Category Archives: Karen

The introvert, or the hermit?

From time to time, circumstances plunge me into situations where either I’m really uncomfortable or I question everything I ever knew about social interaction, including my past experience, which is a little unnerving. I will acknowledge up front that this is at least partly because I am an introvert from birth. Given some of myContinue reading “The introvert, or the hermit?”

Things you can learn on one frigid day.

It’s once again the second week of January, albeit the last day, and therefore it is time to draw an OTB. But since Jeremy has not sold calves yet, we are not yet dreaming of OTBs. Or, rather, we have such a large raft of options that it’s too hard to narrow it down beforeContinue reading “Things you can learn on one frigid day.”

So they’ve made a tractor that runs on anhydrous ammonia.

If you are someone who grows things for a living on a scale larger than, say, a couple dozen acres, you may remember when the most efficient and cost-effective way to get nitrogen to your crop was anhydrous ammonia. I pulled a few tanks for Jeremy back in the day when I was mostly justContinue reading “So they’ve made a tractor that runs on anhydrous ammonia.”

Make them precocious readers.

Here’s my opinion on Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games.” Yeah, it’s a little dystopian-gory, but you should read it, and your kids should read it, and your teachers should read it out loud to your tweenagers. When Sadie came home to tell me sixth grade was hearing it read aloud by their teacher — holyContinue reading “Make them precocious readers.”

Miscellaneous commentary from me, Karen.

The sun is up, though not by much, and a ways off from us there’s a spray plane with headlights on. I’ve never seen that. It’s cool, the plane silhouetted against the not-quite-bright sky and the very bright lamps on its nose. It’s the seventh day of school, and it’s already hard to get peopleContinue reading “Miscellaneous commentary from me, Karen.”

Recommendations, summer edition.

So is everyone to the point of having had the wheels fall off the summer bus, or just me? Just me? OK, I guess that’s fine. Got a couple random things to impart, and since the blog is of course growing moldy, as realistically I knew it would from the get-go, which is why IContinue reading “Recommendations, summer edition.”

In which I sing the praises of beef.

What if I had a million dollars at my disposal? I joke that I would hire someone to cook for us. That would be heavenly. That person could also clean and mow while I do more interesting things like mechanic and and read books and play board games and take photos. (More likely, if IContinue reading “In which I sing the praises of beef.”

This, that, and the next thing — all absurd.

Until someone uses it, I forget that “absurd” is one of my most favorite words. It’s so perfectly descriptive. (I like most words quite a lot, so it is minorly deceptive of me to be declaring a most favorite.) Absurd. Like seven medicine dosing cups in the dirty dishes — and that’s not even atContinue reading “This, that, and the next thing — all absurd.”

A hundred prairie things I love.

county fairs wind waves in the grass six steps of acquaintance coincidence (inevitable) all the kinds of clouds old farm buildings the first sight of a mountain the Oregon Trail the horizon houses people can’t yet bear to tear down small-town convenience stores knowing delivery guys by name the Pony Express reride corn cows knowingContinue reading “A hundred prairie things I love.”