The last day 07.31.18

            The above date, tells the entire story. That is all I will say about this.

            We had a chance of rain for yesterday afternoon and last night. It did not rain at the Ford Homestead. We are only 11 inches behind for the year. This glass is not even half full!

            The days are getting shorter, and the sun is moving south. For that one person who always wants to be correct, “The earth is moving north making the sun appear to be heading south”.

           

            I plan to go outside and cut the dead out of the blackberry vines, if I can find my gloves.

Darnit, gloves found and the trash can moved into place, as seen in the photo below. Any of the plants that had berries this year will not have berries next year, so we, I mean I, remove them. 

            I cut as much as I could, then the sun broke through the clouds, I stopped. In the below photo you may see some of the old briers have been removed. I will get the rest when it is again cloudy, and I will also remove the weeds at ground level. Bandages are for when I get stock by the stickers!

May your day be sticker free!

Master Bush Butcher;         Don Ford

Already working before 8:00am 07.30.18

            Today is Monday and I have completed one task prior to 8:00am. My spouse of 49 years has a cement wishing well, which stands about 40 inches tall. Over the years the unit has begun to lean. With all the dry weather, and years of several hundred pounds pushing down the ground has been giving way. The unit is sitting on three round cement blocks.

            First I had to remove the top which weighs about 90 pounds. I brought the Ford’s ole red wagon up to the work area knowing that when I pick this top up, I will only be able to lift it, turn around and place it in the wagon. I did not want to put it on the ground as I probably would not be able to pick it up from ground level. 

            I then needed to move the well which weighs about 150 pounds. Obviously I would not be able to pick this unit up but I was able to move it a little at a time until I had it off the round blocks. I them removed the round blocks from their positions and brought dirt up from the back 40 to begin the leveling process.

            Placing the dirt in the spots where the round blocks were, I packed the dry dirt down as well as I could. When all was fairly level, I replace the round blocks and started the process of moving the main unit back into place. It was easier said than done. I strained, pushing and pulling to get the unit back on the blocks.

            Needless to say, it was more difficult picking up the top and putting it back on, than getting it off.  Photo below.

       

            Is that my finger in the photo? Do not look at the grass as I have not mowed around this lately.

            I did all that before 8:00am. Now I need to get a shower as I have an appointment at 9:15.

Work early and rest later!

Laborer extraordinaire;          Don Ford

Working until worn-out 07.28.18

               I have just a couple things to cover in this posting. My present spouse and I went out to the Bunkhouse for lunch, it was nice as usual.

            I have a photo of a cloud that I find interesting. See if you can see anything in the cloud.

            Would you believe, I hired a person to install the sprinkler in the photo below, and it cost $512.00? It isn’t even underground. Well it does work very well, and this sprinkler is one of three that are on an above ground pipe.

                                            

            Changing the subject, I have commented in the past about the sound a single leaf can make as it is blown down the street. Today I have had leafs from corn stalks come blowing down the street and into my drive way. These larger leaves make a slightly different sound. The farmers in this area are harvesting the corn and wheat, and everything is so dry that they blow for miles with just a breeze.

               

            The wheat was found in one of the flower beds. Do not look at my shoe!

Well that is it for today, I must rest now.

Almost all-knowing;     Don Ford        No, I did not pay to have that installed!

Project for a senior person last part 07.27.18

            Before I begin to explain this part of the senior project, and how the router blade broke in the middle of edging the table, I want to inform you of our experience today. We had a contractor over on Tuesday to give us a bid on the remodeling project. He seemed to know what he was doing but he only had a few samples. He suggested we could go out to where he gets his marble and granite and see the different colors etc.

            We drove out to Elm Mott, TX and at the building there was a sign on the door, will return at 12:00. It was 10:30 so we left a phone message and decided to drive back to Waco. About 11:00 we stopped at the Cracker Barrel to waste a little time having brunch. When we got ready to leave the Barrel I checked my phone which I had on do not disturb, and there was a message from the lady saying, they were back in the shop, and would be there until 4:00.

            My present wife and I headed for the business arriving about 11:50. I went to the door but it was locked. There was a fellow working in the back and he came up and said they had gone to lunch and would be back in 30 minutes.

