A Slower Pace

Good morning! This Kentucky sunrise literally just happened minutes ago and is still unfolding before my eyes. Today is our God and family day and I can’t wait to soak it all up. It is going to be spectacular. I hope the same for you.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Last Tuesday’s post was about a local cyclops buck that we spotted on the way home from Scouts with only one of his antlers. It is the season for the males to drop or “shed” their antlers. And because it is hunting the kids can do, we enjoy going out back and seeing if we can find any. Our shed hunting escapade last year was only successful in the fun category — we actually didn’t find any antlers.

However, this year was different. My son and I had been out for about 45 minutes and were making our way back towards the pond. We were along the property line where there is an old farm barbed wire fence. The deer path there is heavily trafficed and there was evidence of deer — tracks, droppings, beddings and tree scrapes.

As I went up the path to continue scouting, my son nonchalantly says “Here’s one”.

He picked it up and we both excitedly looked it over. We then scanned 20-30 feet up and down the path hoping to find the other one that the deer rubbed off. Unless it is still on him. And maybe that is what we saw last Tuesday.

Maybe we should give it back to him so he has a complete set. Anyway, it was our first deer shed find and very cool.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

My son and I were on the way home from Scouts tonight. We are now in the elective stage of the year where we get to pick fun things to do and build since all the requirements have been completed. Tonight the Scouts built marshmellow blow guns. They were very cool and the boys had a great time with them.

As we came up our street headed home, we caught two deer in the headlights. I slowly came to a stop and we got a really good look at them. There was a buck and a doe. The buck had only one antler and he looked really goofy spotlighted in the beams. It is that time of year — it seems we should probably go out shed hunting soon.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

At lunch today, I swung by WalMart to purchase a replacement wireless router for home. We are having some internet challenges and a misbehaving D-Link box was one of them.

As I walked out with my wireless router, Wrangler jeans and a 12pk of throwback Dr Pepper, I was walking next to an old man in a Harley Davidson jacket. We were matching strides and I looked over at him and smiled. I asked him how he was doing and his reply made my day and cracked me up.

He said, “I am doing so well, I make medicine sick!”

I laughed, said I was so glad to hear that and departed out the door to my car. And I thought about it more. How often is someone that cheerful at WalMart. We should all be so lucky to be like that wise old man.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Here is the result of my redneck snow plow after the 4 inches of snow we received early Saturday morning. I am quite proud even though my wife scoffed at the idea when I told it to her.

You see, plow kits for my 4 wheeler run $300-400 and, in my opinion, aren’t worth the few times it snows here in Kentucky even though our driveway is 1/4 mile long. None the less, my thriftful self kicked in and found a decent alternative — dragging a railroad tie at an angle behind my 4 wheeler. In about a half hour I had the driveway passable even with our rear wheel drive cars.

So here was my summary:

– Railroad tie – cost $10
– Pulling behind 4 wheeler instead of buying plow pkg – savings of $300+
– Swapping out kids on sleds for the railroad tie – Priceless

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

While the winter weather in Kentucky can be challenging, we are lucky to live in today’s day and age where we have technology and modern conveniences to keep the cold at bay.

Except when you don’t have them. This morning we woke up to no hot water. Thankfully it wasn’t completely cold but it definitely wasn’t hot, warm or even lukewarm. I told my wife that it wasn’t lukewarm, it was just “luke”.

My troubleshooting skills kicked in an I was able to determine that 1) we hadn’t run out of propane and 2) it wasn’t necessarily the hot water heater. The electronic ignition would light the pilot light, the pre-flame would ignite and then the burn would fizzle out. It would then reset and repeat in 20 seconds. Hence the reason for the “luke” water. It made for a very challenging and very quick morning shower. The rest of the family decided on the stink option rather than the freeze option.

I was lucky enough to get home from work early so I could continue working the problem and lo and behold we had hot water. A buddy had pointed me towards the possibility that there could have been moisture in the propane tank/line and it froze in the regulator constricting full propane flow causing the water heater to operate as it did. That appears to have been the issue and I contacted the propane company who will look at it Wednesday when they come for a refill. I am very tempted to continue my problem solving and to start a redundant/backup electric water heater installation. It can’t hurt.

This is just a good reminder that there are many in the world who go without and we Americans are quite spoiled in our day to day lives. We are lucky that this only affected us for a day (although I am the only one who had to endure a cold shower). And we also have neighbors who offered for us to come over for a hot shower.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

On our way home from a celebratory dinner last night, we saw two calves running through a field. My two daughter’s responses were:

“Awwwww. Little cows.”

“They’re so cute.”

However, my son’s response cracked me up. He said:

“Where’s my steak knife?”

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I found out Friday that our sweet corn crop out back was finally ready. D and I went back there to pick the first of our bounty this weekend. We weren’t the first ones because there were signs, both on the ground and on the stalks, that the deer are enjoying it too. We picked enough for us and then lots more for friends and neighbors. I think we’ll be picking throughout this week.

We also enjoyed a surprise crop from an unexpected place. You see, this year, while our garden is doing well, the cucumbers in the garden did not. I think when I rototilled and weeded next to the starter vines they became disturbed and never recovered. So we have not enjoyed multiple cucumbers a day this summer much to the distress of D who loves them.

Well, lo and behold a thrown away cucumber dropped its seeds in the compost bin and took root. And with it being left alone along with all that nutrient rich soil it grew and grew and surprised us with foot long plus cucumbers. We pulled four off yesterday and another off today. There are several more that will be ready some time this week. What a surprise and thrill that was for us.

Go figure.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

You gotta love it when you get ammo for your birthday!

And even better, when it comes from your wife!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Today was a beautiful day and K had a great idea for us to have family star night. The sky was clear and the evening was shaping up perfectly. As the sun receded, we grabbed quilts from our custom assorted collection and threw them down on the freshly mown lawn.

The stars slowly came out and we also took to counting airplanes, watching the bat fly above us, and looking for satellites. As normal, I pointed out the big dipper and a few other celestial objects. Although the stars were not brilliant because the sun handed off the radiance to the full moon which popped over the treeline. We marveled at our moonshadows and the night slowly evaporated as we came in and went to bed.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net