The Poetry of Anne Maren-Hogan

“I can feel the grit of dust and crunch of downed cornstalks in these poems.  They are not nostalgic ditties, but instead are strong songs, often in a haunting minor key, that remove me to a time when many footsteps, from many families, from many homes, sounded on the Midwestern farm scape.”

Timothy Fay  (taken from  the back cover of Anne’s book of poetry)

Anne and Sam  with the Mrs and I  March 23 2013

I was introduced to Anne Maren-Hogan’s book of poetry this past November by her nephew Chris.

I would be the first to admit I am not a big reader of poetry….which makes what happened to me all the more powerful.

I can still remember sitting in Ms Burns 7th grade class reading “Jonathan Livingston Seagull. “

I got the impression something deep and profound was  going on in that story, but it was  beyond me.

(The same thing happened in Mr Newland’s slide rule class…..I felt  over my head and could not swim)

NEVER  wanting  to find  myself in that sort of discussion setting again.

Flash forward 40 year .

Chris  hands me a little book of poetry @ coffee break written by his aunt Anne. (Chris works with me)

In my mind, I’m thinking...oh/ no/  if I take it, he’s going to ask me later what I think…?

I will be exposed for the uncultured farm boy that I am.

I took the book.

I inhaled the book.

I discovered a writer that drew me in.

She wrote about growing up in a large farm family , not too many miles from me.

Here’ another quote from the back of the book:

“With narrative grace and keen insight, Anne Maren-Hogan celebrates the strength and perseverance of women.  Spanning two decades, the poems in The Farmers Wake offer a thoughtful meditation on family, place and culture.   The poems move beyond a chronicle of farm lief in the Midwest to remind us all of the very human connections we share with each other and this earth.  The landscape in these poems may be harsh and isolated, but the writing is rich and rewarding: stitching it all together with this certainty/ of leaving and returning as  Maren-Hogan writes in “Lifting My Eyes”  Pat Riviere-Seel

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Anne and her husband Sam were back in the area this past week visiting family.

I’d built a multipurpose addition to our shop this Fall and had been wanting to do a “German Building dedication”

Last Saturday night, was the dedication.

Anne and Sam, joined us for a night of poetry/ music and mirth.

I asked Anne,  if she cared if I included one of her poem on this post.  So I did get her blessing.

I intended to include my favorite poem titled The Farmer’s Wake”

(It is about her dad’s wake)

I’ve had a change of heart.

I’m going to hold off  because  I feel like she  has shared something with us very precious and sacred.

A  glimpse into her heart.

I will instead give you a link to her book of poetry, so you could have your own copy.

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In case you stumble across this post later Anne, I just want to say  thank you again for  sharing your heart, both in your poems and for actually coming and reading them aloud .

I am a wealthy man.  DM

German building dedication

Lead carpenter (me) nailing the evergreen branch to the gable. 

“You can sit by me if you like….”

“You can sit by me if you like,” Jarret said to me at lunch today

“Do you know why I asked you to sit by me?”, he asked.

“No, Why do you ask me to sit by you?” I replied.

“Because I like you! “he said with a shy smile.

Jarret is 4 years old.

He has been asking me to sit by him now for the past three weeks.

Our crew is building a shop at their farm.

The family  has  invited us in for  lunch  almost every day we’ve been on the job.

When I sit down at their  14 ft farm table  I think,...this is what it must have felt like to be a part of a large threshing crew..

Grant Wood’s Dinner For Threshers

People with a real gift of hospitality are a dying breed.

Even here in Iowa.

It’s one thing to invite a few close friends over for  lunch once in a while..

I scratch your back, you scratch mine..right?

Well, …it’s a completely different ball game to cook lunch for  a construction crew of 4 , 5 days a week, for the better part of a month.

Today lasagna  was on the menu

Yesterday I thought  Jarret’s mom had asked if I wanted a piece of “cheese cake” for desert?
“Yummy I said..I love cheese cake…!

“No” she replied, I said  “sheet cake”

my bad.

Well, today, guess what we had for desert?

Cheese cake topped with a blueberry filling.

I had to pry the guys away from the table today….

They did not want to go back to work.

John said it was the best tasting lasagna he’d ever had.

While I’m thinking about it..here’s a recent crew photo

Crew photo

I work with a great bunch of guys.

The morale on this crew is second to none.

Nothing worse than working around someone with a bad attitude.

At this point in my life, when I’m looking to hire someone, the numero uno thing I am looking for is

ATTITUDE.

I don’t care if you don’t know how to properly hold a hammer or read a tape measure.

