Jerry Apps's Blog, page 12

Laughter Helps During Tough Times

Image from free Clipart.

During these difficult times, I remember the humor and laughter on the farm when I was a kid. Humor was a way of making a bad situation better, of finding something good in something that was awful. Of evoking laughter in a situation that was often filled with tears. Stories about a farmstead fire, a charging mad bull, or a tipped over pickup truck. Stories about minor and sometimes not so minor injuries caused by poor judgment or lack of knowledge.

Rural humor included practical jokes ranging from smearing Limburger cheese on the muffle of a newlyweds’ car, to stuffing rocks in a grain sack so that the fellow carrying the grain from the threshing machine to granary walked with a staggering gait and a look that said, “I’ve never carried such heavy grain.”

Humor allowed country people to live through the tough times, when the rains didn’t come and the crops dried up, when a friend or relative died, when milk prices fell, when someone in the family was injured. Country humor was homemade; it was of the people. It was humor that came from the land. And although it may have evoked a belly laugh or sometimes only a chuckle, it cheered people up. For country people, good weather nourished their crops; humor nourished their souls.

I’m reminded of the story about the fellow driving along who spotted a sign that read: “Boat for sale.” Behind the sign were a lawnmower and a wheelbarrow. The fellow stopped, interested in buying a boat.

“Saw your sign,” the fellow said, “but all I see is a wheelbarrow and a lawnmower.”

“Yup,” the man standing by the sign said, “And they’re boat for sale.”

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A good laugh is often the best medicine.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Wednesday, May 20, 10:00 a.m. On your computer go to Wisconsin Historical Society Press Storytime Live.. I will be reading from my children’s book, “Stormy.” A true story about my 4-H calf when I was 12 years old.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books, including Stormy, are available at your local bookstore or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

Early Garden Planting

Natasha planting onion sets. Photo by Jerry apps

During these days when the world seems upside down and tomorrow remains a mystery, many people are turning to gardening. So many that when I tried to buy some additional seeds this past week, the two garden catalogs that I regularly ordered from had the words “Out of stock” alongside many popular vegetable seeds.

As many of you know, I am a long-time vegetable gardener, learning from my mother way back during the Depression years when we depended on our big garden for the food on our table. Both my mother and dad were excellent gardeners, and both loved doing it.

Last weekend we planted the early crops for our three-family garden at Roshara, our Waushara County farm. For those interested, we planted nine rows of potatoes (five of Kennebec, and four Pontiac Red). Two short rows of lettuce, one short row of kale, one row of carrots, one short row of radishes, a row of rutabagas, and a short row of beets.

Memorial Day weekend we will plant green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, winter squash, gourds, sweet corn, and sunflowers. We’ll set out the tomato plants that I have been nursing inside under a grow light, plus we’ll set out some broccoli and cabbage plants. We’ll also find some room for zinnias, which seem to do well in our garden. One of Pa’s mantras was, every vegetable garden needs a little special beauty.

I’ll share a progress report as the season goes along—no two seasons are ever alike.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: One way to avoid food shortages is to grow your own.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books are available at your local bookstore or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

Opening Day of Fishing Season

A younger Jerry with his daughter Sue and recently caught trout.

When I was a kid, outside of Christmas, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, two equally important events were the opening day of deer season in the fall, and the first day of fishing season in May.

Our fishing equipment consisted of a 14-foot long cane pole, some heavy green fish line, a red and white bobber, and a hook. All were available from Hotz’s Hardware in Wild Rose.
On the opening day of fishing season, when I was maybe 12 years old, my dad, brothers, and I would gather up the cane poles that we stored under the eaves of the corncrib. Then we’d dig some earthworms from a place back of the chicken house where we’d always found plenty of them, put them in a tin can, tie the cane poles across the top of the old black Plymouth and drive to Norwegian Lake.

We’d stop at Anderson’s farm, bordering the lake, and rent a wooden boat from them. One dollar rental fee. We’d spend a couple of hours tossing out our lines and hauling in big bluegills—the fish that Pa prized above all others. And that evening, we ate pan-fried blue gills—what a treat.

