Friday Nite Check In

Yeah..., this section of The Barnyard Fence could use a little wire stretching to tighten her up..., but Charlie Horse seems to respect it as is.  Not so with the other three pasture sections that we wired off..., before the elk showed not just disrespect..., but outright distain for.  At that time I just fenced off the driveway and let the three horses roam the whole Homestead.  I can still corral Charlie Horse in The Barnyard and leave the driveway gate open when I expect company..., or UPS.

I guess I could bore you with more stories about How the Garden Grows..., or Weed Eating the Driveway..., or Cleaning the Water Troughs..., but it bores me to repeat myself too.

Got a phone call from an Aaron Newman over in Idaho the other day and we talked about music and Josh Ritter in particular.  I don't recall just how I got turned on to Ritter's music and discovered that he was born and grew up through high school in Moscow, ID.  It must have been my Pandora music channel..., he fits right in with my favorite artists that I follow and like there.  The singer/songwriter artists that aren't always great commercial figures..., Tom Russell, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Dylan, and Robert Earl Keen.  It was his lyric writing that really attracted me to him..., lines like this from "Wolves"...,a song off his fourth album, "The Animal Years" (2006)...,

At times in the frozen nights I go roaming 
In the bed she used to share with me 
I wake in the fields with the cold and the lonesome 
The moon's the only face that I see 
But I still remember that time when we were dancing 
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard 
Your face was simple and your hands were naked 
I was singing without knowing the words

..., or these from the song "To the Dogs or Whoever" off his fifth album "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter" (2007)...,

Deep in the belly of a whale I found her
Down with the deep blue jail around her
Running her hands through the ribs of the dark
Florence and Calamity and Joan of Arc

..., and these from "Empty Hearts" off the same album...,

I'm inside with my friends
We build fires and pretend
That the night could just bend on forever
While outside in the frost
Are the wolves and the lost
And we sing "To the Dogs or Whoever"

..., and these from "Right Moves" off the same album...,

I said how is it that you come back to me?
You don't need the stories of my scars or in the stars to tell you nothing's free
I traded all the innocence I ever had for hesitation
I said won't you tell me where you been?
You put a finger to my lips and then you kissed me once and once again
The crickets all leapt up and met the moon with a standing ovation

Am I making all the right moves
Am I singing you the right blues
Is there a chance that I could call you
Just to see how you are doing?

Yeah..., I have known girls who were part Florence Nightangale, part Calamity Jane an part Joan of Arc..., and yeah..., I have know girls who's kisses made the crickets leap up and meet the moon with a standing ovation.  And I have to admit that I have know the loss of love and felt the ambiguous feelings expressed in the lyrics of the song "New Lover" off his seventh album "The Beast in Its Tracks" (2013)..., that was written after the break up of his first marriage...,

I can't pretend that all is well, it's like I'm haunted by a ghost 
There are times I cannot speak your name for the catchin' in my throat, 
There are things I will not sing for the sting of sour notes.

I feel like a miser, I feel low and mean 
For accusing you of stealin' what I offered you for free. 
Still it baffles the belief sometimes what thieves we lovers be.

I don't know who you're with these days, might be with someone new 
And if you are, I hope he treats you like a lover ought to do. 
But whoever makes you happy, it don't really matter who 
I've got a new lover now, I hope you've got a lover too.

Praise the water under bridges, the time they say will heal 
Praise the fonder, that still grows on the absent heart and fields
Praise be to this pain, these days it's all I seem to feel.

Perhaps the fault was mine 
Perhaps I just ignored who you're always gonna be, 
Instead of who I took you for. 
I've been treated worse it's true, still I expected more.

But I will not chase your shadow as you go from room to room, 
Droppin' handkerchiefs and daggers, smokin' guns and other clues 
For what someone did with someone and who did what to who. 
I've got a new lover now, I hope you've got a lover too.

I've got a new lover now, I know that she's not mine,
I only want to hold her, I don't need to read her mind,
And she only looks like you when she's in a certain light.

I got a new lover now, she knows just what I need. 
When I wake up in the night, she can read me back my dreams, 
And she loves them, though she never needs to tell me what they mean.

I hope you've got a lover now, hope you've got somebody who 
Can give you what you need like I couldn't seem to do. 
But if you're sad and you are lonesome and you've got nobody true, 
I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me happy too.
I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me happy too.

