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    Opinions Christine Tailer 28 August 2023

    The Queen

    Greg asked which of two projects I would rather undertake. I could stand in the shade of his shop, the fan blowing across my glistening arms and face, and sort through the rusty fittings we had just taken off the aluminum trailer. This was a new-to-us, 40-year-old aluminum trailer that we are in the process of refurbishing to trundle our steam little launch to and from nearby lakes.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 21 August 2023
    Creek song
    I know that the other sounds of our creek valley world still surround me, but I cannot hear them. At this moment, all I hear is the soothing song of my dear tractor. My heart is full.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 14 August 2023
    The tractor parade
    This past week was again the week of the antique machinery show, a week I have been looking forward to all year. I no longer feel nervous, just ever so happily excited as I climb up into the seat of my red tractor and join the line of proud tractor owners in the tractor parade.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 7 August 2023
    Shop toad
    It was one of those summer days that was true to the forecast, hot and humid and not conducive to working outside. When thunder was not thundering off in the distance, it was thundering right overhead, and rain was pouring down from a dark gray sky. 
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 7 August 2023
    Old hooks
    I simply use my hook to peel off a layer of hay from a round bale, but no matter the difference, every single time I feel the worn wooden handle fit comfortably into the palm of my hand, I smile to know that I really am my father’s daughter.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 25 July 2023
    The forecast calls for heat and humidity
    We looked ahead to the long-range weather forecast and sighed to see that the auction was going to be held on the only relatively cool, dry day, for days to come. The rest of the forecast called for day after day of deplorable heat and high humidity, punctuated with occasional rain showers. 
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 16 July 2023
    Two lessons shared
    This valley is our home, our world, and our neighborhood, and it is filled with the most wonderful life energy you could ever imagine. Perhaps now, you’ll better understand what I mean when I say that I so love these hills and the life that flows through them.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 10 July 2023
    The tree and the wind
    The old tree might not have withstood the rain and the wind, but it had certainly withstood the once-upon-a-time city folks’ undying appreciation. 
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 2 July 2023
    Small wonders 
    We have always been proud to say that we don't have a problem with mosquitos in the creek valley, and now I believe that I know why. It is all thanks to this mighty army of voracious, though tiny, tree frogs.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 19 June 2023
    Confessions of a cattlewoman
    Well, it is said that a cattlewoman is a person of female gender who looks after or owns cattle. I am certainly a female, and if you happen to stop by the creek valley, you will see two cattle contentedly grazing in the middle pasture, so I suppose that I might be considered a cattlewoman, though I truly have my doubts. 
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 12 June 2023
    Dry weather
    Until yesterday, rain was something I seem to only vaguely recall. The grass out in the orchard and around the edges of the fields is so parched it appears more yellow than green. Greg smiles and says that at least he doesn’t have to mow twice a week.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 4 June 2023
    Hay days
    Perhaps we had ourselves a hay day, but it was really more like three hay days of amazingly hot temperatures, one right after the other, in what seemed like an unbelievably unending row of long days.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 28 May 2023
    A little red tractor kind of day
    The little Farmall Cub is far from a show tractor. Her paint is weathered, and her front grill shows a bit of well-earned rust, but to my eyes she could not be any more perfect. 
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 21 May 2023
    In the dirt
    I have always felt happily at home with dirt on my knees, though never, in all of my wildest dreams, would I have ever imagined the variety of the wonderful tools that would become my dirt-working companions today. 
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 16 May 2023
    Fleabane
    Fleabane is a wildflower to some, a weed to others, and then there are those who even choose to plant it in their gardens. This has been such a wonderful spring for wildflowers here in the creek valley, perhaps because of the cool weather, but no matter the reason, fleabane is blooming everywhere.
  • Opinions Christine Tailer 8 May 2023
    Spherical joy
    Our hearts are not so much warmed by the small spherical glass orbs, as they are warmed by the people that these small orbs share with us, and of course, I smiled.
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