2008-The Year In Review- November

There were a lot of highlights in the year 2008. I will try to get done with a series of posts on the subject by the end of January. They will be in no particular order but published at random . This, unless I get side tracked. That is unlikely as there is nothing worthy of mention coming in January of 2009.
First off, in November, my friend Ralph brought his lovely to look at wife Char and came to spend Thanksgiving with us. The primal instinct runs deep in Ralph, to hunt and fish and provide for his family (and ours). We decided to see if we could go in search of, and to bag a turkey for dinner. With gun in hand he could be seen stealthily moving from machine to machine in one of my sheds. Then, almost as though by instinct alone, something caught his attention and he wheeled to his left and started to approach what seemed to be the best possible hiding place in the area for the wiley birds of which we were in search.




Fortunately the bird didn't flush as he drew down on the young tom. We were in luck. This one had a pop-up timer in it's breast. This comes from centuries of inbreeding I am told.


Nothing can ever take the place of that first picture of the hunter...and the hunted. Victory oh sweet victory.

Here is one last picture of 'The Hunt-2008.'

I know it will be hard for some of you to understand the gravity of this moment. As nature speaks to the hunters, yea, those of us who provide for our families, we shall always go forth and provide.

Right after this picture was taken we cooked the turkey. Not some fancy 'deep fried' version, nope not us. (because I couldn't find my propane cylinder and the 100# bottles I did find wouldn't fit the cooker) So we had the women build a fire in the cook stove (turned the dial to 350 degrees) and we baked it. We may have over cooked it a bit. Our first indication of this came when we found the pop-up timer, popped-up and laying in the chest cavity of the bird.

The Problem With Big Christmas Dinners?

It's all those pesky leftovers.

Ahhh, it’s Christmas. That magical time of year. Unless of course you’re a man and married, then it gets to be a problem. We usually make two trips to the city to buy presents that are unavailable here in our little town. My wife will try to clear a day from her schedule. Then in a desperate attempt to avoid the trip I will try to get an appointment to, oh say, get a root canal done on a perfectly good tooth.
Failing all diversionary tactics, I go along for the ride. I like to say things like. “I’ll drop you at the door and when you call, I’ll drive right up to the door and pick you up.” Then the words all men just love to hear come out of my wife's mouth. “I’ll probably need your help carrying things back to the car.” "Oh good, I get to go inside."
While walking into the mall is when the ‘magic’ I spoke of earlier, really begins. Groups of boys wonder aimlessly by, wearing my old jeans or what look like my old jeans; large, baggy, worn out, and somehow magically suspended half way down their rears. I can’t help staring at them. I’ve been to too many rodeos in my life to not expect a trick dog to jump out of their pants followed by an explosion in those Fruit of the Looms.
Next you lay your eyes on some young ladies I call the no mirror people. This verbage started in our family years ago. I’d be walking through a mall with one of my kids and say, “No mirror.” They would say “What’d ya say Dad,” and I’d motion toward some gal wearing shorts that needed forty more or forty fewer pounds in them and say, “Poor kid, She must not have a mirror at home.”
Now as for shopping for wives, this is the ultimate challenge. So many times we men buy things that our wives don’t like, or it’s the wrong size, or it’s poorly made or in my case last year, the wrong color. When this happens they just say “Oh how thoughtful” and you’ll never see it again. My wife didn’t use last years’ gift even one time. I got the 24 inches right, but it was red. Apparently not the color she was looking for in a snow blower. I could just as easily have bought a black one. Who knew.

Cantata Sunday Night

This is a pic of Marilyn and her Mom. It was zero degrees out and windy so we picked her Mom up an hour early because that's when we needed to be there and so we had time for stuff like picture taking.

Update: It's over and it went very well. It was nice that I wasn't in the middle of everything this time. Well, I did sing a short solo and did a reading or two. This is the men of our choir.

This was taken 25 minutes before the performance. She's hard to see but daughter Juli is playing the Christmas music on the piano. That was a highlight for me. I wish I would have had time to sit down and listen.

Our church is blessed with a couple of ladies who have 'the touch' when it comes to decorating. Our guests were invited 30 minutes early for hot cider and cookies. These next two photos are of the serving table. Notice the cookies shaped like piano keys. I ate two middle C's. Also please 'Note' the other cookies.

We must have had at least 100 people there. Not bad considering the weather. They say there are two kinds of weather that keep attendance down in churches. They are good weather, and bad weather.

The ladies of the choir. And one of our Ed's. This was the green Ed.

This was the original post.

We've been working for sometime now on our Christmas Cantata at church. It will be tomorrow night. Cookies and hot cider will be at 6 pm and the program will begin at 6:30.
Juli will be playing Christmas music for a half hour pre-show. That in it self would be worth the effort it takes to get there.
The musical will be complete with bow ties and cumberbunds. My cumberbund fits, but barely. It is elastic. I have encouraged eye protection to be worn by anyone standing near by. I pray injuries to be slight if something happens. If it cuts loose from the strain, I hope it's not during my solo. It looks like what my Dad used to call 5o pounds of mud in a 5 pound sack.
We have it blocked, rehearsed, and it is ready. Barely ready, but ready none the less.
We are blessed with our new choir director/minister of music. She is extremely talented, professional, and organized. Everything our old director was not.
If you're in the Tekamah area tomorrow night,(Sunday) I believe this program should warm up your spirit for you.
If I can get someone to take a pic or two, I will post them.

I'm Off. But you knew that.

I'm off to the state convention. As always there wil be some things worth sitting through and some a waste of time. Now if there was just some way to determine that, before you commit 2 hours of your youth to it, then you'd have a deal. I've tried putting the pictures of Ralph(s) from the camera to the new computer and somehow, the new computer doesn't 'recognize' the USB port. I tried introducing them nicely. I'm planning a new attack when I return. A hammer perhaps. For this post I am swiping words from a midwestern magazine.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 4:33 PM CST
By Cliff Morrow
The Midwest Producer
I've been to the big city Christmas shopping in the past. I've also done a lot of Santa work in years gone by. I have stopped helping Santa. Both of those activities - shopping and Santa gigs - have brought me joy, laughter, a desire to reach out and help, and sometimes to give someone a pat on the back. They have also caused me concern, sadness and, in a couple of cases, a desire to slap the face of a few parents. And I've even had occasion to shed a few tears.
As Santa, I've had to tell Mothers that their screaming child, the one over there with terror on her little face "doesn't want to sit on Santa's lap, maybe next year, or maybe you could talk to me from across the room where the child might feel safe." And to others I've wanted to say "why don't you put that cigarette out and spend what little money you have on food and clothes, or soap, and if you don't quit yelling at those kids, Santa's going to step on your toe with his big black boot."I've had to ask Santa's helper to find out who those people are, and their address, to see if we could round up some help for them.
I've had little eight year olds who were showing signs of really needing some parenting (soap, food, clothes, toothbrush…) ask Santa not to "bring me anything but could you please bring my little brother and sister some nice clothes to wear." While shopping, I've observed couples staring at each other with pure HATE for each other in their eyes. I've recently watched as parents threatened their kids by yelling at them in front of 50 strangers. We've never even yelled at cattle like that.
Easy folks, take a deep breath, it's Christmas. Find someone to listen to, to help, to counsel, to love, to share the real story of Christmas. You know, the one with Jesus in it. Find someone to sit and be quiet with, or someone to mourn with. There are many people in each of our lives with pains and sorrow. To help someone else a little will mean so much, and the rewards for you will be many. And lastly, if you know someone who helps play Santa in one of our small towns across Kansas and Nebraska, thank them. Everything they heard and saw wasn't always easy to deal with.
Merry Christmas.

