Anyone traveling on US Highway 34, between Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield in the last few years, has no doubt noticed the political signs. They’re sort of belligerent, in your face, crude, and to be honest, [Read More…]
National Dog Day, which was in late August, right around Ginnie’s birthday, found Buddy a little worse for wear. It has been a bummer summer for the ole Buddy Boy. First of all, in July, [Read More…]
Brad Heald was still weed eating 45 minutes before his daughter’s wedding. He wanted everything to be perfect for his only daughter, Coral. To the wedding guests, everything was perfect. There was a beautiful display [Read More…]
Kimn Hassenfritz looked up from the breakfast table. “What is that awful noise?” she asked. There it was again. The noise sounded like a cross between an elk bugling and a sick goose. It was [Read More…]
I’m going to recommend two books for fall-fest reading. One is “Vinegar Girl” by Anne Tyler, and the other is “Long Haul, A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road” by Finn Murphy. Anne Tyler [Read More…]
When I was a kid my father ran a gas station in Monroe. I loved “helping” my father with his business. I swept the floor and washed windshields—albeit I had to stand on a five-gallon [Read More…]
I always knew Ginnie was a special woman, but this is ridiculous! We were leaving the movie theater in Burlington. I had taken Ginnie to “Crazy Rich Asians” for her birthday (excellent movie) and we [Read More…]
It was snowing so hard Michael Lanman, from Keosauqua, could hardly see beyond the hood of his Schneider truck. Semis were crammed into the parking lot of the truck stop in Clear Lake every which [Read More…]
Dr. Joel Ryon was headed for Mt. Pleasant’s swimming pool for a workout. He is a triathlete having competed in Ironman triathlons and also the Boston Marathon. It was his day off from his busy [Read More…]
I had fielded one-too-many quips about my weight: “Really pack’n it on there, aren’t you?” This hurt my feelings, so I decided to do something about it. We have plenty of eggs with our dozen [Read More…]
Ginnie came to me bright and early the day before my birthday. “There’s an issue with Buddy.” “Ah, oh.” I didn’t like the sound of the word ‘issue.’ “Oh, what’s that?” I asked, trying to [Read More…]
Ginnie told me to rent the metal detector again and search for the ring one more time before she bought me a new one. My 70th birthday was fast approaching (70!) and Ginnie was going [Read More…]
Ginnie and I are on a genuine, live, for-real vacation. And it feels like one! My mother’s side of the family, whom I don’t really know that well, has a reunion every other year. One [Read More…]
I told Ginnie that our life here on the Empty Nest Farm was all part of our art—the garden, and the animals, even the aronia bushes. She agreed. Our life is like a poem, flowing [Read More…]
I’ve known for a long time that there were bones under our hen house. A year ago this spring, when I was patching up the floor of the shed, getting ready to turn the shed [Read More…]
Willy Amos of Mt. Pleasant is the poster child for Hy-Vee’s “Helpful Smile in Every Aisle.” And it’s genuine. If it wasn’t for his wheelchair, you would never know that he is paralyzed from the [Read More…]
Blossom doesn’t particularly like her small pen. She runs from one end of the small enclosure to the other, kicking up her heels, letting us know that if she had a larger pasture she would [Read More…]
We moved Annie, along with her brother, to Mt. Pleasant from Colorado, completely against their will when they were teenagers. They thought we, the parents, had lost our marbles. They would attend a Christian school [Read More…]
Blossom doesn’t like being weaned. Not one bit. When I go in her pen to check her calf starter, hay, and water, she pesters me to no end, nose bumping me for milk and sucking [Read More…]
The letter was addressed to “Buddy Swarm.” It was from 94-year old Wilbur Swindler, of Ottumwa. Wilbur was asking Buddy to come visit, and to “bring Curt and Ginnie.” Wilbur had just completed his patio [Read More…]
Linda Pohren of Mt. Pleasant, and her daughter, Tammy Mumme (pronounced “Mummy”), have always done things together. But, according to Linda, “This is ridiculous!” Both Linda and her daughter have breast cancer—Linda, Stage II, and [Read More…]
Randy Tebo was my friend. He was an American Indian of the Ho-Chunk Tribe. Like many people, I’d never heard of Ho-Chunk. Patiently, Randy explained that Ho-Chunk were originally from Wisconsin. Like most tribes, they [Read More…]
We had put this off for as long as possible. The hen house needed cleaned out bad. The hens were staging daily walkouts carrying signs: “Dirty straw, dirty eggs!” “How would u like to live [Read More…]
Ginnie’s been having a rough go lately. The other night she was delivering a dozen eggs to my son and his family. She had a nice chat with my son and his wife at their [Read More…]
The following story was written by one of my readers, Janet Swaby, from Unionville, Iowa. Janet, after reading the story I wrote about our bucket calf, Blossom, couldn’t resist telling me about their bucket calf, [Read More…]
