Yes I’ve been gone for a bit.  It’s summer and it’s crazy.

I had mentioned before, though, that I had Maine and Vermont snowmobile age restriction laws, too.  Here’s a snippet of the Maine law, the part we’re concerned with today.  Have a look and see if you can tell me the fundamental difference between this one and Massachusetts’.

Maine Snowmobile & ATV Age Requirements

• Anyone who allows a person under 18 years of age to operate a snowmobile is liable (jointly with the minor’s parent or guardian) for any damages caused in the operation of that snowmobile). See Section 13108
• Children must be 10 years of age or older to operate a snowmobile, unaccompanied by an adult, on land other than that owned by their parent or guardian and must be 14 years of age before crossing public ways.
• Imprudent operation is not limited to state maintained trails; it is now prohibited on any trail.

Similar, yes, but not the same.  Can you spot the difference?

I get the LocalHarvest Newsletter in my inbox every month, but am usually too busy to stop and read it. Today I did, and I’m glad I did.

This is totally off the topic of sledding, but totally related to my belief in less government and more choice, and also in getting back to basics as a solution for so many of our country’s ills.

In this month’s newsletter editor Erin is arguing against a New York Time editorial decrying the need for a national food tracking system in response to the recent salmonella outbreak–which they “think,” but still have not conclusively proven, was caused by tomatoes (and what good is tracing if you don’t know what you’re looking for?).

An Ounce of Prevention, A Pound of Cure…

Here’s a smattering of what Erin has to say in opposition to such a system:

The Times editorial used the recent salmonella outbreak to call for a national food tracking system. Proponents of this system say that having the ability to track our food “from farm to fork” is the way to keep our food system safe.

A safe food system is a most excellent goal. It is fundamental. But the logic of traceability is fundamentally flawed. It relies on endless paperwork and pop inspections and numbered tags and microchips. Out of all this bureaucracy, “farm to fork” tries to build an edifice of safety, a Great Wall between us and the bad bacteria.

What we want is a guarantee. We want to trust that we won’t get sick from our food. The thing is, “traceability” can’t offer that guarantee…

A traceability system would not change the things that need changing. Its purpose and methods concern themselves only with what went where when. It is about command and control, not quality. What we need to focus on is stewardship — of land, crops, and livestock. Traceability is blind to issues of scale and the logic of the small scale farm. If something goes terribly wrong on a small farm, at worse a few hundred people are affected. No national, multi-million dollar sleuthing involved. If something goes terribly wrong in an industrial size farm, whose products were mixed in, processed and distributed with the goods from a dozen other mammoth farms, the numbers affected can reach the thousands, and as we are seeing now, the sorting out takes months.

What Good Is Knowing After The Fact?

LocalHarvest has an excellent argument here, and definitely some [insert bad pun] “food for thought” on the issue.  But seriously, before you jump on the food tracking bandwagon, at least hear the other side of the story.  More paperwork and bureaucracy may achieve higher food prices, as it most certainly will, but it still won’t guarantee you health in the end.  Knowing where your food comes from and how it is grown is more likely to go a far sight closer to achieving that end goal, though.

Don’t take my word for it–read all of Erin Barnett from Local Harvest had to say!

Of the computerized variety.

No I didn’t feel like getting myself all worked up over state laws on the weekend. We can pick that up during the week. I did come across some nice free desktop wallpapers of snowmobiling shots for you, though, like this one from Coburn Mountain in Maine.

These come from American Snowmobiler. There are several shots from many different makes and models of new sleds, so go pick your favorite! Choose from 3 different sizes of Snowmobile Desktop Wallpaper to remind yourself every day of the way life should be!

…but one that stinks no less (you’ll get my pun in a minute)…

I’m switching from my planned post for a day, partially because my brain hurts from reading state laws (I have Vermont and Maine in the hopper) and partially because it just smells so bad around here this morning.

Yes, we’ve been skunked. But it’s okay because it is not our first time, and we know how to deal with this in short order (or at least as short as possible).

Friends In The Garden

I’ve recently discovered that we are sharing our garden with furry visitors of the stinky kind. We figured it was either the neighbor’s beagles or skunks. Something was digging holes in the night or early a.m. and killing my plants. Given the grub infestation skunks were a good guess.

Turns out we were right. The Hav-a-hart trap went out last night and caught the critter. Too bad I didn’t think ahead before letting the dog out this morning. I was up first and let her go without a thought, noticing no tell-tale smells. Then Bill was up 10 minutes later, leaned out the window to take in the morning air, and said, “do you smell skunk?”

