Bee Sting

A hornet stung me last Saturday when I was mowing lawn. The last bee sting I remember was when I was mowing a field at the farm with my John Deere tractor and apparently cut through a yellow jacket nest. Before you could say, jump off the tractor and run like the dickens, a swarm of very mad and quite vicious yellow jackets drilled into my neck at least three times. I did stop the tractor and run waving my hat and arms like a crazy person. My neck was sore for a couple days, but nothing serious.

This time, as I mowed my lawn with thoughts on everything but bees, I felt something crawling on my bare hand. I brushed the hornet off, not thinking anything about it, but soon felt the telltale stinging sensation that got increasing worse. I stopped the mower, looked closely and spotted the stinger still stuck in my hide. I pulled it out and continued mowing.

An hour later my hand was the size of a softball; I couldn’t close my fingers and the pain and itching became quite uncomfortable. Out came the ice pack. Ruth suggested some Benadryl and I found some anti-itch lotion. By the following morning the swelling had subsided; but now, a week later, my hand is still sore. But no swelling. And my fingers work.

I did a little reading on bee stings. Be careful. Every year several people die from bee stings. Make sure symptoms such as difficult breathing don’t appear. See the doctor immediately if this happens.

BLUE SHADOWS FARM (My new novel, which is out this week). Someone asked me what the book is about. A WISCONSIN TRAILS reviewer wrote: Uncover the changing face of a Wisconsin farm . . . . Recall bygone days and gain an appreciation for the difficult challenges farmers face as committed stewards of the land.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin’ you none.

UPCOMING EVENTS.

Sept. 9, 7:00 p.m. Whitewater Library. Old Farm and other stories.

Sept. 16, 12 Noon. UW Oshkosh Learning in Retirement. LaSure’s Banquet Hall, Oshkosh. Life after Academe.

Sept. 17, 11:45-12:30. Larry Meiller Show. Wisconsin Public Radio. Blue Shadows Farm.

Sept. 21, 7:00 p.m. Sequoya Library, Madison. Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 1, 7:00 p.m. Chippewa Falls Library, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 4, 1:30 p.m. Monona Historical Society, Monona, Iowa, The Lighter Side of Country Living, including Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 15, 7:00 p.m. Reader’s Loft, Green Bay, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 17, (9 to 4) Writing From Your Life Workshop. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. (Still room for additional participations. Contact http://www.theclearing.org.)

Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Madison West. Official Book Launch, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 24, 1:00 p.m. Wild Rose Library. Book Launch, Central Wisconsin, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m. Elkhorn Library. Blue Shadows Farm

Tomato Days

I picked my first basket of tomatoes this week. I don’t want to badmouth the tomato growers in California and Florida, but a home grown tomato puts those shiny red tomato impostors to shame. Those out of state models may look like tomatoes, and have a hint of tomato taste, but the juicy tomatoes I pick in my garden and eat a few minutes later, with a little pepper and salt, outshine any import.

You recall that last week I gushed on about sweet corn. Tomatoes are in a class by themselves: for taste, for nutrition (did you know that one medium size tomato provides forty percent of a person’s daily vitamin C requirement as well as 20 percent of the vitamin A requirement) and a cancer preventer because they contain Lycopene.

Tomatoes have an interesting history. At one time, many Europeans considered them poisonous. As the story goes, rich folks ate their food off of pewter dishes, which have a high lead content. When they put a sliced tomato on a pewter plate, the tomatoes, high in acid, leeched the lead out into the food. And people died of lead poisoning. They of course blamed the tomato.

Poor people ate their food from wooden plates and had no problems when they ate tomatoes. As a result, tomatoes didn’t become popular until the 1800s because of the perceived poison problem.

Today, people know that tomatoes are not poisonous, but indeed are one of our most healthful foods.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Every path has a few puddles.

(My new novel, the third in my Ames County Series, comes out in September, Its title: BLUE SHADOWS FARM.)

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Sept. 9, 7:00 p.m. Whitewater Library. Old Farm and other stories.

Sept. 16, 12 Noon. UW Oshkosh Learning in Retirement. LaSure’s Banquet Hall, Oshkosh. Life after Academe.

Sept. 17, 11:45-12:30. Larry Meiller Show. Wisconsin Public Radio. Blue Shadows Farm.

Sept. 19, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Morgan Horse-Powered Field Day, Schuster's Playtime Farm, Deerfield, WI. Stories From the Land.

Sept. 21, 7:00 p.m. Sequoya Library, Madison. Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 1, 7:00 p.m. Chippewa Falls Library, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 4, 1:30 p.m. Monona Historical Society, Monona, Iowa, The Lighter Side of Country Living, including Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 15, 7:00 p.m. Reader’s Loft, Green Bay, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 17, (9 to 4) Writing From Your Life Workshop. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. (Still room for additional participations. Contact http://www.theclearing.org.)

Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Madison West. Official Book Launch, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 24, 1:00 p.m. Wild Rose Library. Book Launch, Central Wisconsin, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m. Elkhorn Library. Blue Shadows Farm

Corn-on-the-Cob

Okay, so an ear of sweet corn is not as nutritious as say broccoli or tomato. And sweet corn does contain substantial calories (they fatten pigs with corn after all).

But tell me. What vegetable is tastier on a hot mid-summer day than corn-on-the- cob? Especially when you snap off a few ears from the garden late in the afternoon, pull off the husks and pop the ears right into a kettle of boiling water with hardily any waiting between picking and eating.

