Barnstormers

 No, not that kind of barnstormers-not the kind of barnstormer who does tricks on the wings of airplanes. The kind of barnstormer who visits barns as part of a fundraising event for the Frederick County Landmarks Association.

This was the 18th year for the Barnstormers event, but it was only recently that Ward and I heard about it and decided we'd give it a try. Each year, they feature a different set of barns, and last Saturday, we toured eight different barns in the northern part of the county. At each site, there were at least two artists painting pictures of the barns. The artists don't know which barns they will be painting until that morning. At the end of the day, they sell their paintings. 

We had no idea what to expect, but these were all barns on working farms. They were not restored historic barns or old barns that had been made into event venues. These were "real" barns that were sometimes cluttered and smelly or needed a paint job. Some were over 200 years old, but had been fixed when needed with modern materials. I loved seeing the real thing because it reminded me of the farms I grew up around. 

This 1950s International Harvester pickup in the above barn was getting as much attention as the prize bull that was housed below.

Most of the barns were built on a stone foundation.

Each barn had a couple of docents who talked about
the construction, use, and history of the barn.

These girls were churning butter in the upper part of one of the barns.
We had some on crackers and it was delicious!

The whole area was beautiful, with rolling farmland and mountains in the background.

We really enjoyed our day, especially after the rain cleared up. We hope we can do it again next year.

Now onto other business. Ward and I are leaving tomorrow for a two-week vacation to Alaska with a stop in Seattle along the way. I'm not sure if I'll be able to check in here until I get back. In the meantime, here is my exercise update. I didn't quite get a whole week in before the trip. I plan to be active on this trip, but that's not the emphasis. Our intention is to see beautiful scenery and visit with old friends.

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Thursday, June 12, 2025

Line Dancing: This is a beginner's class at the gym where they teach easy line dances. I like this class because I feel accomplished in it, as I generally catch on to the dances okay. However, I stayed for a bit today to attend the more advanced line dance class immediately following this one, and the dances were more complicated with less instruction. I'm not quite ready for that yet, but maybe someday I will join Ward in the more advanced class. I got a very good aerobic workout today.

Friday, June 13, 2025

Strong and Balanced: This was a good overall workout that focused on strength training. For warm-ups, we went in a circle around the room. I liked doing something different from standing in one place and doing most of the exercises. I went up a pound with the weights today with no problem. However, this class is not overly strenuous with a lot of reps. It was a good all-body strengthening class.

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Free Day: Today, we went on a tour of barns. There was walking at each barn, but we drove in between stops. I didn't do anything strenuous all day, but I got almost 10000 steps (9,600) by the end of it.

Sunday, June 15, 2025

LIIT: We had a very enthusiastic substitute for this class today, and I worked harder than I have in a long time, both with weights and aerobically. I went back down in weights because I know this class would be more intense than Strong and Balanced. I did most everything, except for the squat and walk exercise. My knees just couldn't take it. Luckily, it didn't last too long. 

Now back to packing. Until next time...

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all fathers, father figures, and to anyone who has had a father. (I think that about covers it.)

Ward and I are leaving on a 2-week trip early next week, so most of today will be spent preparing for that. Later, Wally and Theo are coming over and bringing Indian food to celebrate with Ward. 

In the meantime, I am posting a throwback post from 6 years ago about Father's Day.

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Happy Father's Day

Ward is a great father, so I thought I would interview him this Father's Day to get his perspective on the important job of parenting.  I didn't time things very well and waited until he was in the middle of a work project to talk to him. Oops! I very kindly thank him for the time he was able to give me during my interruption.

Tell me about being a father. 

Newborn Wally.
This is when the doubts began.

It's spending your life not being sure what you are supposed to do. How much do I help my kids? How much do I protect them? How much do I give them? How much do I let them fail to learn? Even now that Wally and Theo are adults, I still worry about those things.

As you mentioned, Wally and Theo are now young adults. What do you see when you look at them?
I see responsible, kind people who can have an intelligent conversation and who know how to handle disappointment. Also, I see good drivers, and I am thankful that all of that stressful time of teaching them how to drive seems to have paid off.

