Michael Perry's Blog, page 376
September 15, 2010
Umm, You're Gonna Need a Carpenter
After 20-plus years answering fire and EMS calls, one is frequently able to develop a fairly realistic and sometimes entertaining idea of what is going on at a scene even if one's boots aren't on the ground and the information is minimal. For instance, when the pager went off this morning and the dispatcher said an alarm company was reporting that an individual had triggered their medical alert button and was now not responding to phone calls, I knew that A) more often than not, these...
September 13, 2010
It Is Coming
Warm and sunny, but the wind through the trees and cornstalks yields a more papery sound, and there are birch leaves on the drive…
It Ain't All 3-Chord Swamp-Stomp 'Round Here
Local Chippewa Valley guy Geoffrey Keezer is a Grammy-nominated pianist and composer. It was neat to get a Tweet from him the other day as he traveled through San Diego. I talk about being on the road, but this guy is on the road!
September 11, 2010
September 10, 2010
Our Own Little Typhoid Mary
The youngest brought home strep. Then the oldest had a sore throat. Then Mom got a sore throat, cough, head and ear congestion. Now Dad (who rarely catches stuff) is hacking and swallowing with grand pained drama.
And last night, while we grownups slumped around trying to get the kids off to bed, I looked at the one who started it all (now healthy and happy as you please and hippety-skipping around the house yodeling happy songs at the top of her lungs) and I thought, "You…you…you…"
September 8, 2010
Pictures from France
I've done several posts about the 2009 Red Power Parade (perhaps because I got to be grand marshal of a parade consisting of nothing but International Harvesters…surely a Top Ten country boy moment) (as a result of this book), and here's another one inspired by an email I just received from Jean Cointe, an International Harvester dealer and aficionado from France. Seems Jean was clearing out his digital camera and found these two photos:
Fearless leader "Other Mike" reviews the parade route.
Y...
Chickens into Chicken
Loaded up the "meats" and took them to the processor yesterday. "Processor" as in a woman in rural Wisconsin with a team of local folks in a small shed. 48 chickens in one end and out the other in a matter of minutes, slick as a whistle. If the Big Decline ever dictates that we do the butchering on our own, can do and have done, but for now I rather prefer the local micro-economy. I was back home by 1:30 p.m. and we had everything chopped, bagged/sealed, and in the freezer in time to put ...
September 7, 2010
Kale Chips
My wife's been putting fresh kale on a cookie sheet, drizzling it with olive oil, sprinkling it with sea salt, and then putting in the oven for about ten minutes at 425, and man, what comes out actually tastes like a snack. Takes some tweaking to get the timing/temperature just right, but worth it.
I mean, it ain't potato chips, but it's pretty dang good.
Plus that kale will grow right through those first few snowfalls…
September 4, 2010
When She Was a Baby
Unexpectedly heard "Brotherhood of Man" by Innocence Mission today and – as always – it broke me up with its beauty and its ties to the day I held our newborn daughter on my lap (Coop, page 181).
September 3, 2010
Leaving the Peloton
A long time ago I raced bicycles. I was mildly mediocre. I actually cut back on bike racing so I could devote more time to this new thing I was trying: writing. Go figure. Anyhoo, been years since I hammered off the front in a criterium or shaved my legs (that's a whole 'nother post). Mostly I crashed. Once while winning a race I ran straight into a bridge abutment. If you're ever in Spring Street Sports, be sure to ask if you can view the Pave' Award that has my name on it. Pave' is ...
