Friday Nite Check In

 I took this picture above on 4/2/26 to compare it to the one below..., taken on 4/5/25 last year..., after I used the little Cat/Backhoe to doze back the berry bushes that were threatening to take over.  

I wouldn't want to get the little Cat/Backhoe out on the grass yet this year..., it is still pretty soggy..., I can tell because Charley Horse insists on testing it regularly by galloping around the pastures..., and leaving the divots for me to replace 😖  But the weather forecast is for some drier weather for the next week or so..., damn it..., that signals WORK in the forecast as well.  Checking out other old pictures I see that I had The Garden ready for planting in late April and had some green shoots popping up in early May.  What muscles I have left are already signaling sympathy for the days ahead.

Speaking of sympathy..., I felt a little of it from a piece about Facebook and their claimed ability to not be able to identify minors using the site..., by one of the bloggers that I regularly read.  Karl Denninger at The Market Ticker voluntarily deleted his account a few years back..., and recently tried to open an account again. Our situations were not exactly the same in regard to how we got banned..., but the results were identical.

For those who say that's "unreasonable" explain why Meta, when after a decade or so post-voluntary closure of my Facebook account by myself (not them due to some "violation") when I tried to set up another one they claimed I was "inauthentic" despite the email address I used for registration being one that has been under my exclusive control for two decades, and when challenged they upheld their "finding" as final with no means of dispute or manual review by an identified person who I could speak with.  My purpose for signing back up was to view and interact with Marketplace, not for other general use, and I can reasonably surmise they know exactly who I am, they also know that I have written many pieces for publication that are very critical of the firm and rather than simply state "we refuse service to you because we dislike you and do not want you on our property" they lied.  Well, if they can do that then they can certainly block, with a high (but not perfect) degree of reliability, use by those who are not of legal age.

Yeah..., I have received plenty of advice about "just open a new account" or start one with a different name or something.  I am pretty sure that won't work for me any more than it did for Karl.  

The Oscars were awarded recently and when some of the older movies that had won Best Picture rolled around the media "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" mention brought to mind a few things.  First I am glad I read Ken Kesey's novel before I saw the movie..., and I remember the evening when I was rather breathlessly finishing the novel and I had the Eagles first album on the stereo..., and this song was spinning.  I still cannot think of one without thinking of the other.  It's not one of their hits..., or one that rolls around on classic rock radio..., or even on my Pandora station.  But maybe after I tune it up on YouTube and post it here for your Friday Nite Music Video..., maybe it will...,

Friday Nite Check In

Most of my memories of Don revolve around sports and the time that he spent in Weippe, ID.  In the 60's he and Jean came to Idaho and Don worked at the Jaype Plywood plant in Pierce.  He formed a fast pitch softball team at that time and he often called on me to fill in a gap in the line up..., where I was barely a teenager and scared to death to be playing against grown men..., and praying that a ball wouldn't be hit in my direction🙏  He also played on a town team basketball team and I used to watch him and my other cousin Jim Spence play.  They used to come to my games in high school and watch me sit on the bench.  

There was a gap in sporting scene when he left town after the marriage to Jean fell apart..., but he returned with his new love, Marilyn and a new life.  He joined our Fraser Hippie fast pitch softball team.  Don wasn't a hippie like Jim and I..., but he fit right in.  It soon became apparent to him that our team was more in need of a manager than another player and once he assumed that responsibility our success brought a new sponsor and we became The Elk Horn Team.  Our teams had good success "up on the hill" as the communities of Weippe, Pierce and Headquarters were often referred to..., but until Don became our manager we had never won the yearly invitational weekend tournament because the larger cities we invited from down in the valley like Orofino, Kamiah, Grangeville and Lewiston had a much larger talent pool to draw from.  It was a big feather in our caps to finally take that trophy in what became the Mel Dahl Memorial Tournament.  We also won a tourney in Lewiston against those big city teams under Don's direction.

Another special memory was when cousin Rob Spence got a work assignment from the phone company he work for in our area one summer and was able to play on our team..., four Spence boys on the team 😀 

It wasn't just sports that we teamed up together on.  Don had hired on setting chokers for our Uncle LeRoy Chapman and his logging operation.  One winter Jim and I got hire on as well and though winter logging is generally no fun..., the landing fire at lunch time made it worth it.  The only thing better than toasting a sandwich with cheese on it in a wax paper baggie and warming up soup around the fire..., is sharing it with family and friends.

