The Rural Experi/ence/ment

The Wordle for this Blog

2009-09-09T13:03:00.001-04:00

In Which We Retrieve our Retriever

2009-03-16T11:28:00.002-04:00

In order for me to explain what happened on Friday the 13th, you must know that the New Pudge is not the Old Pudge. The dog we accepted as our beloved and long lost pet was not him. Don' t think less of us because we didn't know our own dog, understand that we were heartbroken. We wanted it to be him, and he wanted to be our dog. What we thought was his bad behavior from being loose was actually a dog that hadn't been properly trained. We thought he was furrier from the winter weather, and skinnier from lack of food, but he is just a furrier and slightly smaller dog than we had. When he buried his head in my husband's lap, it wasn't because he knew Mark, but because he wanted to be his dog. And he is. We call him Buddy, and he's one of us now.

On Friday March 13, I was supposed to be cleaning the house while Mark was at work and the kids at school. Instead, I was enjoying the first spring day. I took the dogs for a walk, and then took the duck for a walk. The duck loves to follow me, so we went back to the pond t0 see if the frogs and toads had come out of hibernation. When I got there, I noticed something in the water.

Time was very slow, because the sun was warm and it was a day without responsibilities and I was out near the woods. I was trying to decide if the kids had tossed a pumpkin in the pond, or if it was a really big turtle, or what it could possibly be. It was too far out for me to get to it, so I stood around and wondered for about five minutes. Suddenly, I knew what it was, and with that understanding, time accelerated. I was looking at fur, and my dog went missing eight weeks ago, and I had said things like, "He would never run away," and "If he's alive, he will make it back to us." I knew instantly that my dog had done his last deed for us, chasing a deer through the yard, and had gone on the ice, and had fallen through. I knew how he spent his last minutes. I knew that he hadn't ever left us, and had been waiting for us frozen at the bottom of the pond until the first spring thaw.

I tried to wade out, but the water level was so high that my boots filled with icy water. I ran to get Grandpa Schenimann's row boat because I had to get my boy out of the water right away. I needed to do this without question and immediately, like the urge to throw up. My husband would have to dig the grave, and he shouldn't have to do this too. I didn't want the children to see their pet this way. But most importantly, our dog had waited long enough.

The one oar in the boat was broken; It was essentially a long handled stick. I got out to him and tried to push him to shore. This didn't work, it just pushed me away from him. He was too heavy for me to lift into the boat without tipping. I finally realized that I would have to use my oar like a fulcrum, resting it on the side of the boat and sliding it under his belly. I was able to lever him up, crying and talking to him. I was afraid to look at his face, that it would be marred somehow. But when he came up, he landed in the boat with his face resting on the seat, as if he were simply resting there.

He looked like him. He looked nothing like Buddy, and I wondered how we could have ever confused them. He had a lot of sand in his fur, and one eye was closed, and he was beautiful. It really was Pudge. Morbidly, I wanted to take a last photo of him. I thought of all the people who've fished out their beloved family members and lovers from ponds and rivers and lakes, and how that would be more terrible than this.

As hard as it was, getting Pudge from the pond and then buried in his sodden clay grave was not what he needed, but exactly what we needed, a laborious physical service that we did for him. Mark chose a spot down in the woods, and we all took turns with the mud-heavy shovels. We wanted to know what happened to him, and we wanted his remains to bury at home. We got both.

Does it matter?

2009-03-02T12:09:00.004-05:00

In January 2009, we lost our dog Pudge. He went out to use the bathroom one night and wasn't there when we called him back inside. We looked for him for weeks, using everything we could think of. We all cried just about every day he was gone. After 5 weeks, when we had given up hope, we found Pudge. At least, I'm pretty sure we did.

My husband got a call from a shelter in Defiance Ohio and went to look at the dog. This dog was smaller and had more hair than Pudge, but it could be him if he had on a winter coat and had lost about 15 lbs. Mark went into the cage and said, "Pudge?" and said the dog looked up at him, with his head cocked to the side, in the universal dog language of "Huh?" He brought him home, and we welcomed him as our Pudge. He is mostly like Pudge, going upstairs to check on the children when they are playing in their rooms, and loving us without reservation. He does have some un-Pudge behaviors, like not kissing - EVER - and jumping on us constantly.

