Michael Perry's Blog, page 57

Michael Perry: No better remedy for sentimentality than what the future may hold

Every week the Wisconsin State Journal runs “Roughneck Grace,” a weekly column written by Mike (many of the columns will be adapted from Mike’s Tent Show Radio monologues). This week’s column ‘Michael Perry: No better remedy for sentimentality than what the future may hold‘ can be seen online here.

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Thanks to the Electric Cooperative Crew

This essay originally appeared as a “Roughneck Grace” column in the Wisconsin State Journal. More columns here.

The local electric cooperative did us a big favor this week, removing the overhead lines that run from our house down through a steep wooded ravine and replacing them with buried cables. I doubt this was the biggest project of their year, but it was big to us, and we sure appreciate it.

I don’t know what the cooperative records would show, but on average over the fourteen years we’ve lived here it seems the power has gone out a couple times each of those years, and more often than not the trouble can be traced to the lines running that ravine. A branch separates from a storm-whipped tree, and off go the lights.

When you plug in the toaster at our house you are tapping the terminal end of the line, juice-wise. There are no other homes down hooked in beyond ours. This meant whenever the power did go out, we had to call, because it could be just us. I always feel bad calling because I assume the crews are already being bombarded and we know they’ll get to us as soon as they can, but if it’s just us in the dark, how will they know?

Just now as I’m writing this I realize it’s no longer 1969 and the co-op probably knows the power is off before we touch the phone.

Last year I decided it was time to buy a generator in case one of these outages lasted longer than usual. (You will note it took me over a decade to draw this conclusion—draw your own conclusions.) There was, as the saying goes, “some assembly required.” I strategically situated the box in the garage so I’d have to look at it every time I got in the van and be reminded to conduct said assembly.

Which is to say when the power went out three months later I knew exactly where to find the box and start assembling like sixty because there was about an hour of daylight left before I’d be working with a flashlight in my teeth.

At the very cusp of dusk I tightened the last nut, topped the tank, and yanked the starter cord. The generator came to life, and my daughter—who had been handing me wrenches—tapped me excitedly on the shoulder. “Neat, right?” I said, as usual unduly proud of the simplest mechanic achievement. Then I noticed she was pointing toward the house, which was glowing with incandescent light. The power was back on. She giggled at my impeccable timing, and I joined her.

With the new wires tucked safely into the dirt, we shouldn’t need that generator as often as anticipated. And that’s just fine. My wife and I stopped down to thank the crew and tell them we appreciated what they were doing. “We appreciate it,” said one of the hard hats, chuckling and nodding toward the ravine they’d come to know all too well over the years, usually during the most inclement of conditions. “Every time your address popped up, we knew what we were in for.” Now everyone chuckled and nodded, and for just a moment in this tangled world two perspectives converged, and if I’m making a big deal out of a little deal, I feel the same when I flip a switch and light pours forth.

Michael Perry grew up on a northwestern Wisconsin farm with a Willie Wiredhand sign at the end of the driveway.

For more about Mike’s books and recordings, click here. For his bio, click here.

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Michael Perry: There’s a light at the end of the electrical grid

Every week the Wisconsin State Journal runs “Roughneck Grace,” a weekly column written by Mike (many of the columns will be adapted from Mike’s Tent Show Radio monologues). This week’s column ‘Michael Perry: There’s a light at the end of the electrical grid‘ can be seen online here.

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Voice Mail Episode #47 [NO SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED] “Writer’s Block”

Send your question to: voicemail@sneezingcow.com

This episode free to subscribers and non-subscribers alike.

Welcome to the first “Ask Mike” episode of Michael Perry’s Voice Mail. Plan is to do one or two of these a month in addition to Mike’s weekly “Roughneck Rewind” and “Roughneck Reflection.” Most “Ask Mike” episodes will go out as a thank you to paid subscribers, but we’re releasing this first one into the wild to help spread the word.

Are you a subscriber with a question you’d like to ask Mike? If so, please record it on your phone or computer and email it to voicemail@sneezingcow.com. Please keep the question under a minute. You can also submit a question in writing via that email address; we just think it would be fun for folks to hear your voice—we’ll keep it anonymous, although if you want to say “This is [first name] from [place], and my question is…” we’d enjoy that too.

A couple of times per month Mike will take one of these questions and answer it in real time—in other words, without studying or prepping, just as he would if he were doing a live event. Unvarnished, unsmooth, and likely filled with tangents.

Thank you, we’re off to a great start!

The Sneezing Cow crew

Listen here.

Info on how to subscribe to Michael Perry’s Voice Mail here.

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Population 485 on the List

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The one at #14 looks real familiar. Thank to everyone who’s read or shared Population 485 over the years. It was a privilege to write it, and to be of and from Nobbern.

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Michael Perry: You load 15 bales and what do you get? A nice, little distraction from work

Every week the Wisconsin State Journal runs “Roughneck Grace,” a weekly column written by Mike (many of the columns will be adapted from Mike’s Tent Show Radio monologues). This week’s column ‘Michael Perry: You load 15 bales and what do you get? A nice, little distraction from work‘ can be seen online here.

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New and Improved Michael Perry and the Long Beds bundle

Howdy Folks:

We added Long Road To You to the Michael Perry and the Long Beds bundle for $28, saving $14 (33% discount). This bundle also includes Bootlegged at the Big Top, Tiny Pilot, and Headwinded, and Long Road To You.

 

You can grab your bundle here.

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Voice Mail Episode #45 [NO SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED] “The Way The Story Goes”

This might have been my father’s first cow. It might be named Aggie. I might be wrong. I gotta check with the rest of the family first.

This episode free to subscribers and non-subscribers alike.

Included in today’s installment: The one about the farmer who got kicked by a dead cow. In the Roughneck Reflection Mike reveals how his brother told him he’d been telling the story wrong for years, and how—even when we have no interest in spreading disinformation—we can still wander off the path. And how we’re all looking for the spot where our stories overlap. (We do agree the dead cow kicked the very much alive man.)

“The Way the Story Goes” is from Mike’s book Roughneck Grace available in print and ebook here. He also told the dead cow story in From The Top, available in print, ebook, and audiobook here. The general store for everything else from Sneezing Cow can koozies to the original Sneezing Cow T-shirt is here.

We also have two new DVDs available.

Listen here.

Info on how to subscribe to Michael Perry’s Voice Mail here.

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Michael Perry: We’re about to send people to Mars, but still lock ourselves out of cars

Every week the Wisconsin State Journal runs “Roughneck Grace,” a weekly column written by Mike (many of the columns will be adapted from Mike’s Tent Show Radio monologues). This week’s column ‘Michael Perry: We’re about to send people to Mars, but still lock ourselves out of cars‘ can be seen online here.

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Michael Perry: Just when we emerge from the shell, the cruelty of April reveals itself

Every week the Wisconsin State Journal runs “Roughneck Grace,” a weekly column written by Mike (many of the columns will be adapted from Mike’s Tent Show Radio monologues). This week’s column ‘Michael Perry: Just when we emerge from the shell, the cruelty of April reveals itself‘ can be seen online here.

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