A Taste of Life

Lots of family time this week...a kiddie Halloween parade in downtown Oak Park, following a firetruck into the heart of one of the merchant districts...Sunday School...then loads of cooking...cheese blintzes with strawberry raspberry preserves, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, Halloween sugar cookies, Cajun seasoned pumpkin seeds from our Jack-O-Lanterns. (This is the first year the kids could design their own faces.)...Southern fried chicken and rice...star gazing after dark.

We finally found the eye piece so we can separate out clumps of stars into dazzling constellations. The light pollution doesn't allow for much of a look, but it's still pretty dark to the west.

Tonight a domestic break...grilled roasted pepper, cheese panini and (thanks to Costco) crab and corn chowder. A new House on the tube.

Americana to Urban Remix

So I was listening to some Gillian Welch on iTunes and wanted to get a visual, so I found this on YouTube.



But while I was searching, I also found this little treasure. So I'm totally torn between the versions, especially since the Kanye West version on YouTube comes with a great Air Jordan montage.



But that got me thinking of my favorite sports video on YouTube...Almost makes me love the Bears more than the Colts...Almost. No surprise Philly wouldn't kick to Devin Hester.

Coming Together

The latest from urban So.Cal. sis is that the smoke and ash is worse. Rumors -- so far false -- are flying that evacuations may begin for San Diego proper. Whole sections of the freeway near her were shut down today.

Up north a few miles where mom is in Carlsbad, the smoke and ash are thicker still. I'm hearing complaints of sore throats and burning eyes.

I wish they had some way to escape the pollution from the fires.

Yet...sis going to work tomorrow for the first day this week. Younger sis is out of school for at least the rest of the week.

It is heartening to see reports and hear first-hand how so many people are pulling together through this. When I was writing this, a friend from South Carolina sent me a video of the Dixie Chicks singing the national anthem at the 2003 Super Bowl.

The video was on AOL, which s-u-c-k-s. But I found this version on YouTube. A studio version is here. How could fans ever have questioned their patriotism?

Fire Update: Moment of Panic

I had my first moment of panic today when I tried to call my sister and all I got was "network busy" on her land line. I've been careful not to call her on her cell phone, but even the land lines are maxing out, I'm sure with calls from concerned relatives and friends...in addition to all the emergency phone traffic.

The rest of the country finally woke up that this fire is a big deal. I got my first CNN alert today. And 20/20 had a special about the fires. I watched the show until I got disgusted with an over-the-top promo for the next segment on fire tornadoes. I had my fill of "20/20's California Burning."

I'll stick to the dispassionate, but no less colorful coverage from the LA Times, etc.

And, of course, I'll do my own reporting on the family.

Sisters and housemates are fine. They're taking in evacuees and making sure they have water and nonperishables stored. I gave them my "stock up for disaster" speech, with the added urging to save water in case the infrastructure crashes from the crush of evacuees.

So far, their urban area is safe. Just smoke and ash outside. Plus no work or school. None of this can be good for their lungs. And mom has all kinds of breathing problems.

Mom is still OK a few miles up north, though the evacuation line seems to be getting closer, within two miles.

Ring of Fire Closes In

The family in Southern Cal. is staying up late tonight monitoring the raging wildfires.

I can't believe these fires are so out of control. Reports are that Santa Ana winds aren't going to let up for a couple more days. No rain in sight.

My sister says her car was covered in ash this morning. My mom is holed up in her room, windows shut and the air filtration system running. Neither of them has AC. And it's unseasonably hot and extremely dry.

Hundreds of thousands have already evacuated and mom and sis report the store shelves are bare of drinking water.

I haven't seen too much in the way of ag impact reports, other than scattered farms and ranches that initially thought they were spared, but later had to evacuate.

Going Out (Back) For Breakfast

Got news today that the hens at the farm are finally laying enough to feed the family and to take a dozen on to neighbors.

It's a bit of an egg hunt because they aren't in their nesting boxes yet. Dad's still making room for them in the barn.

But I'm looking forward to farm-fresh eggs when we visit next. I'm especially looking forward to the kids doing the egg hunting.