WildBlue Satellite Internet Problems

I've had Wild Blue Internet for several years and can now tell you that you should stay away from it. It is nothing but trouble.
They say I've uploaded too much stuff and am in violation of their FAP> fair access policy)
They say that over the last three days I've uploaded 3200 MB per day. This during a time when the computer has been shut off. They are rude at the customer support line. DO NOT USE WILD BLUE!!! Or you'll be sorry.

Chivalry May Not Be Dead

Ralph and Char were here for Thanksgiving. That is always a treat. I'll have more on that next time. It will include a hunting expedition you won't want to miss.

The delay is because I'm having a computer built. One that works. The other one died. When I get it back I'll begin to try to catch up on all of the bookkeeping entries necessary for two businesses and then load pictures from my camera. That is where the pics of Ralph and his hunting expedition are located.

While Ralph was here we were watching a little TV. And thus many commercial announcements. One got our attention and gave us an idea. I then took Ralph to the porch and pointed to the vast expanse of barren ground out there and told him of my idea. He thought it was too cold for my idea but opined that if I wanted to try it that I should proceed on my own. If successful he said he would do the same thing in his culdesac.

SO here's my idea...., picture a grayish-brown soil with a wisp of dirty snow on it. 150 acres of frozen ground. It is about 20 degrees and then right in the middle of this barren ground, you find two of these side by side.

I hope I don't have to wait for Ralph to find someone to use these with. Marilyn hasn't warmed up to the idea yet. I don't understand that. The folks on TV seem to be having fun.

I'll probably end up sending them back.

Weighing In On The Election

I haven't weighed in on the election yet so I must. We didn't have a good choice for President. This is why.
Conservatism and it's ideals will sustain a nation forever.
Liberalism must eventually destroy the nation it governs. We are well on the way.
Conservatism believes competition is good and that if you fail at being competitive with ideas and products, your company will fail. And if your business fails everyone who works for you will lose their good paying jobs. If you make loans to people who can't pay them back, your bank will fail. Failure is a correction. Failure is a great teacher and sets you up for the next victory. Everyone survives it, but you end up with smarter business people, bankers, suppliers and better products and a better, stronger nation. Forever.
Liberalism says it's okay to fail. They don't believe in winners. Everyone gets a trophy. They want everyone to be equal and a dependant of the federal government. Even if you don't work. They will swipe money from the smartest business people (taxes) and give it to you so you won't need to worry. They want to take care of us. This destroys the will to work and removes gumption. This gives the recipient a sense that "I can go it alone so I don't need a complete family unit to survive." "I don't need help, I have the government." Liberalism totally destroys the individuals' will to succeed. Liberalism will only work until we run out of wealthy people. (I'm not wealthy by the way)
It also demands that the wealthiest in our country move as much of their business and assets, elsewhere, as soon as possible. They will take the jobs with them as they go.
A high minimum wage also speeds this process up. Our present economy is evidence of the effects of raising wages on a whim, (even though it's not very intelligent) without regard for the havoc it will inevitably have on the economy.
Conservatism says government needs to stay out of business. All attempts to make it 'fair' will have far reaching, unexpectedly bad results. Conservatism does not believe in bail outs.
Liberalism says we must take care of all families and businesses. That kind of thinking is why the tiny (in population) state of Nebraska has an HSS budget nearing 3.5 BILLION dollars. That my dear readers is what is wrong with our economy. All other spending, military and war included, pales by comparison to HSS. Over 60 cents of every tax dollar now goes to 'entitlements.' That's why in the liberal strong hold of Chicago we lost more people by murder than we did soldiers in Iraq during the same period. This, in spite of having a 'brilliant' organizer.
The reason the failure must continue to the end is that the biggest cities control the ballot box. They cannot see the problem from where they stand. Their representatives to Washington must produce 'give aways' to get votes. The representatives will say the problem gets worse every year because of a conservative somewhere but not realizing that almost every major city is held and run by liberals. The worst of the crime, bad schools, and broken homes in our nation are under liberal leadership. (ie, New Orleans) But it's these same representatives who stick their chest out and proudly bring back more pork to the home town. They WILL get the votes because voting for them means 'Taxgetters won't need to work so hard.' Liberalism is a good example of perpetual motion. It gets bigger every pass.
Our economic emergency was started by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They got into trouble because House of Representative big wigs demanded that they make loans in the cities to their constituents. Yes, to anyone and everyone so as to get votes. Even to folks who couldn't pay them back. If you don't have money for a down payment...no problem we'll loan you 125% of the value of the house you want to buy. You say you can't make the payments? That's okay we'll let you pay 'interest only' for a few years.
It was a good way to get votes but it started the ball rolling. If we could remove these two institutions from the equation, then we would have been left with a simple economic downturn. The first one in eight years.
All of our biggest problems will and must get worse so long as we follow liberals. The spouting constantly that we need to throw more money at every problem, won't fix the problem. It never has. It never will. And so long as we have a votary who can't see the root of the cause, we are destined to continue down our road to socialism and then on to the last step of communism.
Personal responsibility is the only answer for the problems our country has. We have to deal with our own short comings in our families, our businesses, and our society.
And lastly and most dangerous of all, Are the probable appointments to the supreme court. The appointees will be attorneys set on making their own laws regardless of present law, the U.S. Constitution be damned. They will be using beliefs from around the world and will likely not consider the Constitution. With the appointments of the next four years to 'what used to be' the Supreme court will likely be the beginning of the end. After all they will be made by a man who has proven that he believes that infantacide is okay.
We are destined to move toward more failures of families, large businesses, and schools for the next four years and beyond. We were destined to do that no matter who won the presidency.
Liberalism, once rooted, can't be stopped. Just watch.
It could be worse. You could be in the military and have to salute the new commander in chief.
Now, where's my trophy?

