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| HOME NEWSLETTERS HUNTER EDUCATION OLD MISSOURI HILLBILLY SITE |
VOLUMES 231 & 232 -------- SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
SHOOTIN', HUNTIN', AND RELOADIN' WITH THE OL' MISSOURI HILLBILLY |
| Uploaded: January 3, 2022 Since it's well past time when this newsletter should have been uploaded it might be time to try and catch up around here! Then, I can get started on the next one that should have been done already too. Here we go! September and October happens to be Ann and my birthday months. Mine, September 20 and Ann's October 30. Two years ago we celebrated my birthday at Cassie's Supper Club in Cody, WY. This was on the tail end of a trip to Missouri to wind up a few business items regarding Ann's Mom's estate and visiting family. Our route back home included a stop in Cody to visit the Buffalo Bill Cody Center. (For more on this trip and lots of photos of the firearms museum in the Center, see the September/October 2019 newsletter HERE) My birthday happened to occur during our stay in Cody that year, so we looked for a place to celebrate and have a good steak dinner. Several advertisements for Cassie's were noted in the many tourist brochures laying around, so we decided to try it. Had a great meal and enjoyed the entertainment. Again, go to the above link to see pictures. Of course, 2020 was pretty much a bust when it came to travels and vacations because of COVID, so all celebrating was close to home. Lack of getting out also must have affected my brother Ed, as he called me late summer with a suggestion we meet somewhere for a visit. "What do you have in mind," I asked? "Well, Nancy and I have never been to Yellowstone National Park, so maybe we can meet somewhere close and then she and I'll visit the Park," he replied. Thus was born our planning for a trip to meet in Cody. COVID was still affecting many business in Cody, as in most places, with reduced hours and days, so this created a glitch that prevented Ed and Nancy from joining us at Cassie's for the birthday supper. Previously Cassie's was a 7 day operation, but now turned out to be closed on Sunday and Monday, the only two days we would be in Cody at the same time! Oh well. Ann and I did our dinner on Saturday the 18th and Ed bought me a birthday dinner on Monday the 20th at another nearby restaurant.  Cassie's Supper Club
 Ann and I Awaiting our Steaks
(Bandstand and Dance Floor Beyond) After dinner we moved down to a table by the dance floor and did a few two-step dances. While we didn't get to experience Cassie's with Ed and Nancy we did have a nice visit and toured some of the many shops and western stores Cody is famous for. No visit to Cody would be complete without visiting the veranda of the Irma Hotel. The hotel, built by Buffalo Bill and named for his daughter, opened in 1902 and is still in operation today. The unique chairs on the veranda inspire a lot of photographs.  Dang, This is Fun!!
 My Brother Ed (Affectionately known as Toad) and his Wife Nancy
For a while it appeared that we might be getting beyond the COVID issue, but developments have since told us that ain't gonna happen soon! Ann and I got the two shot Moderna vaccine as soon as it became available, and the booster shot as soon as we were eligible, but still try to limit exposure and exercise safety protocols in our activities. I'm still at a loss as to why some people continue to resist the vaccines. Seems to me all one has to do is look at the math to see that people are dying needlessly. I have a lot I could say about that subject, but that is a treatise for another time. Let's move on to Ann's birthday. While the live music is missing, Texas Roadhouse in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho has the kind of Western atmosphere we enjoy, so that became the venue for Ann's birthday celebration. Just the two of us, with the obligatory ride on the Celebration Saddle for the birthday girl.  Birthday Girl
 Ride That Celebration Saddle!
 Only Girl Who Can Eat Ice Cream and Ride a Bronc at the Same Time!
 Hell, It Might Be Love!
Ann had a nice little sirloin steak and I ate my favorite Roadhouse menu item: RoadKill! Our deer hunting here at the Ranch was pretty much a bust again this year. There was still a scarcity of mature bucks, and other factors entered into the picture as well. Chronic Wasting Disease is getting closer to our area and many whitetail deer have died from Bluetongue and Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease as well. While we have donated our deer to Hunter's for the Hungry programs for the last few years, it makes us wonder about anyone consuming venison these days. End result, we simply passed on shooting anything this year. An update on the skunk visitor to our patio. We laid down a perimeter of scrap boards around the corner the skunk seemed to like and sprayed them with a varmint repellent that the label said was effective for skunks. HA HA!  That $20 Jug of Skunk Repellent Was Sure a Waste of Money
I did prepare one of my live traps but second thoughts about the potential smell so close to the house nixed that plan. So, we finally just gave up. Fortunately, the skunk quit pooping in the corner and I moved the trail camera to the timber, so we really don't know if he moved on or just found another toilet! Other visitors we found on the trail cam while photographing the skunk included a feral cat and a turkey. We are blessed with wildlife!  Nice Kitty
 Don't Poop There!