When my mom came to visit and see Pudge, she asked me to take a walk with her. As soon as we got out of earshot of the rest of our family members, she pulled me by the sleeve and whispered, "That's not Pudge."

I know just what she means. I'm 80% sure we have Pudge. He's so much like our lost boy, and we missed him so desperately, that I've decided the other 20% doesn't matter. If he's not Pudge, he's a gift from the universe.

Shit Happens

2008-12-10T10:24:00.003-05:00

One of the life changes I didn't anticipate when we moved to a rural area was The Whole Excrement Thing.

When the wind blows from the north, we smell the horse farm. When it blows from the west, we smell the pig farm. And when it blows down from above our house, we smell the gas from our own septic field.

Our chickens, duck, and turkeys create waste that we can easily reuse. The humans, dogs and cats present more of a problem since we are all meat-eaters. I know that The Humanure by Jenkins gives ideas about recycling human waste (haven't read it yet), and our Septic System Owners Manual is wonderfully indispensable.

Grabill Library

2008-10-13T19:48:00.003-04:00

I've been at Grabill Branch for about 6 months now, and I continue to be excited about meeting new patrons and finding out about their interests, as well as getting to know the other folks who work here. I've met many patrons who are also interested in farming, rural living, animal husbandry, and books and reading.

Since I've moved from an urban branch to a rural branch, I'm now in the minority in my political and religious views. I'm a pants-on-fire liberall, and most of the people I serve are very conservative. While it was fun to serve urban patrons who were "like me," there's something essential that I'm trying to learn about serving people with a different world view than the one I have. I haven't really figured it out yet, but I'm working on it.

2008-08-01T18:11:00.006-04:00

Earlier this summer, we had a visit from my dad who lives in Portland Oregon (Portland is probably the most ruralexperi city there is, props to all you chicken owners in Portland!). We visited Plainwell, Michigan to see the Wiggins clan and play some family baseball.

Hair, Flow it, Show it

2008-06-27T13:41:00.004-04:00

After clumps of hair started coming out each time Zoe shampooed, I knew that something was wrong. We went to visit our family doc, who tells me she has a type of alopecia. Zoe will probably lose about 90% of her hair, but in six months or so she'll start growing it back.

Needless to say, I've been ruminating on why (that answer will come with our blood test results next week), as well as the meaning of hair in general. Why am I so devastated for her?

If you were a caricature artist drawing a picture of my family, you'd draw me with a big nose, my husband with a bald head, my son with ears that stick out like a car with both doors open, and Zoe with really big hair. Her hair is her most salient feature, the curly mop I've been so vain about since she was born. My own hair is thin and fine, soft but insubstantial, but Zoe's hair is a wild and sensuous. It is part of our bond as mother and daughter, and I am responsible for washing it, putting it up, getting it cut, and stroking it when she's sick or can't sleep. I know that of all the things that could go wrong with a child's health, this is not the worst. And yet.

Thanksgiving

2008-06-12T15:55:00.002-04:00

Inspired by Barbara Kingsolver, I bought our turkey, Thanksgiving. She runs around behind me in the yard, and if you've never seen a turkey run, you're missing out on hilarity.

Unfortunately, she's such a gentle giant that the hens and roosters peck at her, so she has to be kept separate from them. Lesson learned - Never get just one of any animal. It's a lonely life.

The Windmill

2008-06-01T19:16:00.003-04:00

Here's our new 20 foot windmill, built by Mark and installed by Mark and Nub. The windmill is aerating our pond so that it will be less mucky and more swimmable. As you can see, Pudge finds it perfectly swimmable already!

It took Mark several weeks of work in the garage to get most of the unit built. The last section was so large it had to be finished in our yard. Then we packed the whole thing on our John Deere and drove it to the site. Post holes were dug, cement* poured, and the windmill is now firmly anchored. When we get a good gust, the top turns to catch the wind, the compresser inside the top does its magic thing, forcing air through the tubing into the airstone sunk at the bottom of our pond. Little bubbles come up from the bottom.