I can teach you those things.

What I really detest is a whiner or someone with a dark cloud following them around.

I am really enjoying  the guys   that is helping me out this Winter.

As I write this, I feel like I’m starting to fade….4:30 AM comes pretty early

Jarret’s comments were still rolling around in my head when I got home from work, and I wanted to tell you about it…

Yea, I’m assuming I have a couple of regular readers 

There is just something serendipitous about a 4 year old   requesting that I be his lunch buddy 3 weeks in a row.

I am a rich man.

I will miss Jarret when the job is done…

Heck, I will miss the whole family…

Here is a picture of the shop we’ve been working on:

End view of shop

One last thing before I sign off…

Did you know what the word Hospitality literally means?

Hospitality:  Lover of strangers

I believe it is more caught than taught…

Jarret is growing up in a home where it is being modeled in a powerful way….

If I were a betting man, someday when he has a home of his own, he will also know how it’s done….

Is there anyone in your life, with the gift of hospitality?  Tell me about them.

Johnny

Friend of mine purchased an old  building, asked if I could help  install a patio door 20 feet up, through an  exterior  wall, covered with Stucco.

(stucco = concrete)

I came prepared.  Brought the  cement saw with a diamond blade.

a handful of new sawzall blades. (they look like sharp steak knives…hold on to that detail)

and two quarts of coffee.

Must have coffee.

My friend had a young man in his early 30′s there to help.

His name was Johnny..

He was built  like a tank.  chiseled,  and had  this hard stoic look in his eyes..

He looked like he belonged  in a  gang.

Construction types  remind me of my dad’s roosters….

Sometimes  I pick up an undercurrent of circling  and sizing  each other up…  like roosters getting ready to spar

Johnny  and I were was no exception.

When I looked at the 4 sections of rickety  scaffolding set up for us to work on, it creeped me out..I told Johnny  I was allergic to heights.   (I really do hate heights btw)

“What???” he said with a sneer ,  “I thought you were  the carpenter, and  you’re telling me you are afraid of heights?”

  “Yep” I  said with a smirk.    Now he really didn’t know what to do with me…

I love to banter w/ tough guys   and soften them up…poke holes in their machismo.

It took me less that   30 minutes  working along Johnny to soften him up ..

He  went from questioning my sanity to thinking I was (his words, not mine  a “Master”).

I jumped on the section of scaffolding below Johnny,  asked him to hand me  the  sawzall.  He let it down by the chord, (it wasn’t running, but the 6 inch  blade was sticking down as he swung it to me).

It slid deeply into my wrist .  I took one look at the wound and  said, “Johnny, I need to go  to the hospital” . 

Johnny said, “You’re kidd’n right?”   “No,  I said,  “I just got stabbed, and need to go to the hospital NOW!” 

           He felt terrible.  “It would be one thing, if you were just some “grunt”, but you are like a “Master” ” he moaned.

Hour and 1/2,  $750.00 later I was back on  the job,  (arm wrapped  w/ 5 stitches)

I tried to supervise when we got back, but it was taking forever.

I  grabbed the cement saw and  went back to work.

  “Man, you are one bad #*&, he said.     

If he only knew.

..pardon the sweat… that’s me showing off

it’s a little trick I know….

you  touch your nose with a 10 pound sledge

very carefully

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Footnote. those of you that are long time readers may remember this post..It was buried in the archives.

Parents in pain

This post is written to the Christian parent who finds themselves dealing with a prodigal child (or children).

Dear fellow parent,

As I sit  here this morning, our children range in age from 32 down to 25.  The last 17 years have felt like I’ve chopped my way through the Amazon jungles on foot.  Many, many times I felt lost, did not have a clue as to where I was at or if I were even heading in the right direction .

I have to tell you, once the overt rebellious stuff started happening, I realized there is are overly simplistic and   naive  schools of thought in the Christian camp about our children and  how to keep them from wallowing in all of the crap this world has to offer.

You can do it all right…not try to jam your faith down their throat,  be an approachable parent, willing to own up when you’re wrong,  involve them in good activities,  try your best to help them find good friendships, and avoid the bad ones, participate in youth programs, church, even send them away to  a Bible school…do it all, and  there is NO guarantee, they will still not chose  to shack up with some looser of a boyfriend or, binge drink till they black out...week after week.….

Then what are you going to do?

Nag?

preach ?

take them for counseling?

Second guess yourself?

….if only I had been more firm when I first noticed  she had a strong will!