Dear Turkeys,
I submit to you my Thanksgiving column for your perusal. It can be found HERE on The Midwest Producer magazine website.

The Beginning Of The End

I don't have much time to write this, so you'll need to read fast!
Sorry to not have been a good blogger as of late (as if I ever was) but we've been busy harvesting. Today should be the end of it and none too soon, it's supposed to hit 12 degrees this morning and my combine operator is heading to Corpus Christi tomorrow.
Two of my brothers and my combine have hung in there. My bride has been gracious enough to let our daughter drive my semi for several days now. That means Marilyn and Mandy have had to do all of the grooming by themselves.
Our bins are full and our corn was too high in moisture to be accepted in our local elevator so she (our daughter) has had to deliver a lot of loads to a processor 25 miles south of here.
Any good farmer would tell you that predicting the end of harvest is pretty stupid. It's not good to become smug and there by tempt 'the breakdown gods' before you get done. After all, a bad breakdown could occur this morning and we could be eating Thanksgiving dinner and then going back to the field to finish harvest.
But I'm predicting the end of harvest anyway. Today. Noon.
Now I've got to send someone after oysters. It's tradition.
Update: We finished harvest and pulled the combine and grain cart into the shed at 11:55 AM. Wrong shed but at least they're inside of a shed.

So, yesterday morning I sat down to write a column for the paper. I got a call from my Bride. She said she just got a text message (from Dan our son) that said they didn't 'induce' the delivery as planned because she had just started labor on her own right then.
Twenty minutes later Marilyn called back to say "It's a Girl!" She had a twenty minute labor attended to by nurses. The Dr had gone across town to his clinic for a while. He missed it. When the baby arrived the nurses said, "we said don't push." The reply was "I didn't push."
Well, off to lincoln we went.


This is a pic of my lovely daughter in-law a couple of weeks ago.

This is what we found in the hospital. The little one is Georgia Kay.

Grandpa reported that he was pulling for Cliffetta or Ralph-ina for a name. The look on Marilyns face means, "you're not serious?"

Great Grandma went along to hold the baby.

Cousin Hudson brought Dad along to see the babe also.

Congrats to Julie and Dan and a big welcome to Georgia Kay!!

Okay, now I'm past deadline on the column. It was going to be about Thanksgiving and having a grateful heart. It will be easier to write now.

Big Announcement To Follow

Check back a bit later today. I have four appointments today. Between numbers 2 and 3 I'll make the big announcement with pictures.
A hint: It involves adding members to our immediate family.

This Farming Game Is Not For Sissys

The combine broke down again today. One of my brothers drove 45 minutes north to a John Deere dealer and I drove 45 minutes south to a John Deere dealer to pick up one part the first dealer didn't have in stock.
My parts man brought out a 5 inch long machined pipe with a small gear on the end. It was small enough to easily hold in one hand.
"Should I bill this to the other dealer?" he asked.
I said "Yes."
He said, "Wow, it doesn't look like it should cost $340 dollars does it?"
I quietly said, "You can't scare me."
He said "Pardon me?"
I said, "I've owned John Deere equipment for a lot of years so nothing you could say about price could possibly scare me."
He smiled and said, "I'll bet not."
He's right.

THE HIT MOVIE

BROKEDOWN MOUNTAIN
Starring CLIFF'S COMBINE. Four sizable breakdowns in two days. I didn't pay for a new combine but I'm buying one Johnny Cash style. One Piece At A Time.

Glub, Glub

We've had 2 and 34/100 inches of rain over the last few days. Before that we couldn't really get much corn picked because it was too wet. Now we have a lot water standing.
We are now in the dugout on an official 'rain-delay'. Which means I get to sit back and watch Nebraska play on tv this afternoon and also the series tonight. :) Life is good.
***********
I was doing some reading on Plains Feeder where he quoted Orson Scott Card as having said...
~"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherder every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."~
Thinking about the polls today and this quote really got me to laughing. It is certainly one of the most profound statements I've read in a long time.
My problem is both men running for President are carrying a slop bucket. I will admit that Obama has one in each hand with helpers following.
**********
This morning, our phone rang at 6:30 am. It was our son Dan. We were watching the morning news on our big screen and his name and number appeared in big letters on our tv. He's an early riser but not on Saturdays. Knowing our lovely daughter in-law is about to give birth in 4 weeks and that she usually delivers 3 weeks early we both said "Baby!"
We didn't get to the phone in time, he only let it ring twice. Marilyn quickly called him back to find out that his oldest daughter had stepped on the phone and it redialed the last number from last night. He said "I knew what you were thinking and that you would call me back."

Could You Do Something For Me?

Although I really want you to come back and read my post below this one, I would like you to click here and read a post I put up on July 24th, 2005. It was about a 'Mary'.
In that post I lied a little in the interest of protecting her identity. Her real name is Marla and she has just begun blogging. She is very good at it and she only has a few posts up right now so rather than me telling you about what has happened in her life as of late, why not read the the July of 2005 post above, it gives you a good insight into the kind of person she is and then go over to see Marla. Start at the bottom with her first post read your way up.

Ralph Came To Help With Harvest!

But it rained the whole time he was here. He is a good friend and I hope he wasn't disappointed that we couldn't run. Thanks Buddy! He said it was okay and that he wanted to get grounded again and sure enough Marilyn grounded both of us while he was here.
ALSO: we got a heavy frost last night. We needed that to finish killing the corn stalks that just wouldn't give up the ghost. It will help with the dry down of the corn.
THIS REALLY HAPPENED:
At a party Saturday night, I talked to a friend who had hosted a 'frog leg' party. He got some of the frogs on our place. I had turned down his invitation to his party. I kind of told a little fib. I told him eating frog legs always makes me jumpy.
Anyhow, I had asked about exactly how he hunted for them. He then went off into this true story from about a month ago. He and a friend had pulled into a vacant lot directly across the road from Summit Lake. It's west of Tekamah. They were drinking beer and putting on their equipment consisting of hip waders and miners lights. One of our Sheriff deputies drove up and said, "Hey, what are you guys doing?" The reply was "We're finishing our beers since we can't take them across the road onto state property and we're putting on our equipment to go frog hunting."
The very serious Deputy then asked, "Do you guys really thing it's a good idea to drink beer and then walk into a lake and go frog hunting?"
My friend leaned on the police car and said, "Officer, do you really think we'd be going frog hunting if we hadn't been drinking?"
The officer drove away. There are some patterns of thought that can't be argued with.

