Free Spirit

I am an extrovert and do not apologize for it.  If I wasn't an extrovert...I wouldn't be doing this blog, now, would I?  Riddle me that!

Captain is not an extrovert by any stretch of the imagination.  That's okay.  He is who he is and we love him for it.  However, he can be uncomfortable with my outgoing ways.  Actually, my whole family can be somewhat put out by it.

For instance, if I am driving along and I notice an interesting or unique aspect of someone's landscaping, I have been known (ask Molly) to whip into the driveway and knock on a complete stranger's door to ask what that plant is out there or where they got that statue.  Molly was mortified!

My theory is, if you don't ask the question, you will never get the answer.  Can I get an amen?!

The other trait that has dominated my life in the last year is what Captain describes as being a free spirit.  I had it come home to me hard last summer that you are not promised tomorrow in any way, shape, or form so if there is something you want to do or say, you better do it now or might not ever get the chance.

Thus the whole bucket list thing I talked about earlier and how I wanted to learn about geocaching.  You wouldn't believe the flak and ribbing I've gotten from those near and dear to me about this new pursuit.

Case in point:  yesterday Captain, Millie, and I were going to meet Captain's brother and wife for lunch in Rochetser but on the way, Captain wanted to stop at the field that used to be my Gramma's so I could take a picture of him in the corn that was more than knee high on the Fourth of July.

I was perfectly happy to do that because I like doing the crop tour drives in the summer.  An added bonus was that there was a cache just down the road across the road from where my Gramma used to live.  I thought that was pretty dang neat so I made him stop.

Captain helped search...sort of...while Millie watched.  I found the cache and was most excited about it.  Nobody else was and I detected a definite smirk on Captain's face.  Again, that's okay.  This is outside of the box where he is comfortable, and I can respect that.

When I registered for the free basic membership at geocaching.com, I was bamboozled by the sheer number of finds within minutes of my house, as depicted by the map below.  This is CRAZY, say I!!

All those green dots were way too much for my little brain, so I tried to narrow it down some.  I accidentally stumbled across a series of 100 caches all within Olmsted County that were all placed on or near road signs.  The name of the series was Everywhere A Sign and then there was a number from 1 to 100.  The number in the cache name connected to the road sign it was placed on or near.  For instance, Everywhere A Sign 14 was on a sign on County Road 14.  Everywhere A Sign 74 is on a sign on County Road 74.  Get the pattern? 

The other night, Captain had to milk and I had time on my hands, so I went on a search.  I ended up making a loop from the junction of County Road 5 NW and 75th Street NW and ending up right back there by way of Pine Island, Oronoco, and Byron.  BTW...I can drive in a straight line; I just can't draw a straight line!

That loop that I made netted me four or five finds.  The rest of them are out there, if you look at this map that the Geocaching website nicely put together for me.

I guess the geocaching thing for me is going to be like ice fishing is for Captain.  He doesn't ask me to go with him, and I won't ask him to go with me!  We'll both be happier I think.  

I hope that you let your inner free spirit out once in awhile and do what is in your heart!

Image taken from https://pics.onsizzle.com/whatever-is-good-for-your-soul-do-that-free-spirited-14525382.png

One Potato, Two Potato

Say Farmer Spud grows potatoes that eventually end up at McDonalds as French fries but due to an economic downturn, Farmer Spud has to give up potato farming. 

Gee that’s too bad, people say, and they don’t think any more about it…if they think about it at all.

They don’t think about the other people who will lose either some income or a job because Farmer Spud is no longer growing potatoes. 

Like the seed salesman, the agronomist, the implement dealership, the mechanic, the fuel company, the insurance company.   Being a farmer myself, I also know that there is an accountant and a lawyer in there somewhere.  And a banker. 

Then there is the trucker who hauls the potatoes from the farm to the processing plant, they guy who fixes his truck, and the fuel company HE buys diesel from.  There are the people who work in the processing plant and the people who maintain the equipment in the processing plant.  Hell…what about the people who designed and manufactured the equipment in the processing plant?