*Note: A fan of this page (okay, it was my husband) has explained to me that cement is what you pour, and concrete is what it becomes. My original post used the word "concrete" when I should have said "cement."

Kudos to Scottie

2008-05-07T16:45:00.003-04:00

My big brother Scott works in New York doing party planning, hosting, captaining, serving, tear down, the whole party shebang. I'm excited to see that Sara Moulton at Gourmet Magazine mentioned him and his best friend Gunna in her blog. She's sharing Scotty and Gunna's tips for party prep. Enjoy!

Click here to learn Scotty's Secrets

Vintage 1968

2008-05-05T15:01:00.003-04:00

Big birthday tomorrow for the hubby! We'll be inviting everyone over in June to celebrate; By then, he should be done being bummed out.

Listen to a bit of Wilco to celebrate!

Not Bill's best work

2008-04-24T10:09:00.003-04:00

My new favorite call number.

Our new pet

2008-04-20T20:18:00.002-04:00

Introducing the newest member of the ScheniWigg family . . . Darla the Beagle! She came from an Amish farm just outside of Grabill, where she lived with her many howling brothers and sisters.

Serving the Amish

2008-04-02T11:42:00.002-04:00

My new job includes serving a population I had not served before - The Amish. While every population we serve in libraries has its stories of injustice, today I'm working on one related to Old Order Amish.

Old Order Amish people do not have their photos taken - this relates to the issue of "graven images" in the Bible. I have a patron who needs to travel to Canada for his job. He can get through the border with a passport - which requires 2 photos - or with his birth certificate and photo ID. I have talked to our local passport offices, to our federal Passport offices, and to the Department of Homeland Security. None of them could help. Now I'm calling the borders in the US and Canada at his specific points of entry and departure to see how we can ensure he can get into and out of Canada.

The person at Homeland Security agreed that this religious issue needs to be resolved - After all, she said, we wouldn't "make a Jewish person to eat a porkchop" to get into our country.

yep, that's a gater

2008-03-26T19:20:00.003-04:00

Guess where the photographer (me) is? BEHIND the truck, with the door open so I can hop in. Hope Mark doesn't expect me to fight that prehistoric man-eater with him, because he's on his own.

Winter's Last Day

2008-03-15T09:32:00.000-04:00

Here's our (hopefully) last day of snow in Indiana. As usual, Zoe is forgaing for art supplies in the woods.

Grabill

2008-02-27T13:27:00.002-05:00

Good news - My library just got rural, too. I'm now managing a branch library in a town which is bigger than the town where I live, but small enough to be called rural. You can see more at http://grblibrary.wordpress.com/

Zoe does a "Christmas Story"

2008-01-25T17:49:00.001-05:00

My daughter stuck her tongue to a metal hitching post in our yard, in sub zero weather. Her tongue will heal, and in the meantime, we're eating a lot of soft foods. Why, why, why would a child who has seen "A Christmas Story" do this? I think some people just have to lick the 9 volt batteries and touch the electric fences in life. She's one of them.

Christmas in South Florida

2007-12-29T12:46:00.000-05:00

We had a warm and merry Christmas in Fort Meyer's Beach, Florida. We went to the Everglades, spent Christmas Day fishing on the boat (I caught a catfish and a grouper), and spent the next day on the beach collecting shells and swimming.

Had to leave my menagerie of pets and animals with Amanda, Caroline & my mom. Ducks, rabbits, chickens, dogs & cats. I'd like to get a milk goat, but we have to really think about who will do the milking when we are away.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-20T14:01:00.000-05:00

From the disturbingly talented people I work with, nothing says Happy Holidays like The Addams Family:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORJ7ocQUwss

One Green Summer

2007-12-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

We're gearing up for a summer of green activity - Our children's summer reading crew decided to go green, then our YAs, then our adult summer readiing as well. We're keeping track of our wild and wonderful ideas for our branch activities on our new blog, One Green Summer. http://onegreensummer.blogspot.com/

2007-11-26T12:51:00.000-05:00

Anna has the best clothes, including this fabulous child's sweatshirt.