            My spouse of 49 years and I re-mounted the Ford’s Chevy and headed for home. Maybe that was a sign that we did not need to do business with them.

            I had brought the Ford’s ole router up from the shed and prepared to route and edge on the table top. I had the table secured on a bench in the drive way, hoping to keep the wood chips out of the garage. I started and all was well at first then all of a sudden the router was cutting a deeper cut. I stopped to see what had happened. The bearing that was on the end of the bit had come off changing the cut. Well, all I could do was to continue cutting.

            The edging complete, I then had to hand sand all the way around the table top as there was a groove I needed to erase. About 1.5 hours later that was done. I filled in a few defects in the wood and it dried overnight.

            The next morning I sanded all the filled in spots and the top was ready for a coat of paint. The painting went ok and the first coat looked ok. I plan to put about three coats of paint on the top and one or two coats on the bottom, then transport it to the table frame.

            Speaking of the table frame, my first wife has purchased some red spray paint. The table frame and chairs are red and she thought there was some spots that need to be touched up. That means I need to get an old tarp from the shed and spray the metal frame and chairs. She said she was going to do it but you and I know what that means. Oh, she also said it needs to be washed, who will do that? Surprise, she did all that work. Photo to follow, please review.

            Before anyone asks, yes the chairs have, “The State of Texas” on them! We are naturalized citizens, and we appreciate the State we live in, “Texas”!

            I assume you think all this BS about working on a table top is just that, BS. I want to show you some of the help I had while working on this project. As you can see, Molly was a big help.  Click on the photo to verify my help.

            I have the table top painted and plan to install it tomorrow. I might be able to do it alone but I may also allow my youngest son to help me. The top is very heavy and it is bulky. Click on the photo if you want, it is all white.

            The next photo is of the installed table top with the umbrella. Is that a homemade checker board? It would be nice if it were cool enough to sit outside and use this set!

Ask, and you will receive!

Seek, and you will find!

Knock, and it will be opened!

Believe, and you can do anything!

Preacher;         Don Ford          Finally, it is done!

Some are already here 07.27.18

            That seems like an odd statement to open with, but since the author is odd, why not open with and odd statement. What I really wanted to state is, “Some are here, many others are coming”!

            I have often wondered why the schools are not teaching the kids cursive writing in grade school. If the children can only read print then what happens if they find something that was hand written?    

            Now that I think of it, the only thing that a person or child needs to be able to write is their name. Contracts and everything else is in print. This computer is showing everything in print, although I can change it to something that looks like it is written. Heck that is much better than my hand writing has ever been.

         I answered my own question, there is a machine that will do it for the kids. Now we come to the other part of this soon to be poorly written article and that is, robots will take over for humans in the future and the human species will think that is great.

            There are already lawn mowers that mow without a humans help, cars that drive themselves, heck you don’t even need to know how to enter data into the computer, all you need to do is talk and it will print it out for you. They have robots cooking burgers and building cars, air planes fly themselves most of the time. We don’t use maps anymore since we have GPS, we don’t read book or look things up in a book since we have smart phones.

            Some are here, many others are coming and there is nothing you can do about it. Right now most people think it is great to have a machine do things for them. In the near future machines will do almost everything. At some point people will want to undo these creations, sorry Charlie, it will be too late.

Some are here, many others are coming!

Prophet; Don Ford    

Robuts as I say it, is wrong, and my grandson corrected me explaining it is robot! 

Project for a senior person part three 07.26.18

            Change in my plans! The CEO is painting today and she took my table (People like us on a fixed income, don’t have a work bench, so we use old folding tables) to paint on. In truth, she was using a smaller table and I volunteered the larger table (I may get supper tonight)! You may enlarge the photo below, but I doubt that you will need to, it is just painting.

            If you were to look closely, you would see that these are doors from cabinets. First she paints the edges as seen in the door at the top of the photo, then she uses the roller and gives each door two or three coats. The dark blue paint is not easy to cover with white paint. The table is, and was, white before she started painting. 

            I took the hinges off the cabinet doors and she painted the doors. I then put the hinges back on and reinstalled the doors. There was a shelf that was improperly installed, (I did not install it the first time) but I did install it properly, the second time. The Ford’s CEO helped me with the proper installation.  