Why didn’t I do a better job of looking into _________________(fill in the blank)

What do you do with the anger?  Because at some point,  besides feeling afraid for your dear child, there’s a good chance you’re going to be angry about something that has happened…maybe their blatant disrespect or sass, …maybe at someone they “love” , or are running around with…

What

To

Do

About

The

Anger???

As I sit here this morning 2 of our 4 children are still sexually active outside of marriage. (at least I’m 95% sure they are, they’d never tell us that is the case, but  it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to  connect the dots…

So, what is my role in their life, and what is my attitude with them as they continue to make choices that will bring them emotional pain, not to mention some STD or unplanned child, etc?

What do I do with the stuff  you feel?

Biggest help has been finding another parent that “get’s it” and rant together.

Nothing wrong with ranting.

Second thing… I can’t emphasize this strongly enough…

Nagging does not work

Getting angry with them does not work

See, deep down, they feel conflicted…and second thing..it’s not about you,  if sure feels like it is, I know but it’s not…it’s between them and God…

And at the end of the day, God has got to be the one to reel them in, and he is able.  I’ve seen it twice now..and there is a good chance they will have even more spiritual depth than their parents when it happens.

Keep the lines of communication open

Resist those  temptations to draw a line in the sand and say..if you do ________________,  then I’m through trying….

Nope, best thing you can do, is to find another adult and unload.

Couple of final thoughts…

If you kids do happen to turn out, right, don’t be to quick to take the credit..

I’m sitting here 17 yrs into the crisis called parenting older teens and I still have my joy, the kids still love to come home for visit,  2 out of 4 have found their way back spiritually, and the wife and I still love each other…nobody said parenting was a walk in the park.

Drop me a note if you need to talk.   DM

Jake

Wanted to tell you a story about a chicken.

His name was Jake.

We raised 60 roosters this Summer.

20   Black-australorp’s

20 Silver- laced Wynadotte

and 20 Rhode Island Red’s.

Every morning I would open the door to the brooder house. The young roosters  would rush  the door like shoppers  on Black Friday….

all except the Rhode Island Red’s.  Only two of them were ever determined enough to go outside to put up with the constant harassment.

The Australorps and Wynadottes’s would simply   not allow the Rhode Island Red’s to leave the brooder house  to forage…

even in the 100 degree heat this past July.

Chickens really do have a “pecking order.”

Normally, once that has been established, the  pecking will taper off.

Unfortunately, it didn’t.

One of the two Rhode Island red’s I would see outside on occasion was missing all of his long tail feathers and many of the feathers on the back of his wings. (the other chickens had pulled them out)

In spite of the constant pecking, this red rooster would come outside and make the best of it.

He became very aggressive, even with me.

4 weeks ago, when I opened the door of the brooder house. I noticed a Rhode Island Red rooster giving me the evil eye.

7  feet away, on a perch .

He caught my eye, because of the way in which he was moving his head back and forth…

It felt like he was trying to judge the distance between us.

I imagined him thinking…

“Can I reach him  if  I really go for it?”

The next thing I knew he was in my face.

Sure enough, the red rooster without any tail feathers.

I decided right then and there to take him out of the mix and put him in a building by himself.  As much as I wanted him to have the freedom to run around outside, it was either that, or continue to allow the other chickens to pick on him and he become even more violent.

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He reminded me of a young man I met a few years ago.

His name was Jake (not his real name)

I taught a construction class @ the local community college/ started out with a dozen young roosters, I mean men..

Two weeks into school, two of the roosters, I mean  students, decided to challenge my authority.

It wasn’t pretty, but  when the dust settled, they knew  who was in charge.

I found out later, one of them, had lost his mother two years before  to cancer and had been having run-in’s with  authority figures ever since.

Just knowing that, changed my attitude.  Instead of wanting to kick him out of the program  so I wouldn’t have to deal with him, I was challenged by a friend to pray for him.

When someone knows you respect them as a person, but will not tolerate their crap, it is amazing to watch their heart  change.  I saw it in Jake the student, and I was beginning to see it in Jake the rooster.

Yesterday was “butchering day” on the farm.

It’s pretty quiet outside this morning.

I debated what to do with Jake.

I’m sure he would  have attacked another person if he had the chance

Since he’s a rooster, there are no eggs.

Plus I already have a pet Rooster…

his name is Little Moe with the gimpy leg

Economic sense told me the best thing to do was butcher him with the rest of them….

I could have went either way.

 Jake

If you’re ever in the area, (we live in Iowa)   I’d love to introduce you to Jake and Little Moe

Sometimes stories really do have a happy ending.

