If you have been reading my blogs for a while you are probably aware of the fact that I am a newly retired pumpkin farmer. Most of the pumpkin ground has been seeded into native grasses and wildflowers and I was planning to put my feet up and taking it easy……wrong! You see I didn’t seed all of the ground into native grasses and wildflowers. I figured I would save a little of the ground to ensure my vegetable garden…..
I’ve been medicating myself as I’m suffering from a disease that I really don’t like to talk about. But since the idea for this blog resulted from this experience I’m going to have to reveal my ailment. I will put it as delicately as possible so hopefully I won’t offend anyone. It’s very easy to offend people now days you know. So here goes nothing. I have jock rash. 🙁 Even though I haven’t worn a jock since about 1974…..
I’ve lost track of the years that our family lake vacation has taken place. It seems like it’s been forever. As one looks back it has been a collage of memories starting with tiny little grandchildren growing and maturing each year until many of them have become young adults. This year the date was set and then the Pandemic started messing with things. In fact it looked like Grandpa and Grandma would miss this one when our son developed COVID-like…..
I remember the simpler times. We would watch from the house as the mailman pulled up to our country mailbox located at the end of our driveway. Then a battle would begin between we siblings about whose turn it was to get the mail. Actually the end result usually turned into a race to see who could arrive at the rusty old metal box first. The winner was awarded the honor of ripping open the metal door revealing the days…..
Forty-five years ago when we purchased our 7.9 acres out in the country the acreage consisted of a cultivated field. We had the challenge of turning it into a hobby farm. So the first thing on the agenda was to plant a windbreak that would protect our house. A house that was yet a dream but hopefully would become a reality in a few years. So I contacted the Soil Conservation folks in the county and they went to work…..
How would one become lost in the part of South Dakota that is basically flat with roads running north/ south and east/ west on all sides of mile square sections of farmland? Oh, occasionally a lake or small slough causes a twist in the road but it quickly comes back to that north/south and east/west pattern. Even without a GPS one should be able to navigate through the countryside without becoming completely lost. At least that’s how I saw it……
Being an author is becoming a pressure filled job. When I first started writing in the early 1980’s things were much simpler. I would write something that I thought was the most awesome thing that anyone had ever composed and I would excitedly prepare to send it off to a publisher. The internet had not yet been invented so communication with publishers was either by ‘snail mail’ or the telephone. So becoming published was a very personal, private experience between…..
I retired from teaching in 2001. After thirty-four years attempting to inspire middle school and high school students and instill in them a love for life long learning I decided it was time to pursue another one of my favorite pastimes, writing. For the next three years I wrote and illustrated a variety of children’s stories. Today three of them have become published books. Nature’s Christmas Story, The Easter Sparrows and Holiday Adventures for Kids are all available on Amazon…..
I was a farm kid so I learned first hand how important a rain gauge was to the farm operation. Rain was an essential ingredient for a farmer to produce a successful crop so it is obvious the farmer needs to know the amount of rainfall his maturing crops are receiving. Also knowing the amount of rainfall for each cloudburst is essential because that information needs to be shared with neighboring farmers over a steaming cup of coffee. Actually it…..
I received an unexpected message on Facebook from a woman which said, “Mike Larson I ran across in cleaning yesterday afternoon a ‘gift’ to son Peder; a manuscript of a book you authored with a personal note written on it how it was not accepted for publishing three times. Assuming it was a science gift? Any recall? I will sit down and read it!” Immediately I recognized what the request was referring to. So be patient as I explain how…..
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