Plane Simple Fun

Not too long ago in my youth, almost every grocery store and 5 and 10 cent store carried toys. Rubber and plastic creations often claimed my attention, but one toy always lined a shelf, wooden balsa airplanes. There were several models to choose from, depending on how much money I had at the time. The most simple was a single piece of wood for the body with insignias and the pilot inked on its side. There was a through and through slot to slide a thinner balsa wood wing into, pushing the wing halfway. There was a slit in the rear to slide another much smaller wing into for the tail and a slot on top to receive the upright tail of the plane. A weight already attached to the front helped the plane to glide when it was tossed. By moving the main wing foreword or backwards, I could regulate the path the plane would fly, even loop-de-loops.

There were several other models, more complicated and also more expensive. It had wire landing struts that extended from beneath the wings and had two bright red landing wheels. Instead of the heavy weight in the nose, there was a red propeller. The propeller was attached to a rubber band that was also fastened to the rear of the plane’s underbody. By twisting the propeller, the rubber band increased in tension, winding it into coils. When the propeller was released, the plane would fly, pulled along by the moving propeller. It was cool to watch it swoop along until the energy of the rubber band lessened, then it was great to see the plane land on its wheels and bump along the ground carried by inertia.

 Believe there was another brand that a kid could fasten the two pieces of the wings to the body of the plane with slotted plastic. I’m not positive. I think I only saw it once and never owned one.

Another plane was made entirely of plastic with fixed wings. It came with a heavy rubber band and a thick plastic stick. The rubber band was fastened to a loop at one end of the stick. At the front of the plane was a notch. I could place the open end of the rubber band into the notch then pull back on the plane. The stretched rubber band would slingshot the plane into flight. Later in the evolution of toys, the plane became super characters, Batman, Superman, and possibly some others. I imagine they were lost to children because they were as dangerous as Clackers or Lawn-Darts. 

 

 

Grandpa’s Barn

 

My granddad’s barn was like so many others in Pennsylvania built on a sloping hillside where one side of the barn’s foundation was partly underground and the other open to the air. The underground side had a graduated ramp that allowed easy access to the second story barn floor. The part of the barn not underground allowed doors to be built giving farm animals’ ingress to their stalls and mangers. There often was a large covered area that ran the length of the barn giving the animals shelter from cold wet weather. The second floor consisted of a wide main floor giving farmers a place to store wagons or tractors. At each side of the main floor were large areas that were used to store mounds of loose hay and  when balers were available, it was space for the bales. That central area had a floor above it for storage.

At one corner was a small square room to keep corn and feed safe from rats, birds, and mice. It was solidly built of wood and covered in a wire mesh as a barrier to rodents and birds from gaining access to the grains inside. The entire barn’s skeleton was made of huge beams fastened by wooden pegs in tennon and socket joints.

Granddad always had two milk cows. He preferred Guernsey’s, saying that their milk was richer and filled with cream. He raised a bull for butchering in the fall, usually a short-horned Herford.  He had several pigs, raised for their meat.

At one time when I was small, he had two horses; one was a black stallion, named Blackie (, that allowed no one near but my granddad and one stupid kid. I was told that I was that stupid kid. I toddled out of the house to where my granddad had the horse tied. I was standing under its belly trying to pet it. My mom and grandma went to get my granddad, they were afraid I’d get trampled if they approached. My granddad rescued me. I was too young enough not to remember the story my mom told me. The other horse was an older workhorse named Pet. Granddad would sometimes hoist several kids onto her back and walk the horse to give us rides. Pet was gentle and followed my granddad around like a dog.

My uncles Charles and Dale decided to work on Charles’ car in the barn. The overhead beams made a great place for pulleys to lift the motor. It was an older Buick; wide and heavy. Charles backed it inside. The main section of the barn floor groaned under the weight, then in one loud crash, the floor collapsed’ It remained intact and the Buick was partly in the bottom of the barn; the back end down and the front end up. Fortunately, it made a ramp. They were able to pull the car out of the hole. Later they lifted the barn floor back into place and secured it more strongly than before. 

The outside of the barn as long was weathered gray, while the inside was honey to a bleached bone hue. Its beauty was enhanced by rays of sunshine slipping through open spaces in the barn’s siding.

Little can beat the smell of fresh hay stored in a barn. The smells of animals below sometimes add a sharp tang to the smells of the hay and feed. It’s almost perfume to a person who grew up on or has worked on a farm.

Aleo Lake Picnic

It’s all over for another year. The Chestnut Ridge Historical Society Annual Picnic is lodged in the annals of time. As usual, this annual event was held at the beautiful and picturesque home of one of our members. I didn’t ask permission, so I won’t share her name, but thank you very much for graciously opening your home for us again this year.

Her refurbished barn makes a perfect place to set out our covered dish feast, protected for the hot sun and any stray raincloud. Every member of the Society is always invited to attend and it is a time for all to sit, talk, and eat; strengthening our friendships and our commitment to keep the local history of the Laurel Highlands safe for future generations. It’s a great time of relaxation and getting to know fellow members.