I loved that treasure hunt when I was a kid...reaching inside nesting boxes, shooing hens away to gather the warm brown and speckled eggs. The ducks I cared for didn't have nesting boxes, so I had to hunt for their eggs.

The Hoosier Outsider photo is of the portable pen at the farm. The idea is to make it easier for grass feeding.

I'm still eager to see if we can get some guineas...though they sound like they can be pretty noisy. New Mexico Farmgirl Thea shared her experiences recently in this old post.

Fall. Summer. Which is it?

Homemade pumpkin pie, cooling on a rack, is all the air freshener we need in this house.

That with all the Halloween decorations and leaves yellowing in the tree and crunching under foot make it look and sound like fall...but the hot, humid weather the past few days feels like summer.

I'm not in a hurry for the frigid cold. But these weird weather patterns...and news that Georgia may be dry -- no more drinking water -- in less than three months has me worried about what's to come.

Rainbow in the City

We had an absolute downpour yesterday, starting with a brief shower of hail. Surreal. I could see sun on the horizon out my window through the rain.

Then I got an email from my husband who was heading into the Windy City to pick me up.

This photo of the rainbow reaching for the Sears Tower was taken on an iPhone and emailed to me while he was driving into the city on 290.

Blind Widow Could Lose Land Over $38 Tax Bill

Illinois Farmgirl Virginia A. Juenger may lose her farm because of a $38 tax bill? That's what the headline says in the Belleville News-Democrat.

The 89-year-old blind widow apparently never got notice that she was in arrears by $38. Nor did she get notice that her $100,000 property - 35 acres farmed by a tenant farmer in St. Clair County - was sold in a tax sale for a fraction of its worth.

Pretty suspicious...to say the least. Not even the tenant farmer was notified. How hard would it have been to find Mrs. Juenger, who has lived in the area for years.

Getting Your Goat From Hoosier Farmer

Thanks much to the Indianapolis Star for this story about Indiana farmer Tom Prince and how his goat slaughter biz is booming because he caters to the cultural diversity that increasingly surrounds him.

Prince operates a self-service slaughterhouse in Hazelwood, Ind. His word-of-mouth operation draws Hoosiers who have come to the U.S. from Islamic countries but hunger for food sources that will help them stay true to their religious food preparation requirements.

Prince also is seeing an increase in business because there is a growing interest in goat meat, manely because of an influx of immigrants.

The Star notes in a sidebar that goat meat - chevron or cabrito - is the most widely consumed meat in the world.

For recipes check out Farmgirl Tamara Burton's Dancing Creek Farm site.

Memory Lane

My aunt sent me some pix of the old barn, since torn down, an empty lot in its place.

This photo was taken in the '70s. Back then, the barn was still in good enough shape for me to climb around the lofts, chasing after and herding kitten litters that the feral cats would try to hide.

My goal and mandate - from my grandmother - was to find the litters and tame the cats. I'm not sure what the purpose, except that it kept me entertained a good part of the summer.

Visions of Harvest

Just in this week, a photo of a previously overgrown pathway that's being cleared. In the background? We're told some 40 bushels/acre of soybeans!

Farmers Are Pushing Alpacas on the Masses

I was out shopping over the weekend and saw my first sweater made with alpaca fleece on a regular department store sales rack, not some fancy boutique. Still not made in the U.S., but it made me wonder how American farmgirls are faring as they continue to push for greater use of alpaca fleece in clothing.

Then voila...this story at phillyburbs.com about Farmgirl Katherine Thompson, a one-time MBA candidate who is using the surge in interest in alpacas to keep up her family's historic (1820s) Fenwick Manor Farm.

The article notes that Thompson chose alpacas because they can be profitable are "relatively easy and would have a relatively low impact on the land."

The reporter visited the farm because the weekend was a chance for farmers in South Jersey and Pennsylvania to engage the public during National Alpaca Farm Day.

The idea is to continue to promote alpaca farming and fleece to create a market. I'm already sold on the fleece, especially if we can support local weavers. Now...will I invest in a $16,000 alpaca to start a herd. I'm not quite that sold.