Our New Improved Marriage

While seated in our library, yes that library, I often pick up our latest issue of Prevention magazine and read with interest on the various ways they've been able to come up with to improve the mind, body, soul, and relationships.
I'm usually able to resist the temptation to improve myself but one article struck me as something that I could do that wouldn't include....well you know, effort on my part.
It told how with one simple tip I could greatly improve a long term relationship. And then I thought that well, I'm certainly in a long term relationship, and even though I haven't recognized any trouble signs, I'm going to see what I can do to spice things up a bit.
The article said the trick was to start treating your mate like you did when you first met.
My mind went immediately to the days when Marilyn and I first met at what would now be called a community college. She was a Veterinary Technology student from Denver and I was majoring in Agri-Business. The college was about half way between our homes in the small western Nebraska town of Curtis. After we started dating we would usually meet for lunch each day in the school's cafeteria and dreamily look at each other while we ate. I just could not look at that sweet young thing enough so it hit me that I need to start doing that again. I'll start looking at her. That will do the trick.
I finished 'reading' and went into the kitchen for breakfast. Breakfast had already been lovingly prepared for me by my bride and she was setting it on the table. I usually sit facing east and she sits to my left facing south. I saw my chance as she delicately applied a bit of strawberry jam to a piece of wheat toast whilst engrossed in the TV. I began dreamily looking into her eyes. Well actually I dreamily looked at the side of her head as she watched the morning news. She did however immediately notice my increased attentiveness. She turned toward me and looked into my eyes and said...No actually she yelled, " WHAT?" Okay, right here I'm going to interject a word of warning to you men out there. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. This should only be attempted by a well trained professional, which by the way, I apparently am not.
I began to chuckle a bit. That wasn't smart either. She continued, "What's wrong with how I look?" "I haven't had time to do something with my hair you know, I've been fixing your breakfast!" She continued with a raised voice and I was still just smiling at this point. "What do you want?" "Look Buster I didn't get hardly any sleep last night so don't get any ideas, just forget it." About here I was really beginning to think that the author of the article in the magazine was really some kind of genius because our relationship was for sure somehow magically changing right before my eyes.
I knew I needed to take command of the situation and be the calming influence. I've always had a knack for being quick with the right words at the right time. I said "Uh, could you please pass the jelly."
I've decided to not read Prevention Magazine anymore. I'm not sure our marriage can stand much more improvement.

Merry Christmas From All Of Us To All Of You!

On the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving Tekamah residents are invited to the Community Thanksgiving service at a local church which is followed by a soup and pie supper. This event is always very well attended. It is then followed by an evening open house at the Burt County Museum here in Tekamah. Various talented people and organizations each take responsibility for adding Christmas decorations to one of the rooms in the large old E C Houston House along with the old school house and Annex that sit adjacent to it. The facility is huge with lots of rooms to decorate. I took a lot of pics but only a couple I thought might work here. The event is always with fairly low light and candles and the museum is always beautiful. Community pride is evident both in the thought and work that goes into this as well as the fact that it's impossible to find a parking place.
The first pic is of me on the porch. Marilyn went out by the street to take this one.
The second is of one side of the old house to give you perspective.
The other two are of two small areas inside of the house.
The two flash pictures show detail better but the low light ones are actually closer to the way they looked that evening.
We are very proud of our Burt County Museum and the hard work of the curator, staff, board, and countless volunteers who make this all possible.
Merry Christmas from Tekamah.
As I write it is 13 degrees as registered at the Tekamah Airport which is about 3 miles from here as the Cessna flies. We are preparing to go to church this Sunday morn. A Christmas Eve service will be tomorrow evening. I have a prime rib and shrimp in the fridge. Our family will be here on Christmas day along with others. We plan to smile, and eat, and hug, and tell stories till the cows come home.
Christmas is the time celebrate the birth of Jesus. We all shall rejoice in our own way.
Our wish to you is Peace, Joy, and Love. Merry Christmas!

So You Don't Believe In Santa?

If you don't believe that Santa exists then I have news for you. Through the use of modern technology I can prove he does. If you read Ralph's last two posts and then click on the above picture, you will begin to believe as I do that the real Santa lives in Colorado. The above picture is the same one our friend Ralph (if that is his real name) posted on his blog. I was able to blow it up a little more with a technique I learned while watching CSI. Tell me what you think.

December 11th Email From Ralph

Ralph and Cliff Drinking Iced Tea at his daughters wedding. We thought the outcome would be more predictable that way. Neither one of us wanted to be the most memorable thing that happened that day.
The following is an email I got from Ralph. No changes have been made to it. This is pure Ralph. They say if you can remain calm while those around you are laughing, it means they are probably laughing at you. Also, I think you'll see why I always check my filters for letters from Ralph.

Dec 11, 2007
Cliff
Today the weather was pretty bad, snowed all day, gray, overcast, and cold. I had to attend a meeting and because of icy roads walked in a little late. No one said anything about that. Finally, one young lady asked, "Ralph, you really hate winter don't you?"
I replied, "The only reason I hate winter is I have to wear a stocking cap to keep my ears warm and that stocking cap makes it almost impossible to keep my hair styled."
Even after the laughter died down it took another ten minutes to get back to the task at hand. People would start talking, look at me, and burst out laughing . . .again. I guess I am the only one with stocking cap problems.
Ralph
2310

Merry Christmas

For me, trying to place pictures on a blog is like trying to put two magnets together. I have no idea where all of this will end up so I'll put it this way. One pic was taken while going up our lane. One is Marilyn's east kennel building. The other two were taken just outside of our back door. A white Christmas is something we seldom get. This year will be the exception.
I've gotten some nice cards from several of you and must say that it has brought be very low. I don't have mine written yet. And you guys are right on the ball. I love the cards and the thoughts you've sent in the mail and put on your blogs, but it does bother me.
So to remedy the situation, I've decided to not think about it. You know, lower my standards.
Okay, Okay, I'll give it a try. You can start waiting at the mailbox about the 2nd of January.

Hymnal Pie

My wife made this pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving Dinner.

I told her that if she would make one to take to a carry-in dinner at church some Sunday then we could call it a, "Wholly, Holey, Holy Pie."

Holy Cow!

That and This

I don't know if it's the weather, or the price of gas, or what but the sign I saw in town today is pure small town America. Our local Senior Center is advertising an event on Dec. 15Th. It is a combination Red Cross Blood Drive-Bake Sale-Pool Tournament-and visit from Santa. That should pretty well get everyone there.
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One of my brothers, the one closest in age to me made the local paper in his hometown of Clovis, New Mexico. He has apparently taken on the naming of zoo animals. He is Brother/Veterinarian/Cowboy Poet/and entertainer extraordinaire...Dr. Les Morrow. I think you'll like this short article.
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I had a couple of pictures planned for right about here. Blogger apparently doesn't like the idea.
Carry on.

