The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
October 18, 2013, Issue No. 130
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Fort Plain, NY
October 18, 2013, Issue No. 130
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Fort Plain Floods -- On the morning of Friday, June 28, at 6AM, a four-foot wall of water rushed down Main Street in Downtown Fort Plain. The Otsquago Creek had surged out of its bed, adding 20-30 feet in height to normal water levels. An 87-year-old woman opened her front door to look and was swept away - not seen since. State Highways 80, 163 and 5S were impassable. When the water settled, every basement in the Downtown area was full of water. Every business was closed. Mud everywhere. Electric power nowhere. Red Cross, state troopers, FEMA, Homeland Security, sheriff deputies, local police, local fire departments, etc. everywhere. Virtually every bridge in town was breached and made unusable, including all the small bridges on all the back roads in the agricultural areas surrounding the downtown area. Clean-up ensued, but more rain on June 29-30 and July 1-2 followed, forcing more evacuations. Two months later, clean-up continues. Most bridges have been repaired, some houses are condemned, the State has been working in the Creek, reshaping it, all summer, and the worst hit area, Abbott Street off of Route 80 is still a mess, with many houses in the area still without power. By October, most damage has been repaired, but several small businesses never returned to downtown Fort Plain, and Abbott Street is still a mess, with all its houses condemned and unlivable.
Riley and the Littles -- The Golden Boy and his summer time minion, Watson, the yellow lab pup, run hard, play hard and sleep hard. Both Riley and Watson think that biting the tails of the cats is fun. The cats disagree. Alack and alas, Watson left us at summer's end for his hopefully permanent home.
Plowing and Planting -- Mid-June brought haying. First, a day plus to review the mower, tedder, rake, baler and hay wagons and get them into shape for the task. Then, required for making hay while the sun shines are three straight days of forecast and actual sun, warmth, breeze and zero rain. Well, we got this and more from June 19 to 23 and put 1,190 bales of hay in the barn, 290 more bales from the first cutting than a year ago. We mowed our primary hay fields,14 acres, on Thursday. The tedded the hay once later that day and once on Friday. Then, we raked the hay into rows late Friday and did the baling and stacking on Saturday, with the assistance of Melvin Miller Jr. and Daniel Stoltzfus. Susan, Nancy and I were well worn by Saturday evening. Spring of heavy rain and summer of no rain has taken its toll on the grain crops. Hay was bountiful, but wheat, oats and barley a bit sparse. A number of the corn fields in the area are half growing and half gone. Apple trees are full with more apples than we'll ever use. We did a second cutting of hay in mid-September and put another few hundred bales in the barn.
And They're Off -- Rio and Blondie bask playfully in the pasture. We saddled-up Rio and CJ, with friends Andie and Scott, rode a bit. Andie clearly the expert. Scott was tossed-off when we looked away and only mostly recovered from the bruise on his butt.
And They're Off -- Rio and Blondie bask playfully in the pasture. We saddled-up Rio and CJ, with friends Andie and Scott, rode a bit. Andie clearly the expert. Scott was tossed-off when we looked away and only mostly recovered from the bruise on his butt.
The Herd of Five (now Four) -- Eli, Lily, Michael, Isaac, and Abby summered in the pasture and recently fenced trails area, spending most evenings outside. They love roaming the trails but still come running for their daily dose of hay, offered each evening by Nancy. The three calves passed their one-year birthdays this summer. In early October, it was time for Eli, then a 2,000+ pound fully-grown Holstein steer, to head to the butcher for processing, yielding 900 piounts of hanging-weight beef and over 800 pounds of finished, packaged and frozen steaks, roasts, ribs and ground beef, enough for us for another year or two.
Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- We cleared the shooting range and tried-out the new targets and .22's. Great success. And mark the date,August 25, a bit down the road on Freysbush Street, Susan saw a brown bear run into a corn field. Last year, Susan saw a mother bear and two cubs at a creek right next to the road, while driving on Route 20 out near Duanesburg.
Fowl Weather -- The turkeys are growing ever larger as their mid-November showdown approaches. Most of the hens are in the 12-15 pound range, with the toms a bit larger. Still a month month to go/grow, so finished weights should be 20 lbs. or so. One of the 18 Red Star/Silkie chicken chicks hatched this past spring just laid an egg, so the evolutionary process marches on. Soon, we should be getting a couple of dozen eggs per day.
Visitors -- Stevie, CJ and friends spent a couple of July weekends at the Compound. Giant bonfire scorched a portion of the lawn, but no real damage.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.
Quotes of the Month --
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- Declaration of Independence
Economic forecasting is a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. -- William Shakespeare (Macbeth)
The only reason people lock their car doors when Obama walks by is that they are afraid that Obama will tax them to death. -- James Woods
Every time something really bad happens, people cry out for safety, and the government answers by taking rights away from good people. -- Penn Jillette
The victory of Socialism is well worth millions of atomic victims. -- Che Guevara
We must do away with all newspapers. A revolution cannot be accomplished with freedom of the press. -- Che Guevara
If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. -- Thomas Jefferson
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half the people are stupider than that. -- George Carlin
Thought of the Month --
America's Obituary
In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the
University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the
Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:
"A democracy is always
temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent
form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until
the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous
gifts from the public treasury. From that
moment on, the majority
always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from
the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally
collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a
dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200
years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
Bumper Stickers of the Month -- a tie this edition --
PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR A LIVING ARE OUTNUMBERED BY PEOPLE WHO VOTE FOR A LIVING
IF OBAMA WAS THE ANSWER, HOW STUPID WAS THE QUESTION?
NOBODY FOR PRESIDENT IN 2016 - START LEADING YOURSELF
Fact of the Month --
For every one job created under the Obama Administration, 75 people have gone on food stamps.
Four out of five U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty, or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream. (Associated Press, 7/29/13)
And then There's This ...
A man died and went to Heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the
Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, "What are
all those clocks?"
St. Peter answered, "Those are lie-clocks. Everyone on Earth has a
lie-clock. Every time you lie, the hands on your clock will move."
"Oh", said the man. "Whose clock is that?"
"That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating she's never
told a lie."
"Incredible," said the man. "And whose clock is that one?"
St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved
twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life."
"Where's President Obama's clock," asked the man?
"Obama's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."
And then There's This ...
Clocks in Heaven
A man died and went to Heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the
Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, "What are
all those clocks?"
St. Peter answered, "Those are lie-clocks. Everyone on Earth has a
lie-clock. Every time you lie, the hands on your clock will move."
"Oh", said the man. "Whose clock is that?"
"That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating she's never
told a lie."
"Incredible," said the man. "And whose clock is that one?"
St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved
twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life."
"Where's President Obama's clock," asked the man?
"Obama's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."
AND THEN THERE'S THIS --
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