So..., Jimmy and I may end up in a place where we won't need a fire to toast sandwiches and warm soup due to some of our previous antics..., but I will do my best..., if I have to get on my knees and beg..., to get up there where Don deserves to be  and sit around a nice little campfire and share a little grub and some wonderful old stories and memories.

RIP cousin..., love ya 💖

 

Friday Nite Check In

 It's been one Wet Week here on The Ranch..., and they say, "It ain't over yet!"  A Special Weather Statement issued Thursday afternoon says:

Rainfall of 2 to 7 inches over the past 3 days has increased soil 
moisture to high levels across western Washington. Heavy rainfall of 
0.75 up to 4 inches is expected over the next 30 hours. This amount 
of rain will put extra pressure on soil instability, leading to an 
increased threat of landslides and debris flows, especially from 
recent burned areas.

I am not sure just how much rain we have received..., evidently the rain gauge at the old Quillayute Airport next door to us is on the fritz and no longer issuing reports to my websites.  Given our geographic location and weather history..., I believe it is more likely that we will be receiving the high end of that estimate as opposed to the low end.  I haven't heard of any land slides in the immediate area at this time..., but I see that the old home stomping grounds over in Clearwater County in Idaho has suffered many land slides, flooding and road and highway closures earlier this week.  Still now Facebook for this old cowboy so I don't know how my individual friends have weathered the storms..., but there were pictures posted on the Clearwater Tribune website.

No problem here..., a good excuse to stay inside and watch the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.  I tuned in Thursday night to watch the Gonzaga Bulldogs..., who have participated in it for the last 27 straight years.  That boggles the mind a bit..., but I thought that I was..., finally..., getting one of those acid flashbacks that I was promised back in the day..., when I saw the name "Idaho" listed in the listing of other teams in the tournament!!!!  Yeah..., my old alma mater (one semester) University of Idaho Vandals were making their first appearance in the tournament in 36 years!!!!  Sorry to report that it must have been one of those bad brown acid of Woodstock fame trips..., Idaho was ripped out of the tourny by over 30 points 😢  I guess I shouldn't feel guilty about favoring the Zags (who won last night) now days..., since I have now lived in WA longer than I lived in Idaho.

Thinking maybe I should be back in Idaho when I compare gas prices..., $4.05 a gallon average in Idaho and $5.21 in WA.  And the price of Rib Steaks is back up to $18.99 a pound as well.  The good news is beer prices haven't gone up..., yet.  The 30 packs I buy are still $20 in Port Angeles and $23 in Forks.  I have to buy ten cases of beer now to cover the cost of gas for the round trip drive to PA.  When gas was only $4.00 a gallon I could get by with only buying eight cases..., so now that I think it over..., I get a couple extra cases of beer..., I can't complain..., which brings us to your Friday Nite Music Video...,

Lyrics

You can tell 'em all that I'm crazy
You can tell 'em I've never changed
You can tell 'em anything that you want 'em to hear
It's okay, I've heard the same

Don't think that I don't love you
Don't think that I don't try
Don't you ever think you don't add more weight
Every time you asked me why
The shackles can't get no tighter
The chain ain't got no give
The ball don't get no smaller
Yeah, that's just the way it is

You can tell 'em all that I'm crazy
You can tell 'em I've never changed
You can tell 'em anything that you want 'em to hear
It's okay, I've heard the same, I've heard the same

Right there on your table
I see your plate is full
Sitting next to a glass half-empty and a never-ending pool
Yeah, the reasons I keep leaving
Are the reasons I can't stay
Don't think I don't want to
And no, I've never walked away

You can tell 'em all that I'm crazy
You can tell 'em I've never changed
You can tell 'em anything that you want 'em to hear
It's okay, I've heard the same
While you're out there seeking shelter
And you find yourself in chains
I've always had my own to bear
But you know I can't complain, I can't complain

Wish I could have said it all before you heard it rhyme
It's the same old song you've heard me sing at least a million times

