Transistion

Life is a series of transitions. My western novelist Louis L'Amour used to say that the only thing that never changes is that every thing changes and he often wrote about the transition from the early wild west to civilization. Age, jobs, friends, seasons, technology, and lifestyle all have an effect on us.

In our part of the world you can feel a change coming in our seasons. Heat feels good on an early cool morning and I often use those early mornings to sit in front of a knipco heater and talk to God.

Our family has transitioned from harvesting our last crop to preparing for the next one. We have had a beautiful fall to apply crop nutrients and prepare the ground for next spring. 

Cover crop has become a popular way to prevent erosion and improve soil health. It's when you plant rye or oats on a harvested field in the fall, leave it over winter, spray it in the spring, and no-til in your crop. 

Hog manure is an excellent nutrient source for crops. We have been busy hauling and injecting "honey", as we call it, on next years corn acres.

Our country is definitely in a transition. My hope and prayer is that Mr. Trump will surround himself with good, capable, folks that love our country and believe in the values that have made and sustained us. He has done that in his vice-president and has already put him to work leading the transition team. He has also assembled 60 folks as his agriculture advisory team. I'm encouraged.

As I was tankering hog honey yesterday I thought how things have transitioned and changed over the last 50 years. I remember when this bridge was used over the Des Moines River. What we drive, how we farm, how we communicate, and the pace we live have all changed. Yet relationships still determine outcome and we are still people working with people.

There are transitions in church as well. And attitude and caring is a big part of success. I think most if not all of us agree God is in charge of all aspects of change in our lives. As we were instructed, if we love God first, and each other, next, we can look forward to whatever is coming next. Have a good week.