Hello, August

I started picking a few plums yesterday.

High up on the tree, clumps of plums have turned purple. 

Some have even fallen to the ground, creating "squish squish" walking conditions.  If I don't stay ahead of the game, the squishing in the grass is gonna get really messy.

So, I pulled out the ladder and the picker.  Trying to use a fully extended picker while standing on a ladder is not wise.  Too much of a balancing act for both the picker and the old person doing the picking.

I was able to reach quite a few ripe plums from the ground, however, but it was tedious.  

Then, I got to thinking about standing in that position for periods of time with arms in the air and my face cocked upward.

That might not feel good tomorrow, I thought. 

These days I spend more and more time considering how something I do is going to feel like on my body tomorrow.

So, yesterday, envisioning sore neck muscles, I kept the head cocking to a minimum. 

It is amazing these days how any movement made, no matter how brief or how subtle, will send a delayed signal to our brains and portions of our bodies the next day or for several days afterward to remind us that maybe we shouldn't have done that. 

Think before you stretch too far to fix that sheet.

 

 Think before you push that stubborn door shut.

  

Think before you put too much dirt in the cart which you'll be pushing across the yard.

 

Think before you throw something really hard at something that makes you really mad.

 

Think before you bend over and pull too many weeds in your garden.

Think before you pick up that box of books.

The list of thinking chores is endless, it seems.

Any one of the aforementioned moves is likely to provide an unwanted payback the next day or so.

All that thinking beforehand that I'm doing these days made me think that the article below might be kinda interesting. 

I've never considered myself a squatter, even though I do occasionally squat when I'm using the BIF. 

I had no idea that squatting---not the kind where you just move into someone's house---had such a rich history.  

Just like macaroni and cheese. 

After reading the story, I don't think I'll try to make up for lost time in the squatting department, but it definitely is a lifestyle practice to think about----maybe if you're 10.    

Enjoy the article, and do start thinking before you leap off your ladder with your picker. 

 https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-forgotten-art-of-squatting-is-a-revelation-for-bodies-ruined-by-sitting?utm_source=pocket-newtab

In other news, yesterday I read about chicken business in the neighborhood. 

Brad from Selle Valley Creamery posted some pictures of live white chickens in a pickup bed, another of shrink-wrapped whole chickens and finally grilled chicken breasts.

"If you're interested . . . $4.50 lb.," his note stated. 

It sounded enticing to think about baking a whole chicken from the neighborhood, so I asked if they were available and where.

Yes . . . his house, he replied. 

So a couple of hours later, with check in hand and plans to buy two chickens, I drove to his house, where his wife came to the door and led me to the freezer in another building.

She picked out a couple of birds and handed them to me.  Then, along came Brad and his son. 

His son weighed the birds and put them in the car for me.  Brad figured out the total. I wrote out a check.

  While I was writing the check, Brad noted that the birds weren't yet completely frozen.

That's when I learned just how fresh fresh chicken can be. 

Seems the chickens were clucking just hours before.

  Brad took them to Mary, the esteemed Bonner County chicken butcherer who lives next door, yesterday morning.  Later in the morning, he picked up the prepared birds and had already grilled some samples and eaten them before I arrived shortly after noon. 

"Don't tell me any more details," I said before driving home with my two partially frozen whole chickens. 

Just like the suggestions above, I thought long and hard about throwing a chicken in the oven and having it ready for dinner less than 24 hours from when it had been clucking around Brad's farm. 

No, I think I'll put these chickens in the freezer for a while and let the feathers settle (figure of speech not literal). 

And, so I did. 

Last night, we did eat hamburger, bought from the store, with home-grown baked potatoes, fresh cukes and garden tomatoes.  

Somehow, a really really fresh whole chicken just didn't seem right. 

This decision comes from the same person who will never raise another beef after the guilt trips I took past Gooby's Meat Co. when we sent our beloved steer "Sirloin" to "meat" his maker."  

It took us Love wimps a while to bite into a sirloin steak from the freezer. 

All that said, check out Selle Valley Creamery on Facebook and maybe get some of that neighborhood chicken for yourself. I think they're fully frozen by now.

That's all for today.  

I'll head on outside and get started with today's "thinking before hurting myself" process.

Happy Tuesday.