BIGFOOT

It's difficult to comprehend how (with several million people keeping their eye peeled) no one to date has been able to get a good picture of Bigfoot. There has to be a few million trail cameras in the remote areas of North America set to automatically snap pictures 24 hours a day yet...not one legible picture of Bigfoot. Even the Discovery Channel has a few full-time teams of folks who spend their collective lives looking for Bigfoot, but so far they've been unsuccessful at getting a picture of him. Oh, we know he's there because they hear him every single time they walk in the woods; they just haven't been able to get a picture of him. (It has become more than obvious that Bigfoot is extremely difficult to photograph.) There have been more "near encounters" with Bigfoot recorded on video camera than there have been near encounters with Michael Moore recorded on GoPro, yet no picture. One single verifiable snapshot of a Bigfoot would be worth millions and millions of dollars, yet since the invention of the camera over 150 years ago no one has been able to accomplish this. Not even one time.

After giving the subject considerable thought I'm able to come up with only one possible conclusion: Bigfoot is invisible. And that makes him even more scary than we had previously imagined.

I'll try to keep you posted on further Bigfoot developments.

Stove Top Donuts

This is a rope that holds up one end of a porch-swing on the front porch of the Boon Fly Cafe in Napa Valley, California. The hardware was galvanized and stainless steel, the rope and string were marine grade and the swing itself was made from teakwood or something similar as I recall. High quality materials make for a long lasting apparatus or structure. I'm guessing that as a result of the discerning craftsman who hung this particular swing, that darn thing is still up there and performing admirably.

If you find yourself in the area consider stopping in. If you do, tell them that "that one guy from that one town in Arkansas" sent you. It could be just enough to get you a little extra chicken on your waffle or maybe a real good deal on a donut. I'd recommend the donut if you're given a choice. It's been reported that the chicken waffles are real good, but I have a personal policy to never get caught turning down a real good deal on a real good donut; especially when they're homemade. (You cain't go no better!)

I'll keep you posted on waffle and donut related business.....

NOTE: Grandma Keil used to make some awfully good donuts on the gas stove located appropriately in her kitchen. When you're a kid at your great-grandma's house, it's hard to do better than fresh and hot stovetop donuts and an ice cold "sodie" right out of the Ol' frigidaire!

Sunset Update

If you live to the eve of your 90th birthday, you get 32,872 opportunities to watch the sun set. Each time you miss the chance to enjoy the splender of the setting sun, it's an opportunity you'll never get back. Each sunset is somewhat unique and varies to a degree from one evening to the next.
It's been my experience that a sunset is best experienced in person.

Should I run across other pertinent sunset information, I'll post it here on Old and Ridiculous.

Howard & His Chisels

In a highly unusual development, this is the second "Old and Ridiculous" post in one day: An unparalleled feat as far as the author can recall. The purpose of this post is for the father of a good friend of mine. Miss Maggie Mae (of Rolla, Missouri fame) has plans to bring her "Maw & Paw" down for a cabin visit next month. Maggie's Maw gave her Paw a very nice set of brand new Marple wood chisels for Christmas and he's dying to set himself to work with them. The cabin will be a good place for Howard to do some long overdue chisel work. My life long friend is a woodman extraordinaire and one of the few folks I know who's ever worn out a Stihl AND Husqvarna chain saw...in the same day! (Ok, that's a little bit of an exaggeration to say in the same day, but he did wear the snot out of those darn high quality saws and he did it in just a couple of years or so.)

Although Howard doesn't make his living in the wood industry (not technically), he does have a fine appreciation for wood, whether he's sitting in it, sawing, splitting, burning, carving or just looking at it. For the record, his hot little wife, Kerri (of Dixon Missouri fame) is also an admirer of that fine renewable resource. She's perfectly content, however, allowing her adoring husband to do the woodworking while she curls up in front of the wood stove with a good book and appropriate beverage.

With all that in mind, my plan is to have the barn ready for Howard and his chisels when he and his girls visit County Barry next month. As legend has it, when Howard goes to work with his chisels, it's best to "...just git outta the way and let 'im finish!".

Thanks for tuning in and I'll try to keep you posted....

Sunsetting Barn

At the risk of you thinking I have some kind of weird thing about my barn, here's another picture of it. I took this shot a few weeks ago at sunset. Timing is a factor in nearly everything and taking a decent barn picture is no different. Don't wait up for this picture to show up in a future barn book or an actual world class barn blog: it's not of that quality. Regarding how it might stack up against one of "Almost Uncle Tom's" pictures of his personal barn, I have no idea. So far I haven't run across of picture of his. But once I hit the "post" button on my Mac-top, I'm guessing it won't be long before Aunt Dee finds one and forwards it on her phone. If she does, I'll post it on a future blog. In the meantime, you'll have to make due with this one.
I'll keep you posted on other personal barn related advancements...

Book-House

This is a book-house. Some folks have been known to put one in front of their house and slip their used books inside for passers-by to borrow, exchange, or I suppose, take if they so desire. It seems like a pretty cool thing to do if you reside in a neighborhood or residential district. I wonder if it would work for cupcakes or hamburgers?

In any event, if Mom sees this darn thing, I wonder how long it will take her to ask Dad to make one. According to Mom, building a little product like this probably wouldn't be any big deal and likely wouldn't take Dad more than 15 or 20 minutes to throw together: 30 minutes tops.
In the meantime, I'll try to remember to keep you posted on any and all book-house developments. (We'll see if this goes anywhere.)

December Barn Update

I realize Christmas is over and you're likely returning gifts instead of buying them. If you're married to one of those guys who's difficult to buy for, consider getting him a barn next year for Christmas or for his upcoming birthday. It's my belief that every man should have at least one barn in his lifetime.

If you're a gal who appreciates a good barn and need a place to keep stuff you don't really need, then maybe you too should have your own barn. If you're married to a generous spouse, maybe they'd be willing to let you hang out in their barn from time to time. There would also be nothing wrong with his 'n' her barns as far as I'm concerned.

I've written about barns a few times in the past and several folks have even written books about them. Should you choose, you can find numerous internet sites with pictures of these cool rural structures. But be prepared: there are some awfully nice ones out there and more than one man has gone astray as a result of coveting his neighbor's barn.

I don't recall where I came across this picture, but it's a good one. If my old friend "Nickademus" saw this barn, he'd probably exclaim something like, "Dang-that's a dandy!": and he'd be correct!

As I come across other barn and shed related information, I'll try to keep you posted....