If you’re feeling trapped

Maybe you are

We just got home  from a  family reunion..

Seeing most of these people only every 2 or 3 years gives me the  a sense I’m watching  time-lapsed photography…

I used to internally  cringe at these get togethers.

I would compare our families life choices with the other young families in the mix.

5 of the cousins are either Dr’s or have married Doctors.  I suspect several of the Aunts and Uncles are millionaires…

And then there was our family

My wife chose to stay at home as  our  kids came along…

which meant shopping @ Goodwill and garage sales for the kid’s clothes

Renting instead of owning

Driving an older car

bread from the day old store….

you get the picture.

There are lots of people in the world who have it a 100 times tougher..that I know..

but still, it’s so easy to fall into the comparison trap.

Now, 30 years later, our kids are grown,

wife and I are still in love

I’m still working at a job that energizes and stimulates me most days.

money is still tight, but for the most part we are out of debt….

And those earlier choices don’t seem so stupid any more…

I came across the following description in a book a few weeks ago, that described our life to a T:

     “My grandparents lived a simple country life.  They were totally self-sufficient, tilling a small piece of land and raising their own food….there was a sense of unhurriedness  and simple pleasures.  All the money in the world couldn’t buy such luxury in today’s world.  It is not for sale.   You have to create it….

It is unlikely you can ever totally escape from this high-stress world.  We are all on the same train….but to preserve your sanity and achieve a healthy life, you have to make some choices and resolve to live a balanced life.  By a “balanced” life, I mean, that like a marathon runner, you must learn how to pace yourself.  You give it all you’ve got going uphill and rest as much as you can going downhill.  You try to balance the drain on your energy so you can “go the distance”

From the book The Anxiety Cure by Archibald Hart

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As I listened to some of the stories this past weekend, I couldn’t help but think about an article I recently read  about rats,   overcrowding and stress.

Because some (not all)  of  my successful relatives are living under a lot of self-imposed stress, .and I thought to myself but are they happy?

They may be making big bucks, but at what cost?

Here’s a link  to that article  if you’d like to read it.      Rat Study

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If you hear a still small voice calling you to get out of the rat race don’t just ignore it.

It may be the voice of God.

And He can make a way.

I know what you’re thinking…

There is nobody in your life who would understand…

But here’s the deal…30 years from now, you will not regret it….

“If you make it to the top of the company ladder, but loose your family in the process, you are a fool.”

__________________________–

Sorry if this comes across as a little intense.  I don’t mean to be.  DM

Shake it off

It was a line drive to center field.

the ball bounced straight toward our son.

He went down to scoop it up and….

and missed….

“Shake it off John” came the encouragement from the bench

He told us later, he bought his glove at a second-hand sporting goods store and the mitt really isn’t big enough for soft balls

“Shake it off”….

Those words came back to me on Saturday.

I called my brother to talk about work.

Instead of getting a sympathetic ear,   I felt like he was a little “snarky”/ I was asked to do some side work for another family member,…for half my normal wages. I mentioned this to  my brother, who said, “Well, it’s better than nothing”

I was tempted to cop a small attitude…when suddenly I hear the words…”shake it off”….

I could either replay this conversation in my head several times  and let it sour my Saturday morning, or….

refuse to think  anymore about it.

I chose the latter.

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Last night when wife and daughter #3 got home from running errands she told me, she had had a very very close call in the car.

as in…could have been fatal.

After she left the grocery store, she had to cross two lanes of traffic…a pick up was coming from her left/ had his turning signals on…rather than wait,just to make sure, she took off…out of the corner of her eye, she saw another vehicle …

     “Why I didn’t get hit, I’ll never know, she told me…he laid on the horn, I gunned it, just as soon as I saw him..it left me shaking… Normally, that sort of thing would have bugged me the rest of the day.  I would have kicked myself for being so stupid…then I heard “shake it off.  You’d be proud of me, for the most part, that is what I did.”

In the mid 1980′s I was challenged with the concept of being more intentional about what  I allow my mind to dwell on.  At the time, I thought it sounded like a bunch of non-sense.  I remember thinking there was no way, I could have control over my thoughts…after all, my thoughts were just…there…thoughts are automatic right?

Nope, they’re not.

I discovered, once I started paying attention to what I think about,  I can begin to take an active part in what I allow my mind to ruminate on…

Is it easy?

Nope,

Is it possible?

Yep.

Feel free to disagree with me.

all I know is, that  the day to day quality of my life is directly affected by my thought life.

