Christmas Letter 2012


The year started out dry, and it's stayed very dry. We are in the midst of an official severe/extreme/exceptional/godawful (take your pick - the weatherman's never explained the difference) drought. Hasn't been this bad since the Dust Bowl. If it gets any worse, children will learn about rain from history books.

We had a very mild winter this year. Almost the winter that wasn't. Which quickly morphed through the spring that wasn't, straight into another infernal summer. I'm not sure the temperature dropped below 100° the entire month of July. But I digress....
Spring was short but exciting. The usual rash of wildfires kept us alert and constantly on our toes. And in mid-April the National Weather Service took the unusual step of issuing a severe/extreme/exceptional/godawful weather alert several days in advance. Conditions were just right for the mega-production of super storms and we were going to be in the epicenter. So they wanted to give everyone plenty of time to get ready. Fortunately, we dodged the bullet this time, but we were on the edge of our seats for days.

We received just about all of this year's rain during a brief period in the spring. Redbud Island returned and we actually got the ferry out of dry dock and in service again -- briefly.

We've had a long, mild, but very dry fall. We're still waiting for winter. Redbud Island is once again a memory. Our pond is fading, we've had to rename it Patricia's Puddle. The way things are going, it'll be Webster's Wallow before too much longer!

Pawhuska got another chance at Hollywood fame this year. The last few months they've been shooting the movie, "August in Osage County," here a bouts. Rumor has it that lots of big name faces have shown up at local haunts.

We did our usual musical things: Western Hills, Spring Rendezvous, Skiatook, and Winfield. Also did Grove this year. Didn't have a Fall Rendezvous.

Trish has kept me busy on a couple of projects. We built a repeating sparrow trap. Pretty rapidly caught all the dumb ones. Now all the smart ones are left to reproduce. Great. She also had me build a new fangled chicken feeder. It's supposed to prevent small varmints: voles, mice, squirrels, sparrows, etc. from stealing chicken feed. Trouble is, it's so noisy that it scares the hens and keeps them away too. Great.  I tell you, this country life really isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Well -- it's Christmas and still no significant rain in sight. Though they keep tantalizing us with the possibility of a slight white post Christmas. But I'm not holding my breath.
We hope you all are doing well. We wish you Merry Christmas, a joyous Holiday Season, and all the best for the coming year.

Please sign our guestbook before you leave. Thanks!

Farm Report

Gardening is strange, exasperating, irritating. Back in the days before 115° summers, when it would rain once in a while, and before every pest and plague know to man discovered our property - it used to be fun. I've come to the conclusion that everything written about gardening is just so much bull excrement. Plants will simply do what plants want to do and when they want to do it. We planted tomatoes this year specially bred to take the summer heat. They barely made it to July. Cool weather crops that are supposed to die when it gets hot: beets, turnips, kale, broccoli, etc. sailed right through the summer inferno without batting a leaf. While stuff that's supposed to like it hot: okra, peppers, etc. didn't do diddly squat. We have a plum tree - it produces delicious plums - but never more than a dozen, if we were lucky. This year it produced hundreds, maybe thousands. I was eating all the plums I could stand for months, and still had to freeze a bunch. I figure this must have been its last hurrah and it wanted to go out with a bang.

Early in the spring we saw our geese paddling about the pond in befuddled consternation. They knew there was supposed to be an island here a bouts where they could build a nice nest. But they just couldn't find it. Fortunately, it rained a bit in the nick of time and their prayers were answered.

We continue to have occasional run ins with snakes. Trish and I can never agree on how to handle them. I'd just as soon leave the harmless ones alone. Trish thinks all snakes are potentially fatal -- cause they can all cause heart attacks! She may be right. Last summer I was in the barn and heard a strange hissing sound - like air being let out of a tire. I thought it might be one of the gas cans venting. So I was poking around, looked down, and saw a coiled up snake hissing at me. All I could think of was holy s---! By the time I got back with an attack implement it had slithered off and I thought, "Oh great, a rattler loose in the barn." We never saw it again, it probably wasn't a rattler, but it did give me one hellova start!

Construction Report

Finally finished the garage walls. Maybe I'll get to the ceiling some day. Despite all the shelf building, there's never enough space to stuff all our stuff. Stuff must have gender - it seems to be multiplying beyond our control. Still working on the little addition. Amazing how such a small project can take so damn long. Words of advice to anyone contemplating on building their own home: "DON'T!" And if you do, make sure you have a set of professional plans, that includes everything you could ever want, before you start. There's nothing worse than changing things after they're done.

Music Report

We continue to do occasional informal gigs at the local Senior Center and other venues. We did the Fiddler's Convention at Western Hills again. Trish got to jam with her local legend buddies and also got to play on stage with some hot shot fiddler from Branson. The weather for our Spring Rendezvous was gorgeous and a good time was had by all. Trish continues to be in high demand for gigs. She played on stage with Blue Pearl at Skiatook and Grove. And she really hit the big time at Winfield this year -- she got to play on Stage 1 with Jo Ann Smith and Friends.
We've updated the Cacophony page with several new used videos. Enjoy?


Anyone passing this way is always welcome to drop in and sit a spell. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season and we wish you all the best for the coming year.