View From The Trees

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 2005. All rights reserved.

We're only about ten feet up off the ground, but the distance feels tenfold greater as I gaze out over rooftops and across the brush to fields and houses beyond. Here we are uplifted, held aloft by strong limbs, and separated from standard time.

Here we are eye-to-eye with the birds, as far removed from ground-level reality as an eagle in its aerie. Shrouded in leafage, we can peer out at passersby who never seem lift their heads above the horizontal plane; to them we are invisible.

Almost every kid who grows up in the country knows what it's like to climb trees. And nearly everyone who has ever climbed a tree has built a treehouse... or dreamed of one.

Most treehouses aren't much, just a few boards wedged between the trunk of the tree and some sturdy branches. All you need, really, is a platform to rest upon, but it's nice to have some walls and a roof as shelter from wind and rain.

Continued at... View From The Trees

Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
Artwork: 'Treehouse' Wall Decal

Stay at Home Geese

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 2001. All rights reserved.

A flock of Canada geese honking overhead captures my attention, and I think, "There's a sure sign of spring."

But wait! I've been watching that same flock, or one quite similar, fly overhead for most of the winter. And I remember seeing large gatherings of these birds on cornfield stubble, on golf courses and even some folks' lawns in January.

Idaho lies along the migration routes of many waterfowl, but most birds keep moving south toward the promise of warmer temperatures and open water. So, what are these Canada geese doing hanging around?

One of the most spectacular changes in the bird world in the last quarter of the 20th century, according to ornithologists, is the sudden appearance of "tame" Canada geese in suburban North America. In a recent Cornell Backyard Bird Count, the Canada Goose was the "most-seen bird" of 419 species reported in North America; more than 360,000 of them were counted. More common than sparrows!

Continued at... Stay at Home Geese

Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
The Nature Pages
Artwork: Canada Geese on Lake

No Mere Coincidence

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 1996. All rights reserved.

Fastened to our refrigerator door with a cow-shaped magnet is a fading piece of print clipped from some newspaper or almanac long ago. The clipping has outlived at least three refrigerators and survived several moves, traveling with us like some heirloom we dare not misplace.

Though curled at the edges and smeared a bit, the words are still legible:

"When the first leaves of the lilac appear... plant peas, potatoes, lettuce, radishes and the like.

"When the first lilac blossoms appear... plant beets, carrots, kohlrabi and other cole crops.

"When lilac blossoms reach full bloom... plant beans, corn, cucumbers and squashes.

"When the lilac blossoms fade and fall... the danger of frost is probably past and it's time to set out tomatoes, peppers and other warm-weather crops."

Continued at... No Mere Coincidence

Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
Artwork: Blossom in Lilac by Gail Mckenzie

Windbreak

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 1995. All rights reserved.

It is early spring and I am walking the windbreak I planted last spring. This stand of saplings should rise up 20 feet in a dozen years or so, providing some protection against the hot, dry westerlies that blow this way come summer.

A properly constructed windbreak can deter winds 10 times the height of the tallest tree, or so I've read. Planted in a bell-shaped curve with the tallest trees in the middle and shrubs on either end, the aerodynamic windbreak will re-direct breezes around a field, giving soils and tender seedlings some peace.

Continued at... Windbreak

Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
Artwork: Agricultural Landscape in France with Distant Windbreak of Trees

What The Snow Reveals

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved.

Snow conceals, but it can also betray.

Consider the tracks of mice, or wolves, or lynx -- so rarely seen. But here in the frozen dawn the secrets of their passage are plain to see, recorded like marks on a blank page.

You can read how the hare bounded from the forest cover, paused briefly to listen and stare intently (at what?), then was off again. And you can follow the tracks of a lone elk that staggered back and forth across the hillside, searching some remembered comfort before collapsing beneath the weight of hunger or disease, or both.

Continued at... What The Snow Reveals

Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
Lynx Tracks in Snow

Signs of Trouble

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved.

Our goldfish died, both of them in less than a week. That's an ominous sign.

Goldfish, you see, are a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. According to feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of channeling energy, a pond or bowl with goldfish swimming in it will help attract luck and success. A goldfish bowl near the entrance to a home invites happiness to enter; an aquarium near the cash register of a business brings wealth in the door.

When the fish turn belly up on the surface, that's not so good. We'll be getting Prozac offers in the mail now and that knock at the door won't be Ed McMahon. Our bank account and the Dow Jones average are bound to continue their downward spiral.

Continued at... Signs of Trouble
Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
Plum Blossom Chinese Feng Shui Painting
Feng Shui in the Garden

Coffessions of a Latter-Day Luddite

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved.

In my good dreams the phone is not ringing. On my best days the starter goes unturned, the monitor is blank and nothing gets scanned. I walk or ride a bike whenever practical, pay cash mostly and disconnected the cable TV long ago. Pollsters and marketers lurk in the dark alleys of the media. If it has a magnetic strip, it can't be trusted.

Machines are maddening; technology is terrifying. And yet I work all day at computers and make a living through their connections to the Internet. They allow me to be rural but not rustic, connected but not hardwired.

I am what you might call a Latter-Day Luddite.

Continued at... Coffessions of a Latter-Day Luddite

Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
Rustic Tuscany by Liz Jardine
Against the Machine