Silver Linings

We have had our share of clouds and rainy weather this past summer. Often it is followed by some of the most beautiful days. Silver linings are the good days that come after and as a result of the cloudy days. 

Karl is doing well after being in the hospital. He is back farming, taking good care of his pigs, and enjoying his garden.

Jan's Uncle Dave came from Colorado with his daughter Erin and his grandsons. Last Sunday we had a big get together. Dave, Frank Jr., Carolyn, Jean, Gloria, and Florence are the 6 siblings still living. My mother-in-law was their oldest sister. She, Harriett, Chet, and Ed have passed away.

The grandkids are still enjoying playing together as cousins on Mondays at Grandma Jan's however school will soon be starting for the older ones.

Ethan has his arm wrapped and will get a cast after breaking his thumb riding his motorcycle. Just in time to slow down and think about school work. :(

We helped Karl again this week vaccinate 5000 pigs after coffee one morning. When I left I had to laugh at ourselves as 9 of us took 7 pickups to drive the 2 miles to get there.

We also helped BJ work his calf crop and get them ready to sell at a feeder cattle sale in September.

We have been getting harvest equipment ready to go to work. As in this picture some of us did take a break toward the end of the week for the state fair, camping, and some racing.

Dana and Scot brought us KFC for lunch Thursday and visited about the coming harvest. The crop looks good.

For the past 5 years we have helped Cargill/Eddyville transition new crop corn into their recipe making corn syrup. We start planting early maturing hybrids in early April and finish with fuller maturities. We are scheduled to start combining in 2 weeks. 

Some good friends invited us to supper for pizza and wine tasting at our local winery. Not being around wine much I wasn't sure what to expect. It was fun. I enjoyed the experience and the company. Thanks Wayne and Sue, and Dave and Barb.

PC had a scrimmage Friday evening with Knoxville. It's had to believe it's high school football season already.

Kurt raced in the Heartland Challenge Friday night. It's a 4 hour endurocross race. Karl, Malaki, BJ, and the girls were his pit crew.

Last night we enjoyed having the board and staff of PCHS over for supper and Ranger riding. It was fun riding and visiting with Clyde, our interim principal. We worked together in the late 90s when he was principal and I was on the board. 

 In Bible times there was a righteous man named Job. One day he lost all his possessions and his 10 kids and their spouses were killed in a storm. Soon after that he lost his health and his wife told him to die. His friends came over to comfort him and ended up accusing him of some wrong and calling him arrogant for maintaining his innocence. He asked God why. God had a good talk with him and ended up blessing him again with twice as much as he had before plus 10 more children. What Job told God during their conversation intrigues me. He said, "Before I had only heard about you, but now I see you with my own eyes." A silver lining. I wonder, do we just hear about God in our churches or do we actually see Him?