We have a theatre group in town that has been inactive for a couple of years. Last Saturday night we put on an old time radio show. A few of us helped write the show including Janell from One Square Mile. We had skits, musical entertainment and of course advertisements. Yes we even had one for Butt Rub. I couldn't pass that up.
The show was produced by a very talented friend of ours who also lives on the Missouri River bottom just north of us. Her vision of what the show will look like is second to none. She gets the most out of everyone. As play directors go, she's top shelf. Or is that drawer?
We had an ice storm to contend with but still had over one hundred people show up. They sat at round tables for 8 and were served beverages from two different local establishments. Very nice. My monologue was about 'Egg and Daughter Night' that was held across America in every small town about 100 years ago. In the mid 1950's I remember the tail end of that piece of Americana. It went like this:

Egg and Daughter Night
Two weeks ago tonight I was standing on the sidewalk in front of Jack Bros Hardware.
It was the night of the Merchants Christmas Open Houses. It was to be followed by a light parade.
The town was just overflowing with the Christmas spirit. There were people everywhere.
It was chilly outside but neighbors and friends and the occasional meeting of family members made everyone pause on Tekamah’s main street to visit.
It’s tradition. It was Saturday night, Egg and Daughter night in Tekamah. The folks had come to shop some, but mostly to Visit.
The story goes that 100 years ago or even 50 for that matter, on Saturday night the farmers brought their extra eggs and cream to town… and sold them or traded for needed groceries or supplies. They brought the whole family but the daughters were the ones they needed to show off. Farming was very labor intensive back then so there were farmsteads and people spread all over rural Burt County. And it was always assumed that the boys of the family could stay and help farm unless they got some high fa'lutin idea about leaving for the city and college. But Dad only needed the one cook and Ma was doing just fine with the heavy lifting so egg and daughter night might just be the answer to what to do with little Sarah.
The country folks outnumbered the city folks by 3 to 1. Saturday night was therefore a huge night for the merchants.
As I stood there two weeks ago amidst all the people my eyes scanned across the street over to in front of Savemore. I was looking for a 1950 lime green Studebaker Champion. The Studebaker with the corn picker front end you might recall. Blanche Nelson’s Studebaker.
That’s where she sat every Saturday, late afternoon through late evening, when I was young. I had asked my Dad how Blanche always got that spot. It was after all, the number one parking place in Tekamah. It was in front of what was then the 1st Nat’l Bank. From there you had an unobstructed view of all of the activities going on in the center of Tekamah. Dad told me that Blanche would put the car there early in the day on Saturday, then Harold, her husband, would leave his Studebaker Dealership and take her home. They reversed the procedure in the late afternoon.
From that vantage point, Blanche could see, and be seen.
She was like a hunter with the highest tree stand. She could see it all. Most of all…She could see them…. The farm people. What they were wearing, what they were buying and whom they were friendly with.
Blanche and Harold were friends of the folks and we put Blanche and her lookout abilities to full use.
We didn’t have cell phones then. Nor did we need them. We had Blanche. There could have been 200 people on the street at the time but the Morrow kids could come out of the old Lyric theatre, cross the street to Blanche’s car and ask her if she knew where our folks were. Because we knew she did.
“Your Mom just came out of Jack Bros Hardware carrying a small package wrapped in brown paper and tied up with a string. She then went across the street to Kerwins. She came out of there, mailed what looked like a letter in at the post office and then went into Baileys Five and Dime.” Your Dad is down getting a hair cut and probably smoking a cigar at Walt’s”. We would run to the barbershop. Get a drink from the tin cup hanging on the side of the green porcelain sink which stood in the middle of the room. The same cup by the way, that everyone else in town always used. It wasn’t so much of a drink I guess as it was a vaccination.
It was always standing room only in the barbershop on Saturday night. Maybe twenty men or more were seated or standing along the wall. All of them talking and smoking cigars. We would ask Dad for money and we’d get it immediately with the words ‘Now scram! Kids understand things like this. The eagerness to give you money and get you out of there before you heard words that you wouldn’t hear at home.
It was a kind of extortion on our part I guess. Dad wanted us gone before we heard something that would make us ask a question in front of Mom. One like, “Hey Dad, what did that guy mean when he said, “She,s really built, ya know what I mean Art?” I think that could be the reason we got the money so quickly.
It was so that ‘what was said in Walt’s barbershop, stayed there.
Dad would give us a nickel or a dime, or on rare occasions both. Big candy bars were only a nickel back then so a farm kid with 15 cents meant we were wealthy. So wealthy in fact that it could have lead to big trouble down the road. Why a farm kid with that kind of money.
Egg and daughter night was for visiting. We’d eventually head on home. I don’t ever remember the trip home from town or how I got to bed. But somehow I did. Mom’s kitchen was stocked up for another week and best of all we were caught up with the local news.
Now folks, for those of you here in the studio audience, after the show, why not stay a while and visit with your neighbors
and when it’s time to go, just walk around the corner onto main street and ask Blanche where your daughter went. She’ll know.
It’s been good visiting with you, but I knew it would be.
It’s Egg and Daughter night in Tekamah.

A Bad Day

The mall in Omaha where the shootings took place today is one of the few we frequent when we 'must' shop away from our little town. It is about a 50 minute drive from here.
As I write it's almost 10:30 at night and the 9 bodies (there may be more) as well as the crime scene are still being processed. The mall will be closed tomorrow and maybe more.
The shooter was a 19 year old man distraught over several things plus he was on medication for other 'troubles'.
Where do certain minds go to? If their minds were computers they'd have a burnt spot on their mother board I'm sure. What demon could make you want to "Go out in style" as the gunman said on his note?
There will be thousands of people in this region who will be deeply saddend by their eventual connection to this ordeal. Eventual because we don't know who was in the store. I fully expect a phone call that starts with "Did you hear about....?" I really hope I don't, but too many Nebraskans and Iowans will get that call. Offering up prayers on their behalf would be good. Thanks.

Express Yourself

I love this picture of Grandaughter #3. She loves to make faces. A caption anyone?
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ONE MORE THING: Unless someone finds the battery charger to my Canon Rebel, this might be the end of pictures on my blog. I'm down to about 5000 I haven't posted yet. Any ideas where it's at? And yes I've looked in the fridge. (btw that smell was a pork cutlet hiding under the cheese in the meat drawer.)

This Explains A Lot!

Mostly I've felt like I've tried to be a good influence on my family with reasonable control of everything. But I've also always had this, oh I don't know, this funny feeling that something or someone was trying to undermine my authority. I was going through my pictures last night and picking out my favorites of 2007 to place into a separate folder. I saw something in the window behind me in this large photo. After cropping and bring everything forward this is what I found.

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Mel Brookes once said "It's good to be the king." I'm not so sure.