There is the marketing expert who had to come up with the packaging for the French fries.   There is another trucker who takes it from the processing plant to McDonalds. 

At McDonalds there are workers who depend on selling French fries for their paycheck.  There are the people who design and manufacture the equipment to cook French fries.  There is the company that makes and distributes the oil used to cook the French fries. 

If I were to use a livestock operation as an example, we could then add in the vet, the feed salesman, the guy who mixes the feed at the elevator, the trucker who delivers the feed, the trucker who hauls the milk to the processing plant…and so on. 

Then there are the jobs or industries that are impacted when farmers have to tighten their budgets due to crappy market prices.  Believe me, farmers on a budget don’t go to the movies, buy new vehicles, update wardrobes, remodel homes, take long vacations, or go out to eat…all things that provide a living for the people who provide those services. 

People need to know not only where their food comes from and how safe it is but how many people it takes to get it from the farm to the grocery store or restaurant for them to buy. 

The fact that people just don’t seem to care about the loss of production agriculture infuriates me.  I saw a T-shirt one time that I wish I knew where to buy because I would wear it every damn day.  It said Don’t criticize farmers with your mouth full.  ‘Nuff said.

No, it’s not ‘nuff.  I’ll say this.  Farmers bust their asses so the rest of the world can sit on theirs and eat safe, economical, healthy food. 

Now I’m done.   For now. 

Images used:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/37/15/be/3715be21bc4d796623a9fe685a8772b5.jpg

http://www.biotech-now.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Ag-Employment-2014.png

https://antarisconsulting.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/food-traceability.png?w=640

https://www.macleans.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/WHO-EARNS-WHAT-Business-4.jpeg

https://vangogh.teespring.com/shirt_pic/10765765/12518437/2/2122/480x9999/back.jpg?v=2016-12-06-01-14

Hide and Seek

Who remembers playing hide and seek as a kid and not being able to find that last person hiding so you had to holler "Ollie, Ollie, oxen free!" to get them to come out?

If only finding a geocache were that simple!  Remember I said I wanted to learn how to geocache?  Well, I'm getting a start on that. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I really thought when the geocaching website touted this activity as a "treasure hunt," I thought to myself how hard can X marks the spot be?

Yeah...kinda hard, actually.  Color me corrected. 

My personality is one where I get an idea and I run with it without truly getting all the details or instructions.  Very gung ho. 

So I downloaded the geocaching app onto my phone and created an account.  The app proceeded to show me a map of all the caches near me.  Holy treasure chests, batman! 

There were literally hundreds within 20 miles, but of particular interest was the one just under a mile south of us on the gravel road.  I dragged Captain along with me because he is going to enjoy this adventure with me whether he likes it or not. 

I turned on the GPS on my phone, and we drive south.  It was right on a 90-degree curve in the gravel road, and there were two arrow signs pointing out which way the road traveled. 

On a side note, or backing up, each of these caches has a name.  This particular cache was called "Stuck In The Middle With You" which should be familiar to any true Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fan.  To me, this meant the container--which I envisioned as the size of a shoe box or bigger--would be between the two signs.  Makes sense, right?

Not so much.  The GPS said we were within 3 feet of it but no luck finding it in the ditch grass.  Plus there was a patch of wild parsnip in one spot and a patch of nettles in another spot, so we gave up and went home. 

When I mentioned this failure to a coworker who is an avid geocacher, she offered to spend time with me on Saturday showing me some of the basics. 

She and her husband picked me up on Saturday morning, and I was telling them how we had tried to find one a couple of nights earlier, so they took me there first. 

It's not surprising Captain and I didn't find the cache because it was a film canister tucked into the road sign.  So my first misconception of looking for treasure chests bit the dust. 

They had a list of several caches in Pine Island to give me a taste of it.  One (and I can't give too many details as spoilers) was the size of the first knuckle on my pinkie finger and camouflaged to blend into the structure where it was hidden. 

I call unfair!!

The second one took me to someplace I didn't even know existed in my own town.  Shameful of me, I know!  I should have realized it, but I just never put two and two together about it. 