Our logging project is now nearly completed. All the marketable stuff has gone to the mills and the remaining job is burning the slash piles. Part of the deal with the logging company is that they burn the slash piles. The weather cooperated with getting this done, until it didn't! Timely Autumn rains came and lowered the wildfire danger to make burning safe. The slash piles were ignited over a period of a few days and burned well until way too much rain continued to fall and doused the flames. About this time the loggers showed up with a mini-excavator and began re-piling the slash to re-ignite. Then came the snow! It now looks as though the burning will have to wait until Spring. Robert, the Boss logger assured me they would not leave us hanging, so to speak, and will be back in the Spring to finish the slash burning job. Early in the cleanup in preparation for slash burning, the Boss's daughter's family were here working on that job, when a mama Moose and her calf came ambling onto the ranch property from the north. Out came the phones for pictures. The pair rambled on to the area around the buildings and began stripping leaves and branches from the maple tree in front of the house and the plum trees out by the shop. Then they didn't want to move on! Little Heifer and I were working around the buildings with some chores that were needed in preparation for our Northwest winter and staying away from the moose was interfering with those projects. We tried throwing apples at them, yelling, dancing up and down, and encouraging their departure without putting ourselves in danger. As y'all probably know, a mama moose can be quite cantankerous! Finally, I climbed into the cab of the tractor and with a lot of horn honking, managed to haze the duo into the neighbor's pasture so we could get on with our chores. Here are a few pictures.  Mama Moose Emerging from the Brush
 Near The Front Door Working On The Maple Tree
 If you look closely, you can see a deer by the power meter stand saying, "What the hell are you doing to my plum trees?"
 Closer Shot Under the Plum Trees Just Before I Ran Them Off With The Tractor
I'll close out this issue with a report on the annual Ash Aphid infestation. For those not familiar with Ash Aphids, here is what the WSU Insider newspaper at Washington State University had to say about them a couple of years ago: PULLMAN, Wash. – Hovering masses of puffy gnat-like bugs have invaded the Inland Northwest, sticking to windshields, dive-bombing people’s eyes and getting into their mouths. They’re called smoky-winged ash aphids and their massing has been spawned by warm autumn days, said entomologist Richard Zack of Washington State University. “We’ve had some recent nice sunny, mild days this fall, which triggers the aphids to fly. They’re most active in the mid to late afternoon when it is warmest. Sometimes, they appear to be everywhere,” he said. If possible, look beyond the annoyance factor and enjoy the aphid airshow. Once in flight, their fuzzy white posteriors pulse in mid-air. Consequently, the insects flit about like snowflakes on steroids refusing to fall. “Many aphid species produce a wax-like substance that gives them a whitish color and wooly appearance when they fly, especially when backlit by the sun,” Zack explained. After hosting on fir trees and other conifers during summer months, the females are making their autumn move to ash trees to lay eggs. “Only the eggs will survive winter. Everything we see flying around right now will die,” he said. Expect the huge clouds of aphids to dissipate around Halloween as temperatures start to dip. In the meantime, keep in mind that the ample insect swarms are a nuisance, not a threat. While some aphids destroy vegetation, not the smoky-winged ash variety. “They are of little to no economic importance to trees and plants. And no, they don’t suck blood,” said Zack. There you have the technical stuff. From our point of view, they can be a 'pain in the ass' so to speak, around here every fall. They get in your nose, mouth, hair, and if you're not careful you suck one down your throat. This year, much worse than normal! They were so thick, we saw sights that we'd never seen before.  They knew cold weather was coming. Here they are clustered on the ash tree by the shop building.
 Dead and Dying Aphids Clustered at the Base of the Tree
I said we saw new sights; we also smelled something. That evening about dark, we were walking along the south side of the shop, when we smelled something hot or scorching. Our first thought was wildfire as it was still very dry and fire danger high at that point. We walked around the area sniffing the breezes to try and find the source of the smell. There was little breeze, and the only place we could smell the burning was directly under the mercury vapor light on the shop gable. Finally looked up! Holy Crap! The aphids had swarmed the hot bulb and were literally cooking themselves! This prompted us to turn off the power to the light to avoid a potential burning of the building! Problem solved, except for one small detail. The chest freezer we keep in the shop was plugged into the same circuit as the light. Fortunately, the freezer was nearly empty, so we lost nothing of serious consequence when that was discovered a day or two later. A climb of the extension ladder and removal of the bulb enabled a swift brushing out of the dead bugs and a stop to the aphid burning. This month's hillbilly wisdom comes from a site called 'Wild and Unbridled' that Ann picked up on social media: Anybody who's ever stared between a pair of ears knows when you get a knot in your rope the only way to get it out ain't by fightin' it. It'll only get worse and throw a kink in your rope and probably ruin it. But if you take a lil' time and relax the tension, it'll work itself out . . . Just like life. Well, it's time to shut down here, so. . . . . 'Til next time, Keep 'em shootin' straight, shoot 'em often, and above all, BE SAFE!!! THE OL' HILLBILLY Copyright 2021 - All Rights Reserved |