You can tell 'em all that I'm crazy
You can tell 'em I've never changed
You can tell 'em anything that you want 'em to hear
It's okay, I've heard the same
And while you're out there seeking shelter
And you find yourself in chains
I've always had my own to bear
But you know I can't complain, I can't complain

I can't complain
And no, I can't complain

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Meredith Jinks / Bryan Martin Curtis

Friday Nite Check In

 I guess winter hasn't unconditionally surrendered just yet..., and neither has Iran.  We had snow flurries on Monday and Tuesday..., but nothing that stuck around very long.  On Tuesday there was a stretch of a few miles on the road coming back home from a mail run where the sleet was so heavy that I was worried about hydroplaning on the black top driving the old Tundra.  I was pretty glad that we didn't get any freezing weather to solidify all that slush.

Speaking of Iran..., Paul Craig Roberts offers his Prediction For the War with Iran..., "It looks as if Trump and Israel are going to lose the conventional war.  Iran seems to have the larger stockpile of missiles and the determination and ability to stay the course.  After having their children slaughtered by the Trump and Netanyahu war criminals, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is unlikely to counsel negotiations or surrender."

James Howard Kuntstler appears to be reading The Chump's lips and offers up Order of Battle "Don't lose your shit over mines in the Strait of Hormuz and the oil price shooting up. ... The news outlets who want the US to fail in this operation (Because: Trump) want you to think that we had no plan for dealing with this problem.  That's not so. ...  Iran is firing all they've got left..., and there isn't an endless supply of them."

Last week Ian Welsh said..., "Iran, if it keeps going, will run the US/Israel and Gulf States out of interceptors long before it runs out of missiles and drones."  This week he focuses on the drones ...,  "This is the sort of weapon where the production is almost impossible to stop.  Nothing in it is particularly sophisticated and everything you need to make it is available, cheap, from China. ... Missiles are also relatively simple, certainly compared to manned fighters and bombers.  The combination of them has up-ended warfare as we're seeing today, as Iran completely wrecks the Middle East and no one can stop them. ...  America's global Empire is over after this war, but it will attempt to remain the hegemonic power in the Americas."

If you want a detailed analysis of the situation you can listen to an hour of Chris Hedges interview with John Mearsheimer..., or read the transcript...,  "John Mearsheimer details how the American Empire stumbled into one of the largest strategic blunders, and what  the effects of it all might entail for the rest of the world." 

If you would like to  know what the war is costing us in dollars..., this one might help you figure out what it might be at day 14..., when you know what it cost in the first six days.  "Because this week the Pentagon went to U.S. Congress with the first tab from the war launched by the administration of Donald Trump:  $11.3 billion in just six days --with no end in sight.  ...  This is what Trump's foreign policy looks like when the slogans fade and the receipts arrive: a war without a plan, a conflict without and endpoint, and a price tag climbing by the hour".

On the home front one gas station had a $5.20 price advertised..., I doubt that it will take long for the other two to breech the $5 threshold that they are already just a few cents short of.  Yeah..., WTI Crude "nudged" up to $99.30 today.  Good news on the Rib Steak front..., evidently that $18.99 a pound price spooked some folks..., I picked up a couple marked down to $12.99 a pound 😀 

Country Joe McDonald passed away this week..., us old timers remember him as the guy at Woodstock who lead "the fish cheer"..., and played this anti-war song...,

Friday Nite Check In

Not much new news to report from The Ranch this week.  Charlie Horse is still a little shaggy from his winter coat..., but he is losing hair fast and getting ready for spring.  The pastures are greening up nicely and Charley is doing a good job of keeping the grass from looking shaggy.  The temperatures are warming up day and night..., the daffodils are starting to flower and the rhodys are showing buds. 

There is no shortage of news on the world front..., though The Chump administration can't make up it's mind if we are at war with Iran or not and comes up with a different reason almost daily of why we are bombing Iran..., and they are bombing our overseas military bases.  It least we are getting a reprieve from the everything Epstein news.  I am sure that Bill and Hill are just as glad about that as The Chump is.  I usually jinx myself when I make predictions..., but I am sorry that I called this one about a big war coming right in my Check In a couple of weeks back.  Marco Rubio said that we attacked Iran because we knew that Israel was going to attack them..., so we had to attack Iran before Iran could attack us in retaliation.  But The Chump didn't like the sound of that..., it made him look like he was Netanyahu's puppet..., so he said that he wanted to take full credit for the attack and it was his own idea to attack Iran because he had a "feeling" that they were going to attack us.

