Jerry Apps

Weblog for author, Jerry Apps.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Smell of Oak Smoke

Oak smoke once again trickles from the chimney of the wood stove at the old farm. A reminder of fall and winter soon to come. A tantalizing smell that brings back memories of when we heated our drafty farm house with wood stoves, one in the kitchen and one in the dining room. Memories of making wood. Sawing down huge old dead oaks in the woodlot back of the farmstead with a two-man crosscut saw for there were no chainsaws in those days. Hauling the limbs and tree trunks to the farmstead and piling them. Hard work. Dangerous work.

And then inviting the neighbors for a wood sawing bee when a power-driven circle saw sliced the limbs and trunks into blocks of wood of a manageable size. A reminder of threshing, silo filling and corn shredding when the neighbors helped each other. But the work was not done when the neighbors left, for the blocks of wood had to be split into pieces that would fit in the kitchen stove, in the dining room heater, in the pump house stove, and in the potato cellar wood burner that kept our potato crop from freezing.

Today, I enjoy cutting wood, even doing some of the splitting. Mostly because it is my choice to do it. And because I enjoy the smell of oak smoke on a chilly fall morning when the sun is just peaking above the horizon and white frost covers everything.

The Old Timer says: Take time to smell the oak smoke. It is a mysterious smell filled with memories of an earlier day.

Upcoming Events:

October 27, 7:00 PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 28, 1:30 PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 30, 2:30-3:45 PM WEAC Teacher Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

November 1, 10:00-2:00 PM Land Genealogy Workshop. Wisconsin Historical Society
Museum, Capitol Square, Madison. How to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land. (See below for details)

November 5, 5-7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble, Green Bay. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.

November 7-9, National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville Iowa. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.
November 7, 6-9 pm
November 8, 9-6 pm
November 9, 9-2 pm

Land Genealogy Workshop
November 1, 2008, 10 am-2pm. Check in begins at 9:30.

Contact InfoE-mail: museum@
wisconsinhistory.org
Phone: 608-264-6555
Fax: 608-264-6575 Registration Deadline 10/25/2008
Ticket Info: Cost is $45 for Wisconsin Historical Society members, $50 for non-members.
Jerry Apps, author of Old Farm: A History, reveals how to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land, including its geology and discovering who lived there over time. Participants will receive a copy of the book, and lunch will be provided.

Location: Wisconsin Historical Museum, 30 North Carroll Street, Madison.

Labels:

Monday, October 20, 2008

Family Celebration

We celebrated my brother Donald and his wife, Marcie’s 50th wedding anniversary this past weekend, near Tomahawk in Wisconsin’s North Woods. A wonderful weekend of story-telling, reminiscing, roasting and toasting. All of us wondering how it was that 50 years slipped by, so quickly, so very quickly. A reminder of how important each day is, no matter what the challenges, problems and other disturbances that pop up in front of us.

The Old Timer Says: Never forget. Family comes first, no matter how important everything else may seem at the moment.

Up Coming Events:

October 21, 6:30 PM Prairie du Sac Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 23, 6-8PM. Conkey’s Bookstore, Appleton. Book Signing. Featuring Old Farm

OCTOBER 25, 1:00 PM. PATTERSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WILD ROSE.
CENTRAL WISCONSIN LAUNCH OF OLD FARM. PRESENTATION AND SIGNING.

October 27, 7:00PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 28, 1:30PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 30, 2:45-4:00PM WEAC Teacher’s Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

November 1, 10:00-2:00 Land Genealogy Workshop. Wisconsin Historical Society

Museum, Capitol Square, Madison. How to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land. (See below for details)

November 5, 5-7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble, Green Bay. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.

November 7-9, National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville Iowa. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.
November 7, 6-9 pm
November 8, 9-6 pm
November 9, 9-2 pm


Land Genealogy Workshop
November 1, 2008, 10 am-2pm. Check in begins at 9:30.

Contact InfoE-mail: museum@
wisconsinhistory.org
Phone: 608-264-6555
Fax: 608-264-6575 Registration Deadline 10/25/2008
Ticket Info: Cost is $45 for Wisconsin Historical Society members, $50 for non-members.
Jerry Apps, author of Old Farm: A History, reveals how to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land, including its geology and discovering who lived there over time. Participants will receive a copy of the book, and lunch will be provided.

Location: Wisconsin Historical Museum, 30 North Carroll Street, Madison.

Labels:

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Geese Migrating

The Canada Geese are on the move again. I saw several flocks yesterday. Flying high in long, sometimes ragged Vs. Calling loudly as they flew from north to south. Telling us the seasons are changing and that fall is fading and winter is near.