The third one they showed me was missing it's cache due to whatever reason, so they replaced it with supplies that they carry in their car. 

Throughout the search, they told me little anecdotes about geocaching, and I learned a ton of stuff!

Like the fact that some caches are hidden in a hollowed out book in a public library.  How cool is that?  Depends on your point of view.  If you like those logic puzzles in the variety puzzle books, these would be right up your alley.  If you are like me and just need the "x marks the spot" approach, puzzle caches would only make you cry. 

On the flip side, people who hide caches sometimes have an off-the-wall sense of humor.  The container is easy enough to find/spot, but then it takes some work.  Like the people who put a container out with 100 plastic eggs in it.  One egg had the cache while the other 99 had a slip of paper that said "neener, neener"!  Ha!

I headed into the outing on Saturday with just my cell phone's Google Maps app.  I found out quickly how sadly lacking that plan was.  There are GPS thingies with a compass built in that basically lead you by the nose to where you need to start looking.  Well, not really.  It will get you close but you can't always depend on the accuracy of it.  Sometimes you just have to LOOK for yourself. 

A serious geochacher should also carry pliers, tweezers, wire, various types of empty containers, one of those reacher/grabber things you get after joint replacement surgery, and possibly a ladder.  I don't have to worry about that last one because I don't do ladders.  If something is that high up in a tree or whatever, it can just stay there and I will skip getting the happy face on my app. 

Anyone can actually hide a cache so long as they don't trespass on someone's private property to do so.  I wish I was as creative as the people who write the clues for the Rochester Fest medallion hunt.  Like a DaVinci code quest.  I'm just not that smart, sadly.  I'm going to add it to my bucket list to hide a puzzle cache with a crazy cryptic clue.  That's my new goal.  I will never be this cryptic, however:

Still, I'm glad I know a little more about how geocaching works so that when we are completing our bucket list of visiting state parks, we can find the geocache that is in each park.  Plus, I think it will be a good way to explore more of our own "back yard" as well.

For instance, there is a cache on the outskirts of the town where our daughter lives, and there is one between Mensing's and Weis's on 75th Street.  That's the next one I'm going to look for, so Lori Weis, please don't call the sheriff when you see me wandering around out in the ditch! 

Believe me when I say I will certainly take you on our adventures or at least tell you about it when I'm done. 

Images used:
http://blog.ivman.com/wp-content/
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http://cdn.funnyand.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/If-You-Listen-GPS.jpg
http://slideplayer.com/219344/1/images/34/Mystery%2FPuzzle+Caches.jpg

Goals Are Good

I can't believe June is half over already!  It seems like I was just making a list of all the things I wanted to do this summer, and now I look at my list and think, "I don't have enough time to do all that."

I narrowed it down to three things.  Well, three things in addition to the regular summer stuff of camping, festivals, and fairs.  I decided I would join the breast cancer survivor dragon boating team, I would re-learn how to ride a unicycle, and I would learn how to geocache.

I'm making some progress.  I've been to two dragon boating practices and haven't caused any injury or mayhem.  I haven't tipped the boat over and dumped 22 people into Silver Lake, so that's a good thing.  These practices are open to the public, so anybody could come down on Wednesday night from 6:00 to 7:00 and watch us cruise up and down Silver Lake. 

I know what you're asking...what is dragon boating, right?  Well let me tell ya, it isn't like the canoeing trips I did with my Potsdam peeps back in the day.  That's a whole other blog post that will involve intentionally capsizing people, floating bars, and getting tangled up in trees or on the rocks. 

It also isn't like the rowing competitions you see college or Olympic teams doing.  Those are the equivalent of a marathon, and dragon boating is more of a sprint. 

There are dragon boat races and festivals from March to late into the fall from Canada to Texas.  In our area, there are races in LaCrosse, Dubuque, and Fort Dodge plus some in the Cities. 

Each team consists of 22 people:  a drummer/cheerleader type person in the front (optional), a stern operator (captain and coach) in the back, and 20 paddlers (ten rows of two) in the belly of the boat. 

Whereas canoeing uses a J-stroke at about a 45-degree angle to the water, dragon boating paddling is straight down into the water, straight back, and then straight up out of the water.  And we do that 45-50 times per minute. 

If you want to see it in action, watch this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCrTQ5BG00E

Sometimes a person wants to compete at an event but the rest of the team cannot, so that person can be a sub on another team.  This is referred to as a Boat Slut...willing to jump in just anybody's boat!  Hmmm...not sure if that's good or bad!

Our team will be competing in Dubuque, Iowa, on September 8 and 9 if anyone wants to travel to watch.  We will also be marching in the Plainview Corn on the Cob Days parade in August.

Which brings me to another goal.  I am no stranger to the Plainview Parade.  It was an annual event during my childhood, first as a spectator and later as a part of the parade with my unicycle posse.  And then that one year as Goat Queen attendant, but that's another blog post entirely. 

I haven't been on a unicycle since before my children were born, and the unicycle I had got destroyed in an unfortunate tractor versus unicycle incident so I'm not even certain I could even DO it anymore, but I think I could with some practice. 

Herein lies the problem...there are no used unicycles out there.  Believe me, I've looked!  So I"m going to have to break down and buy one if I really want to reach this goal.  They are expensive for having only one wheel.  Wouldn't you think they'd be half price of a bicycle, but no, they are not. 

I"m still pondering that little issue and wondering if I really want to spend over $100 on a whim that may turn out to be an EPIC disaster but then again might turn into the funnest thing of my golden years.  We'll see. 

That brings us to the last goal for the summer, and that is learning how to geocache.  This is basically a big old ongoing treasure hunt.  As long as you have the GPS coordinates to a nearby geocache, you can do this anywhere in the world.  I thought I'd start with Pine Island and surrounding area and work my way out.  It would be a good option for those lazy weekend days when Captain says, "What should we do?"

I get that the gist of it is that there are caches, or treasures, out there that people have stashed.  It could be as simple as an old RochesterFest Button or it might be a Superior Lake agate.  Hard to tell.  Each cache has a logbook that needs to be signed, and then you have to log into the website and log that you found that cache online. 

I guess you can swap treasures also, although I may have that particular tidbit wrong.  But say I want that Lake Superior agate.  I would have to leave something of equal value in its place and I suppose I would have to tell the Geocache Master, whoever that is, what I did. 

I just thought it sounded like a fun way to explore our immediate neighborhood and also be able to explore further away from home if we want.  Plus it gets us out of the house and into the great outdoors.  We like that kind of stuff. 

I hope that you have fun plans for the summer and that you maybe try something new and different this summer.  If you do, I'd love to hear about it!

Images used:
https://metabolicmemory.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/meme-you-can-do-it.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Dragon_boat_budapest_2010.jpg/400px-Dragon_boat_budapest_2010.jpg
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-sftY5-bGlgg9H3kK3g5_RFYY7QIIiT3nbhHOXUoDI9Ur0Xkv
https://www.prainc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/geocache-398017_1920.jpg

Get Real!

I have to get up on my soap box today.  It’s been percolating in my brain
for quite awhile now, and I just need to spit it out.  

GET REAL, PEOPLE!!  

As in the RealSeal (™) that you used to see on dairy products everywhere
back in the 80s and 90s.  If you saw the Real Seal on a product, it was an
“assurance that you are buying a genuine dairy product, made with milk from
cows on U.S. dairy farms, and meeting strict manufacturing requirements.”  
That’s according to the website http://www.realseal.com/ which provides
information and education about real dairy products and their benefits.

I am infuriated--LIVID--that there are companies that can manufacture,
market, and sell products as “milk” that don’t even come close to the definition of
milk.  You all know what I’m talking about.

Almondmilk, coconutmilk, soymilk, etc.  That’s not milk. It’s nut juice. I guess
that’s not a catchy marketing approach or they’d be using it.  

