Coop's Corner: July 2018

Monday, July 30, 2018

Sandhill Weekend....and Bountiful Other

Last week, Thursday afternoon I believe, Peg mentioned that there had been a pair of Sandhill Cranes out in our hay field. Typically and in year's past, I've only seen them further south, Wisconsin further south. We've only seen them once before on our farm as far as I can remember.

Friday on my ride I saw 2 pair in grassy pastures and yesterday, I came upon a pair with twins almost in the road. Quickly slowing down, they split up. Pop took for the far side of the road, mom and the kiddo's stayed on my side and casually began walking deeper into a hay field. Now fully stopped, I was able to photograph mom and babies....

Meanwhile, I was being craftily deceived. Father was on the other side of the road, unwilling to move very far, making himself as large and known as he possible could. My photo didn't catch him at maximum wing spread, but he was trying to convince me that he was the better target, injured and helpless.

The big news this weekend was our family Reunion Gathering, honoring mom's 90th, a couple of 50 year anniversaries, other anniversaries that were multiples of 5's; Peg's and mine included. I gave a speech, a toast and everything, dodging the ripest red fruit successfully.

Mom, we love you and again, thanks for everything!!

On another subject much closer to home, Peg found a fermenting crock (a crock for fermenting) in Poland; our cabbage won't be ready until early August. Until then.....Bloop.......Bloop.......Bloop....Other vegetables can expect to be fermented in the future and they have now been warned.

The Himalaya will be taking me on a couple trips over the next month and tire planning/scheduling needs to be accounted for. Now at ~3500 miles, 6/32" tread left on the rear. I'm actually quite pleased with these MT-60's but some other tire may be next.

There were various rides this weekend...Thursday evening, Friday morning, Friday evening, Saturday evening and finally, most of the day Sunday. The GPS wasn't always along but I can still subtract and add; there were a bunch of miles covered. I won't worry about the total until end of season but there were almost 350 on Sunday.

Lunch in Stone Lake...

Desert didn't happen until Rice Lake, a proper span of time later.

I was in Cumberland at 3:15, Sunday closing is 4:00....the place was hopping. Lots of Twin Citians load up on their way home from cabin weekends and they WERE loading up. My stash of sticks at home was gone so a stop was mandatory. We shall not go without.

I promised Peg that I'd be home by 6....a picnic and campfire was scheduled in the State Park. I was actually home by 5:30, mostly dry after an intense 10 minute shower south of Baldwin.

In the park around 7, there weren't very many picnickers and by 8, we were all alone. It was almost 9:30 when we came back home; a wonderful evening, a great weekend.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Lorem Ipsum - 2018

Peg asked, ".....which event is tomorrow again....??

After I responded with an upbeat tone....

"Maybe just take the sidecar."

Of the many rallies and events that I've ridden to now these last 14 years, none have provided quite the challenge that this annual event seems to have. One year there was a close and personal connection with a guard rail, another year Lauren and I started out on the scooter only to be rescued by her mom with Helix transmission trouble.

Not only did I manage to both Go and Return this time, it was a Very Fine Grand Day Out. Since I'd expected to see a bunch of the British Bike Cooperative riders in Viroqua and then didn't really, it was a good thing my day started out with a British theme. Realizing that my planned first time breakfast stop at the River Cafe in Trempealeau was going to be far too far away for my first hot cup of coffee, I stopped at my favorite convenience store in Wabasha for a starter cup. Dana was there as he was a couple of weeks ago, asking if I was headed to Mondovi again for breakfast. Then he'd said hi and yesterday, we chanced upon another meeting. Nice to meet you Dana, hope to see you again soon, same time, same place! :)

In Trempealeau at the River Cafe, I immediately see Full English Breakfast on the special's board and there it was in the menu as well. Annie quickly said, "you'll want this for sure".

...and this was why she was so confident.....

HP Sauce, no mustard, no ketchup.....

In Viroqua right around 11am for the official 'start'....Frank's bike was immediately drawing attention.

Glen was right in there checking out the gizmo's....no valve adjustment or shim replacement on this baby.

Darrel was there. If you're not a subscriber to his newsletter, you should be.

Steve was there, hope to see you on the road again soon and nice to meet you!

Driftless Books is inside.....

I don't see grips like this everyday....

I went inside the bookstore and of course came out with one....there is a LOT to choose from.

Good Luck sir........

You never know what's going to show up....

Glen said, "I should have brought mine". Not that large of crowd and 2 real owners....My TranZalp just a poor wannabe.

Not a Kawasaki but there's a very good chance he's got one of those too at home.

Eric and Cindy arrived after a hectic morning. I didn't get a decent photo of the new rig but will. It sure looks awesome! According to Cindy, it appears to work just fine too.

Such a beautiful day, the decision seemed to be a universal one....we should be out riding. I stopped on Hall Road to highlight the many buggy wheel tracks.

Not very crowded at The Goose.

A ceremonial stop at Kolbo Road...

It was a perfect day for a poor sense of direction (none of it really planned) and I was still south of Plainview when Peg texted "The music good, you should come".

So I did.....arriving just before 8PM

Red Wing's annual Rolling River Music In The Park Festival.

A 359 mile day, 15 hours and for the record, 15 hours is just about the perfect amount of time to cover 359 miles. A good day though some of my friends missing at the last minute and if the BBC guys were there, there weren't enough of them on old stuff.

Of special note, Kammel Road is in fact now REALLY CLOSED. It was closed the last time I was there but still ridable on whatever I was there on. This time, no way could even the mighty Himalaya traverse that washed out mess. I saw a signboard reporting that the Town Board held a meeting about culverts and road repair. You guys better hurry, Kammel is reverting back to the way god created it.

Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)