Even though you were unsure of what you were doing, you have successfully raised two boys to adulthood. What advice do you have for new dads? 
I'm not sure. I still don't know if I have parenting figured out. But I'll give it a try. Educate yourself, but also use your common sense. Spend time with your kids and let them learn from your examples.

But here's something that Wally said the other day that may be the real key to successful parenting. He said that the best thing we did as parents was to keep trying. We'd try one thing to solve a problem, and it wouldn't work. And then we'd try something else, and it wouldn't work. We'd try another thing, and it wouldn't work either. But finally, we'd try something and it would work! He is very grateful for the many times we didn't give up when it would have been a lot easier. So for new dads, I'd say, just keep trying.

Thanks. Next time, I'll make an appointment and we'll have another conversation about some of the details of raising Wally and Theo.

Until next time...

Exercise Update,

 I am on a quest to put regular exercise into my life. I report on it here weekly to keep myself accountable. Here's what this week looked like.

Thursday, June 5, 2025

Line Dancing: The regular line dancing classes at the gym were canceled, so we took the opportunity to go to the line dance that is held every Thursday in the next town. We stayed for a couple of hours, and I did some good aerobic dancing. But the amazing part of the night was that we managed to get Wally to come with us. And he actually tried some of the dances. If you knew Wally, he was really out of his comfort zone, so we were surprised and pleased that he came and he danced.

Friday, June 6, 2025

Strong and Balanced: The class was not too strenuous, but all of my major and minor muscle groups got a workout. The crowd was in a friendly, good mood, which helped make the class enjoyable.

Line Dance: We went to another line dance event a couple of towns away. It was held in an old barn, and the grounds and barn made for a great venue. We stayed for about 3 hours, and I danced a lot because as I get to know more dances, I do more of them. The only problem with the barn was that it had no air conditioning. There were plenty of fans and big, open doors, but I was doing a lot of dancing and consequently sweating a lot. But it was fun.

Friday night's line dance was held in the Springfield Barn.
The barn is over 200 years old and is one of the biggest barns in Maryland.

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Free Day: After the active last two days, I took it easy today and spent most of the day picking and pitting cherries. Don't remember doing anything extra for exercise.

We have been picking and freezing cherries every day.
 Pitting cherries is tedious work.

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Free Day: We took a trip to the county seat to get the lay of the land and parking for jury duty I have next week. After that, we decided to take a walk along a riverwalk in the town. We thought we could get some good walking in, but it turns out there was an arts festival going on with lots of vendors and people making anything more than a stroll impossible. But enjoyed ourselves perusing the various talented artists who were displaying their art. We walked around for about an hour before the rain came, and we headed home. That evening, I was feeling restless, so I took a walk around the neighborhood.

We saw many things we liked, but didn't buy anything.

Monday, June 9, 2025

Strong and Balanced: The class today was more challenging than it has been at times. We used a step, weights, and bands for some good strength training. There was an emphasis on getting your heart rate up today, so in addition to getting good strength training, it was also an aerobic workout.

Walk: Because I got some aerobic work in during the morning class, I decided to forgo the afternoon Zumba class I was considering and took a walk around the neighborhood instead. It was about 1 1/2 miles at a good pace.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Line Dancing: Another fun morning of dancing and joking. And the teacher brought mimosas for everyone. Among other things, we learned the Texas Waltz today. It was difficult to switch my brain from 4/4 time, which most of the dances have, to the 3/4 time of the waltz, but I managed. This is a dance that can be done as a couple, so Ward and I hope to learn that. It was a good hour of movement, but not exhausting.

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Express Sculpt: This was a 30-minute session of intense strength training, incorporating weights and mat work. The instructor was no-nonsense and didn't waste one second of the class. It was definitely fatiguing, and I wasn't strong enough to do all the exercises without modification.  I think this was one of those classes that was good for me, but not necessarily fun.

Ward has a protein drink after each exercise class, and I joined him today with a small one. I am not that interested in animal protein (although I do eat it), so it's hard for me to get enough protein in my diet. This is another way to do that.

Until next time...

Book Reviews

Hello. Here are reviews of more books I've been reading recently. This time, I talk about two adult books and two children's books. If you read here very often, you may have seen that I include children's books from time to time in my reviews. This is a carryover from when I worked as a children's librarian, where I was made aware of the many good children's books that are out there. (But just like adult books, there is a fair share of not-so-good children's books.) 