The 2008 Soybean Harvest...

for this farm is now history. I had a meeting late this afternoon and so two of my brothers finished it up in my absence. The results for the entire harvest haven't been tabulated yet but the words 'pretty darned average yields' will doubtless be used somewhere in the final description.
I talked with Ralph a bit ago. We began talking politics as we are want to do on occasion and I told him I thought that this election was like trying to decide which you would rather have. Your stomach pumped or an enema. He replied, "That's right Cliff, either way we get hosed and it's going to end up hurting a lot."
Our country needed a President who could grade in the 95 to 100 percentile in leadership and we will end up with a 30 to 40 percenter either way. Hurry up 2012!

It's Early Sunday Morning...

We're in the middle of soybean harvest but we'll take the time to go to church and then travel to Lincoln for Hudson's first ever Birthday Party. He plans to make this an annual event.
Being so short on time I decided to put up two posts at once. One big one and one small one.
Here they are: UPDATE: The host family in Lincoln had the flu and so Hudson isn't one year old, yet. I sent Marilyn to represent me at church and we continued harvest. We have rain on the way so we are under the gun a bit. We are down to 80 acres of beans left to harvest. There isn't any hurry I guess because the corn isn't dry enough to harvest.

Traveling With Women

Grand Rivers, KY

I just got back from a long trip with three women. There was my bride of 37 years, my mother in-law, and Lena. I only had real trouble with one of them.
I think everyone has disagreements while traveling but my wife and I do okay. She lets me think I’m right. And I had very little trouble with my mother in-law. I would have to occasionally remind her that “You know, we’re a long way from home to be saying stuff like that.”
Then there was Lena. Lena is the name we’ve given to our GPS device. She can talk, and we have begun to think of her as another person in the car. Lena is fairly reliable, she’s opinionated and she is not always correct when we’re on the road. Unlike myself.
For instance there was the time in Amarillo when she directed us to a J. C. Penney store. When we arrived at “Your destination on right” I couldn’t help but notice it looked similar to a single story ranch home complete with stucco and a tile roof and a two car garage. It looked just like every other house for as far as I could see. I parked in the driveway and began to get out. My wife asked me what I was doing and I told her “I thought we were going to buy a dress.” “Stay in the car, you know darned well that that’s just a house.” Well, I had just about had it with our fancy little device that day but we later found out someone’s thumb had brushed the screen and changed the address that Lena was looking for. But the aggravating thing for me was that she knew that we were looking for a clothing store and should have known better than to take us into a residential area. She can even talk for crying out loud.
On our recent trip we were in the Grand Rivers, KY area, we had just eaten dinner and we were headed to our hotel. Darkness was upon us and as I got back out to the highway I began to turn right when Lena and my wife and my mother in-law all said to turn left. We were trying to find our hotel. A ’debate’ began about where our hotel was located. I said “there is nothing south of here but trees, it’s a state park, and we were just there two hours ago, our hotel is north of here up on the interstate.”
I lost the ‘debate’ and we went south until we heard Lena say “arriving at destination on right.” I pulled off the highway and up to a tree. Well, actually it was several hundred thousands of trees. I said “Hold that thing up to the window and show her the trees and ask her if that looks like a hotel to her.”
When we checked into our hotel my wife mentioned to the lady that we had had trouble finding the place. The lady behind the counter calmly said, “You must have one of those GPS devices, they don’t have our location correct, they think we’re in the state park south of town.”
All of this takes me back to when times were simpler. To when all we had was an out of date map and I could wonder aimlessly until I succumbed to one of my wife’s requests to please stop and ask directions. But I know we must advance with the times and these little mapping devices are pretty handy. However ours has been wrong a couple of times and so we question everything she tells us. However she does add a touch of uncertainty and excitement to an otherwise long, boring drive.
But then again, so would diarrhea.

~From the Midwest Producer Magazine and the Burt County Plaindealer. ~

Wedded 37 Years Ago Today...

~picture is circa 1971~

I've heard and read that the greastest gift you can give your children is to show them how much you love their Mother.

Even though you would probably also enjoy something with a bow and wrapping paper, for now let me just say that I still love your Mother and that's the way it is going to stay. I'd do it all again.

Marilyn is different than all of the girls I've ever known. She would go out with me.

Looking at the picture I know what you're thinking, Yes, I should have been arrested. Somehow we have this picture taken when we were in junior high and we didn't meet until we were in college. I know that is about how I look now but Marilyn has aged ever so slightly.

Football Saturday

Our daughter was playing the organ for a funeral yesterday so it fell upon us to get our oldest grandson to a flag football game about 2o miles from the farm. The football player is 10 years old and is in no way a smart alec so the following conversation was particularly funny at the time. We were on the road and:

Grandma: So, what's your number?

C: We don't have numbers.

Grandma: You don't have numbers?

C: No.

Grandma: Well how can we tell who the players are:

C: By our faces.

They don't wear helmets it turns out.

In the 'as luck would have it' department, He carried the ball only one time but I had my Rebel in my hands and already turned on so I got the following picture.

To Kentucky and Back

We've been on a trip to find the location for our next family reunion. Marilyn and her Mother and I got home yesterday having driven from Hannibal, Missouri where we spent Saturday night. We were fortunate to have stopped in Hannibal. It was raining the last couple of hours whilst driving into the town and so we found a motel and hunkered down.
Yesterday morning we started out across Northern Missouri on highway 36. About half of that trip was through flooded farm ground. At one point they detoured us off of our side of the interstate that was under flood waters. All of this was the result of the remnants of Hurricane Ike.
I'm anxious to hear how Jim and Mrs Jim and Lucy have weathered the storm. Even if they didn't sustain substantial damage they surely will have been without things we've all grown accustomed to, like electricity. We've been through long spells without electricity a couple of times ourselves here on the farm because of ice storms. Once with 150 head of cattle in the feed yard. You can't help but come away with bad memories.
We'll keep checking on you Houstonites. Good luck.
Oh, the reunion, the big announcement to the family has yet to be made but it looks like The Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky and Tennessee is a likely favorite. Besides the narural beauty of the area it is brimming with a rich history.
We won't be far from Fort Henry and Fort Donnelson. They were civil war forts put in place to keep the Union forces from bringing supplies by boat into the south. It didn't work. A very young Gen U.S. Grant defeated a college friend of his at Fort Donnelson, a General Buckner. They had become friends at West Point Military Acad. Buckner had at one time helped pay Grants bills for him when he was in need.
During the battle, Buckner sent a messenger to see what "Terms" could be arranged for a surrender. Gen. Grant returned, "no terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." After that it was said the U. S. in U.S. Grant stood for Unconditional Surrender. He later did accept some 'terms' at other surrenders.
Well it was 38 degrees here this morning with a high of about 70 with bright sunshine expected. The weather for the next couple of months is why we live in Nebraska and why I won't be wondering far from here again for a while. Well the weather... and the upcoming harvest.