For crying out loud..., you would think that The Chump had enough failures and bone headed moves on his plate already without throwing another spoonful on.  The national debt was already a run a way train..., and a lot of folks are saying that we are headed for a financial crack up the likes of 2008.  The Supreme Court nixed his "beautiful tariffs" that you and I will be paying back..., after paying for them the first time.  He finally fired his Secretary of Homeland Security because she was implementing the debacle of his immigration policy that has left two American citizens dead.  Inflation and rising prices are still as big a problem as they were when he took office.  So he starts a war.  Crude oil was $55 a barrel in December..., and around $65 a barrel before the war.  Today the price topped $90 a barrel.  In Forks, WA today the gas price was up over $.20 a gallon at $4.89..., I expect it will be over $5.00 by Monday.  Rib Steaks were still at $18.99 a pound today..., my sister-in-law in Missoula, MT says they are $20.49 a pound there..., and that's over in prime cattle country.

One of the bloggers I regularly read, James Kunstler says "The war will be over as soon as Iran loses the ability to spray missiles and drones all over the place... At some point they will run out of ordnance... at some point a week or so hence, a stillness will fall on the earth and sky above Iran...".  I don't think so..., and neither does Ian Welsh..., "Iran, if it keeps going, will run the US/Israel and Gulf States out of interceptors long before it runs out of missiles and drones."

In closing I will say..., it is probably a good thing..., for the world in general..., that the US intervened.  If not..., and all the missiles and drones Iran has expended already had been solely targeted at Israel..., it would probably be looking a lot like what Israel has made Gaza look like..., and there is little doubt in my mind that Israel would deploy the nukes that they deny having.

There is no shortage of anti-war music videos to choose from..., but this one from Jackson Browne was always one of my favorites...,

Lives in the Balance

I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war

[Bridge]
And there's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs

[Verse 2]
On the radio talk shows and the TV
You hear one thing again and again
How the USA stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends—
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone

[Chorus]
And there are lives in the balance (There are)
There are people under fire (There are)
There are children at the cannons (There are)
And there is blood on the wire

[Bridge]
There's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the names

[Verse 3]
They sell us the President the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us everything from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I wanna know who the men in the shadows are
I wanna hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die

[Chorus]
And there are lives in the balance (There are)
There are people under fire (There are)
There are children at the cannons (There are)
And there is blood on the wire

 

Friday Nite Check In

 Spring weather this week..., rain showers on and off..., with some sunny breaks on and off.  Not real warm days or real cold nights.  One day the high was 47..., and the low was 45 !

I have enough horse manure for garden compost..., so I have been trying to build up the cut bank overlooking the county blacktop road.  I dumped the apple tree trimmings over this area last spring and it has sloughed off enough that there is plenty of room for horse manure and spruce cones..., but the berry bushes were preventing me for spreading those loads a little wider.

I managed to whack them back without spilling too much blood.  Now I have plenty of room for more manure and spruce cones and scotch broom..., and a little time before I have to start devoting more time and attention to The Garden.

Charley Horse served in his usual supervisory role..., and even added a few finishing munches to the project.

In other news this week there was good and bad.  The good news is that the AARP folks and there computer programmed tax assessment agreed that I shouldn't be assessed any penalty for such a large underpayment of my income tax 😊  The bad news is that they also agreed that I owed that large sum of money that I had calculated 😢  I wish I had watched The Chumps State of the Union address before I let the AARP folks submit my tax forms..., they and me both thought that The Chump had only given me and some of the rest of us Social Security recipients a $6000 dollar tax deduction..., which only saved me about $700..., but The Chump said right on national TV on Tuesday night, that he had abolished taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security..., he said, “With the great Big Beautiful Bill we gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors,”  If that was true my tax bill would be SIGNIFICANTLY lower.  Alas..., I don't know which would be worse..., if The Chump was lying..., or if he was just ignorant.  In my honest estimation he is both..., an ignorant, lying hypocrite.  He claims he is winning the inflation battle and bringing prices down..., once again, either lying or ignorant..., or both.  Back around Thanksgiving I noted the price per pound of Rib Steaks was "around $15" (actually $14.99) and somewhere along the line this winter the price jumped to $16.99..., and last week I documented that the price is now $18.99 a pound..., I don't know how we are going to survive  this kind of "winning" for the next three years?