Football!

2007-11-20T12:41:00.000-05:00

We have an obsessed boy in our house. The other night, Leif had a bad dream. He brought his blankets and pillow and laid down on the floor next to my side of the bed. We went back to sleep. Next thing I know, I hear what I think is my alarm clock. I wake up to a local radio station, so when I hear talking I think that it must be time to get up. I look at the clock, but it is only 5:30am. It is my son, still asleep, talking in a loud voice saying, "If he plays running back, then I'll be quarterback . . ." Dreaming about football.

Nondenominational Nostalgic Village

2007-11-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

Hmmmm, we want to work with our East State Village neighbors who have asked us to decorate with a "Nostalgic Village Theme." At our library, we always do a non-denominational spot of decorating for December/January.

How can we combine non-denominational with a nostalgic village? Any ideas?

Howl-O-Ween

2007-11-07T15:16:00.000-05:00

What do you get when you cross a butterfly, a pirate, a newsboy, Madame Pince and a lovely young lady with a moustache? Our branch on Halloween. Strangely, the patrons didn't comment much.

Lettie's ArtCar

2007-10-24T12:07:00.000-04:00

WOW! We had a program yesterday on Art Cars and Lettie allowed our patrons to paint her white Subaru. What a success! We had little kids, teens, and grown ups from the neighborhood collaborating together to beautify the car. I saw it this morning in our parking lot as I approached the building, yelling and laughing (at 8am, maybe the neighbors didn't appreciate this?). Nice work, Party People of the Tecumseh Branch Neighborhood!

more woods

2007-10-18T11:45:00.000-04:00

Late October, good woods-walking weather. Things are still green here in Indiana, but should turn to red and orange very soon.

What is Leif doing? I don't know. Searching for enlightenment?

Now Reading

2007-10-17T12:38:00.000-04:00

The Last American Man, by Elizabeth Gilbert, as recommended by Nick. First you fall in love with this amazing person who can survive in the wilderness with nothing (though if you give him a knife, it'll help). As you read more, you learn about his conflicted childhood, and then about the ruins of his personal life, and you begin to wonder if madness and genius are actually the same thing. Even for a fiction reader like myself, this book raises questions that keep you reading.

Wouldn't change a thing

2007-10-15T16:44:00.000-04:00

We've lived in our rural 130 year old farmhouse for a year now. When we moved, I was terrified that I would hate it - The house that needs work, the drive. I don't hate it. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I just walk around the yard. It takes maybe 3 minutes to remember why we moved - The birds, the trees, and the quiet.

2007-10-08T11:25:00.000-04:00

It's not Women Who Run With Wolves, but Boy Who Runs With Spaniel.

2007-10-06T13:45:00.001-04:00

Must Read

2007-10-04T18:43:00.000-04:00

Pair this book with last years' Omnivore's Dilemma, and you've got yourself all the food-for-thought you can handle.

Kingsolver's book is amazing on audio, with her soft southern voice narrating, and the voices of her family members sounding in from time to time. The author makes her family's year of eating locally sound less like deprivation, and more like a culinary adventure.

Saints Alive!

2007-10-04T18:34:00.000-04:00

I had a young woman, about 11 years old, come to me for help with her saint report. She's been assigned Agnes, and she needs to know how she died. OMG! Saints do not die in G-rated ways. Agnes devoted herself to God, and refused the attentions of a young man. Spurned, he ordered her to a brothel, and once she was no longer a virgin (it was illegal to kill virgins), her head was cut off.

Reticent to kill a virgin, but willing to send a girl-child into prostitution and then behead her.

2007-10-02T08:41:00.000-04:00

On to RSS feeds today as I work through my 21 things.

Twitter

2007-09-26T12:34:00.000-04:00

So what's the purpose of Twitter? I like that it can post to the blog, but why is it "better than"? Is it the brevity - The fact that I can only type 140 characters, so I must distill to the most basic element of what I want to say?

I've decided that I like Twitter for keeping track of what I'm reading, so that how I'm using it.