            My neighbor was home and I was able to borrow my belt sander back today.

            I have attached the aluminum bars to both sides of the soon to be table top. I have attached the one board to both halves of the top. I am considering attaching a couple more 2x4s to the bottom which would help make the top stronger. In the photo below we see the underside of the soon to be top. The 2x4 is glued and screwed (that sounds odd). There are four clamps being used either oddly or wisely. I don’t have a clamp that will reach the full 44 inches, so I clamped a clamp to a clamp. Did I say clamp enough times? 

            When these clamps are removed, I will be ready to do some sanding and maybe use the router around the edges. 

            Now I have not commented on the fact that it was 114 degrees in Waco Monday. This is an all-time record high for Waco, the hottest day ever recorded at Waco! You should feel sorry for us seniors who have been working outside in the extreme heat.

            I took half of the top out to the table frame and set it in place, half is easier to carry. It fit properly, so I assume the entire top will also fit properly. 

            We have decided to paint the top white, after sanding. The umbrella is red with white in it, and the table frame is red. Hopefully it will look good when finished.

Hopefully this is next to the last part of this post!

Hopeful senior: Don Ford

All things considered 07.25.18

            Today is Wednesday and we will only be 102 degrees. I will be attempting to work on the table top and also take my naps. Yes, today is filled with many exciting events!

            As I lay on the Ford’s ole bed this morning, I thought of something that I have experienced but you have not. Back many years ago, when I was a little children my family called me Donnie. What is so exciting about that name, nothing is exciting about that name. If you will allow me to continue, within a block of our home let’s say somewhere around 66 years ago, there was a family name Ford. They had a son who was my age, and his name was Donnie. Yep, two Donnie Fords living within a block of each other.

            That in itself isn’t too unusual, but if I may continue, my dad’s name was George A. Ford, and the other Donnie’s dad was named, George E. Ford. Now tell me that isn’t unusual!

            If you will allow me to continue, my mother’s name was Ethel Ford and the other Donnie’s mothers name was, Estelle Ford.

            Two families, who were unrelated and living within a block of each other, who had three people named almost the same! As I said, I have experienced something you have not!

            As all the loyal readers of this wonderful blog know, we have a couple cats, one of which is named Charlie. Charlie likes to stay in the homestead during these hot days here in Texas. He likes to be around his humans and stays in the front room, while Molly stays hidden in a closet. Charlie likes to get in the human chairs, even though we have a chair designated as his. When my first wife gets out of her chair he has a tendency to run and jump in it. I have a photo which shows he is relaxing in the present wife’s chair.

            We see Charlie laying on his back completely relaxing in Donna’s chair.

I need a cup of coffee, so I am leaving you now!

Follow Charlies lead, take a nap!

Don Ford

Project for a senior person part two 07.24.18

            I have purchased wood to make the top, now I need to see if I am skilled enough to manufacture a wooden top with a 2 inch hole in it. I will attempt to use two aluminum flat bars, 1/8 inch by 1 inch by 44 inches, to help secure the boards together. Yes I will need some screws to fasten the bars to the wood. There will also be a 2 x 4 on the underside of the table top which will also help secure the boards together and will act to keep the table centered in the round metal table frame.

            I also plan to use glue to help secure the boards together. When, or if, the table top is ever completed, we will then decide whether to stain it or paint it. Would it be less expensive to purchase a new top rather than try to make one? Maybe, but what fun would that be!

            I have decided to attempt to make an octagon shaped top rather than a round top. It is easier to cut straight lines than it is to cut curved! What kind of math does one need to take eight boards laying side by side (44 inch by 44inch square) and make that into and octagon having eight equal sides? I kind of thought I would make a square and just cut the corners off but having eight equal sides will require some thought.

            I will need to borrow my belt sander back from the neighbor. I loaned it to him a couple months ago. He is a doctor and one heck of a good wood butcher. He builds some nice furniture!

            The work begins Saturday 21^st:

            Having completed the Ford’s NAP, I awoke in a working mood. I jumped from my recliner and headed out into the garage at 1:30pm. It was rather warm in the garage so I enlisted the help of two fans to move the air around.