Well..., I may be retired from employment..., but I am still working on The Ranch..., and I still feel like a number..., here's Bob Seger for your Friday Nite Music Video...,

Friday Nite Check In

 Merry Christmas..., about two months too late.  This is the scene out the front windows on Wednesday morning around 10 am.  Earlier this week I woke up to what I at first thought was a really hard frost..., but the temperature didn't support that thought..., and I soon realized that it was snow.  It melted off fast once the sun rose above the tree line.  The temperatures have been dropping a little below freezing overnight..., and I have been letting the various water lines run a bit to forbid any frozen plastic pipes.

Charley Horse must have known that this little flurry wasn't going to last much longer and just turned his back to it and waited it out.  I had to break a little ice this morning..., but the snow was all melted off by this afternoon when I went out to do the clean up chores and make sure he had some hay in the manger in The Barn.

The colder temps have given me another chance to praise my Home Comfort electric heaters.  I had to put the "spare" that I had repaired and wrote about a while back to use when the heater in the bedroom and bathroom area gave up on us.  It was a different brand..., but was a tall model that blew warm air out the top..., about bed level.  That was the reason we purchased it when Julie was still around.  Replacing it with the spare Home Comfort heater has made a world of difference in the comfort level overall.  I no longer shiver in the bathroom in the morning and I don't have to strain the front room heater by turning the thermostat up to high to warm things up in the morning.  Setting both heaters at 70 keeps us on a pretty even keel day and night.

I may purchase another Home Comfort heater so I will have a "spare"..., after I see how the meeting with the AARP Tax folks goes on Saturday😀   Speaking of financial matters..., I paid $25 for a juicy Rib Steak the other day.  A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the price per pound had raised $2..., from $16.99 a pound..., to $18.99 a pound.  And The Chump says that he is tackling the "affordability" problem..., he is completely clueless..., and will probably have us in another war..., a BIG one this time..., soon.  What do you suppose I will be paying for Rib Steaks when that comes?  I try not to think about that.

But thinking about frozen pipes reminds me of this one by Black Oak Arkansas for your Friday Nite Music Video...,

Little hometown from where I came
Air so clean you can smell the rain
I've been many places, but none quite the same
Right in the Bible belt therein, church bells ring

Older than Grandpa
Old Black Oak tells
Overlooked by the union
But heavier than Hell

Older than Grandpa
Old Black Oak tells
Overlooked by the union
But heavier than Hell

Remember Sunday dinner with Elsa Rose
Even the time when the toilet froze
Smoking a pipe bowl, that old fishing hole
Oh I knew how to live but forgot how to grow

To grow
Older than Grandpa
Old Black Oak tells
Overlooked by the union
But heavier than Hell

Friday Nite Check In

 I managed to get the rest of the spruce cones cleaned up this week.

Here's a view from another angle...,

..., and here's the view from the sleeping bag position.

Yeah..., I felt like I had accomplished a tough task and completed the Spruce Cone Crusade without much problem..., so I felt confident enough to take on the Income Tax ritual.  I was plenty proud of myself last year when I only had to write a check to the US Treasury for $57..., even though I had to include Julie's income from Social Security on the forms.  I thought that not including that income this year should lower the gross income and since I would be filing as single instead of married this year..., I wouldn't incur much more than a few hundred extra dollars to this years check.

Well..., I guess I should have paid more attention to Mr. Powers in my freshman Algebra 1 class..., instead of taking every opportunity I could find to sneak a peek at the drop dead gorgeous sophmore cheerleader and girlfriend of the high powered senior athlete and student body president..., and future husband.  I could never figure out why she would give a skinny, pimple faced, freshman such an evil look when she caught me doing it..., and like I said..., I should have been paying attention in class instead of trying to figure that out.  But..., oh..., see..., I have become distracted once again and forgotten what I was writing about.  I guess I better dig out that old high school annual and show you what the distraction..., or should that be.., what the attraction was...,

Sally Scott back then..., and Sally Walker before she graduated.

