Evening Flight (PDF)

Excerpt:

I cannot tell you how indescribably beautiful the city is at night from the cockpit of an airplane. Below me is a wondrous display of lights and homes and buildings, structures of all different sizes and shapes, large and small, a kaleidoscope of electric, vibrant colors, a network of lighted streets in geometric patterns with a multitude of cars and trucks with their headlights on, tracing through these streets, one after another after another. A patchwork quilt of lights and streets and homes, and vehicles passing up and down the arteries of roads. It is a sight to behold. And farther off in the distance, nearer the horizon, in the suburbs of the city, a scattering of an infinite number of glittering, gleaming diamonds on a black velvet tablecloth. And you are soaring above it all, flying like an angel, gazing down upon the Earth and all of its busy, bustling life below.

Fresh Eggs (PDF)

Excerpt:

A farmer sells all of his chickens’ newly-laid eggs to a local grocer. If the farmer has 5 hens laying 6 eggs per day, 9 hens laying 4 eggs per day, and 10 hens laying 2 eggs per day, how many eggs would he have after 14 days if 3 of the 4-per-day hens were eaten by 2 foxes after 5 days, 4 of the 6-per-day hens ran away after 4 days but 3 of them were caught by the farmer’s wife after 2 days, and 8 of the 2-per-day hens stopped laying after 3 days but started again after 1 day, and 3 of the 6-per-day hens produced 2 extra eggs per day for 4 of the 14 days and 1 extra egg per day for 7 of the 14 days, with 4 new 2-per-day hens added after 6 days to replace the 3 4-per-day hens that were eaten by the 2 foxes?

Growing Your Own Fruit Trees (PDF)

Excerpt:

Imagine growing an abundance of fresh fruit in your own back yard. Imagine having your own supply of delicious jams, jellies and pies, all made from fresh homegrown fruit, available to share with family and friends. You can do this. You can grow your own fruit trees successfully at home. It's an activity your family can enjoy working on together. It's yet another way of going green, because you'll be growing your own fruit, instead of paying to have it trucked in at the supermarket.

Hiking (PDF)

Excerpt:

In my early days, I loved to go exploring. It was a way to indulge my wanderlust, a way to test my courage and stamina. I wanted to see something of our world. Hiking was for me a healthy means of escape from the pressures of living in our modern world.

Magic Was My Horse (PDF)

Excerpt:

When I was young, I had a death wish. I wanted to die young. I thought dying would be a way to escape my problems. But I didn’t want to die miserably. I wanted to die nobly. I’d always loved horses, so I thought a riding accident would be a noble death. A concussion or a broken neck would be most appropriate and kind. And so I set about trying to bring that to pass.

My Summer Garden (PDF)

Excerpt:

When I was a teenager growing up in the country, I often grew a garden. It was just as much a learning experience for me as high school, and many times it was more enjoyable.

My West Window (PDF)

Excerpt:

When we’re young, we see things differently than when we’re old. But some of our visions remain constant, no matter what our age. I grew up in a farmhouse and I was very lucky, because my bedroom window was upstairs on the second floor, and I had a west window.

Working on the Railroad, Part 1 (PDF)

Excerpt:

I was a clerk for the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad Company. But I didn’t start as a clerk. At age 22, I began as a laborer, which is not a good place to be when you’re working on the railroad. Railroad work could often be difficult and dangerous – but it was never dull.

Working on the Railroad, Part 2 (PDF)

Excerpt:

I was now the second-shift Hostler-Helper, an unusual name for someone who takes care of locomotives. I just assumed it came from the early days of railroading. Hostlers worked with horses, and locomotives were once referred to as iron horses.

COW CONUNDRUM

A farmer has 3 milk cows, 2 Holsteins, Darlene and Marlene; and Idabelle (a spunky little Jersey). Darlene and Marlene give a total of 12 gallons of 3% butterfat milk every day -- except on Sundays before church, when they give 10 gallons of 4% butterfat milk, or when it's stormy, when they give 8 gallons of 5% butterfat milk. Idabelle gives 5 gallons of 5% butterfat milk every day but Tuesdays and Thursdays (when she frolics). Then she gives 6 gallons of 4% butterfat milk -- unless the farmer's hands are too cold, in which case she gives 4 gallons of 6% butterfat milk. The farmer sells this milk to the big dairy company in town. If the farmer mixes all this milk together, what would be the percent of butterfat in the milk?

PERPLEXING PICKET FENCE

Farmer Ed wants to build a picket fence around his farmhouse. The area he wants to enclose measures 92 feet on the north side; 92 feet on the south side; and 101 feet, 6 inches on each of the east and west side. He wants to install two gates: one 4 feet wide on the south side, and one 3-1/2 feet wide on the west side. He plans to saw each picket 2 inches wide, and to space them 2-1/2 inches apart. He can saw 25 pickets an hour. How many pickets will Ed need to cut, assuming 2 percent waste due to damage? Ed's wife Gerry would like to go shopping while he works, so she wants to know how long it will take him to cut all those pickets.