Grounded

With May and graduation season right around the corner, I am reminded of the Dr. Seuss book Oh! The Places You'll Go. That is the perfect way to describe my start to 2011. You see there are two seasons in the world of agriculture – cropping season and meeting season. And I guess you could say there was a good crop of meetings this year :)

From mid-January through mid-April the dust didn't have a chance to settle on my camera and computer bags as I traveled the state, county and even to Canada.

Towards the end of March I began thinking of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz as she said, "There's no place like home." And that's where I am now – grounded. This was both a professional and personal move.

While travel is a part of my position as Midwest and Canadian editor, I do have some other responsibilities and it has been nice to finally put in some office time in, other than cramming in deadline work between trips. The last few weeks have been tremendous in terms of catching up and moving forward.

Personally, it's been nice to put the suitcases back in the closet and spend some time with my family. I've been able to get my house back in order and started tending to the big-project to-do list again. One of which – to get back to blogging!

Windshield time

You know you never seem to miss something until it is gone. I learned that about windshield time this week. For those of you who don't know what windshield time is, it is the amount of time you spend driving a vehicle. I logged five hours of windshield time yesterday and it got me to thinking...

When I left my last job, which included a 30-minute commute, to start my new one where I don't even have to turn on my car most days, I thought this is great! I don't have to be wasting an hour a day, five hours a week or 260 hours a year sitting in my vehicle doing nothing besides getting from point A to point B. My realization yesterday, though, was that the time I spent was more than just sitting in the car. It was valuable time to process my day. To think about what I was going to do at work, what I was going to do when I got home, and what I was going to do about life in general.

Now that my commute is no more than a walk up or down the stairs, I don't get a lot of think time in. Almost instantaneously I'm thrown from my work life into my home life and vice versa. Don't get me wrong, I'll take spending an hour with my family over spending an hour in the car most days, however I think I've been missing time to think - at least that's what I thought of yesterday during my five-hour drive.

During the drive, I recalled all that I accomplished in my regular commute, some of which included planning my wedding and determining the right steps to take upon winning the lottery - a game plan every Powerball player needs because you never know when the lucky moment will strike.

In my drive yesterday I accomplished some big things. I figured out what to get my dad for his birthday, which was very important because his birthday happened to be yesterday. I was then even able to acquire said gift during my travels. I also figured out the cream pie I will take to my family Thanksgiving party. Who knows this could be another Stoughton Fair champion in the works. Lastly I figured out a way to reduce the size of the floor plan in my future home. Not that I'm moving or building anytime soon, it's always a good plan to have in your back pocket.

Hopefully with it being meeting season and all, I'll be able to log a little more windshield time and get the rest of life's troubles sorted out.

Our new 'house' guest

Just today I was thinking I really need to update my blog, but no great ideas were coming to mind. And then, it came to me. Yes, literally came to my back door...in the form of this cute cat.

 

Okay, well she/he is a little squinty, but that's from my camera flash. Really the cat is rather adorable, which says a lot coming from me. I am more a dog person than a cat person.

I must credit my mother with my great ability to care for stray cats. As the keeper of 20 to 30 barn cats, my mom always had a new cat to try to tame, and she usually had a scratch or two to show for it. Yet Mom insisted that every cat on her property needed to learn where the food was and how to run with the pack.

Therefore when this creature was spotted at the back door she/he immediately was treated to a bowl full of turkey followed by a bowl full of milk. 

I then got to thinking about how the cats on the farm always had a comfortable place to be at night and that we couldn't offer such a place. So with the help of my family (who shall remain nameless), we secured a box and blanket and coaxed the cat from the back door around to the shed where hopefully it can curl up and stay warm through the night. 

Another warm place would be in the house, but while I'm on the fence about being a cat person, I definitely know that I am an outdoor animal person. I have enough work to do cleaning up after the creatures that already live in my home that I certainly don't need to add another.

I'm not sure how long this cat will be here, but we'll do our best to provide good food and the bed in a box for as long as it chooses to stay. Maybe it will decide it's not such a bad place and will stick around for awhile. Our mouse population may not like it, but since I really don't like them that's not a problem. Maybe it will decide to travel back to its home, which may be right down the road. That will be okay too since home is the best place for everyone.

Although we aren't terribly attached yet, we have started to work on names. At this point it has been called Lola (that's the name of the daycare lady's dog and what most furry animals are called) and ya-ya (because that's how the little one says meow-meow).

Woolly caterpillars

While taking a walk the other day, four woolly caterpillars crossed my path and I couldn't help but notice how big their brown stripe is this year. Now, that stripe is said to mean something about winter as I recall, but just what had escaped my memory. So I grabbed a quick photo and planned to look it up later.

When doing intense research online, I always start with my good friend Google. I can't recall the first time I met Google, but I know there was an instant connection and we've been pals ever since. Certainly Google has led me astray from time to time and occasionally doesn't have the answer I am looking for, but then again what friend is perfect all of the time. (Once and a while I've tried to befriend Bing, but that relationship is still too new to count on for something as important as woolly caterpillars and the upcoming winter.)

So Google connected me with the greatest information provider of the World Wide Web - yup, that's right, Wikipedia!*

Wikipedia says woolly caterpillars or woolly bears or woolly worms (however you may want to call them) are scientifically known as Arctiidae. (It doesn't provide annunciation so neither will I.)

It also tells me that the winter folklore I was referring to above is that these caterpillars have the ability to predict the weather, similar to that of the groundhog. (Now don't get me started on groundhogs and winter - Did you know they hibernate? I learned that the hard way! Anyways that's a story for another day.) As I recalled the severity of the upcoming winter may be indicated by the amount of black on the caterpillar. More brown than black means a fair winter, but more black than brown means a harsh winter.

So here's what I saw...

...looks like we're in for a harsh winter.

That's what people tell me they've read in the Farmer's Almanac, too. I better go out and buy an extra pair of gloves!


*As a journalist I feel it is my right to declare that while Wikipedia hits it right on from time to time, it should not be trusted as fully researched and factual information in all that it provides - much like the entire Internet system. Know your sources before you believe everything you hear or read!

Question of the day

You may have noticed a new tab on my blog called "Question of the Day." It is something new we are starting in my family and I thought it might be of use to all of you.

We were talking this weekend about how easy it is for our thoughts to be consumed by the struggles of our daily lives. And then after you spend all day thinking about them it seems to be all that is talked about in the evening too.

So I came up with this idea to challenge our spare time thinking during the day and help spur evening conversation. Each morning a Question of the Day will be announced. Answers are to be thought up throughout the day and then talked about over dinner (or another time if family dinner isn't possible that evening).

I plan to post the question each morning on the blog page and send it to my Twitter account. My personal Facebook friends and family can also see it there. Feel free to add your answers by commenting in any location of your preference (the blog page, Facebook or Twitter).

Note: Questions will only be posted Monday through Friday as the weekend is not meant for lots of thinking. There will probably be no new questions for all major holidays as well.