As the year draws to a close, all the presents unwrapped and the refrigerator filled with enough leftovers to get us into 2024, I once again am awash in books. This is an excellent position to find myself in, even if it means I am likely going to be purchasing another bookcase. My ambition to build a bookcase waned as the farm duties grew, and I found the perfect-sized bookcase online for less than $200. It is beginning to look like another purchase is going to be needed. The new bookcase is filled, and the built-ins behind my desk are stacked nearly completely. Christmas was indeed kind to me, to all of us.
Joining...
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Suddenly, it is Christmas.
As usual in this season of my life, the year passes in a blur, hard as I try to relish every day. There is little to be done about the speed in which days go by, except be grateful for all our blessings and try to be kind. And take time to relish the small beauties of this world — frost glistening on tall grass along my morning walk, leaves skittering across the asphalt as the hardwood trees become dormant skeletons.
During this three-week break between semesters, I am working on Three Geese Farm as weather allows. A couple of fierce thunderstorms during late...
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My near-total hiatus from watching sports has ended. It began during the pandemic, when seasons were truncated, games played in nearly empty stadiums or arenas, and watching highly paid sports figures seemed beside the point, as our world turned upside down. Now I am back to avidly watching the Texas Longhorns who are having a stellar season, rooting for the Rangers during the World Series, and watching the Kansas City Chiefs to see if Taylor Swift is sitting with tight end Travis Kelce’s mom in a luxury box. I even watched the last quarter of two Boston Celtics matches recently. (I learned long...
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The blessed relief of cooler — sometimes downright cold — temperatures has given me much-needed energy to tackle a number of outdoor projects here at Three Geese Farm, which never lacks for things to do. On a brisk autumn morning in mid-November, I mowed everything that can be mowed one last time with the zero-turn — about six hours perched on that beast, noise-canceling ear buds playing music. There will be no more mowing with that Bad Boy (the actual name of this model) until May, after the wildflowers go to seed. That means I now have time for other tasks.
Speaking of wildflowers, I ordered...
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Ten years ago, on Nov. 26, 2013, our family’s lives were forever changed. On a rainy morning two days before Thanksgiving, my father-in-law, Harris K. Teel, sat in the waiting room of Good Shepherd’s Ambulatory Surgical Center. His son, also named Harris, was having a routine procedure done. Harris the elder was there to drive him home.
At my wife’s request, since she was taking our daughter Abbie and a friend to Dallas, I pulled into the center’s parking lot garage to check on Mr. Teel, then walked down to the elevators at about 7:45. I noticed there was a lot of activity in the lobby...
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My Beautiful Mystery Companion decided in mid-October to skip the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations that usually grace our home and go straight to Christmas. Since she is in charge of decorating, something I happily acquiesce to, my primary job was helping to get the plastic crates out of the attic. Actually, she had most of them down before I realized what was happening, since I often live in a state of unawareness. I wasn’t much help anyway, given my bum shoulder.
A word about attic stairs. Ours are in the garage ceiling, a typical pull-down contraption likely designed by the same sadist...
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We bought a new (to us) vehicle last week, a gently used 2021 Toyota 4Runner Limited still under warranty, that a friend wanted to sell. She had ended up with more vehicles than she needed. Been there, done that. It was a mutually beneficial transaction consummated without the interference of pushy car salespeople.
Buying a new ride is a slow process for My Beautiful Mystery Companion and me. We have been discussing this for at least five years, visiting dealerships, and cruising lots on Sundays when they’re closed. Our last two visits with dealerships left us both with sour tastes in our mouths....
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The “friend” request came on Facebook. For a moment, the name didn’t look familiar: Jaime Leòn Vàsquez. I get a lot of random requests from people I have no connection, which I decline. Then it hit me. Jaime! He worked for me for nearly a decade, toiling nearly every weekend at whatever house I owned at the time, in Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Longview. He was a skilled painter and handyman, familiar with cattle and fence mending, and basically did whatever needed to be done — cheerfully and efficiently. As he said, “Lo que.” Whatever.
I first met Jaime in the spring of 2000, when...
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I sowed ryegrass in the rain Monday. It was perfect timing, something that seldom occurs in our venture into hobby farming. Rain has been rare lately, but rain or not, I was determined to plant 50 pounds of seed on my day off. I had borrowed the seeder from a buddy about three months earlier. It was time to return the seeder to its gracious owner, who wants to plant some oat patches before deer season commences. Best not overstay my welcome to using his farm implement.
The clouds looked promising all morning Monday as I went to town, had coffee with a friend, voted early, mailed off a soil sample...
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I walk three miles first thing each morning, weather permitting. Since it has rarely rained the past three months, I am out the door a little after 7 each morning, trying in vain to beat the inexorable heat that only recently eased up. Lately I have been wearing a hoodie and long-legged (for me) workout pants. The weather feels even more glorious than autumn normally feels, since we had such a gruesomely hot and dry summer — as did much of the country.
My walking route does not vary. I head down the driveway and about 100 yards to the county road in front of Three Geese Farm. Directly across...
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