As I got older the tradition continued, except I moved from a long cane pole to one of those fancy fishing rods that had a reel and fish-line about the size of a single strand of a spider web. I also got interested in trout fishing—so opening day was on the Pine River, or more often, at the Wild Rose Mill Pond.

Great family memories.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: One way to put aside your troubles is to go fishing.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books are available at your local bookstore or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

Small Space Gardening

Photo by Jerry Apps.

Don’t have enough room for a vegetable garden? Too old to garden? I’ve heard these comments many times over the years. Let me begin by saying, you are never too old to garden. My father was gardening when he was 92, and never once did I hear him say he was too old to do it. And you don’t need a lot of space for a garden.

An example that I have in my backyard is pictured above and it is four feet, by eight feet. It is also a raised garden so I don’t have to bend over to tend it and harvest the vegetables. My son-in-law, Paul built it. It’s about four feet high, with a three-foot fence on top to keep out the pesky rabbits. Once the framework was up, we put a layer of gravel on the bottom and then filled the space with soil from my compost pile, along with a few bags of topsoil.

So far this spring, I have planted radishes, lettuce, and peas. When it warms up, I’ll plant beans close to the fence so they can climb it, and likewise, I’ll plant cucumbers that can climb the fence. I may even sneak in a couple of zucchini plants, plant a few beets, and a few onions. There are no rows, although I tend to keep the various vegetables separated from each other. I’ll keep you posted as to how my little garden does this summer.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Remember the Victory gardens from WWII? A garden need not take up much space.

UPCOMING EVENTS;

April 30, 11:45-12:30, Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.
Read about my gardening adventures in GARDEN WISDOM, (Wisconsin Historical Society Press).
It is available from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. Or visit your local bookstore.

Remembering Earth Day: April 22

This book by Sheila Terman Cohen is a brief biography of Gaylord Nelson.

With all the bad news, I remember what happened 50 years ago that for me was uplifting and forward-looking. The year was 1970. The previous fall I had written my first book, THE LAND STILL LIVES, and my publisher and I asked Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin U.S. Senator at the time, to write a foreword to my book, which he graciously did. (The LAND STILL LIVES has recently been re-published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.)

I was teaching at the UW-Madison at the time. I was in the audience on the evening of April 21. 1970 when Senator Nelson introduced the idea of Earth Day, which would be celebrated on April 22. The gathering was at the Stock Pavilion on the Ag. Campus—and it was packed with people.

Here is a bit of what he wrote in the introduction to my book: “Today, the crisis of our environment is the biggest challenge facing mankind. To meet it will call for reshaping our values, to quality on a par with quantity as a goal of American Life.

“It will require sweeping changes in our institutions, national standards for goods we produce, a humanizing of our technology, and close attention to the problem of our expanding population.

“Most of all it will require that people assert their right to a decent environment that they evolve an ecological ethic of understanding and respect for the bonds between people and their planet.

This is what Senator Nelson said 50 years ago, and can be said today.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:. Sometimes it’s important to be reminded of something that happened a long time ago, which is still vitally important today.

Both THE LAND STILL LIVES and GAYLORD NELSON: CHAMPION FOR OUR EARTH are available from your local booksellers.

Gardening, A Happier Thought

My 2019 garden in mid-season. Photo by Jerry Apps

As the bad news continues and the number of those captured by the COVID-19 virus goes up and the number employed goes down, it’s easy to feel nothing but gloom and doom.
I’m switching to happier thoughts and our family garden quickly comes to mind. I remember helping my mother in our big farm garden back when I was maybe four or five years old and I have worked in a garden almost every year since. About the only time when I missed gardening was the time when I was in the army. We’ve grown a vegetable garden at Roshara, our Waushara County farm for more than 50 years—never missing a year.

A couple of years ago, my kids gave me a special folding lawn chair, with the words on the back “Senior Supervisor.” Steve and Natasha have taken on most of the work, enlisting Sue and Paul on occasion, especially during the times when the weeds seem to be winning.