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, historical fiction, 2006

This is another book that I'm late to the game to read. Over 10 million copies have been sold, and I remember it being very popular at the library. 

The story follows a train circus during the 1930s Depression era, and switches back and forth between a present-day 93-year-old Jacob and a young 20-something Jacob. Dire circumstances and chance find Jacob working in the circus, and it is a brutal life at times. At the core of the book is a love story, but it also features numerous subplots and rich descriptions of life in a circus. I didn't think the present-day part of Jacob's story was necessary at first, but the past and present weave together for a perfect ending.

The book is well written and very descriptive. You can tell it was well researched. Besides Jacob, the characters surrounding him slowly develop into complex people whom you root for (or hate). However, the book is often difficult to read because circus life at that time was challenging to horrendous for both the animals and the people involved. I almost stopped reading because of that, but I'm happy that I didn't.  

I now understand why this book was so popular with both the public and the critics. Water for Elephants has been made both into a movie and a Broadway musical, neither of which I have seen. However, I recommend the book. 

The Littlest Library: a Novel by Poppy Alexander (pseudonym for Sarah Waight), fiction, 2021

I picked this book up at the library because I am drawn to any book about libraries. I had no idea what it was about except what I saw on the cover.

The story revolves around Jess, who moves to a quaint English village after her grandmother, who raised her, passes away, and she loses her librarian job. Jess is never one to take risks, so this move is totally out of character for her and difficult. She buys an old run-down cottage with a red phone booth on the lawn. She's not allowed to move it, so she decides to turn it into a little library using her grandmother's books. The books bring the town together, and Jess slowly makes friends, including a hunky man whom she initially detests. And in the end, they all live happily ever after.

This was an easy read, and it was just what I was looking for after reading Water for Elephants. I always enjoy reading about bringing a garden and cottage back to life, and this was no exception. The story is predictable, but it had just enough going on to hold my interest. If you're looking for a comfortable read, I recommend this book.

Faker by Gordon Korman, children's middle grade fiction, 2024

Gordon Korman is a prolific children's author whom I enjoy, so when I saw this new book at the library, I picked it up.

Twelve-year-old Trey lives with his father and younger ten-year-old sister. His mother left years ago and is out of the picture. Trey's father is a con artist and moves his family from place to place, relocating when his investors discover that they have been swindled. He uses his children to help him make contacts by enrolling them in private schools or living in the rich part of town. After a gig is up, they discard everything and assume new identities while lying low in a location where the US has no legal jurisdiction. His father justifies the family "business" by saying the rich people they target don't need the money he takes from them.

Moving all the time is hard on Trey because every time he makes friends, he has to leave and never even has a chance to say goodbye. They finally move to a town where he attends public school and begins living in the real world for the first time, and he likes it. Trey starts to question the family business while studying an ethics unit in school. Eventually, he comes to understand that the family business is not as innocent as his father has led him to believe, and Trey gives his father an ultimatum. 

The book had Korman's typical insightfulness into characters' emotions and the complexity of situations. However, I was uncomfortable with the premise of the father raising his kids to believe that his con games were okay. Maybe that's because I'm an adult and a parent. I don't know if a kid reading this would be bothered in the same way, or they would tune more into the emotions of Trey and his disappointment in not being able to develop more than superficial relationships. I didn't like the book's premise, so I don't recommend it. If you're an adult looking for a good children's book, I would recommend Korman's Unteachables instead.

Into the Uncut Grass by Trevor Noah, children's fiction, 2024

Although this book came out last October (probably in time for Christmas), I only recently heard Trevor Noah talking about it on TV. I liked Noah's memoir, Born a Child, so when I saw this on display at the library, I checked it out. 

Noah describes the book as a picture book, but not a children's book. It's a read-aloud book for all ages. A boy and his bear embark on an adventure into the uncut grass because the boy thinks his mother has too many rules. They encounter various creatures (a gnome, a snail, and coins) that teach them life lessons. 

I found the prose engaging, and the charming pictures were the perfect accompaniment to the story. I appreciated that the lessons were not too heavy-handed. The book is printed on high-quality paper and is nicely bound, so I think it would make a nice gift. I will consider giving it in the future.

Until next time... 

