Leavin' town.....

Greetings.
I know, I know..... nothing new lately. That's because I've been busier than usual, with a trip to Madison last week (and a Brewers game in Milwaukee), then a trip via plane to Wild Rose for the State Light Plane Fly-in on the weekend. Back home to working in the field getting the last of the logging done and getting ready for a bulldozer. Worked more on that last Saturday, and Chris and Ashley and Hailee were up for the weekend so I spent some time visiting them as well. Peg and I took Hailee to the fair in Phillips on Saturday evening. Sunday I worked at the field project and got the lawn mowed and trimming done. This afternoon Peg and I are heading to Madison for three days of work at Marquip's office there. I will post something after we return. Labor day coming up quickly, with the Phillips fly-in planned and a local wine maker is having a tasting session on Sunday..... busy, busy, busy.......

I gotta go, Carlo

Another guest entry.

I received this little gem from my Aunt Muriel, my mom's sister. Give it a read, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!!

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DAD (Frank Slayton)

I was only 18 when Dad died so I never really knew him well when I was an adult. There was always comfort in being close to him. He seemed to know everything and could do anything. When we lived in the country he always smelled of the outdoors and when we moved to town, his clothes smelled of fresh sawdust. I suppose because he worked at Heinz sawmill. Dad read a lot, like Mother, and all of us did. His favorite reading material was western magazines. They were cheap, pulp magazines and the stories soon began to sound alike but Dad liked them. They were western adventures and derring-do and many of them were also romances. Dad would be deep in some story and suddenly out would come his big red handkerchief and he would be blowing his nose and wiping his eyes. If you said anything about it he would just bluster and laugh and pretend he had something in his eye.

Most of my memories of Dad are little short snippets of things. Like my wanting to watch when the men butcher pigs in the fall. Dad would never let me watch and when I asked Mother, why not she said he never wanted us to see him kill the animals. If I asked Dad why, he would say, “Because I said no.” I knew better than to ask again. Besides, I could usually think up a reason to go outside by the time they were shaving the hair off the carcass and by then it just looked like meat you saw in the meat dept. of the grocery store. If nothing else the woodbox for the kitchen stove always needed filling. While the men were working outside Mother would be busy inside. As soon as the fat from the pig was brought to the house, Mother put it in her big pans and into the oven to render the fat. This was our shortening for most of the year. While the weather was cold it was easy enough to keep, but when the weather was warm it was a battle to keep it from melting or getting rancid. Besides helping take care of the meat Mother kept hot coffee on the stove for the men and sweets to go with it. Besides Dad there were usually were two or three other neighbors there to help and they were served dinner. The next day the pork that had been saved for sausage was put through the meat grinder and Dad spiced it, fried a sample and tasted it. I usually managed to get a “taste”. Then the sausage was put through a machine that forced the sausage into “casings” (intestines were saved, washed out and used for casings).

We lived about 11 miles out in the country and for a few years we were the last ones on the road. At that time our nearest neighbors were the Rubys and and Kersnovics, about a half mile away. Dad and Mother would occasionally go to Rubys in the evening to play cards. The time I remember I must have been about 6 years old. Dad had attached some kind of wooden box to the sled and my younger brother and I were put in there with a warm quilt. Then he and Mother took the lantern and walked over to Ruby’s for the evening. On the way home it was cold and dark and you could hear the snow crunching under the sled runners and the coyotes howling off in the distance.

Some of the things I remember about Dad are like pictures in my mind. One is a picture of him cutting hay with a scythe. He is wearing a hat and a blue chambray shirt with old-fashioned bib overalls. The sun is beating down on his shoulders and his shirtsleeves are rolled up to his elbows. There is so much rhythm and grace as he swings that scythe around his feet while he walks. The picture moves in that same hayfield to Dad with a pitchfork in his hands turning hay over so it will dry and another of the horses pulling the haywagon and Dad pitching the hay up to the load. It was great fun if us kids were allowed to climb up on the load and tramp the hay down so they could get more on the load. The ride to the barn was so exciting. I can still see Dad sitting on a one-legged milking stool with his head up against a cow’s flank milking and squirting milk over at one of the cats that were waiting around for a drink or holding a bucket of milk and dipping his fingers in for a calf to suck and pushing its mouth down into the milk to teach it to drink. I guess you can tell I was outside and all over the farm.

Eugene, If this sounds fragmented and odd it’s because that’s the way memories sometimes come. Love, Muriel

Brief update on da loggin'

Just a brief update on things here. Peg and I are leaving on Thursday morning to go to Madison. We are joining up with some of the engineering staff of our Marquip Madison office to go to a Brewers game in Milwaukee..... so anyway, we will be out of the area for a few days. The photo below is from early this week, after I cut most of the small trees on the west side of the island area.


