A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man’s life as in a book. Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping. Keep the time, observe the hours of the universe, not of the cars. -Henry David Thoreau

Historically, people have built fences, mainly, to keep other people out of their stuff, or out of their beliefs.

Here are some fence-building notations, all of which have some sort of anniversary today, June 12th.

• In 1838, the Iowa Territory was organized.
• And in 1963, Civil rights activist Medgar Evers was fatally shot in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi.
• On this date in 1929, Anne Frank was born. She was killed some 15 years later.
• 2008, a deeply divided Supreme Court ruled that foreign detainees held for years at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba had the right to appeal to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their indefinite imprisonment without charges.

There are lots more. Way more.

This, is in one of our trees. We think it is some sort of Alien Pod.

Today is Judy Garland’s birthday. She could sing. Holy smokes, could she sing. She was also in one of my favorite movies. In that movie, she had a little dog named Toto.

I have a little dog. I also have two brothers. One of my brothers calls my little dog “Toto” every time he sees her. My other brother wears Ruby Slippers.

Where troubles melt like lemon drops…..

The little dude looks like he’s smiling. That’s all I’m saying about that.

Little known fact here in these parts: “Heifer Dance” is huge. Huge, I’ll tell you. And if you’ve never had the opportunity to see it, well, all I can say is, you are really missing out. We have The Clogging Cows, and the world-famous Boogie Bulls, among many others. The most prestigious however, is the Ballet.

It takes practice and discipline. Most cows only have time for the cud chewing and milk giving. But there are a few select who start from an early age, and dance their little hooves off.

Below is a picture of Milk-Cow Baryshnikov giving lessons to a young student of the Bovine Ballet. As you can see, they are practicing Pirouettes at the Barre. (Notice the incredible form and technique displayed here.)

...and one, and two, and three, and four.

There are things I absolutely love about Ohio in the spring. The gray goes away. Green shows up.

You can hear bobwhites and bullfrogs. Things smell like damp moss. In a good way. Deer wander around in the meadow. They act like they are looking for lost contact lenses, but I know that can’t be right. This is a good time of year. Leap, jump, bound, vault, hop. Spring.

The trees in Siberia are miles apart, that is why the dogs are so fast. – Bob Hope

Intense questioning or interrogation… What is “grill” Alex? That’s correct for $800.

When I was a kid, I used to think that Friars were people who fried things. The nuns would talk about Friars, and I had this picture in my head of a bunch of guys standing around frying pans, fixing things like eggs-over-easy, and crispy fried chicken. I don’t know how old I was until someone set me straight on this.

This is our man, Friar Bob.