Ginnie is becoming a farm girl!It was Easter Sunday (also April Fools Day). We walked into church and the first thing Ginnie and I heard from the door greeters was, “We have a calf for [Read More…]
I’ve written about happiness before. In fact, that’s how I met Ginnie. It was from that first article I wrote about happiness. She sent me an email concerning happiness and, quick like Curtis thinks, I [Read More…]
I needed Ginnie to help me string the electric chicken wire fence—her to hold the roll while I shoved the stakes in the ground. I figured it would be a good time for her and [Read More…]
Mad as a Wet Hen I’m a little confused with the term, “mad as a wet hen.” Our hens don’t get mad when they get wet. As a matter of fact, they seem to enjoy [Read More…]
Ginnie and I may be entering our second childhood. We actually went out after dark three nights in a row. Can you believe it?! The first night, a Thursday, we went to a stand-up comedy [Read More…]
Tim Olson, a well-known mortician in Mt. Pleasant, could also be a standup (or lay-down—get it?) comedian. He likes to tell people he has a PhD—Professional Hearse Driver. Tim’s ancestry and history are colorful. His [Read More…]
Ginnie gave me the book, “Leonardo Da Vinci” by Walter Isaacson for Christmas. It’s a large, heavy, pretty book. But don’t let the size fool you. Its pages are of high-quality, thick, satin paper because [Read More…]
I don’t know what it is about the “first-time-you-have-something, you-use-it,” but I’ve seen it play out way too often, not only with me, but with others. I had just passed my EMT test in Ft. [Read More…]
Chicken Thief! I opened the hen house door to a troubling sight. There were a lot of feathers and, in the corner of the hen house, a dead hen—Red, one of our “adopted” hens. Her [Read More…]
It’s been a tough winter. But tough winters, with the accompanying housebound syndrome and flu, is perfect for you know what—yes, reading! Here’s my recommendation for keeping the howling north wind and frigid temperatures at [Read More…]
Because of Donald Kaul, I’m a columnist today. Donald Kaul was a columnist for the Des Moines Register and Tribune back in the sixties and seventies. I was an English Major at Iowa State University, [Read More…]
Our first spring at the Empty Nest Farm was a busy time for Ginnie and me. There was the garden to plow and plant, the barn to clean out from moving (everything we didn’t know [Read More…]
Aria helps grandpa gather eggs If there’s snow on the ground, our hens won’t venture from the hen house. They come to the threshold, peck at the snow, but opt to stay indoors. That’s fine [Read More…]
Like to write? I’m teaching a creative writing class starting on Saturday, January 20th, at 1:00 p.m., at our Empty Nest Farm in rural Mt. Pleasant. We will meet for six Saturdays in a row [Read More…]
When Jens (pronounced “Yens”) Carlsen drove down the hill for the first time on Highway 61, past the Iowa State Penitentiary, into Ft. Madison and saw the frozen Mississippi River, he wondered if he had [Read More…]
When Sharon Smith was seven years old, she was taken to town to see Santa Claus. She looked up into the eyes of Santa and told him what she wanted for Christmas—a doll that walked. [Read More…]
December 12th is hard for 62-year old Susie Clark. It’s the date her teenage daughter, Lisa, passed away 15 years ago. Memories come flooding back, like the murky water spilling over the dam at Oakland [Read More…]
Creative Writing Class: I will be teaching a creative writing class in my home in Mt. Pleasant this January and February. We will meet for six sessions on Saturday mornings for a couple of hours [Read More…]
I was leaning on the tailgate of the pick-up, talking on my smart phone, when there was a flurry, squawk and something gripped my shoulder like a claw. I’ll be danged if a hen hadn’t [Read More…]
TGITG! Thank Goodness It’s Thanks Giving! I know, Thanksgiving is one word, but I wanted to do a spinoff of TGIF. November is a memorable month for me, and I have a lot to be [Read More…]
If there’s one motto I’ve lived by all my life, and especially now that I’m a (ahem) “senior citizen” it is, “Do something, even if it’s wrong.” I often get caught up in the morning [Read More…]
Everything seems to happen at once. Ginnie’s mother died in Ozark, Missouri, and there was my brother’s birthday party in Ashland, Wisconsin. My place is definitely with my wife in time of grief, but my [Read More…]
Ginnie had been shopping all afternoon and was abuzz with shopitus when she pulled into the garage. I helped her unload the car as she debriefed, shooing the chickens out of the garage with one [Read More…]
Anniversary Before I forget this (how could I?), I have a book signing scheduled for Oct. 26, at 7 p.m., at SIP in Mt. Pleasant, 120 S Main St. It’s a coffee house. I will [Read More…]
I got a text from Ginnie while she was at work. “What’s going on today?” I text back, “Buddy to the vet, lady bringing her two hens, pet blessing on Sunday.” “It’s all about animals,” [Read More…]
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