            I brought my chop saw from the shed and placed it in the shade in the back yard. I ran an extension cord from the house to this saw. I sat up a folding table for my work bench in the garage and gathered some needed tools such as a square, tape measure, and a pencil.

            I then uncovered my table saw and moved it outside on the drive way. It was in the direct sun light but I assumed I was only going to make a couple cuts using this saw.

            I did some measuring and marking the boards, I did follow the rule, “Measure once and cut twice”, or is it, “Measure twice and cut once?” Trust me on this, it was the latter!

            The boards were cut to 44 inch lengths and laid side by side on the table, which made a square. Then I considered how to make this square into an octagon? I went to the smart phone and watched a video showing the proper way of making an octagon. I considered that for a few moments, and thought I would try to follow those instructions which involved measuring, a string and a straight edge.

            I went back to the smart phone to review the instructions again but I found a different video. I watched this person draw a square and mark off three equal distances on each side, then draw a line from the marks at the corners making an octagon. Heck even I could do that.

            I measured and marked and it worked. I then went to the chop saw and cut these boards at 45 degree angles. When I finished cutting I lay them side by side in the proper order and, there was the octagon. I measure each of the eight faces and they were all equal!

                

            Retrieving my clamps from the shed, I was able to clamp only six of the eight boards together. I thought I should go ahead and glue the boards together so I grabbed the wood glue. To my surprise it was bad. I tried to get some glue out of the bottle but clear liquid came out, which should have been white. Possibly the 109 degree temperature had something to do with the glue being bad.

            It was now 5:00pm on Saturday afternoon, the saws, tools and wood were put away. Most of the work for the day had ended. I put some ice in my glass with some diet coke and this adult took his adult beverage to the ole Ford’s Rocker and rested.

Rest after very fatiguing work, is enjoyable for seniors!

Master rester;     Don Ford

          *         *         *         *         *         *

            Sunday the 22^nd shopping and work;

            After our usual trip to the food place for brunch (aka Restaurant) we stopped at Wally world to get some glue for the project. I also purchased some screws to attach the aluminum bars to the bottom of the soon to be, table top. Arriving back at the Ford’s Homestead I changed into my work clothes and took a well needed nap!

            Later, after recovering from the well needed nap, I sprang into action and grabbed a snack. I find it interesting that I always want a snack after nap time. Nap and snack over I proceeded to the garage and began work on the project again. I clamped the center boards together and drilled a two inch hole, half on one board and half on the other. I also drilled a 2 inch hole in the 2x4 that goes under the table top.

            I have decided to glue 4 of the boards together, in other words one half glued and then the other half glued.

            In the above photo we see one half, 4 boards, clamped and glued together. The center hole or at least half of it, which is probably the most important part of this project, can be seen. After each half are glued together, I will then match up the center hole and glue the two halves together.

You are right, I am good!

Modest senior person;          Don Ford

Project for a senior person part one 07.23.18

            My spouse purchased an umbrella. She has seen those umbrellas on TV that open in reverse from what a normal umbrella opens, and they had a special like two for about $25.00. These umbrellas are supposed to be easy to close when getting into a vehicle. I have wondered what happens to the water that is trapped in the umbrella when you pull it into the vehicle.

            My spouse did not purchase those umbrellas, she purchased a large umbrella that would be used on a patio. The other afternoon when it was only about 108 in the shade, my spouse was cooking steaks in the full light of the afternoon sun. At that point she thought of an umbrella and thought we would put it in a stand we have. The stand will work with an umbrella but it needs extra weight on it to keep the umbrella stable. (My spouse of 49 years said she had some discounts, which made it difficult to not purchase the umbrella.) See the photo below.

            The umbrella is standing in the corner because it will not fit into the glass top of the patio table, seen below. You may click on any photo to enhance your enjoyment.

            At some point in the past, we needed a new glass top for the table. Donna was going to order one and she ask how big the hole in the center, (which is there to have the umbrella go through), should be? I mistakenly said one inch. That one inch hole was only about one inch too small.

            Now that we have some history, and we know the recently purchased umbrella will not fit said table, I have approval to attempt to make a wooden top for the table.

Work approved for this senior carpenter!