The vast array of foodstuffs made it impossible to sample the different flavored dishes, but I made a grand attempt and my blood sugar was up a bit the next morning even though I made a valiant attempt to avoid the richest desserts.

The weather was wonderfully sunny, but two giant fans kept up cool and I’m sure if there were any flies, they were blown into the next town. Sadly this year, there was only one swan on the lake, but the entire grounds were manicured and in a wonderful presentation.

I’ve been helping to can green beans and cringe as I see the tomatoes hanging in clusters, waiting to be processed. There are rows of peppers that await gathering, beets and carrots that need pulled. There is a maze of cucumber plants producing cucumbers to be pickled or eaten. The corn rows are now in tassels and will soon be ready for harvest, but what scares me the most is a nearby relative’s garden has 40 + zucchini plants that are producing a bumper crop of the elongated and melon-shaped zucchinis. (This garden belongs to a new gardener, thus the excess of the zucchini plants. Lock your car doors.)

Today I’m feeling a bit weary and yet there are my home chores yet to do, but the rain outside only allows me to work indoors. 

 

U F O

Have you noticed that nearly every channel, even the history channels are promoting their theory of aliens? I’m not talking about those crossing the southern border of the United States, none of the Liberal media outlets want to cover that fiasco; I’m talking about the otherworldly aliens who somehow arrive on spaceships or flying saucers. Many “scholars” wholeheartedly support the belief that the Earth has been visited in the past and are still doing so today. They also believe that the earth is billions of years old and have convinced themselves that they are correct. Their “wisdom” and beliefs take more faith than to accept the biblical answers and that the earth is a relatively young planet. They make theories that are constantly being proved false as the “scientists” see farther and farther into outer space. When they are proved incorrect, they make an exception rule or create a new theory.

Have you considered that these wizened people are preparing the entire world for a prophetic revelation contained in the Bible? It seems if God was the Creator, He should have written about how it was formed, about day and night, water and land, plants and animals, and placing His Spirit inside humans. Each time these “scientists” think they‘ve found a flaw in the Word of God, they try to flout it, and it is them that are proved wrong. Their attempts to prove evolution falls short of the facts for a worldwide flood and the fossil layers and soil strata explanation.

Now back to the television sharing more and more the idea of UFO’s. The world is being exposed to the theory of extraterrestrial visitors coming and going from a far distant galaxy and mixing their DNA with ours to create hybrid creatures.  They continue to produce people who adamantly declare that they have been abducted and were the center of experimentation.

Can I make a suggestion? How else will the world explain this catching away as described in the Book of Revelation? Satan’s preparing an excuse for so many people being snatched away at the sounding of the trumpet. There will be so much confusion, that this prepared explanation will be readily swallowed. Those who remain will turn to the government for answers. Why do you think the military is leaking “UFO information” at this time? It’s preparation. The time of the catching away (Rapture) of saints is drawing ever closer. The President and other world leaders are talking about the “great reset.” Gee, I wonder what that could be…a one world government (also predicted in the Bible.) I’m sure I’ll be branded as a conspiracy kook from those who are spiritually blinded.

First Blood

I made a grocery run after church last evening. I needed milk and a few other items because I was to help can green beans Thursday AM. Cat food and kitty litter as well as sugar free Dad’s root beer and some nuts for me to snack on. I also grabbed a package of lunch meat, buns, and bread. The bill was over $60.00.

After I helped to clean and snap the beans, I helped to fill the jars. We put them into a pressure canner. There was nothing else that I could do while they cooked, so I left to buy gasoline for my car and for my mower. I spent another $46.00 for three gallons of gas for my mower and for a half tank of gas.

It was hot when I came home so I prop[ed my feet up and had some ice cold lemon drink. I was hoping it would cool a bit before I tackled the lawn, but it wasn’t to be. The blessing was that there was a stiff breeze that kept me cool.

I’ve been trying to clean up several areas of my yard. I moved several cinder blocks so I could eventually mow the weeds where they were hiding. There are still a few left, but six of them in my wheelbarrow were quite enough of a load. I may decide to move a few more tomorrow.

The back portion of my yard is many times soggy, especially after a rain. I definitely wanted to mow that part before last night’s possibility of a storm arrived. The other odd thing is some type of burrowing creature is leaving small mounds of dirt all across the soggy areas. I’ve tried mole traps and deterrents. But to no avail. It was very frustrating to see the mounds of dirt each time I mowed. Plus there were pebbles in the dirt hills and the mower would fling them out if I ran over them with the mower deck instead of squashing them with the mower’s tires.

Last night it changed. As I mowed, a small gray furry thing scurried to hide in some thicker grass beneath a fruit tree. Hiding close I could do nothing although I made a valiant attempt to cut him off in his escape. On the next pass near his sanctuary, the noise must have scared the little rodent, because he made another attempt to flee. He wasn’t successful. The mower claimed its only victim so far and spilled first blood. Look out Sylvester Stallone.