Tag: Heimatkunde
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Definite and speculative
Noted on this morning’s walk… A walnut tree dropped a dozen nuts in a dozen seconds from one branch, then stopped. Caught my attention because most of them were falling on a roof, making a loud noise. The same branch on the same tree dropped nuts on the same roof during my walk a few…
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Three rings
From Phonographic World in 1889, an article that rang several of my bells. 1. This may be the first letter from an Okie in any published journal. The eastern part of Okla was in the middle of the first Land Run at that moment, and the only Euros in the state were in missions and…
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Speaking of chickens
Speaking of chickens… A free-range Rhode Island Red videobombed one of the Youtubers specializing in the Philly fentanyl folks. Chickens are scavengers who will eat anything, so they certainly belong in the same niche as rats and seagulls and humans. How did it get there? Well, chickens can fly, though like quail they prefer walking.…
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Deer
Saw a couple of deer on this morning’s long walk. The last time I saw them was 2018. I’ll take this as a sign that the universe is trying to return to normal after three years of NAZI TORTURE.
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Random overheard
Bit of conversation overheard on this aft’s walk: … and I was like Why do you want to build another electronics store? And he was like YEAAAH! So I spent another six years underground… Not the same house as previous overheard leprosy conversation, but equally mysterious. I think it might be the same guy; voice…
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Smart civil engineers
Last week the city paved a short street that has been dirt since 1910. Most city construction projects are pointless or destructive, obeying EPA or ADA grants. Building flood generators to avoid a few PPT of phosphate in a lake, or installing disabled ramps on all corners whether the block has a sidewalk or not.…
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Still more rancher rambling
Following on this and this. The standard ‘rancher’ and the standard bungalow are domesticated versions of two truly vernacular house types, which are rarely seen in books of house plans. The genuine Ranch, developed on genuine western ranches, was one room DEEP for full cross-ventilation. A Ranch is designed for the wide-open spaces. Each room…
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More pointless rancher rambling
A few days ago I was thinking about bungalows vs ranchers. I have a Poser version of a LONG rancher, which would have made the point better than the squarish rancher I ended up using. The long rancher has an attached garage so it wasn’t suitable for the turning and flipping I needed in that…
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Bungalow topology
On yesterday’s walk through an unfamiliar block, noticed an atypical house. It’s a rancher turned sideways, with the narrow end forward. These houses were a common way of creating ‘variety’ in the 50s, but not common around here. First thought: Ranchers were originally bungalows turned sideways, so a rancher turned sideways is just a bungalow…
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Fruitful branch
The rental house kittycorner from me has a landlord with a remarkable talent for selecting good families. Most are Air Force types from Fairchild. Air Force is a reliable source of good citizens. The latest family is pure 1950s Hallmark Americana, but not Air Force. Dad is always out working on the car, and his…
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What were they smoking?
This year I’m trying to regain my analog world after the NAZI TORTURE CAMP is done for a while. Taking more walks and longer walks, looking at blocks I haven’t seen in years. Today I noticed a house for sale, fairly rare this year. It’s an ordinary ranch type, renovated by NVest. The renovation includes…
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Jet activity
Just a note for future reference. For a week I’ve been hearing near-sonic jets flying overhead once or twice a day. I’m under one of the flight paths for the main airport, so I’m accustomed to the sound of ordinary airliners. They emit a steady faint roar, audible for about a minute, fading in and…
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Not the best idea
There are several of those ‘little library’ kiosks in the neighborhood. I doubt that they get much use, but they’re good follies in the strict sense. On today’s walk I noticed one kiosk repurposed to hold canned food. Probably not a good idea. A closed chamber with glass facing southwest is a solar oven. =…
Polistra's Mill 