We cut some tonight along the north edge of the property, mostly soft maple right on the fence line. Then Ivan's saw quit working right and we decided to quit a little early.... I knew that Lucy had taken some fish (of course, Chuck and Ivan had caught them) out of the freezer and pan fried it 'to perfection', as usual. There was a ton left over so I invited Ivan and Chuck to sit on the deck for a while, eat some left over fish and drink a beer, or two.... or whatever. As we sat and talked while the twilight settled, I realized just how fortunate I am to be located in this remote Northwoods location, with friends and family near at hand. And this wonderful, green world we live in up here.

Please, any of you who are able, please stop in and visit!! I would love to see anyone who may stop.

I gotta go, Carlo.

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I nearly forgot!! Would someone please carve the melon???

Thrilling update______________

It's been a hectic week at the Ottertail. Monday night I met Peg's mom, Donna, at the Phillips airport for her first flight in my plane. She had never been in a really small plane before, but she seemed rarin' to go.....





We got all buckled in and headsets on and working. There was practically no wind and no clouds. I was looking forward to a great flight. I told Donna that if at any time she felt uncomfortable with the situation to be sure to let me know and we would go right back to the airport.





Of we went and we spent 1 1/4 hours buzzing around the Phillips and Lugerville area, finding all of the places that we both know on the ground, only they look very different from up above. We finally both got a little chilly and headed back to the airport. Donna got out and went home at 8:00, so I went back up and goofed around until it was time to watch the sunset. What a sight that always is from up above....

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Tuesday after work Ivan and Chuck came down to start cutting. Ivan went into the island and started whacking trees over, Chuck started in with his skidder and began pulling out trees. I was the guy cutting up the wood at the landing on the field.




I had gotten home about 2:30 and had gone down behind the chicken coop and cut and limbed 12 poplar trees. About the time I was done the guys got there. I was dripping wet from the previous work and I didn't cool off all night.






We got a good start at a pile of hardwood pulp and a little bigger stack of poplar.

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This same vantage point was in one of the last posts, only now the trees look quite thin at the end of the field. This is after the second night of cutting, on Wednesday. Ivan and Chuck are a good team in the woods and they kept me busy sawing at the landing. Russ stopped up for a while and helped me on the landing.



Here you can see how open the field area is getting. Most of the larger trees were in the middle of the Island, so there was a ring of smaller stuff left around the outside.







The wood piles increased quite a bit on the second evening. Now that I think of it, I guess Russ came up on Tuesday, the first night we worked. Whatever......

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Guess who found probably the last package of venison backstrap in the freezer??? Looking good for Thursday evening dinner!!




And guess who slaved over the hot grill, and watched the corn pot boil, and asked for others to help with stuff.....




And guess which two of my daughters showed up to help prepare and eat the food and help with dishes later????





So we had a really nice supper out on the deck. Lots of good eats, lots of laughs and jokes. I can't imagine why they don't come to visit more often..

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Friday night Ivan and Chuck were off duty, so I spent the evening cutting small trees along the west side of the cut area. There is not much left on that side now, and there is a strip of trees on the North edge that is about 15 yards wide. Another two days or so of Ivan and Chuck and I will about clean up the big wood. Then some stumping and dozer work to get the landing strip area ready for working, leveling and seeding. Man, this is turning into a big job.

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I nearly forgot!! Would someone please carve the melon???

Logging soon?

Following some confusion about where the cutting is going to take place, I took a couple of pix of the area. This is looking from the backyard to the north, and most of the trees you see in the distance will be gone, leaving nothing but Johnson's fields to the north. Should make a great approach from the North, or departure to the North, and a good approach from the South. Will reserve my opinion of a Southern departure for a while yet....




Here's a view from the mailbox looking Northeast. All of these trees will be gone. If you look closely, you can see Chuck Hueckman's skidder sitting in front of the island ready for the logging operation which will begin early this next week??? Is that right Ivan? Or have you quit reading this blog, besides not commenting.......




Here is a view from the central area of the north end of the field looking south. That single little tree in the very center was left on-a-conna the wasp nest located in the lower branches! A little later I got one sting as I started to cut another small tree. I left that tree standing as well.


And look what finally arrived in the mail on Saturday!! My brand new Sport Pilot permit. I can't believe that my camera still has not fractured it's lense while photographing me.

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I nearly forgot!! Would someone please carve the melon???

A history report.

A question from Yram prompted a bit of investigion. If you're interested, check out the following dope......



EAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association, is a growing and diverse organization of members with a wide range of aviation interests and backgrounds. EAA was founded in 1953 by a group of individuals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who were interested in building their own airplanes. Through the decades, the organization expanded its mission to include antiques, classics, warbirds, aerobatic aircraft, ultralights, helicopters and contemporary manufactured aircraft.


If you check out this link you will find out about Paul Poberenzy, (remember my autographed hat?). The page referenced will give you an exellent overview of EAA, while this page will give the chronology of the event. It's all very interesting, if you like this type of thing... ;-)




Couldn't resist putting this in again......
Thanks for the impetus to investigate, Yram. As many times as I have looked at the EAA site, I never delved into the origins of the organization.