____________________________

The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.

Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day.

The content of your character is your choice.

Day by day, what you do is who you become.

Your integrity is your destiny – it is the light that guides your way.”
  Heraclitus

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What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever had to “shake off”?

Is there something that’s currently “sucking the life out of you?”  Tell me about it.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and stay in touch. DM

Baby Chicks

I got a phone call 6:30 AM Thursday morning from the post office.  Our little peepers were in!  Come and get them

Our new Chicken shed in transit.   Found a John Deere wagon running gear on Craigs list for $200.  Ended up spending another $184.00 on 4  good used tires.

I saw a set up like this on a local CSA.  The birds free range during the day and spend the night in the shed, so as not to be eating by coyote’s , racoons etc. @ night.

I had the new chicken shed all set up with two heat lamps, 2 feeders, and a new waterier.  The day the chicks arrived it was windy and cold…even with the heat lamps I was concerned it might be too cold for the chicks so I did what any farmer would do trying to keep the baby animals alive…brought them into the house.  In this case, our living room

I was talking with  Janaan a farmer’s wife earlier this week.  She told us, her husband had brought, baby pigs, chicks, sheep and even a baby calf into their  basement to get them started.

60 baby chicks are in that box just waiting to get out

Here’s what they look like when you pop open the lid

baby chicks spending the night in our living room under the heat lamp

Yes we really do have 60 baby chicks in our living room.

At the water cooler

eating some tasty organic chick starter

birds eye view

Whatch you look’n at???

Here’s some pictures I grabbed of the Internet to get an idea what the chicks will look like when they mature:

Silver- laced Wynadotte

black-australorp-rooster.

Rhode_Island_Red_Rooster

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What I would really like to look into now is growing our own non-genetically modified chicken feed for next season…any of you reading this ever come up with your own chicken feed  recipe?  Talk to me.  We have an acre and 1/4 of ground behind the barn just sitting there doing nothing.  DM

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Update 4/20/2012  This post originally appeared on my other blog last week/ (it has more to do with things around our acreage)  Let me know if you’d like a link to that blog and I will get it for you.  Thought some of you might get a kick out of the little baby chick pictures. DM

Spring In The Country

I could not believe my eyes…

There they were, popping out of the grass in our orchard this past Wednesday evening.

Grey Morels….

A month early, no less…

close up of a morel I  found this week.

You’d be proud of me.

I resisted the temptation to pick them all,  and went to find my wife.

It felt like we were on an Easter egg hunt, only we were looking for mushrooms.

By the time we were done, we’d found over a 100:

They may look gross to the untrained eye, but boy are they tasty

They sell on craigslist around here for  $40 a pound.

In case you’re interested, here’s how I prepare them:

Cut them in 1/2  (sometimes little bugs like to hide in the hollow middle)

Then I soaked  them in salt water over night.

Rinsed them in clean water when I got ready to fry them.

Dip them in an egg wash

Then I put them in a baggy with crushed Ritz crackers and Johnny’s Seasoning Salt (shake)

Fry in real butter…

Yummy!

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Apple Trees

There are   60  semi dwarf  apple trees on the East side of our house and another 20 on the West side…

They are in full bloom this week…

Wild bee pollinating in our orchard

Just like the rest of the plants this year, the apple trees are a month ahead of schedule.

I am gradually coming to the place where I think I may build a bee hive.

So far, the wild bees have been doing a pretty good job of pollinating the trees….

We’ll see…maybe next year.

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Wild Asparagus

This morning I came across some more “edible landscape”

Wild asparagus…

Wild asparagus

I can’t stand the stuff myself, but Mrs DM loves it….

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Grant Wood

My favorite Grant Wood  painting  is “Spring in the Country”

Remember American Gothic?

Yep, same guy…

Local boy too.
Turns out he was a prolific artist.

Sometime when you have a minute, Google his name and check out some of his other work.

We probably have a dozen of his prints scattered throughout our country farm house.

I feel like I’m living in the middle of that picture this week….

Several of you live in urban settings..

I know  it can be kind of stressful….

so tonight is my humble attempt @ bringing a little country to your door.

g-nite. 

DM

Sometimes less is more

The Native Americans called it “Beautiful Land”

I call it…..

]

home…

Took these pictures the last few mornings….

Thought if someone stopped by my blog, I would have the coffee on….

Got three minutes for a cup?

If  a couple of these pictures look familiar, you may have seem  them on my farm blog last night..

Anyway, this is going to be a shorter post,

and that’s OK

Sometimes, less is more.  DM