Clair Gibbons Family

Frost season comes each year unfortunately

2011-05-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

Through the bloom stretch frost can be a challenge. It seems to come every year, although some years it visits only a couple days while other years it drags on way too long. While the blossom is dormant through the winter it is susceptible to damage by cold temperatures, but usually only extreme temperatures will kill the blossom. During the prebloom when the bud swells and the flowers and leaves begin to show they become more susceptible to the cold. Eventually we try to keep the orchard from falling below the freezing threshold. It is challenging to raise the temperature in the orchard, but usually it can be done. The different methods enable us to get a few degrees of warming and that generally is enough. Water as in the first picture may seem backward but actually works really well to help warm the air. Water as it cools and makes the jump to becoming ice releases energy in the form of heat. The one drawback is the need for a constant supply of enough water for the area you are trying to save. Wind Machines like the one below also work well. Many people do not understand the term wind chill, the term refers to the rate of heat loss. In other words if the wind chill chart said it was 10 degrees colder than the ambient temperature then you will lose heat as if it were the 10 degrees colder, but the air is still exactly what the thermometer says. The buds don't care if the wind is blowing as long as the actual temperature is above freezing. The damaging frost nights almost always occur when the air is calm. This allows the air to separate and the warmer air rises while the colder air builds near the ground. The cold air moves in the same manner as water will slide along the surface to the low areas and pool up there. A wind machine will move the warmer air above and push out the cold air settled near the ground. It is a large propeller which moves a lot of air and also rotates slowly making a complete circle about every 2 minutes. Yes, they do make quite a bit of noise, the blades sound somewhat like a helicopter and the motors have about 2 feet of straight pipe on them so you hear the motor well too. They cover around 10 acres depending on how calm and cold the night is. The last picture involves a strategy. Some nights there is a drift to the air and it is difficult to keep the cold air out. To counter this I will try to run water on the side of the orchard the air is entering. Some orchards have smudge pots (diesel heaters) or propane heaters or some are burning straw or other types of bales to heat the border. All these methods work but it is a difficult situation. All in all it makes for a long night. Such has been my life for the past while. I hear people from time to time who think that all a farmer does sit and watch the crops grow and have no idea the effort it takes and that those crops actually end up in a grocery store. After all, food comes from the store so what do we need farmers for?

2010-10-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

We went fishing on the river a couple days ago. The Chinook Salmon run this year is showing good numbers and I decided I would some how learn to catch them. I am doing OK at catching them, so I guess that is good. Finding time to go is difficult, but the river is close which makes it easier. We went there for a couple hours after school and caught this one. It was a bit crazy. When we hooked this one I gave Keldon the pole and told him to reel it in while I got the other pole out of the water. The wind was blowing a bit across the river so I could not stop the motor and just drift or we would hit the shore really quick. So I was trying to drive the boat and get the other pole out and get the net out. When I would look back at Keldon he was pretty much just hanging on to the pole with it pointing into the water. I would say you need to keep the tip up and the next time I would look he would be back to just hanging on again(I really had thought about tying a small rope to the fishing pole before we went out just in case they couldn't hang on so I wouldn't lose a pole). These fish are good fighters and Keldon was making little or no progress so when everything was ready I had relieve the little fisherman...really needed it on video as it was lots of fun and craziness.

Sturgeon Fishing

2010-07-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

A Friend of Mine, (Riner) likes to sturgeon fish. I like to fish, it really does not matter what I am fishing for as I like trying to figure out how to catch them. It is much easier to go with someone who knows what they are doing and enjoy a trip together while you are learning. My dad (Grandpa Gibbons) and I went fishing for sturgeon on the Columbia River yesterday evening and were fortunate enough to catch a legal to keep sturgeon. The only ones you can keep measure between 38 and 54 inches. We went out just for the evening and had a great trip, nice and calm weather, great sunset, good company and fishing, what a combination. This fish was 48 inches and weighed 35 pounds. It is good that there is such a thing as you tube so I could learn how to cut up the meat so it tastes good, seems there is always something to watch out for when cleaning fish or game or the meat will have a strong flavor.