Exercise Update, June 5, 2025

Since retiring in February, I have been trying to add regular exercise to my days. I report on it here weekly to hold myself accountable. 

Here's what happened this week.

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Line Dance: This is a class for beginners and a good fit for me. The main instructor is very good, but they are training a couple of others who are still rough around the edges, but they are trying. I got a good hour of aerobic exercise.

Friday, May 30, 2025

Strong and Balanced: This class focuses on strength and balance training, and it is getting easier for me. I like that the instructor emphasizes doing things at your own pace. I also like that it is a whole body workout, including things like your neck, fingers, wrist, and ankles. I went up a pound in weights today, which seemed really heavy, but was not a problem.

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Free Day: We helped with a 92nd birthday party for my father-in-law today. I was on my feet much of the day, so I looked at my Fitbit at the end of the day in eager anticipation of a high step count. However, all I saw was a blank screen as my battery had died. :( Oh, well. There was no focused exercise, but I did get in a fair number of steps.

Sunday, June 1, 2025

LIIT: This was a good overall workout, but especially good for my weak shoulders and abs. I generally took the easier option for the exercises, but took it up to higher levels when I could. We did several of the exercises while we moved across the room. I liked that, except for the fact that it was crowded at times. This is a good class for me because it is a hard challenge, but not so much that I don't want to go back.

Monday, June 2, 2025

Strong and Balanced: While I wouldn't call this class easy for me, I recover well from it. The crowd is friendly, and I'm making some acquaintances in the class. I am someone who is quiet in unfamiliar situations, so doing some socializing shows progress, too. I got a decent workout focusing on strength.

Ballroom Dance: This was our last class of this session, and it was okay. We hadn't been for two weeks because of Memorial Day, and the fact that we didn't practice for those two weeks was obvious. However, even with that being said, it was a good aerobic workout.

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Line Dance: This hour continues to be my favorite class of the week. I can definitely tell improvement from when I started four months ago. I am learning dances more quickly because I am more familiar with the common movements that make up many of them. And the last few times, I haven't been as tired at the end. That's not to say that it's not a challenge for me, but I'm doing better. This week was a solid hour of good aerobic movement.

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Free Day: Although there was no formal exercise today, I managed to walk over two miles around an outlet mall and do some yard work, so it wasn't entirely sedentary. Although I did spend some time in a comfy chair finishing a book. :)

Until next time...

By the way, I know these posts can be boring, and I'm getting a little tired of them, but they are one of the key pieces to my success thus far, so I'll keep doing them.

An Abundance of Cruciferous Vegetables

Or Another Record of My Wandering Thoughts, also Known as Speed Blogging or This and That.

Only three turnips came up (Not gonna use as many old seeds next year.), but they were a good size. I was afraid they might be woody since they were so big, but they weren't.

Yesterday, I harvested all of the radishes and turnips in our little garden. We added radishes from a friend and roasted a large sheet pan full of them. And while they were roasting, turnips were boiling on the stove. We had good eats for supper, but when I returned to the house after being out, it stunk! All of that lovely sulfur from the veggies was wafting through the air. Luckily, a couple of hours of the exhaust fan helped. But what's for lunch today? Radishes, turnips, and broccoli because, you know, you can't have enough of those cruciferous vegetables. : )

Speaking of broccoli, when we went to our first pregnancy class, the instructor was talking about a healthy diet and sang the praises of broccoli. That made a big impression on Ward, who encouraged me to eat broccoli often. However, my stomach said it only wanted white food--saltines, boiled chicken, and boiled potatoes. 

Newborn Wally

And while Ward was paying attention to the nutrition part, I didn't hear much after they said it was common to get stretch marks on your buttocks. What?! I understood them on your stomach, but not on my bottom. You may wonder how that turned out. However, I don't think I will go into where various stretch marks are or are not located on my body. You're welcome.

A competition between the breaded and beer-battered fish.

And speaking of smelly food, we had a fish fry for my father-in-law's 92nd birthday over the weekend. We usually have these family events at his house, and this was no exception. The weather was touch and go with rain starting and stopping, but in the end, we were able to have it outside. The fish was slated to be fried outside under a tarp, rain or shine, because of the smell. It turned out well, and a good time was had by all.

There goes the timer. Times up!

Until next time...