2007-09-24T15:53:00.000-04:00

Add this to the list of books that read like an action movie. If you liked Fight Club (the movie or the book), give Swierczynski's tale of a bank heist gone wrong a try.

2007-09-24T14:31:00.000-04:00

Gotta love the hammocks. We spent the weekend - 80 in late September! - fighting over the two hammocks in our yard. I sprayed down with mosquito repellant and settled in to enjoy the shade, the bit of sun that fell on my legs, and the quiet. Of course, with two children, there was no quiet, there was only fighting over who got to lay in the hammock with me and who had to be all alone in the other hammock, but I pretended not to hear it.

Trailer Park Soda

2007-09-24T09:49:00.000-04:00

Our small town doesn't have a store, but we do have two soda machines at the trailer park where you can get a .60 can of soda.

My favorite for 2007

2007-09-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

It may be premature, but I think this is my pic for best adult fiction 2007. From first time author Tana French (www.tanafrench.com), the mystery is interesting, but what is more compelling is the relationship between the main character male detective and his female partner.

2.0 so far

2007-09-20T16:12:00.001-04:00

We're having fun with our 21 things at Tecumseh Branch. So far I've managed to complete about 5 things on the list. (I can't wait to add audio content!) I've discovered that I'm going to need to have one "presence," (this blog), and the other services will alert me by email when I need to check them. That is, I can't maintain a blog, myspace, facebook, twitter and ning. I'll just have to include the url of this blog on each of those other services.

Mr. Abram's presentation had so much content, I've asked to view the DVD when it is available. He has me thinking. As a motivational speaker to get staff excited about 2.0, he was very good. I'm still struggling with how libraries allocate resources - How do we do more with the same? It's the second law of thermodynamics - No such thing as a free lunch.

Happy Birthday, Girlfriend!

2007-09-20T15:18:00.001-04:00

Nick, we're sorry we didn't know it was your birthday until you told us. Glad we got the "Happy Birthday Girlfriend" candybar to make it up to you!

No, we haven't seen the chocolate

2007-09-20T15:15:00.001-04:00

Rosie called us from New Haven Library to see if we had the Chocolicious program box at our branch. No, no, whatever would make you think that, Rosie?

2007-07-27T11:56:00.000-04:00

Finally Nick opens his mouth, but I still haven't heard why he doesn't support HP as a literacy tool.

2007-07-27T11:55:00.000-04:00

Then she takes her research to Nick in our workroom and demands that he read it.

2007-07-27T11:54:00.000-04:00

Here's Deb prepraring her research to prove that Harry Potter improves literacy among children.

No time to post

2007-07-11T16:36:00.000-04:00

. . . because my garden has been overtaken by grass. I have discovered the joys of the hoe, and am trying to beat the grass out of the soil. The good news is that I will have tomatoes, carrots, peppers, cilantro, basil, chamomile, mint, sunflower seeds, and beans despite the grass.

You've Got Chickens

2007-03-30T11:51:00.000-04:00

This photo shows our beautiful new bantam chickens in their brooder. The two yellows are Lucy and Omelet (my child chose this name, I know it is disturbing!), and the black and yellow is Frisco, and the all black is Sara. I've read that chickens are great for organic gardeners because they eat table scrabs, turn them into manure, and provide eggs. Any animal at our place has to be able to do more than one thing for us, so these guys should be great.

2007-02-12T13:57:00.000-05:00

Winter has finally arrived, with temps below zero. Our dog goes out to the deck, does his business right on the deck, and runs back inside for warmth. Cleaning frozen dog-doo off porch, priceless.

We didn't get to the woods at all this weekend. We've been freezing in our home and spending $400/month on propane, so we spent the weekend hanging curtains. This spring, we'll be doing a whole lot of insulating.

At the back of the woods

2006-12-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

Lord of the Flies

2006-12-30T15:29:00.000-05:00

Out in the woods today we found a skull. I'm thinking cow, because the teeth are very flat. It is rather large, and still has most of its teeth.

2006-12-27T12:58:00.000-05:00

Here's Pudge, the dog Santa brought for Christmas.