Scripture power

2010-05-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

Building a snowman

2010-02-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

Building a snowman can be interesting
you have to ask yourself three questions

will it be work...yep

What ever shall I wear Hmmm...pants and socks would be a good idea

What will it look like when I am done
hmmm I can't quite make out the facial features

Steelhead season

2009-11-30T08:34:00.000-08:00

We are blessed to have a river within a few minutes of our house that has many fishing opportunities. Steelhead are an amazing fish. They begin life here and visit the ocean for a few years then return here to spawn. We went fishing over the Thanksgiving holiday stretch and caught several fish. Fishing with family or friends is great.

How not to pass a tanker truck

2009-11-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

Monday November 9th was a crazy day. I had taken Brooke to an orthopedic surgeon because her ankle was bothering her. The surgeon, Doctor Gibbons, just happens to be my cousins son which is kind of cool. She ended up getting a cortisone shot in her ankle which I watched... interesting and that otta hurt at the same time. Brooke dropped me off on her way to school in Connell and I started into my day. Then I got the call, "Dad, I got in a wreck"...those are awful calls, a world of emotions come compressed into a single moment. I got a few details, I'm fine, the car is a mess, I hit a truck, so I went to get her really not knowing what all to expect. when I arrive, there are 4 State Patrol cars there, and a county crew putting absorbent on a line of fuel on the road that stretched 80 or so yards. The car is in the median on a bit of a hill pointed somewhat back to the road she left and a tanker truck she tangled with may be 100 yards up the road. The truck is fully loaded with jet fuel, that was a bit unsettling. He was climbing the hill at Mesa on Highway 395 so he was going a bit slow and Brooke came up behind him on cruise control at 70MPH. Her phone buzzed and she looked to see who it was...bad idea...looked up to see she was way to close to the truck. She swerved out into the passing lane and then over corrected which caused her to come back into the back side of the drive axle wheels of the truck. In other words she missed the back end of the truck but hit the truck on the side. The trucks wheels pushed the nose of the car up and bent the fender up on the truck and damaged the off loading pipes which spilled the fuel. The front of the car is smashed bad from the trucks wheels, road rash on the top corners, and dings pretty much everywhere. She says it was in slow motion, she remembers going over 3 times, no one stopped to say they witnessed it which is crazy because it is quite a long straight stretch and there always seems to be vehicles there. The cabin portion of the car came through very well for which I am grateful. Brooke seems to be fine, her chest is sore from the seat belt and her neck muscles were a bit sore along with the ankle she got the cortisone shot in. We went back to Dr. Gibbons again the next morning to get a medical release so she could play in the State Volleyball Tournament a couple days later. We are so thankful she basically walked away from something that could have been so terrible.

Summer fun at the dunes

2009-09-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite places to go during the summer is to the dunes at ringold. The evenings there are awesome and even better we have the place completely to ourselves. We can tube, ski, board, enjoy the sand and the sunset with just us and it is only 10 minutes from home.

This video is of the sand dune we stop at. Too bad you miss Melissa's unplanned, not so graceful entry into the water, Carter really uses his head when he runs down the dune.

Gone Fishing

2009-08-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

I took Keldon, Carter, and Grandpa Gibbons down to Ringold(the Columbia River) last night and did some bass fishing. It turned out to be a fun trip, especially since we all caught some bass and enjoyed the evening. I worked with Keldon and showed him how to cast and he caught on really quick casting his lure around 40 feet sometimes, it was neat. Well, the short version is he casts out and about his 5th or 6th cast he says "hey, I got one" and he ends up with the largest fish of the trip, a little over 15 inches. He shares some details on the video. Grandpa and I enjoyed hooking the fish and watching the boys reel them in. Carter was fun to watch, he is still little enough that it is about all he can do to hold the pole up and reel at the same time, good times. Forgetting to take a camera to the river was the only bummer.

