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Friday, July 22, 2011

Anecdote of the Jar--on a bear's head?

First, a jar-related, Tennessee image and poem. Then onto canning jar preparations.
Was this what Wallace Stevens meant?

In an undated photo provided by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, a bear with a jar stuck on it's head is seen in Cocke County, Tenn.  State wildlife officers looked for the bear for three weeks after reports he was caught in the unfortunate headgear, until wildlife officer Shelley Hammonds of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency spotted him on July 17. She tranquilized the bear, and the bear collapsed in downtown Newport, Tenn., where dozens of people watched the jar removal.  The bear weighed just 115 pounds, when it should have weighed around 200. It was released into the Cherokee National Forest. (AP Photo/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency)

Anecdote of the Jar

by Wallace Stevens

I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.

The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.

It took dominion everywhere.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.

That bear certainly is on a hill in Tennessee. I wonder what Wallace Stevens thinks. Sorry, but I am an English major.

Now, for canning jars and equipment
You know you have to do this, so now is the time to get things out and in place if not washed and sterilized. Do you have enough rings? Should you buy more flats?   Do you know where the jar tongs are?

Your turn
Are your jars ready? Does a photo ever remind you of a familiar poem? Or, am I just someone who has taken one too many English courses? LOL

5 comments:

  1. That picture makes me sooo sad! I was so glad to read they got the jar off, but sorry to hear it was on for 3 weeks. Hopefully he will make it now that he is rehydrated.

    As far as canning, I am ready to roll! I've actually already canned a batch of tomatoes, but am ready to do more if I can get the produce.

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  2. Thank you for sharing that poem! I didn't know it but am glad I do now. I wish I had enough garden space to produce enough to can. Perhaps some year! I have fond memories of my mother and grandmother both standing over the steaming water bath. Hard work, but so worth it during the long winter!

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  3. Rochelle, Thanks for reading the post. The "jar on the hill in Tennessee" just struck me. My mother suffered during the canning sessions with no ac in order to feed us well during the winter. However, I learned that canning small batches in the ac is much better. You really don't need much more than a yard to can a winter's worth of tomatoes. However, search my blog for dehydrator. Smaller amounts can be dehydrated to rehydrate in the winter. I got the top of the line Excalibur dehydrator. Crispy food can be stored in canning jars.

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  4. GV, Yes, poor bear. You will have to show us some great pictures of your canning efforts. Keep up the good posts.

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  5. Rochelle, The top-of-the-line Excalibur was a gift. I could never have afforded it.It was a surprise beyond my wildest dreams.

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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.