I often wonder what you folks would like to visit about. My ideas usually come from our jobs during the work week. An explanation of what we are up to. And then an application to how it all fits together in life.
When we chisel cornstalks we are getting ready for another corn crop next year. Soybeans are forgiving and can be easily no-tilled in last years crop residue. However you want to plan for a corn crop not to have a bad day. The deep rippers on this tillage trip go about 14 inches deep and is the vertical operation. Their job is to break up compaction. This allows the soils to better receive and hold next years rains rather than have the water run off in a sheet like fashion. It also really helps develop strong corn roots. The disk on the front and back of these machines are designed to stir, mix, and bury previous crop residue in the soil structure. This is the horizontal action. Burying old crop residue builds organic material. Cover crop these days are designed do the same thing. You still need a percentage of that residue in the top soil profile to prevent erosion.
Last year I asked you folks who these birds were and where they all come from during a tillage trip. Dale called and told me they were sea gulls and they come from Lake Red Rock. I tend to agree with him. I certainly wonder how they figure out who is chiseling and where so they can come and eat the exposed bugs and worms. I have even seen them eat mice.
We had the lug nuts come loose on a chisel and lost a wheel. The hub was ruined and the rim was totally egged out from not catching it in time. So we had to weld new rings in the center of the wheel.
Our wire welder was out of Argon gas so I plugged in my favorite old stick welder. This 300 amp Craftsman welder is a 1946 model according to the serial number. My father-in-law gave it to me 25 years ago when he got a new one. This is the welder our kids learned to weld with. It's also the one our grandkids ask if they can practice welding with. This 71 year old machine has used truckloads of welding rods. It helped build Jan's father's first hybrid truck/tractor. It was part of the first tractor pulling sled at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds in the early 1960s. It helped build the stage on wheels that Central Reformed Church used when they had services at the drive-in theater on the west side of Oskaloosa.
BJ and Andy have been tiling all week. Tile needs fall. The extra water in soil finds these perforated tubes and run down hill via gravity. This is the vertical application. Pattern tiling is when you place tile in the whole farm about 30-40 feet apart in a pattern. A pattern tile job cost close to $1000/acre. A tile about 4 feet deep can pull water about a rod in both directions in the soil. This is the horizontal application. Southern Iowa soils greatly benefit from tiling because our sub soils have a far amount of tight clay.
Recently a visitor asked Linda, our bookkeeper, what the cross on our shop office was for. She shared how it just showed up one day and was laying by the door. Just like a cross on a necklace it reminds us and our visitors of Christ's gift to us. However I think it also has a second application. The vertical 4x4 points up. Our operation is dependent on God. The horizontal 4x4 points out both directions. We are also dependent one way on each other working together, and the other way on the folks we work for including landlords and custom work.
Week two of Jan's project is slow coming along. No friends, it's not going to be a graven image.:) Stay tuned.
BJ and Cassia's new home has a vertical and horizontal application. Vertical is the foundation, the rafters, the walls, the strength, the protection from the elements.
Horizontal is the floor plan, the windows, the doors, the wrap around porch. Horizontal is planning the kitchen for meals together. The individual rooms for raising a family. The family room for having guests over. The porch for enjoying time together.
Speaking of homes, I stopped at Keith and Gloria's place to drop off a seed order. I was reminded again that this was the place I lived when I started kindergarten. Cal and Irene and their big family lived just east up the lane where Dale and Nancy live now. That was four generations ago.:)
The sprayer has been in the warm shop waiting to be winterized. It takes about 60 gallon of RV antifreeze through it's system so parts don't freeze and break when it sits in a machine shed during our cold winters. Matt started pouring in jugs and Ryan helped me finish yesterday.
Last evening The Family Leader had their "Celebrate The Family" event. Ben, a US Senator from Nebraska was the keynote speaker. He is 45 years old and is serving his first term. He talked about relationships, family, and community and how we were created to be needed in our jobs and relationships.
Speaking of family, the time kids spend with their parents is the vertical part of growing up. The "roots" of growing up are being established when kids feel loved and needed. They learn to work, responsibility, and others by helping outside the home. They learn they are not the center of life, however totally loved. They learn relationships and self worth hanging around their folks and other adults in the work place. I realize this isn't possible in many jobs.
Interacting with siblings, cousins, and friends is the horizontal part of kids growing up. Playing together, sharing, going to school together, and working on Grandma's jobs together develop those roots that started with hanging out with their parents when they were young. No matter what they do in life when they grow up folks can never take away those character traits.
Judy is a jewel. She loves the Lord and people. She and Brent were married at our place a few years back. Brent unexpectedly and suddenly passed away yesterday morning. Judy, Justin, Cary, and family, we promise to keep you in our thoughts and prayers this coming week and in the future. We also promise to keep Diane, Verlan, and the rest of Brent's siblings in prayer during this loss.
Those of us that have grown up in church remember learning sin, salvation, service. The catechism calls it misery, deliverance, and gratitude. The first part, sin and misery is often the "life sucks" down here on earth. The second part, Salvation and deliverance is the vertical part of our faith. It's when God gifted us with a relationship with Him and helps us, especially during our hard times. This part is the truth and roots of our faith. It's love God with all your heart part. Sometimes I think the church forgets to talk about the third part of what we believe. The horizontal part. The service to others out of gratitude to God for helping us. The fruit producing part because of those earlier roots. The love your neighbor as much or more than you love yourself part. The everyday practical stuff. The relationships Ben talked about last night. Have a good week. And let's work on the service and gratitude part of our faith this Thanksgiving week.
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