Bones that do not stay in place

2009-08-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

I went out to check water the other day on my motorcycle and it turned into an adventure to the ER. I do believe the ground does get harder as you get older, especially since I do not bounce anymore I just splat. This time when the ground stopped moving I rolled over I thought, "oh that hurt, and um, I don't think that bump should be there." I dislocated my collarbone at the shoulder. The bone is sticking up out of place. This injury is pretty much permanent as it will not stay back in place without surgery. Most people function fine the way it is, that is why they do not do surgery unless it becomes a problem, hopefully it will just be cosmetic and not bother me in the future. So far it has been a slow healing process and frustrating.

High On A Mountain Top

2009-08-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

Early in July Melissa, Keldon, Carter and I went on a vacation. Kira and Peter took us to see two different mountains in one day. Both were magnificent. The pictures above are the mountains above Farmington--Kira and Peter's backyard. Next time you drive by there, look for those white balls upon the hill. We were there.

The other mountain we went to was the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. The whole drive from Washington the boys were singing "I Love to See the Temple" One of the Primary songs they have been learning. They were so excited to be able to go inside.

Graduation

2009-06-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Melissa has officially graduated from high school. It seems like such a short time ago we were a young couple just starting a family and the parents who had kids graduating from high school were way old and wrinkled. I am beginning to realize that life happens so fast, I still think I am young but I probably look way old and wrinkled to newly weds. Over half of my family has now finished the high school drama years and are leaving the nest to fly on their own. John Lennon said "Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans." When our kids were born we had all these plans and dreams for our family, life was exciting. When they were all small we had no time for ourselves, we just wanted to make it though the day. When they were about to leave they were independent, fun, and challenging, we drove a lot and laughed and worried. When they come home to visit, life could not be more fulfilling.
It has been interesting as we visit with the newly empty nesters who ask us if we planed our family so that we would have these two little ones around to keep us company. I must say I have been surprised how parents struggle when their last child graduates, I'm thinking I will not like it much either.

Global warming?

2009-06-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

It's ironic we live in world with politicians who have global warming as an agenda they promote when we have been witnessing some of the coolest and longest springs the past few years I have ever experienced. This is the field behind my house this spring, we have the irrigation running and a snow storm at the same time. I should get extra carbon credits don't you think. May be then Al Gore can buy them from me to fly around in his private jet and I can farm as a hobby. Hey, where's my barf bag.

2009-02-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

Okay. So I spent about 3 hours trying to figure this blog thing out and it does not look like the preview. Oh well, at least you got some new news. Melissa got accepted at both BYU Provo and Idaho. She is now in the process of making a decision. Any advice?

25 Years Together in Maui

2009-02-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

Clair loves looking at tide pools.

On top of the world!

We had fabulous fun with our friends!

You can't visit Hawaii without going to an ABC Store.

After 24 years of going over my Christmas spending budget I finally had some incentive to stay within it. We really wanted to go on a trip for our 25th Anniversary and I knew in order to be able to go I had to be disciplined. I did it!! The kids were happy on Christmas Day and Clair and I got to get away.

Broken Bones

2009-02-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Less than a week before Clair and I were to leave for Hawaii, Carter was chasing Collin and tripped on a rug. He broke two bones in his foot. Luckily, the Todd Merrill family took our boy for the whole week and made it possible for us to have a great time. We were not worried at all because just about everyone of their kids had a foot issue last year. Carter did not mind being carried everywhere for 2 weeks before they put on a walking cast for three more weeks. He totally loved having unlimited screen time on the Wii and computer. This first cast was a "glow in the dark" one.

Family Pictures aka photoagony

2008-09-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

We went through the torture of have family pictures taken this past week. Tracy loves doing family pictures and I really consider it to be torture. The first picture depicts the agony quite well. There was one positive side to the photo session though. We had a lady in the area who does photo shoots come by and take a bunch of pictures of the family with different backgrounds around the farm. There are many good pictures which made choosing difficult so I thought I would post a few. I have enjoyed reading the blogs of extended family and friends and plan to update our blog with the fun in our family life.

Just Beginning

2008-02-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well of course we had to get one of these blogger accounts since everyone has one. My parents think that it is a good idea...but of course guess who they told to write this...yep me. One of the kids who got stuck home and actually knows how to work the computer. Lets just hope that this blog will stay updated and maybe we will be able to take turns writing on how things are going over here.