Late December

2006-12-27T12:52:00.000-05:00

I went to sign up my daughter for speech therapy, and my son for school. All my ideas of a rural school were crushed. The school is small, but has three computer labs and a great school library. I thought it would be like the city public schools, only not as big. Shows what I know.

Also, I had been gearing up for a major battle with the steel factory near our home, but it seems that has been postponed. The privately-held company wanted to rezone the field across from my house from rural/suburban to industrial, but at the last minute they rescinded the request. Big relief - Many of my neighbors depend on this factory for thier livelihood, but the company has done so much polluting that I would have to argue against any expansion. However, I think this issue will come up again, so I'm using this time to learn about fighting rezoning.

The creek across from our house has the woods flooded. I saw a wild rabbit last night, but no other critters lately, except those who live in my house.

Going Postal

2006-12-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

Mark visited our new post office in Saint Joe. He was there to pick up 2 registered letters. One had been sent back because it had been a few weeks since it arrived. Mark explained that he works full time, and it was hard for him to make it before 5pm. The post office worker then told him to call ahead, and she would keep the post office open late for him if needed.

Take note, legions of city-dwellers, there are kindhearted postal workers out there.

Smug

2006-12-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

I fear that I'm coming across as . . . smug. While I find lots of amusement in my new surroundings, I do still find lots that's amusing about me and my ignorance as well. My neighbors know how to do things that can sustain them, and I'd like to learn some of those things.

The Smart Shopper

2006-11-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

We get a free publication once a week, The Smart Shopper, and it came today, oh happy day! The Smart Shopper has great classifieds (like free chickens), and an advertisement for The Rural King. I haven't actually found The Rural King yet, but they have the best stuff for sale. Kerosene sold in a 5 gallon can (did you know you could get it in cans?), and liniment for horses, and coveralls. It also where I learn about what's happening in town. I found out the secondhand store is open Thursday and Fridays. Saved me a trip on a Monday.

the video store

2006-11-29T12:52:00.000-05:00

We wanted to watch a movie, and decided to go visit the new video store we'd seen advertised. The sign we saw was one with a built-in arrow, and movable letters, and even though the arrow pointed to a cornfield, we understood it was in town.
Both of us were a little afraid to go, so we went together.
We found the video store, which is also apparently a pizza delivery place, and, get this, a tanning salon. Yes, the sign on the window says "Videos, Pizza, and Tanning." We rented a few movies and forgot to ask when they were due. A couple of days later, we go to take them back, and there is no dropbox and a note on the door reads, "Closed due to emergency." So we go back again the next night. I tell the person there that we tried to bring them the day before, but the store was closed. She's very flippant and takes them from us. So we're not sure they really had a due date. Maybe we just bring them back when we are done?

Our First Month

2006-11-25T10:36:00.000-05:00

For about a month, we've been living in a rural area for the first time. By rural, I mean that I drive to the neighbor's homes rather than walk, that I get my mail from a box by the road, that my neighbors have animals like horses and cattle, and that I see fields all around my house. Living here is an experi/ence/ment, because it is both experience and experiment, in a grand sense and also in a very everyday sense.
For instance, we have some type of creature living in our attic. We don't really know how to deal with this, but we're experimenting and experiencing. We started with poison, little green balls of something toxic that my partner put in the area where we hear the critter(s). That night, as I lay in bed, I listened to a "poison party" as the little balls were rolled around one way and then the other. Some of the balls were found the next day in our basement. Keep in mind that this is a 2 story home with a basement. When we found them in the basement, we did what anyone would do, we looked up. There was a space between the walls where a cottony material was stuffed. We knocked it down, and we're pretty sure it was a nest. Groooooss! Then we went out and bought glue traps. The next day, there was a paw print in the glue trap, but it was basically where we left it. The day after that, the glue trap wasn't there. It wasn't anywhere to be found. This tells us two things:
1. A large creature, larger than a mouse, stepped in it.
2. Some large creature with a glue trap stuck to its ass lives in my attic!
Next we went with a live trap. In the last two weeks, we haven't caught it.

Again, experience and experiment, all rolled up into one.