I planted tomato seeds a couple of weeks ago and they are up and thriving under my grow-light. I ordered seeds back in February, and yesterday I spread them out on the dining room table—radishes, peas, rutabagas, lettuce, kale, sweet corn, zucchini, beets, winter squash, pumpkins, carrots, bush beans. Natasha has been rounding up seed potatoes, both white and red, plus onion sets. I will buy cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprout plants for setting out.

So we are ready for another gardening season with all of its challenges and surprises—every garden season is different, which is one of the joys of growing a garden.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Not only does a garden provide fresh vegetables for the table, but it also nourishes the soul.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 15, 10:00 a.m. I will be reading from my book TENTS, TIGERS AND THE RINGLING BROTHERS live on the Wisconsin Historical Society Press’s Facebook page. Tune in.
You can also go to the Wisconsin Historical Society Press’s Facebook page and see me reading my children’s picture book EAT RUTABAGAS, which was aired on March 25.

.WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

Read about my gardening adventures in GARDEN WISDOM, (Wisconsin Historical Society Press).

It is available from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. Or call your local bookstore.

Remembering Good Times

Remembering the good times. Photo by Jerry Apps

During these difficult times, when companies and people are divided into essential and nonessential, when we are ordered to stay home, except for grocery runs, when the TV news is bad news, from beginning to end, when some dairy farmers are asked to dump their milk, it is easy to fall into a deep funk.

What I’ve been doing lately is keep up with the news, but then I try to think brighter thoughts. On these warming days in April, my mind goes back to when I was 14 or 15 years old, sitting on our Farmall H tractor pulling a tandem disk and smoothing a 20-field that will become our oat field. I can smell the newly turned soil, I see birds flitting in the fence rows, and even scare up a rabbit or two as I make my way back and forth across the field, the warm sun on my back and a feeling of accomplishment as the winter-weary field is once more brought alive.

I think of my family and the good times we have together, especially when we gather for a week each year at a lake near Waupaca. Not different from many families these days, one grandson is in San Diego, another in Gunnison, Colorado, one in Boulder, Colorado, one in Denver. A son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter in Avon Colorado, great grandboys and their parents in Minneapolis, two kids, and their spouses live in Madison. What a wonderful time we have when we are all together.

These are some of my thoughts today—they help me keep going when the road ahead is foggy and more than a little frightening.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: During cloudy days, think of those that were sunny.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 15, 10:00 a.m. I will be reading from my book TENTS, TIGERS AND THE RINGLING BROTHERS live on the Wisconsin Historical Society Press’s Facebook page. Tune in.
You can also go to the Wisconsin Historical Society Press’s Facebook page and see me reading my children’s picture book EAT RUTABAGAS, which was aired on March 25.

.WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.
Read about life on the farm in my book EVERY FARM TELLS A STORY..(Wisconsin Historical Society Press).
It is available from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. Or visit your local bookstore.

A Suggestion

Jerry standing by the old mill in Wild Rose. NPR Photo.

I have a suggestion. Something you could do in these troubled times when a huge part of the population is at home, young and old, as most businesses, schools, colleges, churches, restaurants—almost everything is closed. Try writing in a journal.

I began writing in a journal more than 50 years, ago, not every day, but several times each week. It is in my journal that I write down the good and the bad that is going on in my life. For me it serves several purposes—when something is bothering me, I write it down. When something good happens, I write that down, too. The writing not only establishes a historical record—it is fun to look back at what was happening years ago. Once I have written about it, especially the bad things, I feel better. It is if I have moved my troubles and concern’s from me to the pages of my journal.

Here is some of what I wrote in my journal this morning:

“On my early morning walk, I was reminded of the song, ‘The Sound of Silence,’ a popular Simon and Garfunkel song. I hear no background traffic sound, no roaring cars and trucks, only a crow announcing the coming of the sunrise, and a spring robin singing its cheerful song. In this troubled and challenging time, I remember my father’s hopeful words, ‘Tomorrow will be a better day, and next year will be a better year.’”

