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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Hay Bales in August

Recent pictures from one of my favorite hayfields appear below. The people who own this field waited until the last week of cooler weather to make this cutting. These bales are drying now in temperatures of 95 degrees, which are the hottest temperatures we have seen all summer in this area. Other nearby fields have been cut twice; this particular field seems to have been the last one cut.

These bales contain the strong earthy scent of grass left to dry in the sun. My wife says she can imagine the appeal that hay bales once had for couples looking for a place to swive under the new moon.

Friday, August 02, 2013

In Lieu of My Father, There Is YouTube

YouTube is often thought of as a source of entertainment. I admit that I sometimes watch some of the cat videos and the ones of raccoons begging for scraps. It can prove difficult tearing myself away because there is always one more video worth watching. I have discovered that YouTube works best as a resource. It is the place to turn to when wanting to know how to replace an optical drive in a desktop or how to speed up a computer by increasing the amount of ram or by using ReadyBoost. More recently, I have discovered that YouTube offers instructional videos on cleaning the lint out of a dryer or replacing the water inlet valve on a washing machine. I would be dependent on the repair people in my area if it weren’t for YouTube. Fortunately, I have been able to save some money by doing it myself. It seems at times that I am channeling my father who would be so happy to see me make repairs around the house if he were still alive. He was always an advocate of doing repairs himself even when it took an entire weekend. Near the end of his life, he was attempting to make repairs to his watch or his laptop even though he couldn’t always remember the order in which things came apart. I know that I could use his help with the upkeep of a house. There are still so many things that I don’t know.