Greetings from Liberty, on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, where the ridge runner meets the flatlander. Since we live on Pea Ridge, I guess I’m a ridge runner, though I don’t find myself running all that much. More like a ridgewalker. Last summer there were reports of an adolesent male black bear in the area and I guess I would have been a ridgerunner if I had stumbled into him or at least a ridgewaver, making some big waving motions.
We’ve had a chipmunk running along our roof this winter, between the metal roof and the cedar boards, scratching his or her way on the vapor barrier we assume. We found a friendly trap called the chipmunkinator that we put out last night for the first time and this morning we had caught a small possum. The shelled peanuts were cracked and consumed. The little gal or fella was awfully afraid. I did my best to release it but it just wouldn’t budge. I decided to take the trap over to the edge of the woods and open all of the ways out. About an hour later I checked the trap and it had managed to move along. We’re hoping to catch Mr. Chippy tonight and then deliver him down the ridge to the Pea Ridge Wildlife Management Area. Hopefully, he’ll like it down there better than our cabin.
The music is going well with tracking new songs for a new record. I tracked last week with a drummer named Joe Allen and we had a big time. Joe played some great stuff on a song called, “Onions, Old Movies and You,” a song I co-wrote with Geoffrey Himes. We even had some onions in our pinto beans I made for lunch, along with a side of cornbread. It was a sunny day and warm enough to hang outside for a bit, social distancing being easy to do. It was the first drum session I’ve done here and it was a hoot.
Our cat, Minnie and dog, Maya, just stayed upstairs with me in the great room while Joe did his drumming downstairs. I did a three microphone set-up for the recording with a spaced pair of Neumann KM 183 Omni Small Diaphragm Condensers and a Shure KSM 44 Multi-Pattern Large Dual Diaphragm Condenser. I set the mics up about six feet away and was able to catch a solid image without any close miking, so the sound is a bit roomy, with reflections coming off of the juniper cedar walls.
I wanted to remind everyone that I have a limited number of 2 ounce bottles of black walnut ink for sale that I made last fall. It works well with a dip pen for letter writing or drawing. I’m selling it for eight dollars a bottle. If you’d like to order a bottle please let me know through email. We still have a bit of winter left and it’s the perfect time to be sending a letter to a friend. Why not write a snail mail letter rather than an email? It’s sure to bring a smile.
We got some snow last night and this morning we woke to a bright, wintery wonder. The weeping willow’s tears were frozen.
That’s all for now. Here’s wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2021…