Well, I didn’t 10 minutes ago, but I do now! And so does poor Turtle-Belle (you’ll recall I am not responsible for that name) and the rest of the neighborhood, too (actually I was voting for their dogs, as that would be sure proof of their after-hours trespassing, and a fitting reward for it).

I wasn’t dumb enough to let her in the house like BIll did with our old dog Zeke years back (there’s a funny thing about skunk smell–it’s hard to smell when it’s freshly sprayed; it takes a minute to hit you, and by then your dog can already be comfrotably lounging on your carpet!). So for the first hours of the day Turtle thought she was in trouble and was not allowed in. Prompt action has now cured that problem.

How To Get Skunk Smell Off Your Dog By 8:00 a.m.

Like I said, not my first time. There are a few fairly effective cures for skunk smell, and this is the one that works well for us–no tomato juice required.

What you need to de-skunk your dog is vinegar and pet shampoo. Lemon juice helps, too. Here’s how it’s done:

• Cut the vinegar in a solution 50/50 with water
• Pour vinegar and water over the dog, completely soaking her
• Leave to stand 15-30 minutes
• Wash the dog throughly with pet shampoo (or if you are out I found this morning that human shampoo works, too–even if you combine 3 kinds to get enough )
• Adding some lemon juice to the shampoo also helps neutralize the skunk odor (the book I read says “a few drops”; I poured a whole plastic lemon’s worth into the bottle of the shampoo and let fly)
• Let the shampoo and lemon juice sit on the dog for 10-15 minutes.
• Rinse
• Enjoy your lemony-fresh dog, minus the skunk musk

Of course, veinegar and lemon juice are pretty harsh on the eyes, so take care around the face. I sacrificed a car-wash sponge (which wasn’t seeing any use anyway) for that. I also pulled out the dish-washing gloves and sacrificed those so I wasn’t gagging at my hands all day. If you don’t have any and have to go bare-handed, rub lemon juice full-strength onto your hands when done.

This is what I did, and Turtle smells nice and clean now. We are ready to bring her back into the fold of the family, assuming she stays out of the garden that has been throughly doused.

Sled related? Not so much, but good info to have for country-folks, campers, and outdoor enthusiasts nonetheless. I’m sure you’ll appreciate it if your time comes!

Have better solutions for deskunking a dog or pet? Do share in the comments below…

We’ve been talking about it, now here it is. This is the portion of the Massachusetts Law that governs the age of children operating snowmobies, and also ATV’s. The law reads:

3.03: Operation
(1) Age Limit. No person under 14 years of age shall operate a recreation vehicle or a snow
vehicle except as provided below:
(a) a person between the ages of 12 and 14 years old may operate a recreation vehicle or a
snow vehicle if directly supervised (as defined in 323 CMR 3.02) by a person 18 years old or
older;
(b) a person between the ages of ten and 12 years may operate a recreation vehicle or a
snow vehicle if directly supervised (as defined in 323 CMR 3.02) by a person 18 years old or
older and the vehicle is operated on land on which the operator is domiciled; or
(c) A person under 14 years of age may operate a recreation vehicle or snow vehicle in a
sanctioned race, rally or organized event which has been authorized or approved by the
appropriate local authority.
(d) No person under ten years of age shall operate a snow vehicle or recreation vehicle
under any circumstances.

Through the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts website I found a chart that makes this a little easier to understand. It is also avaiable through the state.gov website.

As you might notice, I think I might have mis-spoken before and it is under 10, not under 12, who cannot ride at all in Massachusetts.  But from 10-12 the rider must be on his/her parents own land (or land leased or rented by them) and directly supervised.

I don’t have problem with the supervision part, although like I said I don’t need to be told that.  The land requirement is restrictive, because if you do not own large tracts of land where kids can learn to ride, you cannot even legally take them into a field with land-owner permission and oversee their safe education and fun and enjoyment. Unless you enter your entirely unskilled rider in a sanctioned race, where it is suddenly legal for a 10 year old on his 10th birthday, with presumably no riding experience if you follow the letter of the law, to suddenly ride.