Before you get your bloomers in a bundle, I am not saying that there
should not be alternative choices available for those people who choose not
to drink milk for health or personal reasons.  I have no problem with that.

My beef (don’t even get me started on beef marketing!) is with the
manufacturers and the marketers. By definition, milk comes from mammals
to feed their young.  That would be animals, not plants. Look it up in the
dictionary or google it. I’m right about this.

So how the hell do these companies get off saying their product is milk when
it is no such thing?!  Do you know how they get around that? They make it
all one word, i.e., almondmilk instead of almond milk.  

Newsflash:  the average consumer does not make that distinction.  In
defense of the average consumer, it isn’t completely their fault.  They
are misinformed about some things.

Part of the reason for that ignorance (and I do not mean that in a derogatory
way) is that our society is no longer agrarian.  There is at least one generation
if not two that have no idea where their food comes from because they do not
know anyone who works or lives on a farm.  

So please...let me educate you.  I’ll try not to bite your head off like I did my
sister-in-law a couple of weeks ago.  Sorry about that, Annie!! :)

I have heard rumbles for years about how “the high price of groceries is
making farmers rich.”  Absolutely not true.

As long as we started out talking about milk, we will continue in that vein.  
A gallon of milk costs approximately $3.50. A gallon of milk weighs about
8 pounds.  Why does that matter, you ask? Because farmers are paid a
certain amount per 100 pounds.  Right now the average price paid to farmers
is $13 per 100 pounds. That’s 13 cents per pound or $1.04 for 8 pounds...one
gallon.  Less than half of what the consumer pays in the grocery store.

I’m not saying the trucker and those other middle men don’t need to make
a living because they do.  I’m saying don’t think the entire cost at the store
goes to the farmer.

And here’s the downside to the $1.04 that goes to the farmer.  It isn’t even
close to what it costs to produce that gallon of milk, which is $1.20.  That’s
a loss of 16 cents for every gallon produced. It might not sound like much
until you do the math and realize that a 200-cow dairy farm might produce
20,000 pounds of milk per day.  Breaking that down, that’s 2500 gallons of
milk per day with a loss of 16 cents per gallon for a net loss of $400
every day.

Furthermore, that production cost is a break even point, it isn’t a profit
point.  It only covers the expenses needed to produce the milk. It doesn’t
cover the cost of health insurance, groceries, or gas for the car much less
anything fun like going to the movies or on a vacation to Disneyland.  

I think I can speak fairly knowledgeably about this as I grew up on a dairy
farm (dairy princess in 1986, thank you very much), I married a dairy
farmer, and both my kids worked on dairy farms through high school.  I
know what I’m talking about here.

Obviously, dairy farmers want a fair price for their product so they can make
a decent living.  They know, however, that fair prices will not always be
the case. When prices are low, as they are now and have been for three
years, it’s easy for their spirits to droop and for them to wonder if it’s
worth it at all.  

For most of them, the ups and downs are part of the game.  They know
that the long days that start before dawn and end at or after dusk 365
days a year, the worries about a sick animal, the stress of trying to pay
all the bills, and battling Mother Nature more days than not are all part and
parcel of the way of life they’ve chosen.  That doesn’t mean they don’t want
the gratitude of their communities for navigating those hurdles as they
contribute to the cheapest and safest food supply in the world.

I can guaran-damn-tee that if just one Joe Q. Public would say, “Thank
you for providing REAL nutritious food for our family” it would go a long
way toward raising their spirits.  

On that note, I would like to give a big shout out to Culver’s for being a
vocal supporter of dairy farmers and FFA.  Thank you for your support!!

I would ask you one thing:  Thank a dairy farmer if you can, thank a
business that serves/sells real dairy products, and buy REAL dairy products.  

Images used:

http://www.realseal.com/sites/default/files/logo_1.png

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/32/32dc8f1736b4e0648546220ebd1242ce9d74a37811cc069123f477062369b123.jpg

https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_460w/Boston/2011-2020/2018/01/15/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/BEDFORD_20180111_DAIRY_FARMERS_007.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/1d/99/f4/1d99f4c724b34fe72baa75d0a803819e--farmer.jpg

From Moms Everywhere

Dear Children Everywhere,

You have no idea how many hours we spend in prayer for you.  This is what moms do.  We teach, guide, love, and we pray.