Those were the first three CDs that I got.  The first two I chose to get songs I had heard on Pandora..., and the third one was his most recent release that I chose for that reason.  Ritter produced albums in 2015 and 2017 that I didn't pick up..., but I got 2019's "Fever Breaks" for a couple of reasons.  Jason Isbell produced it and he and his band The 400 Unit lended support as well.  I had purchased tickets to see both artists together at an outdoor venue in Missoula, MT..., where Julie's sister and brother in law lived.  Julie and I ended up not making it to the gig due to Julie's medical problems..., but that album is a keeper..., with lines like "Losing Battles"...,

It's always been in my nature to be the beast
Blame the maker but stay with me

Fell into a den of thieves
Got lost in the caves of virtue
Born again and lost belief
Without a friend till the day I met you

Now I'm trying to mend my ways
I had enough of pain and bad will
Good enough for you someday
Till then, it's a losing battle

After Julie passed away on New Years Eve 2024..., Josh Ritter helped me through that loss with this song off his twelfth album "Heaven, or Someplace as Nice".  Julie and I stretched a lot of wire here on The Ranch as you can see in the picture above..., and I am still "Stretching Wire"...,

You can see him in the blizzard
Where night is day and day is night
Where every footstep disappears
Just as soon as he goes by
He likes his life this way
Moving slow from post to post
You might think that he's a ghost
But no, he's stretching wire

He's always moving forward
Never turning back around
Always moving in a straight line
To wherever he is now
Nothing up above him
But the buzzards in the sky
And in the ground the girl who loved him
So, he's stretching wire

He hears the whippers in the willow
He feeds the rattlesnakes by hand
Tumbleweeds while he is sleeping
Roll by quiet as they can
He's not afraid of morning
Or the sorrow that it brings
He'll stretch the wire till it sings
He's stretching wire"

Josh Ritter has put out thirteen studio albums..., plus a few live albums among other musical endeavors.  You can read a pretty good summary of his career and life history on Wikipedia..., here's a link...,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Ritter

 He also has a personal website with tour dates and items for sale.  I noticed that he recently had sold out shows two months ago back "home"..., "Had an incredible time in Bozeman and Missoula - thank you for joining me! Excited for our three SOLD OUT shows this weekend in Spokane, Boise, and Hailey!" and he is scheduled for a July 4th free show in Boise, ID.

https://joshritter.com/

Here is a link to his YouTube page with all kinds of Josh Ritter clips and songs...,

https://www.youtube.com/joshritter

I will leave you with "Stretching Wire" for this Friday Nite Music Video..., I already posted the lyrics up above...,

 

Friday Nite Check In

 Charlie Horse and his Bird Herd.  They are a pretty dedicated crew..., as long as he is grazing..., but if he takes a little break and snoozes..., they desert him pretty quickly.  It has been nearly two weeks now since our last significant rainfall..., the pastures are still green but it is starting to brown up in spots..., and likely to be a lot browner if the forecast for the next ten days stays dry..., and who knows how long after that.

The Hill Dirt in the Potato Garden is pretty much used up now.  I will be stringing out the hoses to add a little water in the near future.  There are a couple more 80 degree days in the forecast and several more in the 70 degree range.  Even the dandelions are hiding their heads in the heat of the day.  Those days will be getting shorter after the Summer Solstice this weekend..., but it will be a couple of months at least before those shorter days result in lower temperatures..., especially if those calls for a super charged El Niño pan out.

Back in the days before I left Idaho in 1987..., and starting sometime in the early 70's..., a bunch of us Old Hippies used to celebrate the Summer Solstice in style every summer..., with all night parties with kegs of beer..., and other assorted and varied substances..., and even live music on an occasion or two.  We always chose the weekend closest to the actual date..., and it was a special occasion when the date fell on a weekend.  The math tells me it has been close to 40 years now since I have celebrated that longest day..., but some of those special memories of special people..., that have survived those daze..., make it seem like it was yesterday...,

Which brings us to the Friday Nite Music Video..., Blackberry Smoke and "Like It Was Yesterday".

Lyrics

Have you ever seen the moon this big and this bright?
Look like I could reach up there and touch it tonight
Girl that I love holdin' onto me
I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be

I wanna feel like we got it made
Before tomorrow comes and takes it away
Lord, help me remember it like it was yesterday
Yeah

Now we got to turn loose every now and again
Got to run wild like we're livin' in sin
Set it and forget it like the other half do
Scratch it in the sand just for me and you

I wanna feel like we got it made
Before tomorrow comes and takes it away
Lord, help me remember it like it was yesterday
Yeah, yeah

I don't know where all the time goes
But I can see it with my eyes closed
I hope the clock is movin' slow tonight
We got to get it while the getting's alright

Well, I guess we signed up to spend most of our lives
Ekin' out a livin', just barely gettin' by
You can't take it with you, well, that's what they say
We'll all be empty-handed come judgement day

I wanna feel like we got it made
Before tomorrow comes and takes it away
Lord, help me remember it like it was yesterday
Yeah

Like it was yesterday
Oh, yeah
Like it was yesterday
Alright
Like it was yesterday
Mm, oh yeah

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Keith Nelson / Charles Webb Gray

Friday Nite Check In

 

The Potato Garden was in need of some "hilling up" of the plants..., and I had full intentions of taking care of that on Sunday.  The weather forecast was for some significant rainfall on Monday and Tuesday..., and I didn't want to wait for several days after that to do it..., but even some of the best laid plans can sometimes be laid aside.