A Farmer: Out Standing In His Field

My Dad liked to play with words. He would make fun of newspaper articles that were incorrectly spelled or had the wrong meaning of the word. If we were driving through the country side he would say: "There is a farmer who is out standing in his field, he also is outstanding in his field. Here my eldest grandaughter is with me as I check for soybean aphids. The picture was taken a while back. We are both out standing. In the field.

The bottom pic is of another of our grandaughters, she is on the birthday present that Grandma and Grandpa gave to her a few weeks ago.
We should have kept this horse. It was the only equine on the farm that wasn't burning hay.

ALSO: I have a tree that has grown up enough to be in the way of my computer's view of the satelite. That is what I'm using as an excuse for not blogging enough. I'll try to do better. Anyone wanting to help sacrifice a tree in the name of technology, contact me. It's a siberian elm so don't worry, I can grow another fifty footer in two years.

One Must Have Principles

I’ve always believed that one must be principled. You must have a doctrine, or set of personal rules that you follow in this life. One of my rules is that I don't take money from people who need my help or who need me to fire up a farm tractor and extricate them from a high centered predicament. Exceptions would be, it's the middle of the night, it's raining, I'm on a tractor with no cab, and some guy, (it's always a 'guy') is acting like I owe it to him and he holds out a $20 bill, I'll probably take it. But, generally, I don't accept anything because I'm thinking that maybe some day I'll be in the same position. You know, lost and stuck on a road I have no business being on (remember I still have dementia to go thru) and then I might be the one needing help. Also I would never, in a million years accept anything from someone local or a neighbor just for helping them out. After all, I do have my principles.A few years ago, in the spring, my neighbor called. They own a small acreage on the banks of the Missouri River. She had contracted with some landscapers out of Omaha to come up and work around her house. She instructed them not to back their tandem axle truck into the veggie garden because the ground in the garden was very soft. They did anyway and found out she was right.She called me on the phone, "Could you come over and pull them out?” “It will take a big tractor.”Well my big tractors were also buried; as in buried deep in my machine sheds so I got on my John Deere 4020. An old reliable, no cab, but big enough to do the job I thought. Turns out it was just barely big enough to do the job. After digging the 4020 down a few times I finally pulled them out and they went on their way back to Omaha. My neighbor wanted to pay me. It was nice of her to offer but an idea that I of course scoffed at as I put the tractor in gear. Remember, I do have my principles.
Then she yelled over the noise of my tractor, “Wait, I've got something you might like.” Before I could stop her she ran inside and when she reemerged carrying a box, I thought, 'oh good', fruit cake. She opened the box and there lay, in all their glory, 6 frozen Omaha Steaks, fillet mignon's to be exact.Remember I have a hard and fast rule about not accepting gratuities from neighbors.Well I had to hold the steaks on the tractors platform with my feet while I drove the 2 miles back home.I should have mentioned that I have more than one principle.
~Cliffs Note~ this is from the current edition of the Midwest Producer Magazine.

Farm Kids Never Get To Play With Anyone...

So I was pleased when I heard Hudson was coming to play with me. (Grandma too) We had a good time but our mistake was eating dinner at a restaurant the next night in Council Bluffs, Ia. We ran into his parents and they wanted him back. So rather than make a scene we let him go. Next time we'll be more careful.

I Offer This As Solid Proof...

Women hate to have their picture taken and that it starts at an early age.

This Should Explain My Absence

I haven't been by your blog to visit and know that I owe some kind of explanation.

The truth is that it came to pass that I suddenly needed a new background picture for my computer.

So we had to go a few hundred miles to take this one. Ol' Captain 'Hook' took the crew to Harlan County Reservoir on the Nebraska-Kansas border in center of the state.

The decision to do this meant that my stock went up with my wife. She loves fishing.

Since our return the stock has returned to pre-trip lows because of some 'profit taking.'

All of the kids and grand kids were there. We took a boat, this sled, and rented a pontoon.

One never knows when you might run out of watercraft.

This little lass likes to fish. But like the rest on this '3 hour tour', can't quite remember how to clean a white bass.

Mrs Hook caught these two wipers among many other fish. A wiper is a hybrid stocked into many Nebraska lakes by the Game and Parks commission. They are a cross between a white bass and a striped bass.

They get much larger than the white bass. The one on the left weighed in @ 4 1/4 pounds while the other one wasn't weighed but went at least 3 pounds.

I truly would like to have seen the one that got off of my line. He came half way to the boat and then ran. He straightened the hook out.

More pictures to come.

A sign at the marina: ~God does not subtract the hours spent fishing from a mans life.~

Two Posts at the Same Time! How About That?

Even though you won't want to miss the post below about Blogstock, I wanted to point out my latest article in the Midwest Produce.

Jamie Dawn Gets Hers!

Even though they had just met each other, the three bloggers shown here, Jerry, Jamie Dawn, and Rachel, were having a discussion. The meeting was called by J. D. and she's shown here explaining how much she will miss her daughter Courtney when she leaves home for college.
Here JD motions "how tall" she is willing to accept for a replacement child but that she would prefer a baby. In an effort to show how serious she is, she is offering some of her truffles to anyone who will help her.
She explains here that she has spotted a suitable child and wants these two to help with the dastardly deed.

Thanks to Rachel's quick thinking (and distaste for truffles) she informed me of the plot that was directed at my youngest grandchild.

Here JD is ready to get into her car and make a quick get away. Immediately after this picture was taken I snatched the babe and saved him from that fate feared by every grandparent. That of having an offspring become a Razorback.
Right after this picture was taken, Rachel wrestled JD to the ground and made her eat mayonnaise. Rachel was yelling "Here, eat this you hitonious baby thief!" It was really quite ugly.



This last picture shows the result of the despicable act. John and Terah were terribly frightened and refused to let little Jacob out of their sight until Jamie Dawn left for Arkansas.
You can sure see the tension on the toddlers face although John and Terah seem to be taking the incident in stride.

A Celebration of Life...

is occurring over at 'gette's. The long battle is over for her MIL. I know enough about 'gette and her family to know that this will truly be a celebration by a very strong and faithful family. But still, our condolences and prayers go out to all.