Senior wood butcher; Don Ford

Sounds like crap! 07.20.18

            Before I get into today sermon, I feel the need to present another short, yet informative story.

               My spouse of 49 years and I agreed on something! This may be the first time that we have agreed in years. The topic of agreement was, “We have been off our schedules since school let out for the summer”. We have not yet adjusted to the grandees being here only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We are use to the grandees being here five days a week, then having Saturday and Sunday more or less open. When the grandees are not here on Tuesday it seems like it should be a weekend. Donna and I both agree, we have not yet adjusted to the new schedule.

            That being said, during last night’s period of non-sleep, I have one of these most nights, it occurred to me that I have been way off schedule when dating my posts. I had dated at least 3 postings with dates from the previous week. Example, I knew it was a Wednesday but instead of the 18^th I dated it as the 11^th. I have corrected the dates on those postings. I would have thought someone would have noticed, and alerted me.

 

            Now let us get to, “It sounds like crap”. I must admit, I use to think it sounded cool, but now I think it does not. As I see it, this sound might be considered as, “Assault”, and I now believe anyone producing the sound should be given at a minimum, a ticket by the police.

            Yesterday, as I was driving to the coffee place, I had the windows rolled down on the Ford’s Chevy for two reasons. First the Tres was with me and he likes to stick his head out the window, second it was only 80 degrees and I wanted to enjoy driving with the air turned off. I had brought the vehicle to a stop and was waiting for the light to change when this person on an Indian motor cycle came up to the side of my vehicle. This bike appeared to be new and it had straight pipes. It was making a very loud and annoying noise, which upset the Tres and me.

            Years ago, I use to ride with noisy straight pipes, and back then I thought they were great. Being a punk kid, thinking I was a “Biker”, I knew that people would hear the bike and then look at me. In other words I would get their attention. I am sure that people in the olden day’s disk like me as much as I dislike that adult punk on the Indian motor cycle. I now look at noisy bikes and wonder why anyone would waste money to take brand new mufflers off a street bike and put the straight pipes on.

            Maybe we change as we get older!

 

May your day be absent of annoying noise!

 

Ex-noisy Biker;   Don Ford 

Sunrise in Hewitt 07.19.18

            Let me start with the fact, we set a record yesterday, it was 108 in Waco, Texas. I must tell you when I walked outside about 5:00pm, which is supposed to be the happy time of day, it was literally   like, “walking into an oven”. Literally means actually, in effect, virtually, or for that one person, literally means for real. I have been in higher temps in the past, but walking from the air conditioned comfort of the Homestead’s 78 degrees into the summer heat of 108 was really like walking into an oven!

            Enough history; let us consider, “the future”! We now understand the future may hold possible 110 degree temps, a couple days this week, nice! L

            This morning I decided to get a real cup of coffee from the star company, all I have here at the Homestead is instant coffee. I left the homestead just after sunrise, and when I arrived at a traffic light, I took a photo. At first I was impressed with the sun as it was coming up.

  

            Then I began to think about this photo, and it reminded me that the sun will be in line with the traffic lights in just a few minutes. It makes it very difficult to see the traffic lights when the sun is behind the lights. That is bad enough, but I can tell you that it is worse in the afternoon, coming from the other direction.

            Yesterday, there was more evidence that all the flowers here at the Ford’s Homestead, have a female status. See the following photo. How do these flowers survive in this intense heat?

            If you are looking at this photo of those dainty, pink, female orientated blooms, you should also notice the thorns in the back ground. It is understood that the female colored blooms often have those female thorns close by!

May your day be thorn-less!

Botanist:   Don Ford

Africa dust is back 07.18.18

            It was a blistering summer afternoon with temperatures that reached 106 degrees. I, along with my sidekick Tres, ventured out of the Ford’s Homestead in an effort to enjoy a glass of Diet Coke on the rocks. Tres and I enjoy sitting outside and acknowledging neighbors as they drive past.

            This particular afternoon Tres and I couldn’t help but notice the normally blue sky was an ugly gray. The moon was overhead but it was almost indistinguishable with all the African dust in the sky. This dust caused us to consider, if the dust comes from Africa, then the air with the dust must also come from Africa. So, are we breathing African air? I live in Texas for a reason, I want to breathe Texas air, and not African air! Now we not only have illegal aliens crossing the border in to Texas, we have dust and who knows what else sneaking in from other countries. When does it stop?

