Greetings from the Grange. YEOOOW!!!!! Did anyone out side of Pike County hear me scream Saturday morning? Well my son didn't because he was on the mower, and my wife didn't because she was on the phone, and my other son didn't because he was watching cartoons...Well take my word for it, if you would have been here and not been preoccupied you would have heard me scream.

I was not screaming because I dropped my favorite tool (Black & Decker 9.6 V cordless drill) into the water trough...which I did. I was screaming because I had ran about an inch and a half of a ten penny nail into the arch of my foot.

Why would someone do that you ask. Well stupidity comes to mind with carelessness running a close second, again followed closely by stupidity.

I try to keep a clean barn...oh did I mention the nail was in the barn covered with goose poop? Like I said I try to keep a clean barn and I have had several comments on how nice it looks but there is always room for improvement.

This accident might not have been so bad had I not told my son earlier that morning to watch out for nails in a board and not to step on them. (Not the same board, not even in the same location. It was something we were tearing down)

Being a homesteader there is always work to be done. When you start one project you see several others that need done. I was installing a self watering tank in the temporary goose pen. This pen had not been used for a while and I had haphazardly tossed some used lumber in there to be used latter. At the time I knew there were nails in the lumber, That is why I stored it in the pen. No one ever went in there and it should have been safe till I could find the time to pull some nails. Well you never know when you are going to run across a deal and when you do you have to take it. The deal that came up was four geese. These geese were bigger than our others so we placed them in this pen till our geese got some size on them.

Still more important than pulling a few nails (Yes they should be pulled for the safety of the geese also) was getting the geese a constant supply of water. I scavenged a small water system tank and some used lumber and I was building a raised platform for the tank. The object of this is so I can fill the tank once a week and it will fill the water trough with the help of a float valve. I use the tank system because I am on a well and with the tank system if there is a problem with the lines or the float valve, it will not run my well dry.

When I got the tank into the barn to install it I noticed that the corner where I was going to work was a little dark. Note to self, install more lights. The note should have read BEFORE you start to work on the water tank. I also noticed that the geese had knocked down some of the stacked lumber. Note to self, Remove nails and re-stack lumber. That note should have read BEFORE you start work on the water tank

While I was working I was looking at the nail riddled boards laying there in the dark (Well almost dark) And I could hear my own words to my son from just earlier that morning. "Watch that board and don't step on a nail"..... Safety Tips from The Organic Grange #1. Always work in a well lit area #2. Always work in a clutter free environment #3. Never store used lumber without first removing the nails. #4. Keep the date of your last tetanus written down where you can find it.

Tetanus- a noun, An often fatal bacterial disease marked by muscular spasms and rigidity, esp of the jaw

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), July 22, 2001