We’re almost through with July. It remains to be seen if summer is through with US. The flowage / creek / pond complex north of our place is close to dry. The Sunrise river, downstream of the dam in Carlos Avery, is way below bankfull. Yesterday’s storms varied enough that some northern parts of the county got almost 3 inches of rain, while southern locations only received a little more than half an inch. Water temperatures in the area exceed 70℉ and are more than 80℉ at some nearby stations. Time to leave the heat-stressed trout alone until things cool down.
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| few local corn fields look this healthy
Photo by J. Harrington
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It’s not as though there’s a shortage of things to be tended to around the place. The ever present dead branches need collecting. If we avoid wildfire smoke for a bit, I may even burn some of them. The tractor's off being repaired, so mowing and related efforts are deferred until it’s healthy and functioning again. I have a multitude of tsundoku stacks that can stand to get organized and some fly fishing gear that still needs cleaning and checking out (for when things cool down).
As we begin the transition from summer to harvest season, and approach my favorite half of the year, I need to refresh my awareness that I can only live one day at a time and that, if everything’s important, nothing’s important. I’m noticing more and more that the local newsletters from Trout Unlimited chapters frequently contain stories of local folks doing good works that improve pieces of and places on the earth and the lives of those who live and play there. That’s frequently more than I see in national and international headlines. Could it be that the secrets to a happy life are underfoot? Does the Mad Farmer offer the secret(s) to real success?
Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion — put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
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Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.
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