Thanksgiving 2007

I wanted to start off telling you about how thankful I am at this time of year but then I thought well, I'm thankful everyday so why should this be different.
Then my my mind went to days gone by out here on the farm. Thanksgiving truly means stopping to give thanks for the harvest. Since the mid 1950's when my mind begins serving up memories, harvests have been both bountiful, and lean. The harvest has been both completed and just halfway done. Sometimes we stopped just long enough for the feast and went back out to pick corn. Most times the harvest was complete and we celebrated. Some of the time my mind has gone to thoughts of how I might 'spin' this for my banker to ease the blow of a slipping Net Worth. Others found finances okay but worries abounded about other situations.
Thanksgiving always brings the emotions of melancholy and of being victorious. At least to me it does. Melancholy as Gods creation goes from vibrant growth to dropping it's leaves and either dying on the vine or going into a protective rest for winter. Shades of brown and grey begin to dominate the landscape. Victorious from battling the sometimes oppressive heat of summer along with the rest of the problems every growing season provides.
Thanksgiving usually means we can put all of this behind us and concentrate on family. Those who can, will come back to the farm. I think it must be like 'touching home' when we played 'hide and seek' as children. It's where we began. We feel safe if you can make it back home. For you it might be home in general or to the place where the family meets at Thanksgiving.
Even though I have Brothers and Sisters who have gone about persuing other vocations, they like to return. The roots on the Morrow Family Tree are attached out here on this Missouri River bottom farm. Those roots need nourished from time to time.

Broke Down

Dad wanted me to wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. He thinks someone shot his satellite down, probably George Bush!
from Dan, (the good son)
P.S. I now have his password! anyone have a blog request?

It's Saturday Night!

This little thing was flitting around our house yesterday morning whilst we readied ourselves for church. I was standing at the stove cooking sausage when she apparently went in and out of the bathroom where her Dad was showering. She excitedly came running down the hall yelling "Gampa Ciff, Daddy's SNAKED, Come look."

We had our budding 'light parade' in town Saturday night. The air temp was above freezing but just barely. Here I'm driving a float for Queen Wilma and King Gordon of our local senior center. The 2008 Mustang they had me drive was just fractionally larger than the driver.

This is my wife's entry in the parade. Not clearly visible is the animated Snoopy on top helping pull Charlie B. out of the chimney. It was a fun night. The parade was preceded by the annual merchant Christmas open houses. The town was full of people. It reminded me of Saturday nights of yore.

Not To Worry

I think I've tried the Sonic Drive In's three different times. The last two I was simply amazed at how short my memory is. It's not my favorite place. On TV last night they featured an advertisement for a brand new product that should relieve all of us about the fears of eating mac and cheese because of the high fat content. Sonic is now serving deep fried mac and cheese. They look like a big tater tot. Finally, a healthy treat. The mac and cheese will actually be the healthy part of 'This nutritious meal'!!
I wonder if they'll serve sour cream on the side?

Click On Ralph Campbell

Click on Ralph Campbell on my blogroll. He has started his 'Ralph On Fire' blogs about his experiences as a forest fire fighter crew boss. It's riveting reading. I hope one day in this series we'll get to read about the day he fell from the top of a tree. A really TALL tree.
Having spent a great deal of time around this guy, his serious side is something I usually don't see. This account is serious.

SALUTE!

Even though I put a post up yesterday about the writers strike I got to thinking. The following is the result of those thoughts:
Today and tomorrow there will be programs honoring Veterans. The brave men past and present who insure that I can continue to go to the church I choose , Worship my God as I please, elect my own representatives in government, and continue to speak the english language if I choose to. The list goes on and on. These freedoms of ours are under constant attack now. Mostly through misguided political correctness and the efforts of the ACLU and the acadamia nuts running many of our extreme left wing Universities.
With that in mind I know that my freedoms are the result of brave service men. None of those freedoms are the result of something that an attorney did. For certain none of them are because of something a misguided attorney acting as a supreme court justice did to try and and write his own version of the law and thereby over step the U.S. Constitution. Bravery cannot be understood by these types. But those who did, and do serve our U. S. Armed Forces know the meaning well. I did not serve. I do have the utmost of respect for those who have and do serve. For you Veterans past and present, I am re-running my post of two years ago.


Sunday, November 13, 2005

Veterans Day
Friday evening there was a Veterans Day program in our little town. About four to five hundred people filled our auditorium. The reason they all came, was to witness a production of Bob Brodersons Diary. Bob is a highly regarded local farmer, who by the way, has had to reside in a 'care home' for the past couple of years, and who had piloted 37 missions over enemy territory in World War II. The Brodersons, (pronounced as broaderson)are an old Burt County family and you'll not find their enemies here. There aren't any that I know of. The show consisted of period songs sung by a quartet, mixed with readings from the diary he kept during the war. An actor played his part. They carried on five or six large black and white photos of him from the combat zone, during the show.When he went over, he was promised that all he had to do was fly twenty five missions, and he could go home. When he was more that half way to that number, they extended the number to thirty. At about the twenty five mark they extended the missions to thirty three. When he got over thirty missions flown, his commanding officer 'asked' him if he would fly four more missions out of Russia. "No hard feelings if you won't". Part of his crew were to finish with him, and part needed the flights out of Russia to finish. His crew begged him to fly with them so they could all get done together. They had no desire to fly with someone else. So he did. They finished. There is no bravado in the diaries. There is none in Bob's life. He is plain spoken, quiet, and if you'd ever talked with him you'd get the idea he hadn't done anything in particular worthy of note in his life except to raise a fine family and become a good farmer. In my book, both worthy of note in these times.The diary just told of the struggle of keeping a B-17 bomber in the air that was continually being shot at and hit. It told of the planes from his squadron they lost nearly everytime they went out. Of constantly being under attack as they flew. Of one of his buddies who began as the pilot but had a sort of mental melt down and couldn't take-off or land the plane anymore.Of he and his buddies who had a job to do and just did it. Of the first plane they lost. "She was a good ship" Bob said. Of some humorous things that happened like the night he and buddy won a lot of money playing poker and bought a horse and buggy to take back to the base. These same two dated a couple of local gals from near the base in England. Only to find out they were dating a mother-daughter combo.We laughed with him as he tried to divert his mind while off duty, we struggled with him to endure all of those missions he detailed so eloquently, and we cheered and cried for joy when the plane crossed the channel into English territory after the thirty seventh mission. He described the jubilation in the plane as they shook up a bottle of beer and sprayed it around. He wrote that it was the end of what he knew would be a part of his life he would never forget.In the end he simply wanted to come home to Burt County and farm. He did. A lot of his friends never made it back to America alive.The frail little man was there in a wheelchair. I'm not sure he knew why he was there, but we did. He represents the men from Burt County, from Nebraska, and our Nation,who went to battle, in this war and others. Without these plain spoken heros, America doesn't survive. Thanks to you Bob, and to all the others. We too must never forget that part of Bob's life.

Re: The Writers Strike

I've developed a theory since the writers strike hit the news. My theory goes like this: Back when we had 3 networks plus the edcational channel we had a pool of talent. Lets assign that volume the letter X.
Now 40 years later we still just have X available to us for the sum of the talent but with 4 or 5 hundred stations and networks. It spreads things pretty thin.
I hold up Saturday Night Live as the best example of this.
Having said all of this I guess none of this will impact me in the least. I slept through the shows the first time they were on and will likely do it again.
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This reminds me of something that happened to me a few weeks ago. Marilyn and I were eating dinner and not wanting to listen to 30% of one side of every news story as offered by the network news, we went to a rerun of designing women. One of the actors in the story thought she was pregnant (she wasn't) after using a sperm bank.
She was all of a sudden horrified at the fact that she didn't know who the father was or even if he had a good sense of humor. Then the actress said, "Or worse yet, he could be the type that thought Benny Hill was funny."
Marilyn jerked her head up from dinner and looked at me and started laughing.
Benny Hill was funny.
I tell ya I don't get any respect.

