Notes From the Farm #1:

On Nov 15, 2:59*pm, Giles wrote:
On Nov 15, 1:11*pm, DaveS wrote:

Well it looks like your move progresses.

The actual move is now complete. *All that remains is the trifling
matter of entirely reorganizing a life along hitherto unimagined
lines. *But, I bought a new chainsaw today.....the rest should be easy
enough.

Keep posting this stuff, it
is good for the soul.

The posting is good enough for one soul, one which has already
received a considerable boost from the change that inspired it. *If it
does another any good, so much the better.

I was told years ago that taking care of trees
and repairing the land is what men are supposed to do in later life.

I know I've posted it here before, but it bears repeating. *There is
an old Greek proverb that says a society grows great when its old men
plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in. *The old
Greeks never understood women.....undoubtedly never cared to.....but
it may safely be said that the gender specificity of the old Greek
proverb should probably not be taken too seriously. *In any case, true
as it is in a literal sense, there is a deeper and more important
underlying truth in this expression that should not need to be
explained to anyone.....and that's about as good an encapsulation of
what is wrong with the world today (as in every other age) as anyone
should ever need. *On the other hand, grasses, shrubs, frogs and
fishes are pretty nice too.

And then there is that French tale of deep regeneration that has
influenced so many to plant trees.

I am not familiar with that tale.

Or honoring the creation as some
Christians put it

Ah, well, when you bring the Christians (or any other religious cult)
into it, that changes the complexion of things considerably. *All one
need do in such a case is remember that all of them habitually invoke
Pascal's wager, blissfully unaware the Pascal was no fool......but
they are.*

Anyway, good stuff.

Thank you.

This discussion of grasses and forbs grabs my attention: Per the East
is long/West is shorter idea. I am not so sure that same applies West
of the Rocky's. Ive got 4 foot high clumps of Blue Wheat Grass (a
native) all over my place on the Palouse, and it and some others Ive
yet to ID are all over the High Steppe.

The same natural laws apply everywhere in the known universe.

Maybe the water regime changes
on the West side of the Bitterroot?

Exactly. *The laws don't change. *The conditions they describe and
apply to do. *Tall grasses in the east and short in the west is a
description of prevailing conditions in the great grasslands of
central North America, largely as a result of the rain shadow of the
western mountain chains.....principally the Rockies, but also the
lesser chains to the west....and the ever increasing effects of huge
moist air masses coming up from the Gulf of Mexico as one moves
further east. *The same laws, again, apply further west, between the
mountain ranges, but their effects are not as great (for a number of
reasons), and they are also doubtless complicated by other factors.
Even within the great grasslands, and beyond their generally
recognized margins, local conditions can overpower the effects of the
Rocikes and the Gulf. *In post colonial times, emigrants found prairie
outliers in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, as well as in
Kentucky.....all of which are far east of the Mississippi, which is a
good enough marker of the eastern boundary of the great central
grasslands. *Conversely, some fairly large forested tracts have long
existed east of the great river, where the simple version of the law
says they shouldn't have. *Madson states it all much more clearly and
precisely in "Where the Sky Begins", as have many other before and
since, but then, they've also all used a lot more pages than me.....so
far.

We add a little sour cream, and vary the brats with some finer grained
sausage whose name escapes me.

A very malleable meal. *Sour cream sounds like a good addition, and
there are many sausages that would work well,

If the chestnut invite extends to my clumsy hands, a few this way
would be welcome for another attempt.

I kinda figured you'd like to have another whack at it. * * * *

I'll put out some sort of formal notice in a month or two. *Remind me.

Wolfgang
*pascal was making a philosoophical point, not discoursing on
probabilities.

Interesting. In Western Wa. there are some surviving mini grasslands
called "prairies." The typical explanation says that the Native
Americans kept these places open via periodic burnings, and used same
as horse grass way-stops along trade trails thru the forest. One such
trail, a Northern branch of the transcontinental "Great Road," met the
sal****er on the delta of the Nisqually River, where the Brits set up
their post. I believe research on trade trails and horse movement
along same could explain more of them.

Dave