Welcome to the new RiverEarth.com site!

A big week here at RiverEarth.com headquarters. While heavy snows pinned down the Great Plains, we updated the RiverEarth.com with some pretty cool tools.

Last week I reported that mule Polly and I were about to hit the road for South Dakota. Once there, I was going to hitch her to my wagon and spend the rest of 2008 heading to Mexico at the speed of mule.

Well, that was the plan.

This morning I got a message from my buddy Tim who lives in Hill City, South Dakota. “Thursday it’s gonna snow butt-deep to a tall Indian” it began. It ended, “by Friday… Continue reading →

Deep in my dulcimer case, tucked between the finger pick and the corn cob pipe, is a fossilized shark’s tooth. Here’s why that matters… Deep in my dulcimer case, tucked between the finger pick and the corn cob pipe, is a fossilized shark’s tooth. Here’s why that matters…Deep in my dulcimer case, tucked between the finger pick and the corn cob pipe, is a fossilized shark’s tooth. Here’s why that matters…Deep in my dulcimer case, tucked between the finger pick… Continue reading →

Polly is hungry

Polly’s getting sick of eating last year’s North Carolina hay. She wants to get back to that South Dakota alfalfa.

We need to leave. When we do here’s how we’re going.

James Ford
Hamlet, NC

Mule Polly and I head back to South Dakota in April to begin Leg II of the Lost Sea Expedition, our Canada to Mexico voyage by mule wagon. As our final shakedown trip, will set things right.

Tash has something to tell you

When I bought mule Polly from Tash, he told me there was one thing I should know about her.
Click here to listen to Tash’s story.

The last week of May
South of Rochford, SD

Memorial Day’s over. It’s supposed to be warm. But out here at 6000 feet in South Dakota, well, you’ve just gotta listen to it…

Tough Necks
Outside Wagram, NC

Has your draft mule’s neck gone soft over winter? Mule Polly’s sure has. Here’s how bluegrass and vinegar makes for happy mule shoulders…

Barefoot in Montana
Bell Tower Community, Montana

“How do you keep mule Polly shod?”

It’s one of the questions I get most.

On the road, with my faithful mule standing by my side, it’s just a matter of pointing at her feet and saying:
A) “I don’t.” (if she’s barefoot)
B) “Hoof boots.” (if she’s wearing her boots)

In reality, though, it’s way more complicated, part of a hoof-care system I developed on my last 3,500 mile journey with mule… Continue reading →

In the “Uneasy Rider”, Charlie Daniels sings,
“I was takin’ a trip out to LA
Toolin’ along in my Chevrolet
Tokin’ on a number and diggin’ on the radio…
Just as I crossed the Mississippi line
I heard that highway start to whine
And I knew that left rear tire was about to go”

Three lines later, Charlie’s tire has blown and he’s limping down the shoulder on his rim, headed for the Dew Drop Inn, where, eventually, he gets… Continue reading →