Yippee!

This early morning photo is of a brother piloting my combine and dumping corn (on the go) onto my grain cart also driven by another one of my brothers.

I had picked my Dad up from the end of the field one fall day many moons ago. We had just finished a long harvest season at that very moment. The combine was parked at the end of cornfield and we were on our way to town to eat lunch. Maybe a piece of pie was in the offing to help celebrate the end of this long ordeal we call harvest. That is if we weren't too late to get a piece of the coveted pie at the City Cafe. We passed some combines working away and Dad said "Look over there, those guys are still picking corn, don't they know it's too late to be picking corn?" Dad was always a bit understated. Okay, he was always a LOT understated. He then said, "Well, I feel like celebrateing...Yippee...(said in a monotone) okay enough with this constant celebrating, lets get started on the field work." We were then off to another 2 long weeks of tractor work.

As of last Saturday night the 3rd of November, it is officially too late to be picking corn. Yep, that marks the end of folks asking me if I'm done with harvest. I've had to say 'no' to that question for 3 weeks now, but now that I'm done, no one will ask.

This harvest was a good one. Yields for me weren't quite as good as last but that would have been nearly impossible. The moisture content was low so the dockage was low. The prices are at near record highs. So here goes. In keeping with a family tradition.

"Yippee!"

I'll be on a tractor if you need me.

A View From The Office

Sorry about not blogging much as of late. We are in the middle of harvest and recently I've been watching the sunrise and sunset from my 'office.'

Here's a view from my 'desk'.

BTW my office moves around this time of year.

(Also the pic makes for a nice background on the screen)

Etc.

~The older I get the easier it is for flowers and kids to put a smile on my face.~ cm

We're picking corn. We have plenty of moisture. The yields seem good. So I assume I can blame all of this on the President. After all, if he's responsible for the wild fires in California, he must be responsible for the peace and prosperity in the midwest.
I wonder how many of those in Qualcomm stadium will be waiting there for someone to give them handouts a year or two later. After the fires are out, I think you'll find it amazing what a difference getting a job and competent local leadership can make as compared to the Ray Nagin led disaster.

Hold Your Horses!

This began as a view from the porch until I yelled "get those hay burners off of that muddy lawn." So they backed up to the road and then I yelled "Hay," (that was to get the horses attention), "Hold your horses," that's when I snapped this pick of my daughter and oldest grandson.

You'll notice that the horses weren't eating anything at the time I took the picture. That might be a first.

The young lad keeps telling Grandpa he loves living on a farm. When I was his age I wanted to own a horse so I could ride like the Lone Ranger. I would have paid anything to get to ride one. Now that I'm older, I'd pay a great deal not to have to ride a horse. So would the horse. So I don't.

On second thought, we have 10 horses, I do pay a lot not to ride a horse.

Back to the Grandson, he's a good, kind hearted, unassuming young man. What you see is what you get. You can trust him but not the horse he's holding.

All of this reminds me of an old joke. The Lone Ranger and Tonto tied their horses outside of a bar after a long, fast ride. Being fearful that Silver(thanks Paul) wouldn't cool down fast enough, The Lone Ranger asked Tonto to run in circles around his horse to stir up some wind until Silver got cooled down.

After drinking a beer, the Lone Ranger heard someone yell "Who owns the big white horse tied outside the bar?" The Lone Ranger said "He's mine, why?" The man then asked, "Did you mean to leave your Injun running?"

(I don't think you can tell that one in public anymore--arrest them, they threw me into public)

Yeah I know, it's been raining for days and I need to get to the field.

A Blog In A Picture

The parents of the new baby sent this funny pic of one of their cars sitting in the driveway. They sent it under the heading 'This says it all.'

If you enlarge it you will see the humor. The backseat wasn't made for childrens safety seats. (or people with legs)

Also if you're looking for a fun car to drive you might give them a call. It's better than perfect condition and $2K under book.

If you are my size, it will make a Christian out of you. Well at least I know that I feel 'born again' every time I get out of it.

Views From The Porch

This view from our porch was taken a week or
so ago. It is looking northeast from the house. it shows the cornfield partially harvested. We started on corn this year because the beans weren't dry enough yet and this particualar cornfield was.
The yield was good and moisture 15% to 16%.
15.5% is considered #2 corn and would be the goal. Of course corn never hits the goal. It's either too wet or too dry. But that's farming. Ask any farmer how it's going and we'll tell you we've had 'too' much of something or the other.




This view is looking southeast from the porch. Marilyn snapped this pic. I like it because it shows a little activity. My brother is running the combine harvesting soybeans. That's the reason for all of the dust. Another brother is running the grain cart. It is barely visible over the top of my tractor-trailer. The grain cart was in the picture above.
The telephoto lens makes it appear that a lot of my 'stuff' is piled up close to the house. That because it is. However the horse trailer isn't hooked to my yellow tractor. It just looks that way. You'd never know that I had a couple of big machine sheds to park stuff in.
Since this photo was taken we have been rained out twice but have finally been able to narrow our soybean acres down to about 80 left to harvest. We've had to leave a few of the wet areas that will have to wait until it freezes over enough to support the weight of the combine.
Our temperatures have been mostly in the 60's with the lower 40's when you first walk outside in the morning. We had a good 'killing frost' yesterday morning. I love this time of year on the farm and in the midwest. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else during October through December. January thru March is another story, I'm taking offers on those months.

Blessings Come In Bundles!

At first it would seem that Hudson Thomas was trying out for Grandpa's church choir or that he was cutting loose with some sort of protest but it's just a yawn. His shirt says: Nebraska Cornhuskers on the top and "A fan since birth" on the bottom. He watched the NU vs Missouri game with his Mom and Dad later that day in the hospital room and didn't like Nebraska being pounded like that so he made them take his shirt off and asked them to take him home. So they did the next day.

He's apparently a sore loser like his Grandpa Cliff. Grandpa had better get used to it.

I think they'll probably wait now to tell him that they have season tickets to the games at Memorial Stadium. They didn't want to upset him further.

The shirt he wore the day after his birth said, "Does it look like I was born yesterday?"

Actually the big'un looks a month old. He's 9# 7 oz and 22" tall.

It's A Boy!

"My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, 'You're tearing up the grass.' 'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.' ~Harmon Killebrew~(Hall of Fame slugger for the Minnesota Twins)
It's a boy, 9# 7Oz. The day long ordeal ended in an unintended C-Section. They couldn't get the big guy turned.
Mom and Dad are well and almost as proud as Grandma and Grandpa.
We'll get to see and hold the baby today. I must say, I've known his Dad his entire life and this is one lucky child. His Dad won't be raising grass either.

