Monday, October 9, 2017

See if you can guess...





...what my new winter job is.



Last year, of course, I was sitting on my ass with an infected heel bone. This year I am not.

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Sunday was a gloriously lovely day across the southern Panhandle of Nebraska. It was seasonally cool at sunrise, with the temperature about 38 degrees and the air marvelously still.

I took a couple of pictures and a video of the sunrise. The video was taken with the whatsapp  app on my phone for transmission to my farmer friends in Herefordshire. Thus the dialog.



In return, the farmer sent a short video of what he was busy doing at the same time. Because the Earth is a rotating sphere of a planet, and Herefordshire is located some 4,444 (or perhaps 4,439, depending on the tool you use) miles to the northeast, the local time there was 2 p.m., or seven hours ahead of Kimball. A perfect time of day to be harvesting apples.



Last week he was applying lime to his fields.



Which has little to do with sunrise, but is nevertheless interesting. Lime is added to increase soil pH. Soils tend to become acidic, you see, where lots of rain can leach alkaline compounds away.

Anyway, there I was, 24 hours after making a video of a glorious autumnal sunrise. Now I was making a video of an equally glorious, but very different, sunrise.



That's one of the plethora of things I love about life. I inhabit a dynamic world and live a dynamic life. Living a dynamic life is a choice, and that's an important concept. It's also important to understand that choosing to live a dynamic life is much easier for me than for most of my countrymen, as I was born into a rural ranching family. I was not born a city or townsman, so I don't have to find an excuse and corral a bunch of dollars and make time to visit nature. Nothing special about me, you understand, just my great good fortune in selecting the correct time and place to be born.




15 comments:

  1. Man, 80s here in Little Rhody today, snow out in Nebraska. Awesome.

    (My guess as to your winter employment: 1) making pizzas, 2) delivering pizzas,or 3) plowing parking lots.)

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    Replies
    1. It's pretty cool how mama nature runs the weather system. Warmed up today after a hard freeze last night (23 degrees) and all the snow went into the yet-to-freeze ground, which was nice! Supposed to be in the 70's during the day for a week or so with overnight lows remaining above freezing. Autumn!

      As for your guess -- close!

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  2. Thanks for the post. Keep warm and safe out there.

    Paul L. Quandt

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  3. "King of all you survey" for your winter job, eh?

    While snow can be beautiful, that beauty is best left for pictures :) Cold & wet? No, thanks!

    /
    L.J.

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    Replies
    1. It's good work if you can get it!

      One of the best things about cold and wet is that it makes warm and dry feel so good. If it was February we'd be talking about how warm it was and how it "almost rained."

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  4. Biggest problem with the winter job? Getting paid (a lesson learned in my callow youth).

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    Replies
    1. That can be a challenge. So far so good, but you never know...

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  5. Sure like that fluffy white stuff. Are you going to be the local weather watcher? Thanks for the great pics. Take care and stay warm. Enjoy the season.

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    Replies
    1. What happened to your Ranger's grille?

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    2. I like it too. 0.75 inches of moisture in it this time, and it all went in the ground.

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    3. @Scott -- http://prairieadventure.blogspot.com/2017/05/doh.html

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  6. That first video is lovely. I enjoy watching the snow fall on a still night. You are working at a convenience store?

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    Replies
    1. DING-DING-DING-DING! I'm the new part-time night check clerk at Kimball's Kwik Stop.

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  7. Did you watch Clerks to prepare yourself for the role?

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