August

Random Deck Shot "Confused Clouds"

StarLounger 1224 aka "Hotel Kyle"

I've always loved August. Lots of close relatives and friends have birthdays in August (including me!), football was either about to start (when I was a more able bodied gridiron guy), or as it is now, the NFL at least has some pre-season games. The weather in Texas is hotter'n hell but in Michigan the lakes have warmed nicely (I imagine even more so this summer) and there was still a month of summer vaca left w no school. Second cuts of hay were sometimes in order, and for many years there was grain to shock, gather and thrash. I'm sure I complained in the early years of farm labor, but my foremost memories are now those of appreciation for the work dad has us doing. It wasn't just the old school way of doing it all, or a good feeling of being physically tired from a day of hard work, but that we were pulling actual sustenance and crops from the earth, that then fed our animals for which dad showed so much love for. I will forever hold onto the memories of riding King, one of our Belgium draft horses, while dad would guide the cultivator through the garden rows. And of raking hay with Pat and Mike, the all metal rake with no motor, purely driven by the power of the horses and large steel wheels that turned the gears that would then rotate the barrel of tines which would flip the previously cut grass and alfalfa into a light and fluffy windrow, perfect to be dried by the August sun and breeze in preparation for baling. As our fields were free of neither steep sidehills nor trailer rocking potholes, my highest priority while stacking a load of hay was to engineer the bales into an interlocking pile that could handle a heavy lean to either side, or the inevitable jump of a corner as one of the wheels fell into and bumped right back out of a mole hole or rut. I used to believe that I could stack the bales so high that I could make the tractor quit, but now I know I was just trying to impress dad. Then after a long day of work behind us, the ultimate reward was that trip to Sturgeon Bay to rinse off the sweat and dirt. I think it was the doing of the work with our hands and our sweat, and doing it along side my siblings and father (and occasionally mom when she would drive the M:) ), that has so permanently kept those memories secured within brainwaves and these feelings in my gut and in my soul. Miss you pops.


In the college years, August meant many a lazy afternoon on the stoop of whoever had the cold beers and a patio, trying to enjoy the last "free" days before it was almost time for 2-a-days again. 


THIS August is going to be one for the books. To start it out right, Heather, Drew, Cope and myself are heading to Steamboat Lakes tomorrow for 3 nights of camping and a plethora of outdoor activities. Sailing, biking, canoeing, fishing and all that other general family camping silliousness. I already feel obligated to show the little ones proper 'mall roasting techniques for s'mores. Then, I plan to make a trip to Denver to see some old friends next week. For the highlight of the month, I will be attempting to finish 3 days in a row of riding Breckenridge trails, almost 40 miles each day. I test rode a portion of the course yesterday, and found that the nicknamed "Heinous Hill" was very much aptly named. Ouch. But even more importantly, two very special women will be making the trip to cheer me on! Mom and Michele, thanks in advance for coming out :) Then from there on the calendar, I will be vacating the spacious accommodations of the StarLounger 1224 (above) and heading north for Wyoming to continue on with this ramble of mine. 


SO, entertaining as he may be, I don't know what this guy's problem is but he's obviously WRONG about August!  Boo on August?? 


Also, as I was talking about farming and crops earlier, I dare you to read this and not get pissed off. SO FRUSTRATING. Don't buy an ounce of this E15. And if you can, stay away from the E10 too. Call this my "awareness" section maybe... EPA, Corn, and our Government's ethanol mandate madness