Carrying Sticks

"Cliff, come to the barn with me, I need help shutting up a sow." "She's carrying sticks." When my Dad would say that I knew that we would be on our way to the unexpected. The idea was to put the pregnant sow in her own pen because she was about to have babies. She needed to be by herself to do this. Having pigs, as we called it, in the open, with the rest of the expectant mothers close by would have spelled sure disaster for the upcoming litter. Hogs have an instinct that sometimes won't allow the very young to survive. The brand new young ones apparently look like a good meal to other sows. When pigs are 'farrowing', (the correct term for having pigs) they go into kind of a trance while they do it. You can walk right up to a normally unapproachable sow. For that reason the new piglets are at risk from other sows until mom comes to her senses. If they survive to the point where mom is awake then they will probably be fine. The mother becomes very dominant and grouchy. Not unlike...oh never mind.
The prelude to all of this was the nesting. Back then we wanted to keep the sows together as long as possible because they could be fed and watered in a group which was much easier. They didn't have any hard surfaced floors to walk on. Even the barn had a dirt floor.
Most sows would begin to build a nest in preparation for farrowing. The nests were usually burrowed out holes in the dirt floor of the barn. The sow would then go outside in search of 'stuff' to add to her nest.
The unexpected I referred to was trying to pen a sow in a place other than where she had started her nest. If we lucked out her nest would already be in a pen and all we would do is grab a gate and some baling wire and wire a gate across the opening. This good fortune seldom happened and then the battle was on. We always got them penned up but it could be a scary activity with a 400 pound sow barking at you while being pushed into quarters she didn't want to be pushed into.
Many years ago every hog lot would be surrounded by trees and a wood fence. Both were a good supply of sticks that the the sows could use for their nests. Within a few hours of farrowing a sow could be seen out in the barnyard by herself, picking up sticks in her mouth and carrying them into the barn. Thus the "She's carrying sticks" warning from Dad.
As my family began to get married and have children, Dad would in his own way ask whether the birth of the next grandchild was imminent by asking "Is she carrying sticks yet?" We seldom had to explain that because the boys in our family knew what he meant and didn't always let our wives in on the farm humor.
I recall coming down to the home place where we now live and telling Mom and Dad about a sudden burst of energy that Marilyn had as she was cleaning the house and the kennel and the cars and everything she could get her hands on all the while being about 12 months pregnant. At least in her opinion.
Dad said, "You'd better stay close to home, it sounds to be like she's carrying sticks."
My children know the story well, and so when I talked to my youngest on the phone yesterday, no explanation was necessary when I asked if Stephanie was carrying sticks yet. "No Dad, but I think very soon."
I know Tom well and guarantee that he's staying close at hand. There will soon be another Morrow.

Harvest Has Begun

~Never relax! It's only your tension that's holding you together.~

We've begun harvest which I shall use as an excuse for not stopping by your blog as oft as I should. Also county business has seen a bit more activity than normal. On that regard let me just say that if you're having trouble with attendance at county board meetings you need only have someone apply to put in a large hog confinement.
The final outcome of that wasn't as it should have been but board chairmen don't vote. If you begin disallowing certain farming practices in areas zoned for that purpose then it's hard to see where this might lead.
We've been picking corn. The corn we've been in was blown over by a late season wind. It makes for plenty of tension if you're the one running the combine. (I only run the combine on days when Nebraska is playing at home. My operator has season tickets.) The combine is moving forward whilst the crop appears to be coming toward you and also to the side. That sideways movement can get confusing and dizzying. It's also difficult to remain 'on the row.'
Normally the soybeans are harvested first but it's been very wet here. The beans themselves are dry enough but the head on the combine must slide or glide along the ground and it's the ground that hasn't been dry enough. We're going to give it a go today.

On This Date In 1971

I've said before that Marilyn was different from all the girls I'd met before. She would actually go out with me. She and her family put up with the incessant old stories and jokes. They still do.

At the time this picture was taken, I was way ahead of Larry the Cable Guy. We still had a reception to do before the honeymoon and I was saying "Let's get er done."

I'd do the 36 years again with the same girl. I married well.

We've Got Trouble! Right Here In River City!

We have a fertilizer and chemical dealer located right on main street in Tekamah. They sell what you think they would sell. However it was brought to my attention that they have another 'product.' You can go in and get a butt rub. Men and women alike have been stopping in for one. Some of the ladies that have stopped have had trouble getting the words out of their mouths. It's hard to ask a strange man for a butt rub especially if you're elderly and those words have never trickled off of your tongue before.

I was appalled at first at the very thought. But peer pressure and curiosity finally got to me.

I entered the store under the guise of having to buy some chemicals to kill bugs in my grain bin. (wink, wink) I said, "uh, oh yeah, I'd also like a butt rub." It was supposed to be an order but it was phrased, by me, as more of a question. "Sure Cliff" was the reply. Well even as skeptic as I was, I must say it was excellent. You must try it for yourself. I hope there is a place near you where you can go and get one. I do think one can overdo it but having said that I'd recommend it to anyone. I can't understand why I was the first one in the family to do it. I asked Marilyn time and again to go to town and get one. I finally ended up being the one to give her one. She loved it. The man at the store told me that everyone who gets one almost always comes back for more.

My good friend Ralph has a birthday on Saturday the 22ND. I'm going to try and keep this a secret so please don't tell him, but I'm going to give Ralph a butt rub for his Birthday. I'm giddy. I would love to see the look on his face when he gets it. I know, I know, I won't be able to see his face when he gets it but maybe Char could be there to take a picture of his face when he gets his butt rub from me.

So that all of you guys from out of state don't miss out, I could give you a butt rub when you come for Blogstock '08. Sorry but I'll have to charge you for it. Okay, I know, there are a couple of you who will easily qualify for a free one. That of course will be at my discretion. (I'll bet you're thinking right now that I don't know the meaning of that word)

I know some of you probably would prefer to not wait until next July to try a butt rub for yourself so here's a picture of the product and a website.

http://www.buttrub.com/

I know it's good on chicken and pork. I have yet to try it on beef or veggies. I've been told it's great on everything. Just rub it in, rub it in.

Of Little Girls, Ponies, And Birthday Parties. Part II

You measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money.

*****

In 2004 I wrote the post named "Breathless." It's always been one of my favorites. A short time ago we had the third Birthday Party for that little girl. The same ponies that were at the local party in the last post were in Lincoln that day giving rides and I think you can tell by the picture that there was a recurring theme.

Of Little Girls, Ponies, And Birthday Parties.

There are many 'engaging' people in this world. This is one of the most. She is one of my Grandaughters. She just turned 6 years old. She can enter a room full of strangers and look every one of them in the eye. I think she is judging which new person would be the most interesting to talk with. Then she'll go talk to them. Here, she is in the park on a very hot day. It was about a month ago. It was her Birthday party.

Her Birthday party had a theme. It was "My Little Pony." The funny part is this girl HAS a little pony of her own. Her Mom takes her little pony to different events, somtimes even for hire. This special day the pony was brought to the park so all who attended the party could get a ride. I opted out.

As you know, my Little Ponies have pink manes.

The new six year old learned that you can lead a horse to water...but you can't make them drink blue water.