Maybe there are those out there who think kids don’t need to be involved in power-sports before the age of 10.  Maybe you need to go read my argument for children riding snowmobiles.  And maybe you enjoy big-government telling you how and when to breathe.  Keep in mind that this includes those small 120’s and all other child-sized ATV’s and sleds.  And regardless of what the weight limitations say, a child over 10 and certainly the average 12 year old is too big for a 120 snowmobile, with the exception of children who are small for their ages (our 9 year old is already outgrowing this sled).  So by restricting them at this age you are taking away the chance to teach them to ride on a sled that is designed for their safe operation and handling, and making it harder and more unsafe to learn to ride.

This is just more backwards legislation that harms much more than it helps and takes away rights from parents.  Ironic, since the introduction on the SAM website reads,

There are approximately 9,000 members of SAM, of which 70% are married and over the age of 36 years–a mature responsible group of citizens.

Wonder what SAM thought when this legislation was passed…

I was recently inspired by a post I saw on Bill Anderson’s Muskoka Outdoors blog in which he attempted to give guys a helping hand getting their wives and girlfriends (preferably not at the same time) into their fishing boats. His list goes a little something like this:

1. “That’s not a fishing platform in the front, honey, it’s a tanning deck with optimal tanning angles.”
2. “I think Brad Pitt has a cottage on this lake.”
3. “There will be plenty of time to…[read the rest of the list here]“

How To Get A Woman To Ride A Snowmobile

I thought perhaps you guys out there could use a list of your own to get those girls riding with, or better, alongside you.  And I expanded Bill’s list to give you twice as many (cause I know you need twice as much help).

10. I could We could ride twice as often if you snowmobiled, too.

9. Unless we get communicators, no one can talk to you while we’re riding.

8. I promise you won’t get cold.

7. I’ll warm you up when you get cold (cause guys need incentives, too).

6. I’ll buy you a new sledding outfit before we go.

5. I promise I won’t go too fast.

4. I promise we can go fast.

3. There’s no room for the kids to come.

2. You can drive.

1. I’ll get you your own sled!

Got a better idea?  Do share it!  Comments are open so tell me…how do you get a woman to ride a snowmobile?

Not to be totally cheap here, but I’m not really going to write a new post today.  I’d rather keep the last post alive a bit longer, because I think it’s really an important conversation.

This is the conversation about whether kids should ride snowmobiles; as in, how fair is it for the law to regulate whether or not kids can legally ride snowmobiles–not just on the trails, anywhere.  You may not know it, but in some states kids cannot legally ride snowmobiles, even child-sized ones, and not even on their parents’ own land.  Is that fair?

You can read what I think about kids riding snowmobiles, and also see what readers like Tom Remington have to say.  Here’s a taste of our conversation in the comments:

Should It Be Illegal For Kids to Ride Snowmobiles?

Tom did a pretty good job of summing up my opinion:

Bingo! I’m one of those stupid conservatives Mary who trust people and believe that people, if left alone, will solve their problems and the last thing any family needs is government telling them when to wash their kid’s face.
It’s up to the parent but the obsessed control freaks who can’t seem to stand individual freedom have a compelling need to make sure you do what they say…..or else.

To which I replied,

… It is more and more coming to my attention how I am allowing these people to rule my family’s life. I’m not just talking about laws like this, but even the fear that these laws and society subconsciously instill in you and prevent you from letting your kids have real, meaningful experiences.

For example, I’m forever not letting my kids do things they should be doing–letting boys be boys–for no better reason than what the ER doc will think. Seriously. It took me up until about 3 months ago to realize that there was no reason my 9 yr old boy shouldn’t have a jack knife. I had not given him one before because I thought, “what if he cuts himself? What kind of a mother will they think I am when I have to take him in for stitches!?” I finally realized that a cut on the finger–even one requiring stitches–was no big freaking deal in the grand scheme of things, and it was a chance we just had to let happen.

Last year my hub agreed that the boys could have a small hatchet and handsaw for fort-building and the like. I reluctantly agreed, but told him when they get cut I’m calling him from work to take them to the ER because I wasn’t going to be the one facing the doctors and telling them it was a parent-sanctioned event. Then I thought how stupid that was. We give them rules (cut nothing bigger around than your fist), we teach them how to use the things safely, why shouldn’t they have them? And you know what? A year later, no one has gotten cut! (My son did cut his finger while carving with the knife, but noting deep, and no band-aid even required).

Amazingly, life is going on. Even though my kids ride snowmobiles, carve with knives, and cut down trees and build forts.

Now, if the government would spend more time keeping sex offenders from repeating their crimes, I might start to agree with their idea of child protection laws.

