fish it eats in a month!?
I wandered back into the garden (I just love strolling around the vegetables!) and I thought of how such a few seeds can become such a grand harvest with a little steady attention. Then I looked over the fence at my 16 year old diesel farm truck and remembered it needed a little attention too. Well farm truck is a bit of an exaggeration since we really aren’t farmers. Unless you count a hundred thousand bees as livestock, which the Department of Agriculture actually does. But no, we’re just a small family living in the country. Down the road there’s a real dairy farm and a hog farm, and after talking with the dairyman about his mornings, I’m pretty thankful for mine.
But I digress… I was going to say something about that old 3/4 ton truck, eventually. Yesterday the Cash for Clunkers plan passed in the House, and now it’s on to the Senate and presumably the President. On the surface it sounds like a great idea. But looking a little deeper it’s just another basket of taxpayers dollars in an effort to support the auto industry. Which I have mixed feelings about. I’m not a fan of government largesse and program development, especially when it seems like we’re playing Wheel of Fortune with so much money these days. But I know there are real folks out there whose jobs and livelihoods depend on the auto industry- and I would like to support them. We’ve given disappearing billions to the financial industry, what’s a few more to help workers that actually create something?
With the Cash for Clunkers plan, that old truck sitting out back might actually be worth something. It served its purpose enjoyably over many years, and I still had ambitious plans for it. Somehow I don’t remember what those were. We don’t really use it much anymore except to hold fuel, and maybe it would be more useful if I traded it in on something that gets better mileage. It gets all of about 14-15 mpg. Who can argue with a handsome rebate from Uncle Sam? Maybe I could think of it as a rebate of taxes paid and feel better. Gas prices are heading up again too, so that could be just the excuse I need. Let’s see, more rationalization… the truck is really hard to start because the glow plugs need replaced and the fuel filter assembly needs fixed too. Instead of a big ‘ole truck, I might just have $4500 parked on gravel by the garden!
Of course that still means car payments for something else, and that old paid-for truck has a lot of memories going for it. Still runs and looks pretty good too, at least once you get it started. There’s something about driving down the road in an older truck, and seeing people look admiringly at it, sharing memories of years past. Clunker or not, I really like that old truck.