I was getting ready to go to the final night of golf league last night. I took off long pants to put on a pair of golf shorts. That right there was the first of several mistakes. The outside temp on my pick-up read 52 degrees on my way home. The stifling heat of a few days ago has turned into dry, crystal clear, cool air. It is 41 degrees this morning as I write. I love it.
Now for some of Cliff's Shorts:
*Marilyn payed dearly to sponsor a team in the local Chamber of Commerce golf scramble at the club. Thinking that it would be fun to have family members in the 4 person scramble she was able to get Tom, our Daughter Juli, Marilyn and myself as a team. Juli doesn't play golf. She could be a great golfer if she tried. She doesn't like the game... yet. After several holes were played in this 18 hole event Juli said, "I've figured it out." I asked, "figured out what?" "Why people play golf." I bit, "Okay, why do people play golf?" She said "It's to make the rest of their ordinary, crappy lives seem...well you know...somehow okay." She might be right.
We did okay. We came in 5 under par which slid us into the bottom of the first flight. Meaning no prize money. Marilyn got two flag prizes. One for closest tee shot on a par 3 and one for closest chip shot to the pin on a par 4. I will admit that having Tom there was kind of like bringing in a ringer. Let's just say we did okay off of the tee. A long ball hitter for sure.
*In church two weeks ago the person giving the children's sermon told the kids that his Mom used to tell him to clean up his room almost every day when he was a little boy. He then asked, "Does your Mom ever tell you to clean up your room?" A little boy raised his hand and a microphone was thrust in his face. He said "Yeah, well welcome to my world." The kids got timing.
*About a month ago it rained all night and the horses got out through a gate that was left unlatched. They trampled all over an area I had seeded to grass and was hoping to add it to the area I mow with our lawn mower. It's been so rough and weedy that I've been using a small tractor and a bush hog (mower) to mow it. I don't care for horses. I think you know that. It made me mad. They somehow put a foot print on every square foot of a newly seeded 1/3 of an acre. It had the appeareance of being a well planned act of terrorism. It rained all night Sunday night and into Monday morning. I get a call from the Sheriff's office. "Hi Cliff we have a report of two horses on county road 45 about 3 miles from the highway, it's muddy, raining, dark and the folks who called us are afraid a car might hit them. Do they belong to you?" I said "It's unlikely they haven't finished off the lawn around my house yet." "What?" she asked. "I said I'll count them and call you back." Marilyn was in Colorado checking on her Dad so I had no one to say "it's raining, they're your horses, you go count em." to. So there I was, in shorts, boots, and holding an umbrella and counting horses at 5:30 in the morning. I counted 10. The right number. I called the Sheriff. Did I mention I don't like horses.
*To explain the pics below, I want you to notice the eyes on the cat and horse. Do you think there is a chance that this farm is on an old nuclear waste site? Also if you'll notice, the horse doesn't like me either.

Who Writes The Titles?

It would be difficult to assemble 300 plus TV channels and not have one of them be worth watching. But DirecTv has done just that. The Clemson vs. Florida State football game went out of control early so I pushed 'Guide' to see what was on.
I found the program called: Get The Body You Deserve.
I thought about that for a moment. I thought "Isn't that the problem?" I already have the body I deserve. What I would like is a body I don't deserve.

Johns Old Barn

You will meet John and Terah at Blogstock. (hopefully) John has written a masterful piece about his Grandpa's barn. Don't miss it.
John and Terah have visited here and even sang in our Church choir. Terah is a serious sounding individual with great comedic timing. When she speaks of a serious topic even, you have to listen to the last few word of her sentence. She will make you laugh.
John can speak and write on my level as witness the post above, or he could blow away the techiest folks you know.
He has written several books and this page might explain some about him. It's hard to find computer folks who grew up on the farm and that I can relate to. When John talks of the family and the old farm he's as down home as you can get. When he talks of programs and new equipment he might get 5000 readers on one post. I've read some of those posts. I could just as well be reading Chinese.
His wife Terah also blogs. You'll find her linked on his blog. You'll also find her to be a serious Mom, and Social worker, and she is cutting edge witty. Her only fault is her love for Dr Pepper with Cadbury eggs at Easter time. Well that and her Underwear Rotation.
Their son just turned one. He will probably begin blogging soon. I should be able to understand him up until he is 6 or 7 years old.
You will enjoy getting to know this family before we get to Blogstock.

View My Complete Profile

Those of us with Blogger have the words 'View my complete profile' written somewhere on the sidebar. I don't want anyone to see my profile.
That's why I always face the camera.
By doing that I can also avoid smart alec questions like "When's the baby due Cliff?"

Blogstock '08

An addendum to the rain total. I have now dumped another .5 and then 2.2 in the past week bringing us to 9.9 inches since August 19th. Does anyone know if Clorox water is okay to bathe in? Or will mold eventually just fall off? NOW... back to the show.
Ralph's idea for Blogstock '08 has moved forward a bit. Ralph and Char were here for two nights recently and after careful consideration of the moon phases, the local weather patterns, everyone's schedule, and mostly not knowing when to have the big event we have agreed upon having it the 4th and 5th of July. Most the time we'll be here on the farm and some of the time we will be other places to be announced as they are firmed up. We hope some of you folks will come in Thursday, the 3rd, to help decorate a float for the parade to be held the following day. You might be able to ride on the float on the 4th and throw candy in case that's something you've always wanted to do. If you can only be here for a brief time, you should try to be here on Saturday afternoon and evening. There will be a 'gathering' at that time with memorable food, and fun and maybe a bloggers program. We'll need to get into that later. And I'm sure there will be some kind of breakfast on Sunday the 6th before you leave. (anything past Sunday dinner and you'd better have gloves and work shoes with you) If you have family members who aren't interested in blogs or bloggers, I think we can find sufficient activities to keep them busy. I can get you and/or them on at our local golf course and other courses for that matter. If you want to bring a fishing boat we have a pretty fair fishing spot just west of town. If all you have is a fishing pole, you can walk down to the Missouri river on the east edge of the farm and pull in a catfish or gar or carp or sauger or small mouth bass or... There are campgrounds available in the area and for that matter if you have a camper, you can plug into one of my grain bins and stay here on the farm. (there is 110v and 220v 60amp range plugs available at each of 10 locations) If you want to tent you can do that here and use our facilities. We can line you up with motel locations at a later date. Our airport is just 4.3 miles from the farm and is a lighted 4000' runway facility. No attendees. Call for services. We can come pick you up if you're from Texas and fly in. Or if you're a jogger, like I say, it's only 4.3 miles. : )
Marilyn and I and Char and Ralph will be your hosts and we promise to do our best. I'll be setting up a private blog for details at a later date. When I do I'll email those interested the address. We will pass along the cost of the food to each of you. It shoudn't be expensive at all.
Let us know.

Catching Up!

This photo of my Son and I and our Brides belongs with the August 8th post The Member-Guest Tourney. Dan sent me the photo from his camera.

This was at the end of our Friday night 9-Hole Scramble. We found out that there was a nice prize for being in last place. In the 'Having Fun Department'... we came in 1st. A Purple Ribbon.
************
AND THEN
************Last Thursday night Marilyn and I forgot to lock the door and who should pop in but the lovely Char and that guy she's been sleeping with.