Pictures From Blogstock

This is Jim at our Saturday morning Blogstock breakfast. He has already eaten and is looking at his maps for an inside passsage to the Pacific thinking that Lewis and Clark might have missed something after they passed by where our house is now.
Mrs Jim is phoning his Doctor to say he is "hearing those voices again."




This is Jerry trying to convince Rachel that he doesn't just work for that big oil company in Houston, he actually owns the company.
Inspite of his boyish good looks, Rachel was just nodding her head in agreement while occasionally looking around the room to smile at others and see if there maybe wasn't someone else to talk to.









This pic is also taken in our sunroom/porch/deck or what ever it is we call it.
It's a rare photo. It shows John and Terah visiting with Char and Ralph. It is rare because John isn't out chasing Jacob through the corn and it shows Char and Ralph together in the same room. After perusing all of my Blogstock photos as well as all of Ralph's, this is the only one I found with them together. That is mainly because they seem to be working constantly. You need to be careful what you wish for outloud around either one of them because they will go get it or do it or build it or stack it or buy it or have it shpped in. These two are good people and great friends.
NEXT: Jamie Dawn tries to steal a baby and More.
You may not have escaped after all.

Birth of Another Article

This is my latest article written for the Midwest Producer. I've had it in my brain for over a year and it finally spilled out onto the screen.
Off to the right side of that piece is a listing of other articles. Most notable to you who attended Blogstock is one written by my friend and boss and Editor of the magazine Terry Anderson. He was also my singing partner at karaoke at Kieffers. Help him out a little and click around the site. Some good agricultural information free for the reading. The storm that Terry speaks of is the same storm that hit LZ's place and which he wrote about a while back.

Blogstock 08 In the Beginning...

The condition of the farmstead has taken a backseat to irrigating corn since Blogstock. The lawnmower and weed eater have been tossed aside like a winter coat in July. We had 9 tenths of an inch of rain two nights ago. That really helped with the irrigating.

Some thoughts on Blogstock. Ralph and Char and Desiree and Rachel were here early to help get ready. They mowed and made cherry jam and parade floats and Blogstock welcome bags, and helped put up hay, and the tent, and washed dishes over and over and over again and add infinity and nausea.

This really happened: On Friday morning I got up in a bad mood. There was no particular reason for my mood but I was just really tired from throwing hay bales in the heat. Ralph had been here five nights already and as I emerged from my bedroom on the way to the bathroom I came face to face with Ralph. Neither one of us felt like smiling. As a matter of fact we both had a 'mean' look on our face. Our guest Ralph broke the ice with, "You know what? I'm getting really tired of getting up every morning and finding you still here." It was right then that I realized that it was time for Blogstock to get over with. Ralph was getting to comfortable.

The picture is of Desiree. Ralph and Char attended her Baptism in Illinois and then brought her to help us get ready for Blogstock. This is one talented, and hard working girl. She rose to the top of my list when one of her first jobs was to drive one of our rigs with 4 big round bales on it. We had nearly three miles of uneven roads to navigate and I had loaded it improperly. The bale on top looked like a big water baloon sitting on a teaspoon. She had only gone about twenty yards before I realized the girl knew what she was doing with the trailer. She has 'the touch' when it comes to pulling big loads that could spill. She made it without incident.

She also taught me not to carry an empty Morrow Kennel cup into the kitchen for a refill. It will be snatched out of your hand and into the dishwasher before you can say, "Uh, I was going to get more iced tea." She works fast, and hard, and appears to be tireless. Juli and Desiree and Ralph helped pick up several loads of small square bales also. Those two young ladies were great. Ralph and I tried to stay out of the way.

Ralph and I built the frame for the float trailer and then turned it over to Desiree to ram rod the decorating. Ralph said we needed to designate her as the 'point' on this project. I told Ralph we don't have 'point' people on farms in Nebraska. He said if we were going to get the job done there was going to be a 'point'. Anyway, she was 'in charge' of decorating and did a great job.

Rachel was doing a lot of everything. We told her she could be a pit person and after her initial glee from thinking she was going to a NASCAR event, we showed her where the cherry trees were. She picked and pitted and made jam like a pro. Rachel is low key and polite and really handy around the kitchen. Everything I'm not. She was also tireless and this wouldn't have been pulled off without her.

Next: Ralph and Char

Those Who Attended Blogstock...

may recall these two Grandaughters shown here ready to donate to the Blogstock float. They are soon to be four years old Madi, and two year old Allison.

Yesterday while riding in the back of Dad's car in the city the following conversation took place.

An old beater of a car smoked past them and...

Dad: "Ewww, someone has a stinky exhaust."

In a 'matter of fact' tone Madi said:

"It's Allison."

Of Local Interest!

For all of you folks from the area who read this blog, I'm going to list the Bloggers (in order from top to bottom) in my blog roll at left, who attended Blogstock 08. They all have nice articles written about Tekamah in their blogs. (Except son Dan. His likely won't be written for a month or two)Just click on their names.
Those attending were:
Dan Morrow
Ralph Campbell
Terah Goerzen
John Goerzen
Jamie Dawn
Wiley or Jerry aka. Jerry Wiley
Rachel
Nora
Jim
Lazy Blogger
Janell
Desiree in Normal.

To you bloggers: The local paper has hit the racks and we were mentioned three times in this edition.

We were mentioned at the beginning of this staff written article.
And a nice picture of Nora appeared with a nice mention of Blogstock and how Nora, Ralph, and Jerry made the trip to town to donate every thing to the food bank. Jerry says he doesn't remember making the trip but we all know he did.
Ralph wrote a nice thank you to the citizens of Tekamah for their generosity. It's in the hardcopy but I can't find it in the online edition.
I'm still pressed for time but this should keep y'all busy for a while.

Hold on a Little Longer

I have a lot of folks to thank.

Blogstock didn't get over...we just wore it out.

I have some things nipping at my rear so will start with a few gathering pics and comments in a few days. I have some meetings that require my full attention and I'm cooking chicken for 60 tonight at the CC. But after that.

Until then, stare at the picture. It's a picture of Rachel giving another one of her lengthy speeches. (Just kidding Rachel)

Happy Trails To You....

Every year about this time our local senior citizens home throws a Pre-Fourth of July party. The object is to get a few free activities together that will attract kids. They get the entire property covered with children and wheel the residents of the home out onto the expansive porch to watch and interact with young people. The free blow-up buildings and dunking tank and human bowling and pony rides and face painting and food, always makes for a great turn out.
My daughter is in charge of the pony rides each time. She hires out for a lot of birthday parties with these diminutive steeds so this is right up her alley. I must say it is always a huge hit whether she is being paid to do a private party or a free of charge event like this one. She really enjoys getting to know new people.
They did the latest party at the senior citizens home last night. There was a constant line to ride horses that went on for hours.
The most fun my daughter has with this however, is when she mentions to an unsuspecting adult that she will be going to the senior citizens home to give pony rides. This is where their eyebrows get close together which is always followed with the 'stare.' Juli lets it continue for good length of time before she mentions that she will be giving pony rides to children attending a party there...not the residents of the home.