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Never forget the power of hope.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 15, 10:00 a.m. I will be reading from my book TENTS, TIGERS AND THE RINGLING BROTHERS live on the Wisconsin Historical Society Press’s Facebook page. Tune in.
You can also go to the Wisconsin Historical Society Press’s Facebook page and see me reading my children’s picture book EAT RUTABAGAS, which was aired on March 25.

.WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

Read about life on the farm in my book EVERY FARM TELLS A STORY..(Wisconsin Historical Society Press).
It is available from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you travel to the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. Or visit your local bookstore.



.

Spring has Sprung

Z Zinnia. Photo by Jerry Apps

Spring has sprung,
The grass is green.
I wonder where the flowers iz.

I remember those words from my childhood. After a long winter on the farm, oh, how we looked forward to spring. Spring was a time for hope and anticipation. A time for green grass and spring flowers. A time to put behind us the challenges of winter and enjoy sunny days and warm breezes.

Spring at my country school meant the start of the softball season. With the snow gone, we once more found the softball and the bat—we had only one of each—and began practice in our special softball diamond back of the woodshed. The bases made it special and different from other softball diamonds. First base was a box elder tree, second base was a black oak tree, and third base was a white oak tree. Home plate was a sandy place where the grass didn’t grow. Need I say that no one slid into a base.

The neighboring country schools also played softball; none of us could afford the special gloves worn by baseball players. Softball was strictly a barehanded game in those days.
Softball teams that came to our school to play complained loudly when they saw our diamond. “We can’t play ball in the woods,” they would shout. But they did, and they usually lost because their balls hit high often got caught in a tree.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Spring is a time for hope; a time to leave our troubles behind and enjoy the new season.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

(Cancelled)Saturday, March 21, 1:30, Columbus Community Center, Columbus, WI Sponsored by Columbus Public Library and Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

(Cancelled) Saturday, April 11, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Speaking at 3:00) Middleton Library.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

Read about softball at the country school in my book, ONE ROOM COUNTRY SCHOOLS (Wisconsin Historical Society Press).

It is available from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you travel to the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. Or visit your local bookstore.

A Challenging Time

Speaking at Patterson Library in Wild Rose. Photo Waushara Argus.

Coronavirus. On the news every day, all day. Cancellations, lots of cancellations. No sports events. No state girls or boys basketball champs this year. No national “March Madness.” University face-to-face classes canceled. No visits to Disneyland or Disneyworld.

For me, speaking at Columbus Community Center, March 21, canceled. Speaking at Middleton Library, April 11, canceled. Speaking at Wild Rose High School, April 19, canceled.

New language developing: “Social distancing,” staying at least three feet away from other people. “Elbow bumping,” replacing a handshake by bumping your elbow with a person as a way of greeting. Stay at home. Avoid large groups. Wash your hands. Lots of fear and concern. What will be next?

The Coronavirus reminds me of the late 1940s when polio was on the rampage across the country, with hundreds of cases here in Wisconsin. I was one of them. County fairs canceled. Fourth of July celebrations canceled. Swimming pools closed. Polio mostly affected kids, crippling many of them for life. Killing too many of them. Polio vaccination became available in 1955, stopping the spread of the dreaded disease in its tracks. But no vaccine is yet available for this new quickly spreading virus, which causes most casualties with older people.

With all the worry and dashed plans, some good things are happening. The snow is melting, the days are longer, the robins are back, and the cardinals are singing their hearts out as the sun climbs over the horizon each morning welcoming a new day.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Time to take a walk in the woods.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

(Cancelled)Saturday, March 21, 1:30, Columbus Community Center, Columbus, WI Sponsored by Columbus Public Library and Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

(Cancelled) Saturday, April 11, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Speaking at 3:00) Middleton Library.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

Read about farm life in an earlier day in my book, Every Farm Tells a Story. (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
It is available from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org