Miscellaneous Notes from the Farm, August 2022

- Chains on the gate up to the farm: rusted but smooth. Two strands from the post, wrap around the gate; the padlock goes through both strands.

- Tractor fuel system start-up: it will likely leak at the sediment bowl. It may need a 7/16 flare end wrench to gently tighten the fuel line, and/or tighten the thumb screw at the bottom of the glass bowl. It can handle a lot of pressure.

- It's difficult to sharpen into the inside edge of the loppers. Have to get the angle just right.

- The clothes pins on the clothesline are weathered and decayed; will break if the spring is engaged too vigorously.

- The swinging cutter does well on small woody things; larger diameters require the loppers. Larger still, the bear saw or the chain saw.

- The old croquet balls are heavier than the newer ones. Better for juggling.

- The broken cement step in the center of the steps down to the old road is a killer in the dark. Bring a flashlight.

- Sitting on the dock at sunset is magical, even after the color leaves all the clouds.

- Cicadas take turns.

- Country ham glaze with sorghum molasses and brown sugar is wonderful. Still, the exterior layers got fairly stringy, but the interior slices were lovely.

- As often as possible, take a few minutes to gently swing in the old wooden-seat swing under the pecan tree. Watch the limb sway as you lean back. And remember.

- Moss growing on the north side roof of the kitchen is best brushed off with a nylon bristle brush. A wire brush can scuff the shingles if not done carefully.

- Pokeweed is poisonous. It's a cool, Dr. Seuss-looking plant: big, thick red stems, big leaves, attractive berries. Still, a nasty, invasive weed.

- It's fun to make a path with the tractor around the barn and makes it easier to clean up the vegetation around it. The southwest corner is the trickiest, a tight turn with a steep incline. If you have passengers on the back, be prepared for the front wheels to leave the ground, and use the right rear wheel brake to steer it straight.

- Johnson grass can grow a full 8 feet high. Fun to drive the tractor through. It's a different world. (Just don't let it freeze in the fall/winter; it's poisonous to cattle if it freezes.)

- The scent memory of the kitchen basement is powerful; reminds me of shucking corn with Grandaddy.

- The gentle lapping of the lake waves under the dock as the light leaves the sky...a sound of complete peace.

- The kitchen entry filled with shoes of many sizes is a portrait of love of which all our forebears are proud. If you listen when you see it, you can hear them smiling.

- The tractor is 70 years old this year. I've been driving it for about 46 of those years and maintaining it for 30.

- A very practical, thoughtful piece of old technology: the tractor has an extra tube inside the full tank on the top. Normal operation is to open the fuel screw two full turns and use the tractor until it runs out of fuel. Then you open the fuel screw another turn and it backs the screw further out, releasing the fuel in the reserve tube and you can drive back to the barn.

- It's enough, at times, to know that there are siblings and relatives out there in the world who will always have your back, and for whom you would do the same. And for their kids, knowing that there are people in the world who will always be "their people."

- Responsibility: what IS your responsibility? As I get older, I realize: we're not really responsible for outcomes. There will be many other factors, including other people's input and decisions, and just pure, dumb luck, involved in all outcomes. We are responsible for our perspective in this moment and our discipline in this moment. Nothing less, and nothing else. For greater calm, stop taking responsibility for things that are NOT your responsibility.

- If I could make a living on a small farm like this, I would change careers in a moment.

- When the figs darken and hang down, they're ripe. A treat, if you can beat the birds to them.

- Some ants can bite amazingly painfully. Avoid.

- There are places along the north fence line where the vegetation is so thick that the wild turkeys will run/fly a little way up the fence line to get through at an easier spot.

- My grandmother grew irises and other flowers in the big garden at the top of the farm in the west field. For the purpose of cutting them and decorating the house, and giving them away. Oftentimes, Grandad would drive her down the hill on the golf cart with an armful of flowers. I wish I could talk to her again; there's so much I wish I'd learned from her.

- I currently wear either a broad-brim hat or an old camouflage, Remington cap (which I got second-hand) when working on the farm. The latter seems to give me a bit of cred with the local hardware and tractor store people. My small attempt to have something in common with people with which I have almost nothing in common.

- Rough skin on my left heel is good for scratching the itchy insect bites on my right foot. The farm is a dangerous place for the skin.

- The dawn chorus of birds on the farm is the best chorus in the world.

- Despite his at-times-challenging personality, I miss my little brother, lost to damn COVID a year ago this week.

- The reflections of evening clouds in the lake look even more impressionistic through tears.

- If I listen carefully in the late afternoon, I can still hear my mother's voice, making two syllables out of my name as she'd call from the deck: "To-omm, don't you think it's time to come in?"

- As I turned the car up Deep Springs Road as I left the farm this week, I opened the window and waved back, though there was no one there to "wave me up the hill." I'd left them all in the lake. We go on.