To Denver and Back... Again

This has been quite a ten day period. A week ago we were in the Loveland and Denver area attending the funeral of Marilyn's step Mother. She was a lovely lady with a neat family. Ralph and Char were of a huge help for us. We're used to them doing stuff like that.

Then this past weekend we gathered as a family again to lay to rest one of my Brother in-law's. They had a big family and he was well loved in the small Nebraska town where they lived.

We will miss both of these family members. They each had struggled long enough with their illnesses however.

While we were together last Saturday we went out onto the church lawn and tried to take a family photo. This is the best we could do. With these five kids and one more on the way, we find it very difficult to have everyone with their eyes open and someone not making a 'Popeye the Sailor Man' face. And sometimes the kids do that too.

For those of you coming to Blogstock, you will become familiar with all of these people. Our daughter (on the left) will be in charge of pony rides (if we have any kids attend) and horseback riding, and piano playing if we have singers in the group. The boys on the right (our two sons) will supervise the four wheeler rides and other diversions.

If you plan to attend any of the events at Blogstock, let me know so we can get an accurate count for food.

A Change In My Thinking

For years now I've thought that our self imposed ban on doing anything that makes sense concerning the production of energy by the U.S. was moronic. It's been like having a 50 point lead in the first quarter and our coach benching our varsity players because by golly it's just not fair. Now the other team is 100 points ahead of us and we still won't put the first team back in. As a matter of fact if we can find some small eight graders we're going to put them in the game. That will show the other side.
But now I understand why we won't do anything. I now too believe that we should let it all slide and hope someone will take care of us. I'm not sure which country will end up flying their flag over us but at least maybe they'll give us some cheaper fuel or 'black cats and roman candles' or maybe lots of 'sand flies.'
Personally I'm pulling for Australia because I've never seen a wombat and those people seem so darned friendly.
The other good news is that with this new way of thinking, I've decided to cancel all of my life insurance policies because you know what?...paying for life insurance will do nothing to help my situation right now.
Also, I've had some logs float in on a low land corn field. The water killed the corn and left a lot of trash. A few years back I would have waited for the field to dry and then taken my tractor and loader down and piled and burned the logs and trash and replant the corn. But now that I've been set free from having to plan for the future I'm simply waiting on FEMA to send someone to do it for me.
Not having to plan for the future or worry about where the next meal comes from is so refreshing.
And just so you know. If we lose this game it will still be the fault of those big guys we benched half way through the first quarter.
Could someone get me some Iced Tea? Soon?
Please.

You Might Live In A Small Town...

When your adult daughter walks into the local post office and is told, "Hand over fifty cents Juli, you and your Mother have got to have some one cent stamps out there."
It apparently has taken a while for the news of a postage increase to reach the farm.

"A Tornado Warning Has Been Issued By The National Weather Service...

This was the view from our back porch about two hours ago. It is looking west. Soon after this
picture was taken, we were put under a tornado warning. It was for east central Burt county. The tornado was indicated by radar a couple of miles north of here. We live in extreme southeastern Burt County. I snapped the next picture which is looking North, Northwest from here.

Then I went inside. Now a couple of hours later it's apparent that the tornado that was just north of us went across the river and hit our neighboring town across the Missouri River. Little Sioux, Iowa is about 6.6 miles north and east of our farm.
Years ago I attended the Boy Scout camp ground there with my oldest son.
We don't yet know the extent of the devastation but the reports are of at least 4 deaths with scores of injuries.
This was I'm sure, going to be one of the highlights of the summer for these Boy Scouts. It now has turned into a nightmare that probably will haunt them and their families an entire lifetime. I can only imagine the anxiety that is overwhelming a lot of families in our region right now as they speed toward this pile of rubble. Our thoughts and prayers go out to each and all.

It's About Time

This post is primarily for the locals. Those of you who live near where I live, and tell me things out of the blue like, "Oh, I read your thing on the internet everyday?" Then I say, "You're kidding right?" "Nope, I check it every day, and by the way who is this Ralph guy and is he crazy or what? (I just kind of made that up)
Anyhow, yes you people.
Well we're having Blogstock and a lot of these internet folks will be around the Tekamah area on July 3 to the 6th. We will be at several locations doing different things and you'll be welcome to come 'look' at our company. And hopefully you'll even visit and break bread with us. You know, join the group for fellowship and good times. We'll be at local establishments some and on the evening of the 4th as well as on Saturday the 5th we'll be cooking here on the farm.
So just let me know if you're coming because we'd like to inform the eating establishments, how many of us to expect and when we cook here on the farm we need to know how many chickens to sacrifice in your honor. The biggest day will be Saturday the 5th. Let me know, I'm in the book. Or call Marilyn or Juli at the kennel . Or email me. Say you'd like to come and we'll get you the details of where you can catch up with us. My address is in my profile on my side bar. If you have been conversing with Ralph, this doesn't apply to you because Ralph is keeping track of the bloggers who are coming. Right Ralph?

The Week That Was

We had the Memorial services for two of my aunts this past Saturday. They were the last of many aunts and uncles. They had passed on over the winter and the memorial services were postponed until Memorial weekend and thus better weather.
We saw relation from all over the country because of those two services and also because of the local alumni association always holds their alumni banquet on the Saturday preceding Memorial Day.
So, we had family in from OK, NM, MD, just to name a few and several from Nebraska. The farm looked like a used car lot on Friday night.
Saturday night Marilyn and I attended the 40 year reunion of the class of 1968. There sure were a lot of old folks there.
I knew a lot of them amazingly well considering they are all a lot older than I. They've become senile, evidence the fact that some in that class thought I was old enough to have actually graduated with that class.
By the way, can we all agree to drop the question, "You don't remember me do you?" from our vocabulary?
If you'll do that I'll agree to stop saying, "Yeah, you're the girl who wouldn't talk to me in algebra class."
Just kidding here. I can't think of anyone who wasn't friendly to me in High School. Remember, a girl who is friendly and one who will actually agree to going out on a date are two different things.
Since we last talked we've had a lot of rain. I think. Every time it rained I would only get .40" It rained all night Thursday night and all of my neighbors got around 2.5" and I got .40" again. Being the CSI type, I brought the gauge in and filled it to the top of it's 6" capacity and leaned it in an upright position in the sink. When I came in at noon I once again had .40" I learned the gauge leaks AND I now know approximately how far up from the bottom the leak is.
I also have an electronic gauge that I can read from inside of the house. It recored zero. I'm thinking the national weather service won't be calling me for information.
The storm on Thursday night took down some spans of the big transmission electrical line west of me and several irrigation sprinklers in the area were upset. A few outbuildings on area farms were also destroyed.
The most damage we have sustained have been wind damage to my pickup, an upset grain auger, and we have water sitting in many fields.
I recently purchased a new lawnmower with a 72" deck and almost have the first set of blades worn out trying to keep up with a lawn that seems to get several inches of rain per week.
Later, I need to go mow.