            Tres was again lying in a shaded area of grass as I sit on the Ford’s ole rocker when we both looked up to the sky. What was it that caught our attention? It was the sound of a very large military helicopter flying over. This helicopter had two propeller blades and is big enough to carry very large loads, and it is very noisy. Tres watched it until it was out of sight, he gets his observation powers from me.

           

            They have now predicted that we may have highs of 108 Thursday and Friday of this week. They did say, “It will be a dry heat”, as if that makes us senior citizens feel better. I guess if I am going to mow the small amount of grass that is growing in the back yard, I had better do it early today. There isn’t much growing out back, but I should do some trimming.

            I have had a couple suggestions along the line of, “I would rather get an email for each posting rather than the two emails weekly”. One comment was, “I read the postings in reverse, not in order of posting”. If you have a thought on this let me know.

Mow early and beat the heat, that’s me!

Mower extraordinaire:             Don Ford

26th Birthday 07.17.18

            Before anyone asks, it was my wife of 49 years who had her 26^th birthday, “again”! Yep, July 16^th is the date my first wife was born. J

            I wanted to give her a swat for each year of her life, and even though that would have been fun for me, I knew my arm would have been hurting later. I gave her a dollar for each year of her life. Even though giving her the 26 dollars, will cause her to have to work longer hours picking up aluminum cans, I think she is worth it. 

           

            This morning a 7:00am I was in the back yard installing a sprinkler system for one flower bed. It seem to work as expected and now all I need to do is turn the water on and that area gets watered. There is a total of two heads on this system and I have a third, if it is determined that two heads do not cover properly.

         I needed to get that done early so I could cool down and stop sweating before I go to get my hair cut.

            Yesterday it was only 104 degrees in the Waco area. They are expecting temps of 106 this week. I guess you could say, “It is summer time in Texas”.

            As many of you in the reading public understand, I am considered as a, “Hot senior citizen”! It is just one of those things that I must put up with when I am around female subjects. If I could have my way, instead of being a Hotty, I would rather go back to the olden days when I was a teenager, and be considered “Cool”! This winter I will want to be a Hotty again.

            Yesterday I called a remodeling company and left a message explaining that we are considering a remodeling project, and would like a bid. They did not call back. Even if you have too much work they should call back.  Other contractors did call back.

Haircut, coffee, nap, what a schedule!

Relaxzation adviser:       Don Ford

Sky view not Sky King 07.16.18

 

            Tres and I, were sitting outside enjoying an adult beverage on Sunday afternoon. Ok, I was enjoying the adult beverage and Tres was just lying in the grass. I was sitting on the Ford’s old rocker, and the Tres was lying there in the cool grass. I had the sprinklers on a little earlier which cooled the grass. As he lay there, I noticed that Tres was looking up at the sky as much as I do. It was as if he was wondering what was up there. Now that I am aware of him observing the sky, does Tres take after me, or do I take after him? Good question!

 

            Before the wise guy comments, yes he is a German shepherd, and no, that does not mean I give him beer! Some of the things you people come up with!

           

            The week ahead is predicted to be hot, with the temps each day above 100 and the estimated high of 105. Sounds like a hot time at the Ford’s Homestead!

 

            I did pull some weeds from one of the front flower beds today, and I have a bunch to pull out back. I also plan on making a sprinkler for one of the flower beds out back, but I will need to remove the weeds prior to installation.

 

            What? Ok I will explain, sky view is what Tres and I do. Sky King is an old TV show that was shown on Saturday mornings when I was a little person. It was about a rancher who had an airplane and he always saved the day!

 

            Memory: this just popped into my head or should I say, a memory from years past just came to me. I was either three or four years old, we lived in a very small house in the country. The house did not have running water, and we got our water from a cistern. The cistern was located outside the house and my parents would capture rain water from the roof, through the gutter system. There was a lever that was one way when it started to rain, and when they thought the roof had been cleaned by the rain, they would turn the lever and the rain water went into the cistern. To get water from the cistern, there was a crank hooked to a chain, when the crank was turned it would pull the water up and into a bucket.