The first three things are what we do when we can, and the last one is what we do when there is nothing else we can do. 

When you experience your first heartbreak, we give you all the platitudes about other fish in the sea, and we let you cry on our shoulder.  Then we pray that you will find love again with someone who deserves the wonderful person that you are.

When you get your driver's license, we make sure you know all the important safety and maintenance tips like how to check the oil, put air in the tires, or even change a tire.  We help you pay for the insurance but make you buy the gas.  Then we pray that you will be safe on the road.

When you apply for your first "grown up" job that you really want, we help you get a resume and cover letter put together.  We help you pick out the right outfit for the interview.  Then we pray that you have confidence and poise during the interview, and we pray that if this job isn't in God's plan for you that you will have the strength and courage to go out and apply for something else.

When you are having money trouble, we pick up an extra pack of toilet paper or toothpaste or a box of the cereal you like.  We buy outfits for grandkids, and we slip cash to you on the sly.  Then we pray that God will give you the wisdom to figure it all out. 

When you get married and have children of your own, we don't stop praying for you.  We just add your spouse and children to the list.  We pray that God will bless your marriage in all its ups and downs as he has blessed ours.  Then we pray that God will give you the same strength, wisdom, and patience with your children that he gave us with ours.

We don't care how old you are, as long as we love you--and we will always love you--we will pray for you, and we will always thank God for the amazing people that you are because you bless our lives every single day.

Love,
Moms Everywhere

Images used:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ab/48/14/ab481409e3e52393723d96755d8aaa36.png
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRD5Okt52xLhXTOlfgzSkmNLfnHYgKKON7_qySDsdnKONRJLY25bg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8b/cb/dd/8bcbdd92f459e1a1402b647c69d214cb.jpg

Limbo Thoughts

Do you ever have odd, random thoughts occur to you in bed during that lull between consciousness and sleep?  It happens to me not infrequently.

Like...how come you can walk in running shoes but you can't run in walking shoes?  What's up with that?  Who decided that?  Is there a law?  Will I have to pay a fine?  Who monitors the proper usage of athletic footwear?  Inquiring minds want to know; at least mine does.

Like...how come you can disinfect with drinking alcohol but you can't drink disinfecting alcohol?  Where is the reciprocity?  Or can you drink disinfecting alcohol and I never knew it all these years?  Has it ever been tested?  Someone else can be that guinea pig; I have other plans, thanks!

Captain is usually the one who has these kinds of random thoughts, not me, so I'm not comfortable having them rattle around in my head.  His thoughts are more along the lines of how come socks don't last five years.  

Then there is the question that has plagued me for years:  how come a square can be a rectangle but a rectangle can't be a square?  It doesn't seem quite fair that squares get more opportunity than rectangles.  Where's the justice?  But that's just me.

Maybe the odd, random thoughts keep out the larger philosophical thoughts that I wouldn't have any hope of solving, thereby saving me much angst and headache.  I guess I am okay with that.

Sometimes it is children who have the profound thoughts that shake the foundation of someone's day.  Like...why can't I sit by the girl with autism at lunch?  She likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches too.  We can be friends about that.

Or:  Love is like a magic pie; the more you share the more there is.  Out of the mouths of babes!

Then there was my kids who asked the question, "What do you mean you don't have money?  You still have checks!"

Here is the one thought that haunts me more days or nights than it doesn't:  Why can't we as a human race seem to get along and like each other?  If someone could please answer me that, maybe I could sleep better some nights.

I am going to do my Pooh imitation and try to ponder some of these things into a logical answer.

Think...think....think, think, think!

Images used:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c5/29/43/c529433183c072be0b08d1e6a093385c.jpg
http://thumbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/stoner_thoughts_01.jpg
https://randomthoughtsfromlorne.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/telepathic.png?w=640
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