The Riley Factor #85

The Riley Factor Fort Plain, NY
October 27, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Visitors -- Many of you remember Moritz, our German Italian foreign exchange student from 1999-2000.  Well, his parents, Uschi & Achem, made a long-awaited visit to Middle-of-Nowhere on the tail-end of a whirlwind tour around America that began a few weeks ago at a NATO pilots reunion in San Diego (Achem flew fighters for NATO for 20 years, before retiring in the 1990's in favor of painting and drinking red wine and German beer).  After Susan toured Uschi and Achem around New England for a few days, the threesome arrived in Fort Plain for a few days relaxation before Uschi and Achem flew back to Sardinia.  A good time was had by all.

Planting and Plowing -- We found one last farming thing to do before the snow flies -- on Oct. 20, we fertilized the newest hay field, six acres in the lower half of Field No. 3.  Got the John Deere tractor stuck in the mud in the middle of the nearby rye field, while getting rid of the last of the fertilizer, and had to walk back a half mile to get another tractor and pull the Deere out with chains.  Some fun, while Susan was away touring with the Gottschalks.

Riley -- His energy geometrically increases with his age.  I soon see Riley becoming a nuclear power.  If he survives the day.

The Herd of Five -- Mooing on.  A simple group.  Content.  They refused to come into the barn one night.  I went down to their stalls for a final check around midnight and found the five-some all laying down in a tight circle right outside the barn door.  They were mooing, not moving, and declined to get up.  So I declined to waste any more time on their evening comfort.  All was fine by morning.
 
Fowl Weather -- The turkeys have taken to roosting on our Jeep, a ridiculous sight, covering almost all of the horizontal surfaces.  The Jeep barely accommodates the 20 of them.  But I have evidence.  Trust me though, you don't want to see it.

Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- Hawks abound over the upper fields and edge of the woods.  With an occasional vulture or two.  Great to watch them soaring.  And the deer sightings are picking-up, no doubt before the hiding begins with the opening of deer hunting season in mid-November.  The wild turkeys have not yet exhaled, since their hunting season runs from October 1 to November 19.

Quotes of the Week -- Our Forefathers Speak

   The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. - Thomas Jefferson

   Laws that forbid the carrying of arms..disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one." - Thomas Jefferson

   The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing. - John Adams

   To contract new debts is not the way to pay old ones. - George Washington

   There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy. - George Washington

   I appeal to you again to constantly bear in mind that with you, and not with politicians, not with Presidents, not with office-seekers, but with you, is the question, "Shall the Union and shall the liberties of this country be preserved to the latest generation?" - Abraham Lincoln

The Pledge to America -- The New Republican Agenda -- America is more than a country.  America is an idea – an idea that free people can govern themselves, that government’s powers are derived from the consent of the governed, that each of us is endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America is the belief that any man or woman can – given economic, political, and religious liberty – advance themselves, their families, and the common good.   America is an inspiration to those who yearn to be free and have the ability and the dignity to determine their own destiny.  Whenever the agenda of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to institute a new governing agenda and set a different course.