And, corn-on-the cob is the one vegetable you can eat with your fingers and not draw the wrath of your spouse and assorted in-laws. You can even buy special little thingamajigs to stick into each end of an ear to make the job easier and avoid having hot fingers.

Eating corn-on-the cob assumes that you’ve gotten to the sweet corn patch before the raccoons. Those masked bandits also know the special taste of fresh sweet corn. This year I beat those raiders, by gum. You can tell by the smile on my face.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a lot easier than puttin’ it back in.


(My new novel, the third in my Ames County Series, comes out in September, Its title: BLUE SHADOWS FARM.)

UPCOMING EVENTS:

August 20, Afternoon. Writing From Your Life Workshop. Sheboygan Public Library. (Filled)

Sept. 9, 7:00 p.m. Whitewater Library. Old Farm and other stories.

Sept. 21, 7:00 p.m. Sequoya Library, Madison. Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 1, 7:00 p.m. Chippewa Falls Library, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 4, 1:30 p.m. Monona Historical Society, Monona, Iowa, The Lighter Side of Country Living, including Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 15, 7:00 p.m. Reader’s Loft, Green Bay, Blue Shadows Farm

October 17, (9 to 4) Writing From Your Life Workshop. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. (Still room for additional participations. Contact http://www.theclearing.org.)

Oct 20, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Madison West. Official Book Launch, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 24, 1:00 p.m. Wild Rose Library. Book Launch, Central Wisconsin, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 28, 6:30 p.m. Elkhorn Library. Blue Shadows Farm

Six-Word Story

At my writing workshop last week (at The Clearing in Door County), I gave the students an assignment to write a story from their life in six words. It sounds like an easy assignment. It is not. Those reading this may want to try it. With the student’s permission, here are samples of six-word life stories. There were many more.

Love and life with sweet Charlie. Jean Sweet, Wisconsin.

First born. First gone. Too soon. Dixie Dickert, Wisconsin

High grassy hill. Wind. Heat. Breathless. Tom Lerczak, Illinois

Crazy Idea. Seafood. Restaurant. Success. Retirement. Ann Walter, Florida

Contented survivor. Babies. Divorce. Remarriage. Grandchildren. Sharon Galloway, Iowa.

Independent woman. Often alone. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Dianne Lueder, Wisconsin

Small, but powerful. Aged, but alive! Joan Zimmerman, Wisconsin.

For those interested in writing stories from their lives, six words and longer, I am teaching a one-day workshop at The Clearing, Saturday, October 17th. Go to http://www.theclearing.org/ and click on Workshops for further information.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Surprising how much you can say with few words.


My new novel, the third in the Ames County Series, comes out in September, Its title: BLUE SHADOWS FARM. A rural Wisconsin history mystery.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

August 15. Creekside Books, Cedarburg. 12-3:00. Old Farm.

August 16. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville. Old Farm

August 20. Writing From Your Life Workshop. Sheboygan Public Library, August 20, p.m. (Filled)

Sept. 21, 7:00 p.m. Sequoya Library, Madison. Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 1, 7:00 p.m. Chippewa Falls Library, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 4, 1:30 p.m. Monona Historical Society, Monona, Iowa, The Lighter Side of Country Living, including Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 15, 7:00 p.m. Reader’s Loft, Green Bay, Blue Shadows Farm

October 17, (9 to 4)Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17, a.m.. & p.m.

Oct 20, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Madison West. Official Book Launch, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 24, 7:00 p.m. Wild Rose Library. Book Launch, Central Wisconsin, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct 28, 6:30 p.m. Elkhorn Library. Blue Shadows Farm

Grandson Fishing

My grandson, Nick and his dad, Jeff, and I went fishing the other day in Lake George near Rhinelander. In a row boat. The fish had not been biting the several days we were there, so no promises for Nick.

Jeff rowed toward a patch of lily pads near shore and I told Nick he should toss his line in that direction. We watched his little red and white bobber bounce as a bright July sun crawled over the treetops to our east.

For a nine year old, Nick is patient. Much more so than his dad at that age. But Nick wanted to catch a fish, it didn’t matter how large or want kind. A fish. Any fish. Finally, the bobber dipped and Nick reeled in a small bluegill, about the size of his hand. Not very big, Nick said. Already he knew about bragging rights for big fish caught.

We removed the fish from his line and returned it to the water. He tossed his line in again, and again, and again, and nothing. No more bluegill bites. Then, as he was slowly retrieving his hook hanging full of nightcrawler, a fish struck it hard. Nick jumped. I told him to keep the line tight. The fish leaped out of the water a foot or so and with a great splash returned. Nick kept reeling, his eyes as big as the bluegill he released a short time earlier. Soon, Nick had the fish alongside the boat—a smallmouth bass about a foot long.

The fish was hooked on the lower lip, and its mouth was wide open as we lifted it into the boat. You caught a smallmouth bass, I told Nick. Nick, all excited, said, Grandpa, that fish has a big mouth not a little one.

For the next couple days when I asked Nick to tell us the length of his fish, his hands were a bit further apart each time. He is learning how to tell a fish story.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Fishing is always good. Catching something can be a challenge.

UPCOMING WRITING WORKSHOPS:

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. August 2-8.

Writing From Your Life. Sheboygan Public Library, August 20, p.m.

Writing From Your Life. The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI. October 17. a.m.. & p.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

August 15. Creekside Books, Cedarburg. 12-3:00. Old Farm.

August 16. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville.