Growing Projects At The Ranch... Spring 2026

 

An amateur for sure, but these days the personal job classification by self-evaluation is best put as a beyond-elementary-hobbyist genealogist, a wild bird watcher & winter birdseed source devotee, a capable cemetery headstone caretaker/cleaner, and a planter-tinkerer holding amateur-horticulturist skills.  A true amateur who holds expanding interests and abilities, but certainly a master of none (while simultaniously clutching-to diminishing technical electronics skills and expertise).

Our small apple orchard started from seed three years ago now sports a mix of twenty-one Honey-Crisp and Macintosh apple trees, where some trees are now beginning their third year, a few starting their second year, and a couple beginning their first full growing year.  All trees survived the winter of 2025/26!  In early April 2026 a new six-foot high 14-gauge welded galvanized wire fence was installed replacing the older rabbit-hole infested 5-foot plastic fence, hopefully to offer better orchard protection from our hungry and significant winter browsing White Tail Deer and Eastern Wild Turkey population. We have an additional ten+ apple trees surviving in different locations on our back lot, a couple of these older trees now bear fruit.

On Arbor Day, Friday April 24, 2026, our customary ten new Norway Spruce Trees were transplanted to their final locations in our back lot grounds. These two-year old Norway Spruce trees were purchased from Herkimer County Soil and Water Conservation District Office. One new 2026 horticulture project is presently underway to plant 25 Rose Of Sharon Tree/Bushes (Hibiscus Syriacus) in the center of our back lot.  Rose Of Sharon seeds were gathered from one of our adult bushes in Fall 2025 and are now started in small peat moss cups to be transplanted in mid-May. 

Subject back-lot photos dated late April 2026 are presented below –

New apple orchard 80'x45' enclosure, a 6-foot welded wire fence.

Northwest view, tree base protected by white cylinders.

Orchard Northeast View. New fenced enclosure late April 2026.

Prospective Rose Of Sharon Hedge planting location, a northwest view.

Holes dug, rocks removed, and fertilized compost mixed in soil.    

Horseshoe-shaped Rose Of Sharon Bush-Hedge planting location,

a southeast view now ready and awaits a mid-May planting.

Three-of-ten Arbor Day 2026 Norway Spruce Trees transplant site.

Our several hundred Norway Spruce Trees planted in

Spring 2003/04 now exceed 30 feet tall.

Truth... the whole Truth... and nothing but the Truth!

I'm back on Facebook today after taking a necessary anti-addiction social-media break since New Years Eve 2025.

The following cases are from a book called Disorder in the Courts.  Allegedly, these are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place.  

And now for some truths these couple days after April Fool's Day 2026 -- are you ready for some legal insight recently sent out to the cloud by my old buddy Ed? Many thanks Ed!  Thinking these observations can't be true, but then with just a little reflection, a couple lawyers are personally known who fit this profile.  Here goes:

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?

WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'

ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?

WITNESS: My name is Susan!

_______________________________

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?

WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

____________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?

WITNESS: No, I just lie there.

____________________________________________

ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?

WITNESS: July 18th.

ATTORNEY: What year?

WITNESS: Every year.

_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?

WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.

ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?

WITNESS: Forty-five years.

_________________________________

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?

WITNESS: Yes.

ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?

WITNESS: I forget.

ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

___________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?

WITNESS: He's 20, much like your IQ.

___________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?

WITNESS: Are you shitting me?

_________________________________________

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?

WITNESS: Yes.

ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?

WITNESS: Getting laid

____________________________________________

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?

WITNESS: Yes.

ATTORNEY: How many were boys?

WITNESS: None.

ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?

WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

____________________________________________

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?

WITNESS: By death.

ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?

WITNESS: Take a guess.

___________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?

WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard

ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?

WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.

_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?

WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?

WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.

_________________________________________

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?

WITNESS: Oral...

_________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?

WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM

ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?

WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.

____________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?

WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

______________________________________

And last:

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?

WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.

ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?

WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

As Our USA 250th Anniversary Approches...

 

The sailing vessel USS CONSTITUTION in Boston Harbor, 

she is the most senior commisioned ship in USA nautical service.   

A No Peek CHALLENGE:

Take the following exam, testing your knowledge

about two of our most important founding documents:

The Declaration of Independence; and, 

The Constitution of the United States.

Click on the image to expand for better reading...  djp 

An Old Fleet Boat Submariner's Remembrance Story

"I Love The Smell Of Diesel Fuels In The Morning!"

"That smell... those diesel smells... smells like...

VICTORY!"

DBF (Diesel Boats Forever)

Following her 1942 commissioning as USS GROUPER (SS-214) 

USS GROUPER as SSK-214 (Hunter-Killer conversion)

USS GROUPER (AGSS-214) serving as an

Underwater Sound Labatory sonar test platform.

Recall now that Grouper's six torpedo tubes forward were removed and the Forward Torpedo Room (FTR) was simply renamed the Forward Room Compartment... a massively large power supply and associated SONAR electronic devices were then installed in the Forward Room to support the various Underwater Sound Lab SONAR equipment under Test and Evaluation. That array aft of the sail (right over the After Battery Compartment [ABC]) – was called "The Colossus." One of the trick qualification questions was how many hydrophones are mounted on the Colossus [??] – the answer remembered is 196.  Not sure why that was important to SS qualification, except to make an unqualified new-bee submariner fail testing on his first SS qualification attempt. When that Colossus was lighted off... a very loud sound resonated through the boat indeed and any sleep was near impossible in ABC where my rack was located. The Colossus sounds like a super-amplified 100k+ flight of Yellow Jacket Bees might sound. Another Grouper anomaly... main ballast tank #7 (MBT-7) originally surounding the After Torpedo Room (ATR) pressure hull was somehow closed off to sea... that space brought inside the pressure hull with an access hatch in the ATR deck. This new space creation inside pressure hull was used for dry storage of food, spare parts, and general dry goods. Don't know just how the MBT-7 conversion was done in the ship yards, but obviously the new #7 storage room was somehow configured inside Grouper's pressure hull as part of the AGSS conversion. This MBT-7 conversion had to be done since whatever dry storage space formally available in the FTR was unavailable for ship's company use, the Forward Room conversion space was now reserved exclusively for the Underwater Sound Lab gear and work/bearthing space. Grouper simply had 4 aft torpedo tubes in the ATR. Funny, Grouper still got the Battle E as evaluated shooting when running away.

DJ Paul, "Submarine Qualified" in December 1963 as

ship's company aboard USS GROUPER (SS/SSK/AGSS-214),

for a "Wikipedia" historical trip down memory lane, click HERE.

For another historical look at the Fleet Boat Story

(aka Pig Boats),

view some insightful writing by clicking HERE

Remembering American Civil War Soldier 1st Lieutenant William Kirkland Bacon

An annual Memorial Day visit to pay respects to American war veterans found those hero's gravestones bathed in the warm afternoon sun. The unadorned, seemingly forgotten gravesite of twenty-year-old 1st Lieutenant William Kirkland Bacon was discovered during a pre-Memorial Day visit in late May 2008 to Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, NY. Barely visible, the monument inscription reads: “William Kirkland Bacon: Late Adjutant of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment of New York State Volunteers, slain at Fredericksburg, December 16, 1862.”

Adjutant William Kirkland Bacon was affectionately known as “Willie” to his family and friends. Willie’s military life can be summarized by stating that in late April 1861, as he finished his sophomore year at Hamilton College--and following the attack on Fort Sumter--he answered his country’s call by enlisting as a private with Company A of the notable Fourteenth Regiment of New York State Volunteers (NYSV). Company A was the first contingent of Central New York Oneida County residents to volunteer for Union Civil War military service. The Fourteenth New York was first posted to protect and defend Washington D.C., where the regimental officer community recognized Willie’s quick intelligence, attainments, and talents. Later in 1861, Willie accepted a transfer to the Twenty-Sixth Regiment NYSV as Military Clerk. A vacancy occurred several weeks later and Willie was offered an officer’s promotion and assignment as the Twenty-Sixth New York Regimental Adjutant. Now a commissioned officer, Willie engaged in several skirmishes and a couple of major battles leading up to December 1862 at Battle of Fredericksburg. In combat during the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas), August 30, 1862, Willie was wounded-in-action to the left leg. Confederate fire hit him just above the heal while leading a party of Company F fighting men. The shot's impact knocked him from his wounded horse, and Willie struggled to painfully walk from the battlefield with aid provided by a few of his “Boys.”  Unable to walk without assistance, he eventually made his way to an Alexandria, VA Union Army hospital. Willie’s father, William Johnson Bacon of Utica, found him in Alexandria about a week later and accompanied him to his boyhood home in Utica for convalescent leave. In October 1862, after six weeks rest and medical recuperation, Willie returned to his regiment with his painful Bull Run combat wound still not fully mended.

Then, at mid-afternoon, Saturday, December 13, 1862, during savage combat at the Battle of Fredericksburg--and while leading front-line Union fighting men from General John F. Reynolds' Corps--Willie was mortally-wounded-in-action by Confederate fire to his upper left leg. With his leg shattered, and under heavy fire, two of his men removed Willie from the battlefield. There a wagon ambulance delivered him and other wounded soldiers to a rear medical facility. His left leg was amputated later that evening (very high on the leg near the pelvis). Willie was likely drugged with available painkillers, and probably never regained a fully conscious state. He died early Tuesday morning on December 16, 1862, just two months short of his twenty-first birthday.

Family History:

Adjutant William “Willie” Kirkland Bacon was born to a prominent Utica, New York Family, where his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were lawyers and all served in elected state office in Massachusetts and New York and as U.S. Representatives. Willie’s father, The Honorable William Johnson Bacon, served nearly two decades as an elected New York State Supreme Court Judge. Willie was the only son of Judge William and Mrs. Eliza Kirkland Bacon. Adjutant Bacon’s middle name--Kirkland--honors his beloved mother’s family name. Mrs. Bacon’s father was the Honorable General Joseph Kirkland, a well-known Utica-area lawyer, the first mayor of the new city Utica, and a New York State and federal elected politician. The Bacon family was emotionally crushed by Willie’s Civil War combat death at Fredericksburg, and never fully recovered from their deeply shared grief on his passing. No military medals were evidently ever awarded to recognize Adjutant Bacon’s heroism. Medals of Honor were awarded to enlisted personnel only at the time of Willie’s 1862 Civil War combat death. Furthermore, it was rare that medals for heroism were awarded to officers posthumously. In fact, many senior Union generals--including then Union Army Commanding General Burnside--felt that medal awards emulated too strongly the practices of European aristocrats. A 1932 congressional award re-authorization, The Purple Heart, recognizes combat-related wounds or death for military service on or after April 5, 1917--and just in this new millennium finally recognizes those who perished as POWs. Published words in letters and books seems to be the preferred method to recognize officers killed-in-action during the American Civil War. One such letter, as sent to Willie’s father from Brigade Commander, General Zealous B. Tower states “…My short acquaintance with Adjutant Bacon prepossessed me greatly in his favor. It is a pleasing duty to inform you that in this battle your son was distinguished for gallant services at the head of his regiment. At Fredericksburgh he was conspicuous for manly bravery and cool determination, till he fell mortally wounded on that never to be forgotten battle-field.”

Bacon Post No. 53 of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was chartered in Utica, NY, October 24, 1867. G.A.R. Post 53 was named to honor the memory and Union Civil War service of 1st Lieutenant William Kirkland Bacon. Medal of Honor (MOH) recipient Joseph Keene—who won the MOH for valor fighting with Wille Bacon at the Battle of Fredericksburg––annually joined former comrades from the 26th New York Infantry Regiment for many years following the Civil War on "Decoration Day" (aka Memorial Day), holding memorial exercises at the grave of William Kirkland Bacon. His comrades still holding a fond recollection and warm affection for Willie Bacon…"their Little Adjutant."

***********************************************************************
A memorial book authored by Willie’s father Judge Bacon, "Adjutant Bacon: Memorial of William Kirkland Bacon, late Adjutant of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment of New York State Volunteers" served as a major reference for this log-of-remembrance. Judge Bacon’s work is preserved by Goggle digitizing and is available by Internet search.

This edited and updated article was originally written and posted to Ancient Geek Fumes on 24 January 2009.

Dick Williams -- An Honorable World War I Veteran

 

Richard Norris "Dick" Williams 2nd was born 29 January 1891 in Geneva, Switzerland to his beloved American citizen parents Mr. Charles Duane Williams and Ms. Lydia Biddle (White) Williams. Richard's father Charles was an attorney frequently engaged in European legal employment. Richard's dad Charles strongly respected the French and Swiss people and regarded these lands as special places, truly a second homeland. Richard's namesake and paternal uncle, the full brother of his dad Charles is Richard Norris Williams (1858-1918). It is technically incorrect to refer to Richard with a Jr. suffix, and he apparently never personally used the Jr. suffix. The preponderance of written sources show Richard as a paternal 4th Great Grandson of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. Additionally, Richard is commonly recorded in primary records as Richard Norris Williams using several different suffix including Jr., II, 2d, 2nd, and Second, but his name is NEVER recorded in primary records as R. Norris Williams II as wrongly cited in his Find A Grave Memorial page. As a Harvard University undergrad student, Richard is frequently (and incorrectly) recorded in written Harvard publications as R. N. Williams, Jr.; whereas, Harvard publications frequently use a student first/middle initials name form. His cemetery monument is engraved Richard Norris Williams, Second.

Richard's fateful April 1912 return voyage from a European visit with his father Charles, a disastrous first-class passage was booked from England to New York City aboard RMS Titanic. The now infamous sinking of Titanic followed an iceberg collision in the late evening 14 April 1912 – truly a night to remember. Various published news reports suggest in the early morning 15 April 1912, as Titanic saw her last moments above the waves, Charles leaped into the cold North Atlantic Ocean waters. At the urging of his dad, Richard followed jumping about forty feet into the frigid ocean. One of Titanic's collapsing funnels (aka smokestacks) evidently struck and instantly killed Charles, missing Richard by only a few yards. Richard swam to one of the nearby Titanic lifeboats and sat there is the frigid waters for multiple hours. Responding to Titanic's distress calls, the RMS Carpathia navigated the ice field to arrive two hours after Titanic had sunk. The Carpathia crew rescued 705 Titanic survivors from the ship's lifeboats afloat in those icy waters. Medical staff aboard Carpathia wanted to amputate Richard's legs as he was severely frostbitten hours in hypothermia conditions, but he declined, later quoted – "I'm going to need these legs." He walked the Carpathia decks every two hours during the saddened four days trip to New York City. Eventually feeling was somewhat restored in his frostbitten legs. Richard later recalls that those four days in transit to New York City aboard Carpathia were far more traumatic than those few hours aboard the sinking Titanic. Think about it, nearly every suffering Titanic survivor had just lost one or more friends and loved ones.

Richard graduated from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Class of 1916 with the S.B. Degree (Bachelor of Science). In collegiate athletics, Richard displayed talented skills as a member and team captain in his college junior and senior years with Harvard University's winning tennis team.

Richard is a U.S. Army Veteran of World War I with overseas combat-zone service in France. His two years military active duty commenced in the spring 1917 by attending a four-week military officer training course at Plattsburgh, New York. He was commissioned an Army 2nd Lieutenant (O-1) effective 15 Aug 2017, a 1st Lieutenant (O-2) effective 10 Aug 1918, and a Captain (O-3) effective 7 Nov 1918. Richard's overseas military service unit assignments include: Headquarters 67th Field Artillery Brigade, 42nd Division; French Army 262nd Field Artillery; General Headquarters Army Expeditionary Forces, Chaumont, France; Headquarters 4th Brigade U.S. Marine Corps, 2nd Division; and Headquarters Services of Supply, Paris, France. Richard's WWI military engagements include the Chateau-Thierry Campaign, the Aisne Defensive, and the Marne-Aisne Offensive. Among Richard's various military awards are the World War I Victory Medal with multiple campaign clasps, the French Croix de Guerre Medal, and the French Legion d'Honneur Medal. English translation of the French medal citation reads - "As an example of bravery and composure, he was a valuable auxiliary to the command by carrying orders of his brigadier general in paths swept by artillery fire and saturated with gas." Captain Richard Norris Williams 2nd returned to the United States in May 1919 and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army on 20 May 1919 at Camp Meade, Maryland.

Richard's father began encouraging his tennis game in his preteen years. While a Harvard University undergraduate student, his pleasant personality and excellent tennis game earned him team captaincy honors in his junior (1914/15) and senior (1915/16) years. His excellent collegiate tennis play won him the 1913 and 1915 Intercollegiate singles titles and added tennis doubles titles in 1914 and 1915. The outstanding athlete Richard was half of the Gold Medal winning mixed doubles tennis pairing at the 1924 Paris, France Olympic Games, as coupled with a strongly capable partner Ms. Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman. Later, Richard became a highly successful professional tennis player, and ultimately won five of seven Davis Cup tournaments, serving as U.S. Davis Cup Team Captain during his successful professional tennis career. Richard was later honored with election to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, Rhode Island, Class of 1957. The Tennis Hall of Fame website may be viewed by those wishing more information on Richard's stellar tennis achievements. His Hall of Fame biography states, "The sum of Williams' career was daunting: He made the world's Top 10 from 1912-14 and 1919-23. In the U.S. alone he was ranked in the Top 10 all but one year from 1912-25." New York Times tennis sportswriter Allison Danzig remarks, "At his best he was unbeatable, and more dazzling than Tilden." Richard continued his love of tennis and retained gifted athletic prowess in his later years, this evidenced by winning many local and regional tennis matches as reported in major and regional newspapers throughout the 1930s-1950s.

Richard's lifelong employment is variously reported in business finance activity by multiple primary records, first in bond sales with a Boston firm, as a senior stock broker with a Philadelphia firm, and later in Pennsylvania-based investment banking activity.

In 1919 Richard married the local beauty Ms. Jean Haddock, the daughter of Arthur H. Haddock and Matilda (Steward) Haddock in New York City ceremonies. The couple is blessed with two sons Duane Williams and Richard N. Williams III. Jean's untimely passing in 1929, aged 38 years, was due to cancer. In 1930 Richard remarries the young socialite Frances West Hemsley Gillmore in Manhattan, New York City, New York, the daughter of Quincy Adams Gillmore and Frances W. Hemsley-Gillmore. The couple is blessed with a son Quincy Adams Williams and a daughter Frances S. Williams. The happy thirty-eight year marriage ends with Richard's untimely passing in June 1968.

Bio respectfully compiled by DJ Paul.

Been Thinkin'... MY GOSH, 'Twas 35 Years Past!

Historical information in the next edited paragraph was compiled by Google AI. Google artfully adds a footnote that should be obvious to the most casual observer – "AI data might contain errors."  The paragraph was carefully checked and seems to be highly accurate.  

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (K.S.A.) contributed approximately $16.8 billion in 1990/91 dollars (about  $13.5 billion in cash and significant in-kind support) to the United States to offset the costs of the 1991 Gulf War (aka Operations Desert Shield/Storm). This amount represented about 27% of the total allied contributions and was primarily in the form of cash payments and in-kind support, items like fuel, water, food, quarters, and local transportation for the U.S. forces stationed in the region. Overall, U.S. allies pledged about $54 billion, covering the vast majority of the estimated $61 billion incremental cost of the war for the United States.  The vast majority of K.S.A. leaders and people (both military and civilian) are recalled as very decent people.   

USNAVLOGSUPDET Romeo Official Business Stamp

Recalled from period first-hand knowledge that K.S.A. directly contributed at least 15 billion dollars to the United States in support of that 1990/91 Gulf War (aka Operation Desert Shield & Operation Desert Storm). Below is a copy of a October 1990 K.S.A. Monetary Agency check that passed through U.S. Naval Logistics Support Detachment Romeo compound office, one of two or more similar cash payments to transit via this Jeddah office.  

Other words cannot express this fundamental truth --

"We were mercenaries on an ethical mission

and in the paid military service of a foreign nation."