What’s your opinion?  Comment here or on the original post, but please do tell me if you think I’m completely out of line, or if you agree that we should be given more credit [and rights] as parents.

Every state [with snow] has its own set of regulations governing who can and cannot ride snowmobiles. Some states are quite liberal–mostly those states that embrace the support as a family recreation and rely on its health and well-being as an income source– and others are quite restrictive (we won’t mention names, Massachusetts, but I’m sure there are others). For the record, do note that I have told you time and again that we ride in Maine even though we are Mass residents, so I won’t tell you that my young children ride in Massachsetts.

Why won’t I tell you that? Because that would be illegal. Thank you, great state, for taking away one of my rights as a parent–the right to let my children ride recreational vehicles as I see fit. Understand, too, that this doesn’t just apply to snowmobiles. This applies to all types of recreational vehicles, including ATV’s, and all sizes, including snowmobiles and ATV’s designed specifically for children–even those that govern down to 5 or 8 miles per hour. It doesn’t, however, apply to the battery-operated “toy” types that are less well built and go just as fast.

What I Think About Kids Riding Snowmobiles And ATV’s

I won’t bore you by rattling off all the laws of all the states; I’ll leave you to your own devices to find out what laws might apply to you (you might be surprised). Or maybe I’ll do that another day. For today I just want to talk about this in general. But I can tell you that the Massachusetts law is so restrictive that no child under 12 can ride legally in the state–even on your own property! Not even in sanctioned and approved racing events, either. Even at age 12 the law is restricting, and the ages for real riding increase to more like 14 to 16.

In case you haven’t guessed what I think about this yet, I think it is crap. I think that for a few reasons. The first of which is my parental rights being decided by another. Aside from beating my children and other reasonable leglities, I don’t like that. I don’t like it when other peple tell me how my kids should be raised. Especially people that know little to nothing about my lifestyle.

However, I’ve got better reasons, too. I believe that when you start kids young and teach them well they learn well. They learn how to enjoy a sport like snowmobiling and they learn from a responsible adult how to do it safely. At age five my child will listen to me. At age 16 that same child, placed with a high-horsepower sled under his thumb for the first time, will nod impatiently and gun the throttle. Lessons be damned.

Kids learn better at an early age. They have more respect for teachers and parents at an early age. And they have more fear of getting hurt. This is somehting you can capitalize on when kids start riding and respecting the ride from a young age. But it’s a window of opportunity that is missed by the time they are teenagers.

In my own humble opinion I think the states do a great disservice to children when they limit their snowmobiling opportunities when they are young. They mistakenly take away an important window of opportunity that could be used for far more good.

What do you think? Agree or disagree, but tell me why. Comments are open below.

Is it right to make this illegal?

Because I don’t live where I sled this was a little lost on me, but the sled trails that are such an integral part of my winter alter-ego are great for year-round enjoyment.  I discovered this this past (long) weekend when we took off on an impromptu trip to Maine for the Fouth of July.

What Else Is A Snowmobile Trail Good For?

Maine’s snowmobile trails are places of beauty, serenity (until we get there ), and natural wonder.  I’m sure the same is true of many other trail systems, but many of Maine’s sled trails are so well maintained that they are better than a lot of the roads that I drive on around here in the backwoods of Massachusetts (that’s no lie!).  They’re wide, smooth, and go on forever.  They are excellent for ATV’s, obviously (at least the trails that are open to them) and also for walking, hiking, nature hunting, and biking.

I was so drawn to my winter wonderland that yesterday, when I woke up to a clear, cool, low-humidity morning (something else Mass hasn’t seen in a good while), I decided to take off to our main point of departure.  I grabbed the two older kids on their bikes and two of the dogs (mine and Mom’s)–on their feet, they’re not that talented, and walked up the road and down the trail.  This meant delaying our departure to home by about an hour, and sitting in increasing holiday toll traffic at the Southern Maine tolls for even longer, but it was worth it!

Having easy access to trails must be a real benefit to living near where the riding is great and uninhibited. The best thing is that there was no traffic.  Even if we had met ATV’s (which we didn’t until we were back on the main road) we would have heard them in plenty of time.  I felt much better about having my kids bike there than on the roadside.

I do have pictures of this little adventure to share, but that’ll have to wait until I can find time to unload the old memory card.  For now, I’m chalking this up to reason #456 on the ‘Move to Maine’ side.