My neighbor on the north side had bought the property to our east side..., and it included this "hazard tree" just across the road from our driveway entrance.  That's a big pine tree..., and as you can see..., they don't seem to like this climate and exhibit some unusual growth patterns.  In years past some of those big "branches" have decided to cut loose on their own..., one just missed the house..., and another had nearly blocked the whole Prairie's End Drive road..., and access to our driveway.  At the current time there was a big "limb" just hanging on and threatening to fall on some unfortunate sole under it.  I had visions of buying a box of double ought buck 12 gauge shotgun shells and trying to blow it off it's hanging perch before it fell on it's own..., but neighbor Dave Soha and his two sons in law and a very skilled and daring tree climber had other visions..., and when I visioned their efforts over my lap dog computer and coffee cup out my front window. it made me think maybe I could lend a little supervision to the effort.

I left the dogs in the house and wondered down in my sweats, unlaced tenny shoes, with my coffee cup in hand.  Having plenty of supervisory experience on his resume..., Charley Horse came along to the edge of the fence..., but soon took up a position further back under the apple tree after a couple of the "branches" were cut off by the tree climber.  I wish I could have got his name and shook his hand for a job well done..., but when I decided that I needed to change into my work cloths and boots and get my power saw and the old Tundra to help out...,  he had disappeared.  I could see that the clean up would be a lot easier if we got rid of the little limbs..., and my cut bank above the county road on our south side of the property can always use a little organic material to mix in with the horse manure that doesn't get used for Garden Compost.  I hauled..., metaphorically..., four "three log" loads of limbs.  Needlessly to say..., the Potato Plants did not get hilled up on Sunday.

We got the forecasted rain on Monday..., about 1.5 inches and just a bit more on Tuesday.  It was still too soggy to get any work done on Wednesday..., but I put away a good deal of hilling dirt on Thursday.  There is still some dirt at the back end of the rows and I will no doubt be trucking that a ways in the wheelbarrow for one more hilling episode in the near future.  The weather forecast is for 82 tomorrow and 85 on Sunday..., and 75 on Monday.  A bit cooler after that..., but no rain in the forecast for the foreseeable future.  If it wasn't for the Damn Daisies I might be able to just sit in the shade on the Front Porch with a Cold Beer in hand for a couple days..., and check on these flowers every once in a while.

Yeah..., I guess you could say that I am still crazy after all these years..., here's Cody Jinks for your Friday Nite Music Video..., 

Friday Nite Check In

 My nephew, Bert Spence was thoughful enough to send me pictures of my Grandniece and Grandnephew.  That is Hailey Kay on the left and Reid on the right.  This is Hailey Kay's first year of T-Ball..., and Reid's second year.  I have to say that I think Reid's batting stance this year is an improvement over last year.  Those medals hanging from their necks are for runner up to the Champs this year.  

I don't know if this was Hailey Kay's first hit..., but the expression on her face makes me think..., maybe.

She looks like she is ready to play defense too.

Reid looks like he is ready too, concentrating on the game and not letting anything distract him.

The news around The Ranch is..., it is hard to tell what is growing faster..., the Weeds or the Potatoes.  The Daisies and the Dandilions are starting to flower..., and those Buttercup things have never stopped.  I am not sure just which one takes more effort to keep control of..., but at least The Garden is ever so much smaller in acreage.  I hilled up the spuds again..., and after a couple of rain showers they are about ready for another dose.  I put the brush cutter blade on the weed eater and took care of some of the woody brush type things that were trying to make headway in the pastures..., while I was waiting on the arrival of a new string trimmer head.  My day long, feeble attempt to fashion a replacement "bump feeder plunger" on the original head resulted in the usual utter performance failure that my long history of mechanical exploits documents.  And on Friday I took delivery of the new head..., from Amazon.  I guess the original equipment folks were standing firm on their shipping cost of $20 for their $19 model that wore out in one season.  This new baby has a metal head on the bump feeder that does not rotate with the cutter head..., so I am hoping that is a better design feature for use on the gravel driveway.  I didn't test it out today due to one of those rain showers I mentioned earlier.  I didn't want to muddy up the new equipment..., and didn't want to have to admit to another failure on my part if things didn't go as hoped for 😀

I guess we have to go with John Fogerty and "Centerfield" again for your Friday Nite Music Video...,