I am a writer, photographer and artist. This blog will be a running commentary on country living, gardening, cooking, history, people, folklore, writing, reading, art, flora and fauna, photography, music, movies, traveling and whatever else I might be pondering off the back porch.
If you enjoy satire The Onion should be one of your first stops on the internet. One of the more hilarious examples of their humor occurred when they announced Kim Jong Un the sexiest man alive and the Chinese People’s Daily website ran the article. As might be expected, part of the about page reads: “The Onion is the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events. Rising from its humble beginnings as a print newspaper in 1756, The Onion now enjoys a daily readership of 4.3 trillion and has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history.” If you have never checked it out or it has been a while, give it a visit.
We planted our garden in the spring with the usual high hopes most gardeners have starting the growing season. Tomatoes, green peppers (and one habanero, bought by mistake that I insisted we keep) zucchini, cucumbers, green beans and asparagus. Because of shortages caused by the pandemic Shelly had to go to several greenhouses to find the plants we wanted. Many more people than usual decided to grow vegetable gardens this year. Once we got everything in the ground and mulched against weeds we were set. Until birds, rabbits or mice (maybe all three) dug up the green bean seeds and the asparagus withered and died. We will try to establish the asparagus bed again next year and as for the green beans Shelly had the idea of cutting a plant cage in half and covering it with chicken wire, then laying it over the seeds to keep out pests until the plants are established. The rest of the garden progressed well through the spring and into the summer until we entered the drought that continues as I write this in early September. It has been so hot and dry the grass crunches when we walk across the acreage. Some of our trees began dropping leaves last month and the corn and bean crops surrounding us are gold and yellow, ready for harvest. We did the best we could with our garden but unending weeks of hot dry weather took its toll. At this point only the tomato plants are still producing, but I am holding out hope for the green peppers. We are also keeping our eye on the the little volunteer plant that popped out of a crack in our sidewalk, now full of yellow flowers and little green tomatoes.
Once a month I highlight a piece of art I have created and posted on my Fine Art America site. This one is titled Summer In The City from the Frottage Art Collection.
The Sifter “is a publicly available searchable database and is designed to be a tool to aid in finding, identifying and comparing historical and contemporary writing on food and related topics. It is overseen by an advisory board of rotating members of the Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery as well as other friends of food history. As with Wikipedia, it will be populated by its users. Entries will be made both in standard English and the language of the original document. It will be possible to enter data in over 150 writing systems. As many countries as possible will be included. Corrections may be made by registered users. Data visualization will be a component. With the aid of this tool it is our hope that what has been invisible will come into focus.”
Canva is a design website offering thousands of layouts, images, fonts, photo filters, icons and shapes. Plans start with the free offering and graduate up to $30 per month.
Just Facts “is a non-profit institute dedicated to publishing comprehensive, straightforward, and rigorously documented facts about public policy issues. To accomplish this with objectivity and excellence, we use exacting Standards of Credibility to determine what constitutes a fact and what does not. The vision of Just Facts is to equip people with facts that empower them to make truly informed decisions about important matters. This requires proven facts that accurately and fully convey reality—not pseudo-facts, half-truths, or talking points.”
If you are looking for freebies check out Hey, It’s Free “a nationally recognized site dedicated to finding the best, legitimate freebies on the Internet while having a little fun along the way. I genuinely believe you’ll find HIF to be one of the top sites to find 100% free consumer samples (aka freebies) and we have the awards to back it up!”
A few weeks ago I was feeling a bit out of sorts, as many of us do from time to time. Was it the deadly virus, violence and riots, the tanking economy? Well, yes, but not entirely. What was it, then? What I eventually came to realize was that after two years I was still waiting for the land to posses me and for me to completely embrace my new surroundings in the country. To experience and write about living in the country has been like a dream come true. The last thing I expected was to miss the city, which I had spent years trying to get away from. The action and movement that I had known my whole life, the traffic and busyness, neighbors and dog walkers and bike riders, stoplights, buses, taking a walk in the city, and just the sense of being around what is happening. In the city no matter what time at night you go out there is something going on, there are streetlights and people driving, walking, running. Everything I wanted to escape from I missed. Here in the country when the sun sets it is dark, almost pitch black if there is no moon. There is an occasional truck or tractor moving along our gravel road at night. In the fall the coyotes begin calling again. In the country there are neighbors who live way down the gravel road, and they are friendly and willing to help when needed, but most people here want to be left alone. In the city people mostly want to be left alone as well, but because of the closeness there are more exceptions. If I wanted to speak with a neighbor in the city, I would walk across the street and talk. Out here you are far enough away from each other it becomes a planned visit. Once I realized what my problem was I decided a replacement plan was in order. Tractors for buses, gravel for freeways, and wide open skys for a house next door. It will be a pleasure to keep working on this transition.
While it has become automatic for many people when searching the internet to use Google, there are some fine alternatives that might offer more in depth information. One of them is Infoplease “a reference and learning site, combining the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas and several almanacs loaded with statistics, facts, and historical records. Our editors regularly update and refine this enormous body of information—as well as adding new discoveries and identifying trends—to bring you reliable and authoritative information. The content is written and edited by professional editors, and the site has received numerous awards and accolades since launch.” What began as a radio quiz show in 1938 evolved into a series of almanacs which in turn led to the website. Take some time to check it out.
A for a light, cool summertime meal it is hard to beat the various salads people make here in the Midwest, and tuna salad is one of our favorites. Serve it on a specialty bread such as croissants or ciabatta with fresh lettuce and tomatoes, or use it as a dip served with celery or green peppers.
Ingredients:
Two cans tuna, drained
Small onion, diced
Stalk of celery, diced
Two hard boiled eggs, diced
Four tablespoons of mayo
One tablespoon dill relish
Add the following to taste – mustard, cilantro, basil, black pepper and garlic.
Once a month I highlight a piece of art I have created and posted on my Fine Art America site. This one is titled Watch and Shell from the Scan Art Collection.
Off The Back Porch 