Pain and Dealing with It

Each year at the beginning of baseball season I go through some pain as I adjust to the physical nature of coaching baseball.  It takes about a week of so of throwing and hitting the ball to acclimate my body to the actions required. This year was no different except after a the third week my back screamed "No more!"

For the last four weeks I have been back and forth to the chiropractor (I believe in them, they have helped before) and icing each night and morning.  This year though on two occasions I have had excruciating pain that nothing but painkillers will help with.  I am now going on a plan of physical therapy that will strengthen my core muscles and straighten out my disc and nerve issues.

The big thought though is what if medical services were not available?  I have pondered a bit about planning for future events, and it usually has me taking a fairly active part of growing food, gathering wood for heat and cooking, and even some hunting.  But what if I am not physically able?  This will be a problem.

So my next move to to get in better shape and take care of myself.  My families livelihood may depend upon it.

Another McPhee Book Review

This was the third time I had started this book and I finally finished it.  I have to admit to being a huge McPhee fan, but this one was the hardest to get through.  It is full of details about California geology specifically and the rest of the world by way of plate tectonics.

McPhee always seems to weave in stories of people in his books.  The story may be about geology or vegetable growers, but his people stand out. This time they didn't as much and that possibly could be why it took me three attempts before finishing.  He does write about the Gold Rush and how the gold came to be there.  We also learns of hoe the two ranges of mountains came to be and the Great Central Valley I live in.

Ultimately the book ends with a recounting geologically of the 1989 Loma Prieto earthquake across the length of the state.  I am glad I read it, but I'm also looking forward to another McPhee book.

Kitchen Knife Box

As a woodworker, or at least one that pretends to be one, I have for a longtime wanted to build a kitchen knife block holder.  I've had two issues with them though.  They seem to use good wood that might be used elsewhere and the slots would appear to limit the number of knives and the sizes.  The last time we were visiting John and Ashley at Lampyridae Vineyards, Maureen saw that Ashley had a different kind of knife holder.  It was a box that was filled with bamboo skewers.  The knife blades fit between the skewers and gave a seemingly infinite number of knife combinations for storing.

We came home and eventually started designing our own knife box. We found some leftover plywood  and figured we would build the first from it and refine the next few and use solid wood for the box.  The plywood ended up being easy to use and pleasant looking as well.

We started with the skewers and measured their length and the longest knife blade's length.  We then used those numbers to figure the height of the box.  And in typical fashion for me, I calculated the box sizes based upon the size of the plywood piece I had available. Less frugal woodworkers would just buy more wood I suppose.

The sizes were finalized, the plywood was cut to size, and I used a tablesaw to cut dadoes on the bottom piece so the bottom would be recessed into the sides.  I also cut the bottom a bit smaller than the outside dimension of the glued together sides.  I hope to create an overhang by the sides.  I know there is a name for this overhang, but I can't remember it just now.

I was pleasantly surprised at the plies of the plywood showing up in contrasting colors as well as they did.  Maureen did a great job with the polyurethane and paint as always.  We have many colors in our house and this just adds to them.

The final job was to cut the skewers down in length some as they seemed just seemed a bit tall in the box. We than slipped and stacked them into the box.  We lost count, but figure there are about 16 bags of skewers in the box.  Maureen bought out the stock at Winco, twice, before we filled the box.  It is a handy knife holder, and another fun project from the 'Zoo.

Standing Up and Talking

Many people think of teachers as being natural speakers, which is a partial truth.  Just like most skills, public speaking is a learned skill that gets better with good practice.  The first day of school each year is frightful, even if you know most of the students.  I have spoken to classes, dinners honoring people, at funerals, in front of school boards, to TV cameras and various committees.  One truth I have learned is that once words are out of your mouth, you have no control of them.  Words, language and inflection need to be chosen carefully.

Tonight I am speaking again to our city council about the specifics of chickens kept within city limits. Last June the city Planning Commission and City Council rewrote the City Ordinances to close a few loopholes in their minds.  I have no doubt that there are problems with the old ordinances, especially since they are 20-30 years old. At that time one of the changes was the outlawing of "barnyard" pets, which include chickens, turkey, cows, goats, etc.

After talking to various city officials and informing them of the growing backyard chicken movement, a small group of people have been attending meetings of the Planning Commission and Council through the summer and fall and giving input on the chicken and fowl ordinance.  There seems to be two distinct groups of chicken people.  One, like my family, raise laying hens for their eggs. The other is a 4H group that shows the chickens, including roosters.

There are distinct differences between these groups, but yet we are similar--we are doing something we have been doing for years and only within the last year has it become illegal.  We don't keep roosters and talk with our neighbors to not be a burden. Our 7 chickens allow us most times to give away eggs.  The 4Hers keep roosters, but have talked to their neighbors and worked out an arrangement to keep the roosters silent during agreed upon hours.  Both of our sets neighbors have compromised and get along with neighbors.

At the last meeting I attended the Planning Commission proposed and passed an proposal of 10 birds maximum be kept in backyards.  The city council lowered it to 6 birds.  6 won't be enough to keep my family in eggs, let alone give any away.  My task tonight is to try and inform a group of people about a subject they care little about and have not tried to inform themselves about.  I need to try to get them to think outside their experiences and be fair.

Kind of like telling someone to go to hell, and get them to enjoy the trip.

"...Life is 10% What Happens to me,..."

“The longer I love, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church....a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes.” 
― Charles R. Swindoll

When I assumed control of my new classroom, this quote was taped to the wall.  With all of the other cleaning up to do, it got left up.  I read it this week again and it hit home.  This week I have been battling a bad back and almost constant pain.  I'm getting treatment and the pain is beginning to subside. But the quote hit me in a way I didn't expect.

I have been blessed in many aspects of my life.  The current back issue reminded me that I haven't had many major injuries or surgeries.  I have been employed when I have needed money to live.  When my family has been in need, relief arrived.  So to use Swindoll's quote, I should have been of a good attitude most of the time.  That hasn't always been the case.

And how will I react and with what attitude in the coming difficulties we face as a nation, state and community.  I can prepare for physical needs, so I must not forget the emotional, spiritual and intellectual needs also.

So God Made a Farmer

Delivered to the Future Farmers of America, now the FFA, by Paul Harvey in 1978.

And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.” So God made a farmer.

“I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife’s done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon — and mean it.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, ‘Maybe next year.’ I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain’n from ‘tractor back,’ put in another seventy-two hours.” So God made a farmer.

God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place. So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church.

“Somebody who’d bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life ‘doing what dad does.’” So God made a farmer.

The bold is what the Dodge Super Bowl commercial edited and left out. 

So Well Said

Friends, tonight's Super Bowl commercials have painted a vivid picture of the cultural divide in our nation -- sex & debauchery versus duty and honor.

~ Todd Starnes

Such true words about a great game. Puts what's really important in the forefront.