They stopped again last night on their way back through. We got two too short visits from them but it's always fun if even for a short time. I'm pretty sure Ralph will fill you in about their great adventure. He has a month's worth of blogs in his head from this trip. I'm looking forward to it.
Ralph and I understand each other pretty well. I was up in the pre-dawn hours this morning, and I knew Ralph and Char wanted to leave early so when I heard Ralph coming downstairs I got up from my computer and met him in the darkened hallway. Without a smile from either one of us I said "Marilyn and I talked last night after you two went to bed and we think it's time for you two to leave." Also without a smile he replied, "We'll eat breakfast and leave, will that be soon enough?" I said "That will be just right." They did.
I hope they come back soon.

A Comedy Wasteland

I can't let this go for the third year in a row without saying something. After the 10:00 pm news here in Nebraska I'll usually do several things like maybe a shower, blog, make iced tea...and then just before bed I'll rifle thru the late nite shows to see who's on.
For the third year in a row, when I switch to Letterman, it's invariably the last couple of the top ten list followed by the same skit every night. And I mean it's the same skit. The announcer speaks over the song Hail To The Cheif while saying GREAT MOMENTS IN PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES, with an echo. Then they have a clip of Kennedy reading his speech writers speech, "ASK NOT... (this is where my set goes on to Jimmy Kimmel)
that is followed by an edited tape of the president cut and put back together to make him say the word 'uh', about ten times in a row or of one of his many poorly worded speeches.
I grew up watching Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. He was humorous to the bone. He was a true entertainer. Letterman's show would embarrass Carson. It would be impossible for him to watch. The fact that Letterman must resort to the same skit night after night after night after year indicates how bereft of humor and talent he really is. He makes no attempt at being even handed in his politics on the show. He loves oinking around with the Micheal Moore's of the world and those of his ilk. Carson often delved into politics and everyone in Washington was fair game. His jokes were funny, but never meant to be mean spirited or one sided as Letterman always is. I've never been able to phathom why a producer would allow40 to 50% of his possible audience to be alienated into tuning away from the show just because of the hosts leanings.
Carson's talents were that he could control the show with his questioning and without doing all of the talking. He was usually the butt of his own jokes and let the big laughs go to his guests. Something you'll never see Letterman doing. It's very hard to be funny and at the same time 'cool' and 'pompous'. I am reasonbly sure that if you got a laugh at Lettermans expense, your chances of being on the show again would be nil
So tonight, try it yourself. Tune into Letterman at about the fifteen or twenty minute mark and watch the same skit every night. Ha Ha Davey. That is so funny...
The bright side for the producers of the show is that three minutes of a national broadcast, can be produced, and written by a page in editing.

Rain

The record books will not show the small drought we experienced in early to late summer. We had near record rainfall through early May and then the tap went dry. Very dry. We had everything watered by mid to late July and then scurried away on vacation. The plan was to return and continue pumping water after the trip. We were in Garden City Ks the first night and on rising we called home and were informed that thursday night the 19th of August it rained 1.25" back home. On the following thursday another 1.30". Then 2.25" on the 7th of this month and then .90" on the 10th and now 1.5 this afternoon the 12th. A total of 7.2" in 24 days. It has begun to rain easily. If this rain continues to fall, I'm going to get way behind on my irrigating.
I put this up in an effort to document this for my future reference. No other reason.
Nothing can make, or for that matter ruin a farmers vacation quicker than the news that it rained back home. If rain is needed, the news will make you float on air for a few days and no one can charge you enough for gas or a hotel room to ruin that giddy feeling.
If you don't need the rain, and it rains a lot doing damage to your crop, the same news can make you want to fly home and have the family bring the car.
Farming is alluring to some because you are your own boss. That's true. That just means instead of asking someone else what they think, you have to make the everyday decisions from what is ricocheting around in your head. Is it too wet to till the soil? To dry? Which implement should I use? Which tractor? How am I going to pay for that? Should I start irrigating?
To the person with no farm experience, it would appear to be pretty complicated. Experience answers most of your questions for you. It could take an hour to explain why you did something a certain way. But the decision may not have been made by reasoning but rather by remembering how much trouble you caused by doing it the wrong way last time..
Farming boils down to be just like a lot of other occupations. You'll do okay if you can pay attention, and remember your mistakes. You may remember my explanation of education. Education is the method we've developed for keeping track of the mistakes.

The Member-Guest Tourney

This has been a marathon of sorts. We had the family reunion in Albuquerque, Tiffany Campbell's wedding in Denver, and then the member/guest tournament here at the local country club.
Dan and Julie came for the weekend with the little Granddaughters. What a weekend. Friday night was the 'couples event' followed by supper at the clubhouse. It's a four person scramble meaning we all tee our own golf balls and then three of us pick up and lay down by the best shot. We continue like that until we hole out. The women get to use the 'front' tees or 'red' while the men use the 'whites' or the 'middle tees' which are back further. The use of further back tee boxes by the men make it so we use a good combination of both men's and women's shots. Around the green we all have about the same chance of having a shot that everyone else can use. It was fun to be able to spend that much time with Julie and Dan. They are so very family oriented, are great parents, and they're fun to be with.
The next morning Marilyn and Julie were in a two person scramble at 9 AM followed by a luncheon. Women have luncheons. Men don't have luncheons. I would never say the words.."We played golf and then had a delightful luncheon" just like I would never take a shower and shout upstairs to Marilyn.. "I can't find any clean panties to wear." Yes, I digress, let me continue.
The men played 18 holes starting at 1:00 on Saturday which was followed by a prime rib dinner. The girls joined us for that.
Sunday morning we played 18 more starting at 9:00 AM. I don't make a habit of Sunday morning golf especially because it's usually announced from the pulpit that Cliff isn't here because he's playing golf, as it was last Sunday.
The format for this tourney is such that even duffers like Dan and I have a chance. My game usually consists of a few pars, maybe a birdie or two, a lot of bogie's and a couple of complete meltdowns which keep my average up. The said format is called a quota point system. You get 1 point for a bogey, 2 points for a par, 4 points for a birdie, 8 points for a hole in one or eagle, and10 points for a double eagle. They assign each player a quota based on your combined average. Dan and I needed to get 20 points on Sat. We got 28. They averaged those two and gave us a new quota on Sunday of 24. We got 35 points. We were 19 over for the tournament. Which tied us for something. I think someone said 8th. Winning is never the goal when I play golf. The golfing is fun but more so the camaraderie and family and business discussions that go on continuously. I think you'll find out more about a person by playing 18 holes of golf with them than by any other method. You'll find out if they think the rules are for everyone or just others, and how they handle themselves in both victory and defeat. This on very nearly every hole. Dan didn't take up the game until about 2 years ago but shows that he already knows what golf is all about. Golfing is for sure not about the golf.

I'm Hot!

I walked into our courthouse last week. I sometimes stop on the main floor to chat a bit with an old friend and long time member of my church choir. She was in, and as usual greeted me with a big smile but this time there was a twist. The humidity and heat were up and she said, "Hi Cliff, Boy, you look Hot." With special emphasis on the Hot.
I quickly replied "I know, I think that's why Marilyn married me."
She laughed. I was proud of my witty comeback. She kept laughing. She put her head down on her desk and kept laughing. My smile disappeared. "It's not that funny is it?" She just shook her head yes and kept laughing. "Okay, well I gotta go." She waved good bye, still laughing.
I related the incident to Marilyn over dinner that night. She must not have thought the quip was so far-fetched. She didn't laugh but she did smile. She then suddenly got up from the table, patted me on the head with her 'talking to a two year-old' voice said, "That's right honey, I married you because you're 'Hot'. " She used a lot of air to say the word Hot. As a matter of fact the way she said Hot was kind of...well, you know, exciting. The conversation ended there because she suddenly had to go into the bathroom. Judging from the laughter, I think she must have been reading something funny in there. Something really funny. Now that I think back, she must have had a humorous book with her and started reading it just before the door slammed shut. I always miss out on the funny stuff.