Cliff's Shorts

As sobering as the above title may be, please stick with me here.
Corn:
It's planted and for the most part out of the ground.
Beans:
We have them planted. Some are up and out of the ground.
Question:
If we say "I have the beans planted...then why don't we say I have the corns planted."
OR... why not say, "I have the bean planted already."
I've been to a lot of meetings as of late. Some were good.
We're having quite a few relatives here for this next weekend.
My richest relatives are coming. The ones coming are able to buy gas and drive a car.
Show off's...I tell you.
SHANNON: If you get a chance, stop and see Shannon. As you know I'm pretty descriminating when it comes to the blogs I will read. I like reading Shannon because she seems to have a good grasp on the worth of family. She doesn't spend time complaining and trying to save the world and gives us a different topic on each post. I think you'll find her family, farm life, and great photo's offer a good look into her daily life. Thanks Shannon, for blogging.

Happy Birthday!

I believe God puts certain people here among us to show us all how to act. Nora is one of them.
It was Nora's birthday today (Monday the 19th) and she spends most of her time doing nice things for other people.
Stop over and wish this class act a Happy Twenty Ninth Birthday.
She seems younger than that however.

High Level Meeting OR Your Blogstock Hosts!

A high level meeting (one mile high to be exact) of the Blogstock '08 planning committee took place recently in Denver. Here is another picture of Ralph having more fun than everybody else. Char (center) is his lovely wife. Marilyn and I are the two on the outside. Many ideas for Blogstock were thrown around but as per normal the women vetoed all of the really good ones.
At least Ralph and I assumed that the words, "over my dead body" were to be taken as a veto.

We left Denver with peace and harmony prevailing.

We have a long running series of these pictures. We always take them on Ralph and Char's front porch just before I utter the words that show I'm a farmer. "Get in the truck woman."

Then I say those other words I'm famous for. "Just kidding Dear.... shall we go now?"

Phffft!

This was the day I planned to finish planting corn. The heaviest ground I farm was just about dry enough to plant and I was going to force it a bit. But alas it is raining on this fine Saturday morning. It is supposed to rain all day. A 100% chance all day as a matter of fact. Fifty eight degrees for a high temperature with a high wind warning later today.
This day seems to be making the same sound as the hose attached to our central vac system.
Have a lovely weekend.
I'll be around to visit in the next couple of days. There will be a white glove test so be sure to clean above the windows.

I'm On The Governing Board...

of our local senior center. It is a well run institution. It is that way because of all of the volunteers that help in every aspect of the program and facilities. They give selflessly when ever asked to do something by our director or staff.
This week is Volunteer Appreciation Week.
In that light they decided to have a party this afternoon to honor and thank all of those volunteers. They asked me to speak/entertain. I did. It went well.
But now I just don't know how much to charge for doing that. : )
An Addendum: I woke up yesterday morning and at 4:30 AM sat on the edge of our bed and began quietly chuckling about this potential blog. Marilyn wanted to know what could possibly be funny at 4:30 in the morning. I told her what I was going to write. I said "Get it?" "Charging to speak to volunteers?" As she drifted back to sleep I heard her mumble "You are a sick man."
Oh well. You guys could have told her that.

Corn Planting

The soil has finally dried enough to start planting. I have just enough knowledge to use my new planter monitor. I hope to have it figured out by the time I'm done planting.
Rain and Thunder storms are expected this afternoon through tomorrow evening. I'm going to the field now and expect all of you to behave while I'm out.
All Skate!

Views From My Porch

These views are very frustrating to this farmer. It is April 25th, 2008 and the tractors are still at a standstill, the fields are muddy from another 1/2" of rain and the worst part is it is 37 degrees as I write this. More rain on the way and temps aren't promising to be above 60 for a couple of days.
To begin planting we will need the soil to dry and then we will begin. The soil temperature which is measured at a depth of 4" is about 10 degrees below normal and won't support corn germination until it reaches 55 degrees.

By this date we should be at least 50% planted. We hope to begin next week.
I need to get done with planting so I can begin with putting more time in to getting ready for Blogstock. There are lawns to mow, weeds to spray, berms to rejuvenate, paint to slap on, and of course the main thing, golf.
If we aren't planted by the time you get here for Blogstock, don't get too friendly with us or we may follow you home. We'll be looking for a new home if we don't raise a crop.

It's been mentioned before but please begin getting a couple of pages of info to Ralph. These won't be put on the net but a booklet will be handed out. My couple of pages will include 2 of my favorite posts I've written, a pic of my family or two and a short write up telling you about who I am.

Nebraska's Spring Game Is Today

This is a twilight photo of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln Nebraska. It is the photo I am currently using as my computer background. It's a neat photo when you click on it to make it bigger.
I will explain the need for the photo later.
Nebraska was easily the predominant team of college football in the 1980's and 90's. In 1993 they were a missed field goal from being national champs and were the national champs in 1994 and 1995. The 1995 team was voted the best college football team of all time in a recent ESPN poll. However in my opionion the 1983 team was just as good but failed to win the title on a missed field goal on the last play of the last game. Head coach Tom Osborne's era lasted 25 years and ended in 1997. His record was 249 wins 55 losses and 3 ties. Nebraska wasn't used to losing.
They fell on hard times the past couple of seasons. (hardtimes meaning they actually had one losing season).
They have hired Bo Polini as their new head coach this year. There are high expectations in Cornhusker land.
Now back to the stadium. It has been sold out every game since November 3, 1963. Easily an on going national record. Spring practice has been going on for the past two weeks in Lincoln. Most major college programs hold a 'Spring Game' at the end of spring practice. It has normally drawn 30,000 people in Nebraska. Today, Nebraska has sold out their 80,000 plus seat stadium for the spring game. It's a SCRIMMAGE. There will be 80,000 people in Lincoln today to watch Nebraska practice. How's that for football fans? GO BIG RED!