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I nearly forgot!! Would someone please carve the melon???

Breaking news......

Well, it looks Landis may NOT be the winner of Le Tour..... looks like I may have to retract my earlier statements.

Anyway, a bit more from Oshkosh.




I took my camera along when I got the ride in the factory's Flightstar. Just a half mile south of the UL field we find all farm country. This road is the Southern boundary of the ultralight flying area.




The Southwest corner of the UL flying zone is where this road meets US 41, the Western boundary.




This is the camping area that borders on US 41. This is the Northern boundary of the UL area. Looks hot out in that field, doesn't it? In the background is the center of the Airventure convention.




A little better view of the convention center.

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Would you please carve the melon?

Airventure 2

I went for a little flight to Ladysmith this evening. Flew at 3500' on the way there, airspeed 60 and groundspeed according to gps was 45. Headwind. On the way back I went up to 5500 and groundspeed indicated at 80-85 mph. Nicer tailwind and I got back to Phillips quite quickly!
Anyway, here are a few more items from Oshkosh.......



Someone asked if I met anyone famous. Did I get any autographs? I did meet Paul Poberezny, the founder of Airventure I guess. He was giving autographs and I asked him to sign my cap. That's it on the brim. These hats were given to volunteers who actually did some work at the Ultalight area. "Down on the farm, at the Ulralight barn".



This is (maybe a copy of paint, etc?) Poberezny's plane. A P51 Mustang, I guess.



Not sure what the significance of this hanging plane was, but I liked it.



Maybe they were trying to sell "structure" and chain hoists?????



A couple of some kind of European jets.



Don't know what this one is, but the props look like oars...


John, here is a real 'hot rod'. Some of this type were in the airshow flying upside down or sideways more than right-side-up.



Here's a Flightstar that is owned by EAA. No one flies it, it just is there for display. What a waste....



Here is a C17 transport, one of the biggest flying objects I have ever seen. It is mammoth!








Nice nose, hey?



Double click this one and get a bigger view. It's too huge to describe.



They claim these tires can get you over 15" tall rocks or logs. Low pressure tires for bush flying.



Another hot rod of the skies.



This is a really sweet little amphibious sea plane. I wouldn't mind having one of these.



What a sight this must be when that plane is at 6000' and you are at 6100'!!

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Would you carve the fruit, please?

Airventure 2006 report.

As always, double clicking on a photo will bring up a larger version. F11 key will give full screen, F11 again to get back. Use your "Back" button to return to post. _____________________________________________________________

I left Phillips on Monday morning at 6:30. All set with trailer loaded with camping gear and bike on top.....



Here's my tent set up at Oshkosh. There were about 20 different people from our EAA chapter that attended,not all at once, some for a day or two... There were four camps that stayed for the whole week.



This was the weirdest camp! I saw the people occasionally, sitting in their lawn chairs or in the truck cab. I guess they used the sleeper in back and the truck was running sometimes--air conditioning, I guess.



Steve, on the right, is a real go getter. Even at camp he takes the time to go over material for some guys from Wild Rose. He's helping them get ready for their Sport Pilot practical test.



Due to being in the right place at the right time, I got my picture in an EAA publication about maintaining Light Sport planes. The guys in camp noticed that I arrived in camp wearing the same shirt and hat as in the picture.... doh!



Here's the control tower at Wittman field.



And here is Frank Beagle in the announcing tower at the ultralight field. He's the guy I told about in an earlier post. He spent the whole week talking about the planes so the people visiting would know what was going on.



Here are a couple of pictures of the ultralight barn, the headquarters of that area.






And a couple of pix of the sidelines of the UL field.






Here is where I spent a bunch of time, helping with getting planes on and off the field. All the work down there is volunteer, so I thought I may as well help out.



While watching the gate one day, I got to watch a skywriter make a smile face and spell out EAA. The writing was so big I couldn't get it in my camera lens.....






Here are a bunch of photos of some UL and Light Sport planes........









Here is a Flightstar like mine. The factory pilot gave me a ride in it one morning.






This plane belongs to Sean Curry, the FAA examiner that did my practical test.


















There was a re-enacting area for WWII buffs. Here's a tent that supposedly looks like a field set-up.






And here is Jerry's one-man band!!




Here are a bunch of miscellaneous photos of older planes.





















Every day they had an airshow that started with some skydivers with flags and stuff, and someone in an old biplane circled them as they came down to the field.



A couple of days there was fake bombing by some B17's, Lancasters, B24's and B25's.














Here is one of three remaining P38's.














Here's the wing-walker guy waiting to go climging around on that bi-plane as it flies. Thay may be nuttier than jumping out of a plane that's not in trouble....

































This is how the sky looked Sunday morning just before it got almost as dark as night. Then the wind and rain arrived in time to soak my tent so I could pack it up wet for the trip home.















I had a pretty good time down there last week and am looking forward to going again next year. Hope to fly down next time.....

I gotta go, Carlo