Great Recipe Alert!

I have several local readers to this blog. One has commented a very limited number of times over the years but he and his wife keep up with me and few of you quite religiously. His name here in the blogosphere is 'Blue' (the local baseball umpire who is without peer) and his wife Mrs Blue. I first wrote about him HERE. I reread the comments and see that this post was the first time my good friend Paul visited my Blog.
We had golf league tonight and Blue was on the committee to do the cooking. He brought a pan of bars that were... well, shall I say very, very good. He credited Mrs Blue with having made the bars and this blog post is a shameless attempt to get her to post the recipe in the comments. If she does, it will do you all well to retain the recipe and then make the bars the next time you are attempting to get your spouse to do something they don't want to do. A word of warning, don't waste these bars on something like convincing someone to take the trash out. Instead use them for something big like a cruise, or a visit to a foreign country or possibly as a way to get a new house built complete with 4 bedrooms and 3 and 1/2 baths. Or...well, you know.

We're Back!

A vicious rumor circulated thru the crowd at the wedding. There reportedly wasn't going to be any cake at the reception.
It was the cause of much consternation.










Speculation was brought to an end when the rumor was found to be untrue. It caused one wedding patron to shout... "Hey guys, there's going to be two kinds of cake and one is going to be my favorite, CHOCOLATE!!"




Having been granted traveling mercies we have returned to the farm. We attended a family reunion in Albuquerque and the wedding of Ralph and Chars daughter in Denver.
The same phenomenon recurred at the reunion as last time. Everyone appears to have aged a bit since two years ago, except Marilyn and I. We played some golf courses that were clearly over my head, ate salsa at every meal and told and retold family stories. A delightful time and a good reason to get together.
The wedding was delightful. We got to repay the Campbells for some of the help they've been to us over the years. We did some cooking, entertaining, and generally had a great time. The wedding was a lovely garden affair and the reception was in a hall next to the garden. All was nicely done and nothing was overblown. I'll leave most of the wedding news to Ralph. If he's too stingy with the pics...I'll have to get involved.
I'm looking forward to the next time we can get together with the Campbells.
The promised date for Blogstock '08 will have to wait a bit. Ralph is thinking the 4Th of July and I'm not sure. We just didn't have time to visit about that.
We had 1.25" of rain the night after we left and another 1.30" of rain the night we got home. If this rain keeps up I'll never get done irrigating.
I have often warned my kids to be careful not to pay too much for gas when pulling off of the Interstate in a remote area. On the way home Thursday we got off of the interstate at Cozad, NE. The BP station had $3.02 on their sign for 10% ethanol. Thinking this to be in line with what I had seen in Denver, we pulled in. The cheapest grade at the pump was $3.59!! I was mad and cancelled the transaction. We went 2 blocks further to the only other station at that interchange and paid $3.08. I had often seen the 50 cent range between stations before, but running a deceptive sign was stooping to a new low.
The weeds have responded to the recent rains quite well. If anyone is looking for me I'll be running my 8 horse, two wheeled string trimmer. Probably out around the grain bins. I'll stop by your blog soon. Come visit, we'll bake a cake.

We attended a wedding in central Nebraska over the weekend. Part of our duties were to help watch this Grandchild during the reception. This is an older pic of her sleeping with her Dad.
She fell asleep in her little flower girl dress on the way from the Church to the reception. Just a four block journey. When Marilyn approached the sleeping child she said, "Ahhh, she's asleep already, she must be very tired." To which her Dad calmly replied, "Well of course she's tired, it takes a lot of energy to run her attitude."
************
I must appologize to regular readers of this blog. I've been really busy trying to keep corn watered and also with meetings and stuff to do relative to getting ready to leave the farm for a while. I will return with renewed vigor to this blog about the 27th. I will be gathering enough personal experiences to keep blogging for a while. I also hope to be able to give you a date for Blogstock '08. Don't give up on me.
Stay safe my friends.

Golf, Life, it's all about the same.

Well my friends. I'm busy. But the golfers out there will understand my stupidity in golf league last night. I left a dead center Eagle putt 1 inch short. Nothing makes a better analogy of my life than that.
You don't spit into the wind or mess around with Jim, or for that matter do any other bodily functons into the wind, (if the wind is strong, down wind isn't good either) and you don't leave an eagle putt one inch short.
I've learned my lesson and if I get another chance at an eagle putt before my dirt nap...I won't leave it short.

And Then July!

After a record wet month of May, we had one of the driest Junes on record. I've had trouble blogging because I can't sit down at the computer without falling asleep. We've been hauling irrigation pipe, planning Independence Day Celebrations, hauling hay, and mowing weeds.
THE FOURTH
We had a great get together. It included a Birthday party for one of my sisters, a surprise family baby shower for our youngest and his bride, and a few lady fingers and parachutes to fire off. Nothing says America like grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, homemade ice cream and fireworks from China.
We found the perfect compliment to Homemade Cherry Nut ice cream, it turned out that if you put a scoop of that on top of a scoop of Homemade Vanilla you had a combination that was hard to beat. We also had a chocolate cake for the birthday and a white cake for the shower. A great day indeed. My oldest son Dan and I finished it off with a quick nine holes of golf at just before sunset. He and I both had new fairway woods (metals) we wanted to try out. We came home and changed the sets on two of our irrigation wells, said our good byes and we collapsed into bed.
As a follow up to this. My 8 year old grandson ended the day with some 'delayed fuse' lady fingers. (not to worry, these fire crackers have the same power as cap gun with a two second fuse.) He was only allowed to light them with a punk. Punk, used in this manner, is a new word for him. He used up his last punk and was distraught because he had a few more to light at the end of the day and his Mom wouldn't let him use matches. Then yesterday, he found a couple of old punks in his Uncle Toms old room upstairs in our house. He came downstairs just beaming, held them up to show Grandma and said, "Look what I found Grandma, JERKS!" Apparently someone in this family, (ahem) uses the word 'punk' interchangeably with the word 'jerk' .
One last thing, I want to see if you think I'm correct. Last night my Daughter and I came into the house. We'd been hauling some hay and Grandma had the kids. They were watching a high def nature film. Fish were jumping out of the water. My Daughter said, look at all of those fish jumping. I told her, "I don't think fish jump out of the water on purpose." Then I imparted my theory on her. A theory I had developed thru years of taking the family camping and fishing at Harlan County Reservoir. I told her "Fish don't jump out of the water on purpose, I think they are just swimming upwards and suddenly run out of water, they then say to their buddies, Oh crap, AIR and turn around and dive back into the water."
They must have thought I knew what I was talking about because they all stared at me for a second and left the room. It seems that I often get the last word in these discussions. I think they are in awe of me.