OK..., back to Tax Time..., I hurried through the first run through..., and had to slug down a few beers to get over the shock..., as those hundreds I was anticipating showed up as thousands on the back of the envelope I was using before committing the numbers to the actual forms.  Especially when I knew that I had included The Chump's lauded  $6,000 Social Security deduction.  After the beers had the desired effect I looked a little closer and slower..., and noticed that like I suspected..., the gross income was a little lower..., but the adjusted gross was much higher.  There must be some mistake..., and sure enough..., I thought I had found a mistake..., and deducted a significant large number..., and came up with a much lower tax owed 😀   I hit the beer again..., for a different reason and called it a night.

I was feeling pretty good the next evening when I began to enter the numbers on the form for real..., but that didn't last long..., as I discovered that I had deleted a number that belonged on the list.  Trying to figure out why there was so much difference in last years numbers and this years wasn't that difficult..., when you are paying attention..., and not distracted.  I had assumed that the difference between the "standard deduction" for filing married and single would be mostly covered by the reduction of Julie's SS income.  But there were other deductions as well..., primarily in that Social Security Worksheet to determine how much of it could be taxed.  Yeah..., please explain to me how the government can tax the money that they hold out for SS all my working life..., then tax me again on it when they give it back to me in retirement? (UPDATE: I stand corrected on this last statement..., see the comments :))

Yeah..., though the SS earnings this year were over $12,000 less than last year..., I ended up paying tax on about $8,000 more on my earnings this year without Julie's other deductions that totaled over $10,000 last year.  And about that "lauded" Chump $6,000 SS deduction..., it garnered me a mere $700 savings over all.

I have an appointment with AARP tax helpers in Port Angeles next week to check out my work..., but I have been over the figures enough times now..., I think I have the right ones.  Except for one little thing..., on line 38 of 1040-SR there is an "Estimated tax penalty"..., the instructions indicate that...,

Estimated Tax Penalty

You may owe this penalty if:

• Line 37 is at least $1,000 and it is

more than 10% of the tax shown on your

That sounds like I may owe some penalty..., since I owe about three times that amount..., but I also found this...,

In general, you may owe the penalty for 2025 if the total of your

withholding and timely estimated tax payments didn’t equal at least the

smaller of:

1. 90% of your 2025 tax, or

2. 100% of your 2024 tax. Your 2024 tax return must cover a 12-month

period.

Since my withholding this year were more than my tax last year I may not owe a penalty..., we'll see 😢

Well..., whatever the outcome..., it isn't going to send me to the poor side of town by any means..., but I have always liked this song..., and when Bruce Springsteen released his version of the Johnny Rivers song..., I at first thought, "Hey Bruce..., you ain't no JR"..., but his version is growing on me..., 

OK..., just for comparison..., heeerrreee's Johnny...,

Friday Nite Check In

I need to get a new camera..., this old one makes ME LOOK OLD..., and blue haired.

 There was a time in the long ago past when getting my hands on a  spruce tree of this size would have excited me a bit more than it does these days.  Yeah..., back in the day, when I made my living with a chain saw in my hands..., instead of a shovel, rake and wheelbarrow that constitutes my living these days in retirement..., I put my share of these trees on the ground.

I trimmed some low hanging branches to make things a bit more picturesque.

Today I spend my efforts into making them look good.  These three old grandaddy's aren't actually on our property and I am not sure how they managed to escape the chain saws when the other property owner logged the other trees..., but they didn't do anything with the property after they logged it..., so I have cleaned up a little of it adjacent to our property.  It makes for a bit more grass for our horses over the years..., and it looks better than the scotch broom and berry bushes.

Still a ton or two of cones left to haul off.

The spruce cones were getting pretty thick under the big buggers..., but I thought it would look prettier if I cleaned them out.  A work in progress so to speak.  I always thought that it looked like a great spot to roll out a sleeping bag some warm summer night..., and I may get around to that one of these days.

Charley Horse had already inspected the Big Spruce Project and wasn't much interested in my next photo project...,  

Yeah..., I guess the daffodils didn't see any shadows on 2/2/26..., and are ready for spring..., and who could blame them..., after a couple of 60+ degree days in early February?

