Attention! No Pictures Today....

     Today's post has NO pictures.  There is nothing wrong with your monitor.  Why are there no pictures?  I've been busy, had to work 5 days last week.  Things like that will interrupt one's schedule for leisure.  In fact, I'm writing this post while teaching a college-bound English class.  Really I are.

     Seriously.  I'm substituting for an English teacher today.  This is first period and they have a worksheet to do on Huckleberry Finn.  I never read the book.  I think some in this class haven't either, but the worksheet is on chapters 29-31.  Some openly admit slacking off due to lack of interest.  I think they will do well in life.  HA!  Not unless daddy's rich and can afford to live in Anguilla, or at least to visit there.

     There ARE rich persons in Nebraska, like Warren Buffet, a personal friend of mine.  (Yeah, like he hangs out with me.)  And, Nebraska has many beautiful sights to see and sites to visit and a policeman who cites speeders.  (Isn't English wonderful?)  Sorry.  I lost focus.

     This time of year, autumn, is a very nice time.  There's plenty to see in the rural areas if you like watching harvesting like I do.  I know that it's just the city boy speaking, but I still enjoy watching others work.  I find it amazing how things grow around here.  Of course, I'm told that some years are better than others.  I like the better ones.

     Changing subjects, my daughter and son-in-law just got back from Virginia.  They live in a HUGE metropolis in the Republic of Texas.  Why were they in Virginia?  They are looking for their forty acres that are not in a huge metropolis, Superman fans notwithstanding.  I'm hoping to see some pictures and cutesy stories on her Countdown to a Simpler Life blog.  You should take a peek.

     This blog is supposed to be about Ed in Nebraska, so...

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes....

     My neighbor around the corner only had one, that's right one, tomato plant that made it to tomato adulthood.  And, she is just now getting tomatoes.  It's the end of October for crying out loud.

     The poor bush is all spread out, never staked, never dated--sorry, off track.  I suppose it's not politically correct to talk about some of the tomatoes I've dated in the far distant past.





     And, just to make matters worse, her tomatoes are bigger than mine.  Just look of this handful of tomato just waiting for some corn meal and hot grease (trying to take away some of the appeal).



     Did I mention that she had a BUNCH of tomato seedlings that all died but one?  Oh well.  She has tomatoes now and wants me to make a green tomato pie.

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress

Well, That Just Frosts My....

     Tomatoes.  That's Right.  Last night we had a frost.  I picked all the tomatoes that had even a hint of a tint of anything except green.  And I picked 4 zucchinis, 1 cantaloupe, 5 acorn squash.  I'll give anything else a few days to produce or be pulled screaming to the compost pile.  My green peppers are pathetic--haven't eaten ONE yet.  The plants have flower buds and small, not-worth-the-effort-to-clean, peppers on them.
     So what should I do now?  Ah, reminisce from the first vegetable garden by the head of household in Nebraska.

     This brave zucchini sacrificed him/her/itself on the grill.  Many indistinguishable comrades, like lemmings, did the same thing.  Some others, however, led a more complicated end.

     Some became as bread to a hungry nation, er, household, such as the just-right-for-two-loaves guy below.

     And, speaking of bread, we were talking about bread weren't we?  Focus.  Okay.  I made homemade bread from scratch, and, no, I didn't grow any of the ingredients in my garden.

     I also tried some recipes that I am so glad that I did.  I know not to again.

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress

It's Time To Crank Up....

     "Crank up what?" you ask.  Fall is in the air.  Leaves and twigs are beginning to fill our yards. Tree trimming should happen before frost sets in.  Therefore, it's time to whip out the trusty chain saws.  Although trusty may not be the right word here.  At one time, for a month, I worked for a tree trimmer in my youth.
     As it turned out, I discovered an amazing fact--I'm not cut out to be a tree trimmer.  Too many allergies.  Olive trees can be killers, literally, and not just from falling branches, but from the dust that is naturally on the leaves.  I also learned how easy it is to break a window with a ladder on the first day of work.  I'm much smarter now.

     I don't have a good picture of trees here in Nebraska.

So I'll just use this one from Costa Rica.  It's not that we don't have trees, I just don't have a post-worthy one on hand.  I'll mark that down for my next project--takes pictures of Nebraska's trees.  I sort of got off the track, like the time I got stuck in some of Nebraska's super slick mud in my 4X4 F350.  I have a picture of that, but am a little embarrassed to post it.  Maybe at a later time.  Maybe.

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress

    

Junk By Any Other Name....

     I know, I know, that's taking liberty with a famous saying.  And?  What sparked my liberty taking?  Well, it started out as a trip to the town dump, which is divided into green waste and not green waste.  I know that you are wondering, probably, what junk I took to the dump.  The problem is, or was, that I didn't have any good junk to throw away that wouldn't fit into the dumpster in the alley, which I like since I don't have to remember to put the trash out for Tuesday pickup.
     When one doesn't have good junk to throw away, what does one do?  Go to the dump with an empty truck and bring home the good junk.

     In there, that is the back of my beloved Ford F350, is the good junk I brought home.  The things that caught my eye first were all those good pallets.  Now I took a lesson from Tornado Tim, that's my son-in-law (He's an engineer, but still nice enough.) about pallet picking.  Several pallets were there so I could be extra picky, no old pallets for me, only the slightly used.  Oh, yeah.
     There were some windows from a storm door and a screen, also.  The most costly item that can just barely be seen is a solid wood exterior door, or a workbench top if you look and it the right way.  It's such a good door, I may have to use it for the front door of the house--after it's painted red, of course.

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress

Danger in Nebraska....

     There's danger lurking in Nebraska.  It is a deadly weapon being controlled by a warm smile.  It seems innocent, yet it seems unbelievable.  Where does this danger lurk?  Do the governmental authorities know about it?  Is it a terrorist plot?  Well, no, but it is terrifying.  My youngest started testing out her learner's permit for driving.

  

      Okay, it's a small, blue Kia, but it is still a deadly weapon!  I know.  I rode with her for the first time today, and I thought that I might die right there.  My wife wouldn't go.  She told me today that she never rode with any of our other children when they were learning to drive.  She left that up to me.  Have I mentioned that I had a heart attack at the age of 53?  I understand fear.

     So, all of Nebraska, well maybe not all, needs to watch out for a little, blue Kia with a happy, smiling, brown-haired driver.  Of course, around here there is not much traffic, a few cars, farm equipment with triangles on the back, and trucks loaded with the latest produce of the earth freshly harvested.

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress