September 5, 2021 — Page 2 Of 2

Citizen enforcement and the Texas Abortion Laws 🤱

Andy | September 5, 2021

Citizen enforcement and the Texas Abortion Law 🤱

I never understood the controversy over abortion, after all its not a tax or a mandate. It’s actually a relatively inexpensive and simple outpatient procedure, costing less than $500, which is virtually nothing in the world of over inflated healthcare bills due to negotiated rates of insurers. It is the ending of a life but a rather meaningless one as personal not born has yet to experience all the sounds, colors and feelings of the world around them.

That said, at one level I kind of like the Texas Abortion Law – namely its citizen enforcement procedures. People and organizations should have the right to go to court and enforce the law when the government workers – the police, the District Attorney, the Attorney General or agency lawyers fail to enforce the law. Often government workers aren’t motivated to enforce the law due to political considerations. That’s when the public should have the right to step in.

On the other hand, there is a big problem with the Texas Abortion Law. It is an end run around the constitution – an attempt to use the lower standards applied to civil cases to enforce an otherwise unconstitutional law if implemented by the state. The government shouldn’t be in the business of violating peoples rights by devious ways.

When Is The Best Time To Start Your Agricultural Journey | Mara Fielder | Checkered Acres Farm

Andy | September 5, 2021

OFI 1155: When Is The Best Time To Start Your Agricultural Journey | Mara Fielder | Checkered Acres Farm

8/20/21

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/127372723
Episode: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/offincome/Off_Farm_Income–Episode_1155_Mara_Fielder-071721.mp3?dest-id=215568

If you are seeking an agricultural/farming lifestyle, and you know it from a young age what is the best way to go about achieving it? One school of thought would suggest that you take a job, save your money and buy your farm when it is economically feasible for you to do so. This is what I did. I knew that I wanted to have my own farm when I was about 18 years old, and twenty years later my wife and I finally bought one. There is the other school of thought however, and that way of thinking about it says to get started right now and build slowly over time. My guest today, Mara Fielder, and her husband Brandon are subscribing to that school of thought, and they are thinking outside of the box to get this done. Mara and Brandon are currently leasing sixteen acres from Mara’s grandparents where they had been raising bees, boarding horses and providing riding lessons. However, a series of unexpected events derailed that process. Mara’s step-father is allergic to bees, and this led to some conflict in the family and the loss of the bee hives. Then Covid struck, and Mara lost her clients who were concerned about their horses being infected because she was still working in the community as a teacher. This kind of left Mara and Brandon back at square one, wondering how they would move to the next step. They didn’t allow this to get them down however. They are young, have energy and ideas and they are pushing forward. Currently they are living in town, looking for land that they can buy. In the meantime they have come up with an idea of a series of books for children that highlights the careers that a traditionally dominated by men but that women have found success in. The series is called “Girls Can Too” and they are in the process of being published right now. This original idea inspired a follow up idea of a book series profiling career choices normally dominated by women that men can succeed in. In this interview Mara and I speak about their goals, the setbacks they have already encountered and she and Brandon’s vision for the future. It is great to see the journey from this perspective and understand how they are planning to make this come true!

I am a big fan of the Off Farm Income podcast. I think he has a lot of insight on the rural and farming lifestyle and how to get there.

Weather Update – September 5, 2021

Andy | September 5, 2021

It looks like today is going to be a fairly cool and gray day. 🌫️

I don’t know if that’s a bad thing, although I probably should have been more ambitious yesterday 😴 and done my hike then to the West Canada Lakes wilderness. I thought about Pillsbury Mountain Firetower or Spruce Lake yesterday but decided against it.

Today, I am probably going to hang around camp ⛺ maybe doing an evening hike to the Jessup River with a fishing 🎣 pole. Do a bunch of reading 📖, maybe finish that book I’m reading on rabbit 🐰 farming. I don’t like to be really ambitious to say the least.

I should do a lot more up at camp but sometimes the laziness gene kicks in. 💤 Plus I just know how crazy things will be next week as work downtown returns to five days a week as remote work ends. Plus with the solar it’s not like I have to drive anywhere to keep the battery charged.

I did like that hike I did last year to Pig Rock 🐷 so I could do that again if the rain holds off. But it might be wet later on. Really depends a lot on the weather. ☔

Today. Feels like … October 3rd.	A slight chance of showers before 2pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 2pm and 5pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Mostly cloudy. South wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. and	67 degrees	, 60 max dew point,	7:25 sunset.
Tonight. Feels like … September 14th.	Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. and	53 degrees	,	6:27 sunrise.
Labor Day. Feels like … October 5th.	A chance of showers. Light southwest wind becoming west 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. and	66 degrees	, 57 max dew point,	7:24 sunset.
Monday Night. Feels like … September 24th.	Partly cloudy. West wind 3 to 6 mph. and	49 degrees	,	6:28 sunrise.
Tuesday. Feels like … September 30th.	Mostly sunny. West wind around 6 mph. and	68 degrees	, 52 max dew point,	7:22 sunset.
Tuesday Night. Feels like … September 17th.	A chance of showers after 2am. Partly cloudy. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. and	52 degrees	,	6:29 sunrise.
Wednesday. Feels like … September 24th.	A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Partly sunny. Chance of precipitation is 70%. and	71 degrees	, 57 max dew point,	7:20 sunset.
Wednesday Night. Feels like … September 17th.	Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then scattered showers between 8pm and 2am. Partly cloudy. Chance of precipitation is 60%. and	52 degrees	,	6:30 sunrise.
Thursday. Feels like … October 5th.	Scattered showers, mainly after 2pm. Mostly sunny. Chance of precipitation is 30%. and	66 degrees	, 54 max dew point,	7:18 sunset.
Thursday Night. Feels like … September 24th.	Scattered showers before 8pm. Partly cloudy. Chance of precipitation is 30%. and	49 degrees	,	6:31 sunrise.
Friday. Feels like … October 5th.	Mostly sunny. and	66 degrees	, 51 max dew point,	7:16 sunset.
Friday Night. Feels like … September 27th.	Partly cloudy. and	48 degrees	,	6:32 sunrise.
Saturday. Feels like … October 9th.	Mostly sunny. and	64 degrees	, 49 max dew point,	7:15 sunset.

Good Morning – September 5, 2021

Andy | September 5, 2021

Good morning! Happy Sunday from up here at camp. ☺

Just another day during Labor Day Weekend, not a real sunny day, as it was yesterday. Hear occasional shots of a 22 long rifle down in the valley as somebody harvests tree rats a true sign of the autumn to come. 🍂

Mostly cloudy and 59 degrees at Perkins Clearing. 🌥 There are a few breaks of sun and blue sky here and there. There is a south breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 55 degrees. The skies will clear around 10 pm.

Yesterday was probably the nicest day of the holiday weekend and I wasted it ☀ not feeling really ambitious and choosing to walk some of the skid roads in the conservation easement 🚶 rather than go somewhere crowded 👪 like the Pillsbury Firetower trail. Rather than great views, I often prefer quiet, rarely used trails that I can walk to without driving.

I ended up hiking along the Jessup River Road 🚶 out to NY 30 and then to Hatch Brook Falls, the Brisker Brook Road (permanently closed due to wash out) and through the conservation easement. Brister Brook Snowmobile Trail between Jessup River and Spectulator is very quiet, a bit overgrown though 🌿. Lots of monarch butterflies 🦋, very lightly traveled this time of year, watch for high grass and culverts that are falling apart. Didn’t see anyone back there at all.

Drove out to Sled Harbor last evening hoping to see the Pillsbury Firetower or possibly the Snowy Firetower lit up but it wasn’t dark enough and then it was too dark and I couldn’t spot the mountain or clearings to see the mountain from the road. 🗼 Well, I tried. Maybe they didn’t light up Pillsbury this year – I spotted it earlier on but not lit then. Maybe I should have hiked Pillsbury last night but it’s a long hike back down in the dark and the trail is steep. If it’s nice on Monday, maybe I’ll hike it then.

Then I came back and had a nice camp fire. 🔥 It is nice whoever camped here before left a big pile of try split firewood although after last week’s rain ☔ it was still a bit damp and needed to be split. This morning I split the some more wood and got a tarp over it as rain is expected in the afternoon. Stayed up until midnight ✨, by then the stars were clouding out the skies.

Kind of buggy this morning 🐜 but if it gets too bad the screen tent is set up. 🎪 I think the noseeums don’t like bright sunny days. Usually on the hammock the bugs aren’t bad either 😴 as they find it hard to bite a moving target.