In other news of the week..., this Saturday would have been the day to call Brother Larry to wish him a Happy Birthday..., but he sadly checked out a little over four years ago.  Here is a link to the obituary that I wrote for him..., with plenty of pictures...,

https://scottrthequillayutecowboy.blogspot.com/2021/10/my-brother-larry-spence-born-february-7.html

 

I always used to post an AC-DC music video on Facebook in his honor..., before I got banned from there.  They were his favorite band..., so I hope he isn't too mad at me for posting a cover of one of their songs by one of my favorite artists.  Here's Cody Jinks with, "A Long Way to the Top..., If You Want to Rock & Roll"...,

And of course..., we can't forget that The Seattle Seahawks are playing in The Super Bowl on Sunday.  They call their high powered defense "The Dark Side"..., so you get a double bonus Friday Nite Music Video tonight...,

..., and my prediction is that the Patriots will be seeing the dark side on Sunday as the Hawks romp their way to victory 😄

Friday Nite Check In

Books by Cormac McCarthy

 There are a very few authors who's books I have read and collected all of..., and Cormac McCarthy is one of those select few.  There wasn't room on the shelf to include two others that you can see a small corner of off on the right..., and one novella I have on my Kindle.  I had read an excerpt of "All the Pretty Horses" in Esquire Magazine..., back in the day when it was a monthly literary magazine and not the "Men's Journal" that it later became.  But I hadn't started my "library" at that time..., when I did, it was one of my first purchases.  Next came the three volume book at the top of the picture.  Being the frugal sort of being that I am..., I usually wait for paperback versions to come out before I spend money..., but when "No Country for Old Men" and "The Road" came out..., I managed to somehow pry the money out of my wallet for the hard cover editions.

I haven't dusted off these old books for quite some time..., other than after the fire and a few moves to get them to their new home..., until last week.  I found a post on my Substack Page from a guy who is another Cormac McCarthy fan and a little more well educated than I am.  Here is a link to his post and a copy of the passage from "All the Pretty Horses" that he does an analysis of:

https://substack.com/home/post/p-183603101

“They rode out along the fenceline and across the open pastureland. The leather creaked in the morning cold. They pushed the horses into a lope. The lights fell away behind them. They rode out on the high prairie where they slowed the horses to a walk and the stars swarmed around them out of the blackness. They heard somewhere in that tenantless night a bell that tolled and ceased where no bell was and they rode out on the round dais of the earth which alone was dark and no light to it and which carried their figures and bore them up into the swarming stars so that they rode not under but among them and they rode at once jaunty and circumspect, like thieves newly loosed in that dark electric, like young thieves in a glowing orchard, loosely jacketed against the cold and ten thousand worlds for the choosing.”

I commented on the post with a passage that I really liked from another McCarthy book.  I can't do that sort of explaining of this passage from "The Crossing" that still takes my breath away every time I read it.  The first time I was on the transit bus that I used to ride to the job every morning..., I had to restrain myself from standing up on that moving bus and shouting it out to all those snoozing passengers on the bus.  And I have quoted it to several friends via email that I thought might appreciate it as well..., I hope you do too..., I keep a book marker in place for just such times as this:

"He camped that night on the broad Animas Plain and the wind blew in the grass and he slept on the ground wrapped in the serape and in the wool blanket the old man had given him.  He built a small fire but he had little wood and the fire died in the night and he woke and watched the winter stars slip their hold and race to their deaths in the darkness.  He could hear the horse step in its hobbles and hear the grass rip softly in the horse's mouth and hear it breathing or the toss of its tail and saw far to the south beyond the Hatchet Mountains the flare of lightning over Mexico and he knew that he would not be buried in this valley but in some distant place among strangers and he looked out to where the grass was running in the wind under the cold starlight as if it were the earth itself hurtling headlong and he said softly before he slept again that the one thing he knew of all things claimed to be known was that there was no certainty to any of it.  Not just the coming of war.  Anything at all." 

 

And since this post is about cowboys and the author has passed away..., I guess James McMurtry's "Vaquero" is a fitting song for your Friday Nite Music Video...,