Ted’s essays

appreciating pretty flowers

My choices are a little limited because our growing season is so short, but there are plenty of pretty flowers decorating our yard. I don’t pay much attention to what they are officially called. I simply appreciate them for who they are. I’m sure you can guess why I call this first one “hippo”. Most of my other names for them are just as made up and equally irreverent. […]

Easter Egg Chicken Ranch

That is one of my favorite names for our homestead … once I get most of it in order, that is. The Leghorn chicken breed is the most egg productive. A prime-age hen will come very close to one white egg per day. Most chickens are closer to one every other day. Thus, commercial egg farms will exclusively use Leghorns and, therefore produce white eggs. That is why the least expensive and most common eggs are white. For me, feeding an extra bird or two is inconsequential. It amuses me to have a variety of birds and a variety of colored eggs in every day’s harvest. You see what I mean. What my mix loses in practicality it more […]

video gamer rules for life

I have a good friend who enjoys video games. He is active, creative and productive in the real world too. However he often shows me how gamers approach life and ‘meat-space’ (vs meta-space) quite differently from those of us who do not and have not spent time video gaming. If you don’t like how things are going in their world, turn the game off or start a new one. In our world, we figure out another approach for our life, the challenge in front of us, or the direction we were going, then forge ahead. We sometimes have to drag an old burden along for a while, but eventually pull our way clear. A new idea for a business, […]