I remember as a kid standing with my dad out back of the barn on a cool late fall afternoon, watching the geese high overhead, impressed with their strength, their sense of direction, and hearing Pa say: Weather is about to change. Geese know about it first.

And today, so many years later, I still marvel at the migrating geese. Each time I see a high flying flock, I relax a bit, for at least one thing is still right with the world. The seasons are changing and the geese know it.

The Old Timer says: When you hear the flocks of migrating Canada geese, look upward. See the grace and beauty, cooperation and respect.

Upcoming Events:

October 14, 6:00PM, Kewaskum Public Library, Presentation and signing. Featuring Old
Farm

October 15, 11:45-12:30PM Larry Meiller show, Wisconsin Public Radio

October 16, 7-8:30PM Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison. Panel
Discussion: A half-century of change in rural Wisconsin.

October 19, 12:00-1:30. Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison.
Presentation, “For the Love of a Farm.”

October 21, 6:30 PM Prairie du Sac Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 23, 6-8PM. Conkey’s Bookstore, Appleton. Book Signing. Featuring Old Farm

OCTOBER 25, 1:00 PM. PATTERSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WILD ROSE.
CENTRAL WISCONSIN LAUNCH OF OLD FARM. PRESENTATION AND SIGNING.

October 27, 7:00PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 28, 1:30PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring Old Farm

October 30, 2:45-4:00PM WEAC Teacher’s Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

November 1, 10:00-2:00 Land Genealogy Workshop. Wisconsin Historical Society
Museum, Capitol Square, Madison. How to conduct a genealogy of a piece of land. For further information: museum@wisconsinhistory.org

November 5, 5-7:00 PM. Barnes and Noble, Green Bay. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.

November 7-9, National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville, Iowa. Book signing. Featuring Old
Farm.
November 7, 6-9 pm
November 8, 9-6 pm
November 9, 9-2 pm

Labels:

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Garden to Bed for Winter

I put my garden to bed for the winter last week, just ahead of the first frost. Took me two days, starting with taking down the fence that kept out the deer and turkeys (well), and the groundhogs and rabbits (not so well).

Then I dug the potatoes (average crop), lifted out the onions (good crop), dug the carrots (best crop in years), picked the last of the tomatoes (average crop), cut down the sweet corn stalks (average crop), picked the pumpkins and squash (terrible crop), dug the beets (lost most of them to critters), cut the cabbage (excellent crop), and pulled out the cucumber and zucchini vines (August dry spell did them in).

When the harvesting was done, I hitched my John Deere tractor to the disk and worked up the patch. Finally, I sowed winter wheat, which grows well in the late fall, stays green all winter and takes off in the spring. A treat for the deer and turkeys I have kept at bay all summer. I will plow down the wheat in the spring and start all over.

The Old Timer says: Remember, in this business of farming, next year will be better.

Upcoming events:

OCTOBER 7, 7:00PM BARNES & NOBLE, West Towne Madison LAUNCH OF OLD FARM

October 9, 6:30PM Barron Public Library, Barron. Presentation and signing.

October 11, 11-2:00PM, Apple Blossom books, Oshkosh. Featuring OLD FARM.

October 12, 2:00-4:00PM, Old World Wisconsin, Eagle. Book signing. “Autumn on the
Farm Celebration.” Featuring OLD FARM.

October 14, 6:00PM, Kewaskum Public Library, Presentation and signing.

October 15, 11:45-12:30PM Larry Meiller show, Wisconsin Public Radio

October 16, 7-8:30PM Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison. Panel
Discussion: A half-century of change in rural Wisconsin.

October 19, 12:00-1:30. Wisconsin Book Festival, Overture Center, Madison.
Presentation, “For the Love of a Farm.”

October 21, 6:30 PM Prairie du Sac Public Library. Presentation and signing.Featuring OLD FARM.

October 23, 6-8PM. Conkey’s Bookstore, Appleton. Book Signing. Featuring OLD FARM.

OCTOBER 25, 1:00 PM. PATTERSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WILD ROSE.
CENTRAL WISCONSIN LAUNCH OF OLD FARM. PRESENTATION AND SIGNING.

October 27, 7:00PM. Schwartz Bookstore, Mequon. Presentation and signing. Featuring OLD FARM.

October 28, 1:30PM Brillion Public Library. Presentation and signing. Featuring OLD FARM.

October 30, 2:45-4:00PM WEAC Teacher’s Convention, Madison. Presentation and signing.

Labels: