JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum A Good Day Indeed

Hi Kaley

I'm happy I could make you smile

I needed a little diversion from some of the strife and consternation we have been experiencing of late on some of the threads.

Hi Kaley

I'm happy I could make you smile

I needed a little diversion from some of the strife and consternation we have been experiencing of late on some of the threads.

Bill, what does the river look like? I'm a sucker for a river. Is it clear? How wide is it? Is it swift or lazy?

We had a farm on the Red River and it's anything but clear. In hottest summer, it turns green, rest of time, it's, well, red! But it's purty to me.

Your thread reminds me of a song I wrote, "River Rat." I like rivers! And critters!

It looks like you have a seriously cool spread there.

Hi Bill
The Paw Paw gets it's name from the Paw Paw trees in the area. It's an edible fruit. Taste like a cross between a banana and a strawberry.
The Paw Paw is a fairly lazy river as evidenced by it's meandering. Where I am it is the main Branch. There are three branches east of me. The further upstream you go the colder the water, mostly spring fed. There are trout in the other branches, Not so many by me. the water is a little warmer. I did catch a small Brook Trout here a few years ago. It has a wide selection of fish. Small Mouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Blue Gill, White Bass, Suckers, Carp. Even been a few Muskie taken. Ocasional brown trout. But where I live it is pretty slow moving. The best spots are where you find holes or under cut banks. It runs about 4 to 5 feet deep through here but there are 12 foot deep holes. You just have to find them. Due to all the farming there is a fair amount of erosion.

Runs pretty clear most of the time but muddies up pretty good when it rains. That being the result of all the agriculture along it's path.
200 years ago it was a premier trout stream, before the logging and agriculture had it's impact.

My parcel has gone through some changes over the centuries.
There is a local Museum that has a display of Indian Artifacs that where found here through the earlier years. It was probably a small village.
150 years ago it was a Sheep farm area. In 1930 it was purchased by the previous owner. He and his wife built the house. 768 Square feet. They raised cattle and Strawberries and Blackberries. They Raised 4 Daughters here. One of which was living here when we bought the place. They did not have indoor plumbing until the late 1950's. We have 4 Huge Blue Spruce trees at the back of the main yard. Story is the farmer planted one each time a daughter was born so I don't have the heart to cut them down. Plus they are a great wildlife habitat tree.
I recently located the old well. It is really only a shallow cistern at the bottom of the hill where natural cold underground streams emerge.
My Barn was built in 1933. It was disassembled from a different location and reassembled here. The beams in it were Hand Hewn and reported to be over 100 years old at that time. Solid white Oak. But many were severely damaged by powder post beetles.
When I built the studio I had to remove a lot of them and replaced with new wood.

When I bought this place it had not had any updates since the 1940's except indoor plumbing. It was 768 square feet, No insulation and fiberboard on the interior walls. When I gutted it we found the walls lined with newspapers.
It musta been brutal in the winter.
The barn loft was still full of hay.

In 1993 I had lost everything I had in Chicago due to some trouble with the IRS. We had to start over. Decided we'd move to the country. I was unemployed, flat broke and my wife had decided to go back to school to be a nurse. We stumbled across this place and made an offer. When we explained our situation to the seller they agreed to sell it to us on contract. On faith alone. Isn't that incredible. We vowed we would not betray that trust, and did not.

When we first moved in we used to get bats in the house all the time coming in through cracks in the ceiling, LOL.

I have since remodeled it top to bottom and added on. It is now 2000 square feet but still like an old farm house. I made no effort to make it "modern".
The woods are pretty wild. There has been no farming here since the 1960's.
We do have chickens though. I love fresh eggs.

But as much as I love this place I'd move to Tennessee in a heartbeat if my wife would go, LOL

Bill:

I've enjoyed your posts and replies from all the others. You are thoughtful for sharing. It would be difficult to compare the relative beauty of Michigan versus Tennessee. Both possess lots of historical and scenic attributes. It's been about twenty years since I lived in the Nashville area but I genuinely loved it there. (No connection with music at that time.)

With the abundance of wildlife at your place, I'm not sure I'd press relocation to "down-south" with your better half... unless she prefers country music to critters.

Thanks again for sharing. Best wishes for whatever makes you happy.

Regards,

Dave Rice

Dave this has been a fun thread.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Everyone seems to enjoy the responses. I know it has nothing to do with why we come to JPF but I think a little diversion now and then is good for the soul.

I have family in Tennessee and I really like the area. Whether I'd leave here or not is hard to say. My Grandkids and great grandson are here and so are my three brothers. Not sure I'd like to leave that but Tennessee is only a ten hour drive.

I don't think I'd like to move anyway. I'd have to have two Semi's to move my stuff, LOL

Bill,sounds like a river that runs just below my farm,very slow running,in deep holes there are trout and even Atlantic salmon uses this river.

Aloha Bill,

I love the outdoors and nature... call us a little loopy, but the kids and I have been sleeping in a tent in our little suburban backyard this past week... I'm pretty sure neighbors think we're a bit off, lol.

However, being a Hawaii gal, I haven't experienced all that the mainland offers... and I can honestly say I'm grossed out at the thought of the Cicadas coming out May 22nd-ish... YUCK! I understand the noise is relentless and their little carcasses form a crunchy canvas as far as eye can see (are people just trying to freak me out)? Ewe. I wonder of my dog Rigo will try to eat 'em. ou, DOUBLE YUCK! Think I'm about to faint here...

Hugs, Kim-Char

Hi Kim-Char, Bill, Everett and All the rest:

Boy, Kim... your mention of the red Cicadas that emerge in the Nashville area about every ten years (so I was told) brings back lots of memories. Our Dachsund, Gretel and our big 'ol mixed-breed, Klutzy, would just have a field day out in our back field devouring Cicadas until they would just get sick. The Brentwood/Crockett Springs area was so beautiful that time of year but the Cicadas would turn things surreal for a few days. Aloha to you from non-tropical Texarkana. I lived near Tantalus Drive for awhile in Honolulu. Golly, things have changed there now. Just too many people. Still beautiful, though.

Everett: I wish you wouldn't taunt us with your River and Trout stories. We have Rainbows stocked by the state in a few of our rivers here in Arkansas but nothing that compares with what you are talking about. Can you feel the envious green emanating from the deep south?

Bill: You are a "master-threadsman" in my books. This has really been a fun read. Keep up the good work. Our world needs a little R&R and stories about critters and natural beauty seem to do the trick.

All my best,

Dave Rice http://xenaRadio.com/David_Lynn_Rice/

Kim-Char
Hellloooooo. Glad you stopped by.
Not to fear dear. Cicadas are harmless. Noisy but harmless. They spend their whole lives underground as grubs and emerge in great abundance about every seven years or so.

Why do they emerge you might ask....Well it's the oldest reason in the world..SEX
Yep...SEX....All that noise has one purpose. SEX.
They are gonna make little baby Cicadas that will go underground for seven years and emerge to do it again.
They only live a couple weeks as adults so they Party hard. Make a hell of a racket and leave a bit of a mess, and have SEX.
Wouldn't we do the same if we only had a couple weeks as adults to get the job done.
The crunchy "shells" you speak of are the exoskeleton they shed as they emerge as adults. If you ever get a chance to actually watch one metamorphis, take the time. It is fascinating.
The "carcass" is just an empty shell. It amazes me how they get out of the shell and leave it intact. Not to fear there are no gross innards left in the shell.
The noise.....Is a song of nature, try to enjoy it. But yes, it can be annoying.


One really nice benefit of camping in the back yard.
The toilets are close by.

So is the electric coffee pot.

Enjoy. We have done the same thing here. Camp down by the river. It's about a 1/4 mile walk from the house though.

Everett
It sounds idealic.
The King Salmon, Steelhead(Rainbow) Trout, Atlantic Salmon, and Coho Salmon we have come from Lake Michigan. They are not Natural to the lake. They are planted. We do get Lake Trout runs up the rivers here. They are natural to the great lakes.
The Brown Trout are German Browns. Planted a hundred years or so ago. Brookies are native but they need clean swift cold water. The logging industry pretty much wiped them out. Same with the Grayling. Sawdust in the rivers clogged their gills. And when you remove the large trees along a river it looses its shade, the water warms to much and the trout can't survive.
It's a shame what we have done to our rivers. Hydro Dams are a problem as well.
I think Ernest Hemmingway wrote some stuff about it.

A good day... I'm not so sure...
I live in a huge city. I have met all my goals, realized all of my dreams, even have exceded some of my wildest fantasies....
I was surfing google the other day...
Decided to google the area where I own 45 acres.
Clicked on images.
There was pictures of my property.
Checked out the site the images originated from.
It was an outfitter that was charging $265 a night to spend on MY LAND.
Someone is going to have a really bad day.

Dave
Glad you are enjoying the read.

Master Threadsman.....cool. I have a title, LOL

I took my Grand daughter to the dentist today. When I got home was was about to turn into the drive way I seen something moving in the road about a hundred feet ahead.
It was a Snapping Turtle. It's mating season and they tend to roam around a lot.
This was a big fellow At least twenty pounds or more. I'd say at least 12 inches across and 16 inches long, the shell. Nose to tail a good two feet.
Well Young folks have a habit of running them over on purpose so I usually move them off the road. They can get pretty fiesty. The only way to handle them is pick them up by the tail. But you have to be careful they have a long neck and can whip around pretty quick, LOL.
I did not have to move this one. He/she was in a hurry so I just watched til it was safely off the road.

Chuck
Now that is the worst kind of trespass, LOL. Making money doin' it.
I know that goes on up north of here. Mostly hunters though.
Happens here but not as much.

Sorry to be a bummer on this thread..
I live in Arizona now, the land I own (and was owned by my parents before me) is not in Arizona. I will not say where it is. It is the most spectacular place I've ever been (bar none). The complete history of the world is there. I grew there, laughed there, loved there, lost there, learned there.
Now I'm so mad. I can't see how someone could invade my paradise. I'm sickened by the prospect of it all.
I'm going back soon.
There is a reason I was picked out of my 6 other siblings as the protector of the realm.
Peace will reign. I know it will.
My best day is comming!
I will post as soon as it comes!!!

Maybe I should explain. Sone history perhaps..
When I was but a wee child we would frequent the land.
It is, as I have said, the most spectacular place.
As a wee child, I had a frequent rash on my face, most embarasing!
There is a creed that flows threw... 1000 square mile watershed, so you can imagine the massive flash floods that come through.
My siblings and I would play in the mud (quick sand) left behind by the floods. Totally cured my rash... life at last!
In this place the humidity is rather low, so the water flowing after the floods was cold, and the air hot.
The creek bed is mostly sandstone. Made a prety need slide (kinda like Oak Creak in Arizona). We would body surf down the creek untill we were so cold we could not stand erect for the shivering! Then we would lay down on the sand stone slabs on the banks. The sun is so hot dry time was not long.
Our hair was white, and our skin was a dark brown. Now my skin is white and my hair is brown. I guess I've come full circle. Time to return for the the cure that ails me!
Down streem a bit is a large spring (I've only seen it dry once in my lifetime, I would elaborate on that odity, but that would require a digress that would go on and on). We went there to either jump off of the 10 foot clifts into very cold water, then later lay on the oposing beach to dry. I've caught 7lb catfish out of that spring... good eating for later.
I've got to go back to set things right.