Along Stone Walls

 

 

Morning misted grass

Velvet brushed green

Beckons, cries out

For a child,

Shoe-less and wild.

Race across bare grass

With bare feet

Unfettered and free.

Hedge to stone wall,

Run and invite all

Follow, come, join...

Weeping eyes reply,

Cannot run, sadly sigh...

Travel ahead and discover

Fields touched by many.

Through golden gorse,

Beneath rowan trees,

Still, but for wren and sparrow hawks.

Come, follow...

There is yet another

Field awaiting, 

Weeping eyes.

By Robert Sheridan

 

       Hedge trimming     

 

 Can you imagine walking along this road? Feeling the mist in the air?

This is Ireland.

 

This was first published back in 2023 following hand surgery. Hand healed, but is at only 80% of it former use.

Running through Corn Fields

 

 July is here and oh boy howdy. This is sweetcorn time of the year.  You cannot beat this.

In my home rural farm, our old house was surrounded by corn or wheat fields. The wheat was harvested first, and then corn appears. The stalks grow anywhere from 8 to 12 feet. 

Running through corn stalks is nasty. The blades/leafs can hide are as scratchy and they cut too well. 

 Even so, we played hide and seek, tag, and chasing. The photos below are me pointing to a cow patty.

This is me, learning to throw a cow patty.

                                         Yes, I am holding a cow patty. It is all dried and sanitized.

 My brother Don knows all the people and businesses here. The community loves and appreciates what Don and his son Jeremy do for special events like  

 

The Sweetcorn Festival of Chatham, Illinois 

This is a fundraiser for the use of someone in the community may have need.

Let me tell you this: Being with my brother Don is a gift, and the most interesting person. He organized the use of the pasture to collect cow manure, and then he gave me a quick tutorial of the throw.  Then Don drove us on places that were part of his life. Don is a reverend at Laomi Methodist Church.

So, that's all they wrote. Reliving part of our past, discovering what we didn't know---good times.

A Field of Punkin' Chunkin' Candidates

 

All are welcome.

Each season in the Midwest has its celebrations and events where there are glorious reflections of community and its people. Traditions date back decades or even centuries where ancestors and their following generations can hold hands across years.

The Midwest, along with the rest of the world, has an event approaching in the first days of November: Pumpkin Chunkin'. I have to believe this event arose from leftover Halloween pumpkins to Medieval ages. Maybe or maybe not, Pumpkin Chunkin' has evolved from simple to complicated.

Here is an official statement from the WCPCA:

The World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association (WCPCA) is a trademark nonprofit that raises money for scholarships, as well as organizations that benefit youth and the local community. 

We host a signature pumpkin-launching event each year, fueling innovative engineering and science-based ideas that draw spectators from all over. 

We believe that Punkin Chunkin cultivates the odd, challenging, and competitive quest for distance that inspires creativity, ingenuity, teamwork, and passion. 

It is this very dedication that drives teams to compete using science and engineering skills and brings spectators to the gate which allows us  to continue our never ending thirst to support our scholarship and charitable programs.

YouTube, about 3 minutes long

There are several divisions from historically accurate to serious military grade.

The passion is the same, love for the event is palpable, and enthusiasm seeps through the attendees.

The above YouTube shows the divisions and constructions. The one below sticks to traditionally accurate 1,000 years ago trebuchet:

About 6 minutes long, skip ahead.

Despite all the mechanics that can overshadow the joy of finding a pumpkin in the field, we look at those faces and hear "Over there! That's the one I want!"

I do not know how many years we have scampered over the fields, chasing grandkids. Each time is like the first time.

This one!

Fields to Wall

Source

Morning misted grass

Velvet brushed green

Beckons, cries out

For a child,

Shoeless and wild.

Race across bare grass

With bare feet

Unfettered and free.

Hedge to stone wall,

Run and invite all

Follow, come, join...

Weeping eyes reply,

Cannot run, sadly sigh...

Travel ahead and discover

Fields touched by many.

Through golden gorse,

Beneath rowan trees,

Still, but for wren and sparrow hawks.

Come, follow...

There is yet another

Field awaiting,

Weeping eyes.

Island of Eye/panoramio...Google maps