            That is not the memory that came to me, that is just some history about the living conditions 66 years ago.

            My memory is of a cat. I remember my mom had the ironing board set up next to the bed. It was afternoon and it was nap time for me. Heck I even took naps when I was a kid! Mom was ironing and I was on the bed when the cat got on the bed with me and lay close beside me. The cat began to purr, or snore, when I told mom the cat was making noise. She responded, “The cat is singing you to sleep”. I guess it worked!  

 

Memories, what would we do without them!

 

Memory-ologist:         Don Ford

 

^{It’s a word, if you don’t believe me look it up.}

Red and Green 07.15.18

            Is red and green only Christmas colors? For those people who never get outside their Homestead, red and green may only be Christmas colors. For those of us who venture out into the real world, walking through the woods and fields, or just sitting on the Ford’s Ole rocker, we experience many wonderful events.

            Yesterday, I had braved the extreme heat, when I made myself a cold drink with lots of ice in it, and then ventured forth leaving the security of the Ford Homestead, choosing to sit on the Ford’s ole rocker. From my vantage point I could see parts of the vast neighborhood, along with the road in front of the Homestead, when a nice looking SUV passed by. I did not recognize the vehicle, nor did I recognize the female driver. Being a gentleman I waved and the female waved back. The vehicle drove on down the road way, returning to the front of the homestead and to my surprise the vehicle pulled into the Ford’s ole drive way.

            A blond, or maybe she had gray hair, (it was white hair) which ever, this female subject, exited the SUV. It took me a moment, then I recognized her, she had lived in the house next to ours more than 20 years ago. We exchanged greetings and then I went inside to get my present spouse. My present spouse had been painting and was not happy that I disturbed her.

            My spouse of 49 years, who also has a birthday on July 16^th, came outside to visit. My first wife and this ex-neighbor “Judy”, along with our neighbor from across the street talked for a while. The discussion revolved around kids, grand kids, marriages, and many other family related subjects (bragging rights).

            It was nice to see Judy again, but her unexpected visit had nothing to do with the subject of this posting. In this posting I want to talk about the Colors Red and Green. Let’s see now, how should I start this commentary?

            It was a hot July afternoon, there was very little breeze, and the humidity was very high, making the afternoon, I guess the best word to describe it would be, “sweltering”! There were a few clouds floating lazily overhead, but they did not seem to provide any shade in the unrelenting heat. As I was resting in the shade of the Homesteads main building, I was aware of the presence of a Cardinal. This is not a religious commentary, nor is it a commentary about baseball, this Cardinal was a red bird.

            He, the red bird, was a male of the species, and I know this due to the fact, “the male is much brighter in color, one might say even prettier than a female”.

            This bright red bird stood out very clearly against the green background of the leaves on the neighbor’s tree. I reached for the camera, but it was too late he had moved. This wonderfully wild bird flew from the neighbor’s tree, to one of our trees. This bright red bird jumped from one limb to another as he came closer to where I was setting. Then I was surprised, as he flew from the tree to the bush which is next to me.

            I thought that was very odd, this bird was about four feet away from where I was setting. I slowly leaned forward to get a better look at him and he quickly flew away. At that moment I realized what this bird was doing, or at least what he was going to do. My spouse of 49 years had placed a bright red humming bird feeder, filled with a sweet liquid on the far side of this bush, and that was the exact location where the red bird had landed.

            It seems to me that this red bird has learned from the humming birds, that he can get a refreshing and sweet drink.  Is that evolution, or just a lucky guess on his part?

            Before that one person asks, it is none of your business how I know the liquid was sweet!

            A comment on a different subject, yesterday I wrote about the mocking birds after the cat Molly. Today as I sat here writing the above, I happen to look at the security monitors. I saw our dog Tres playing with something in the back yard. Then I saw the mocking birds buzzing Tres. Yep, one of the baby mocking birds was out of the nest, and Tres was playing with it. I went to the back door and Tres came inside. The baby bird was not injured and the parents got him or her into the flower bed. This flower bed has weeds in it which may help the baby hide. The problem is that Tres has a nose like a blood hound and he can, and will, track the baby. 

 

Get outside more, and you, may also taste the sweet things of life!

 

Don Ford