Success is a journey, not a destination. And often the deciding, trying, and doing part is more important than the outcome. In fact sometimes in being an example and daring to start, the journey determines the destination. The 2018 dozing season has started for Mike. Nephews Ethan and John watch while their Uncle builds terraces.
As you grow up, maybe even after you're grown up, enjoy the journey. Have goals. Be someone folks can trust. Accept responsibility. Make things happen. Care about others. Then dream, risk, expect, and be grateful. Find ways to give God credit. And finally look for things to appreciate in others.
I have 3 left over stories from Arizona. Remember the little chorus, "London bridge is falling down, my fair lady". Well when we visited Lake Havasu City with Gary and Jeri I heard the rest of the story. In 1968 the London bridge was literally sinking into the river from heavier traffic. Robert McCulloch, whose chain saw business was in Az. went to an auction in London and bought the bridge for two and a half million dollars.
He had all the granite blocks numbered and then spent 7 million dollars transporting them by ship to the community he established in 1964. He rebuilt the bridge over dry land and then rechanneled the Colorado River under it.
The bridge was dedicated in 1971 in the town of 5000. Robert died six years later. Today the town has a population of 52000 and the bridge is still the main attraction.
Gary had mentioned how he had driven his Polaris Razor to Lake Havasu City some 90 miles through the desert and was in the air 30% of the time. So when we went out together riding Jan made Gary promise this would just be a slow Sunday afternoon drive. :)
What a wonderful time enjoying the desert. Jan had me take pictures of the desert plants. If you look real close you can see our path down into a valley. We were on our way to that far valley to look at a dairy.
On our last day in Phoenix we went to see Aunt Ruth who was married to my Mom's brother Uncle Pete. Aunt Ruth's brother Ron used to own and operate Ron's Yamaha in Pella. Her other brother Gerald owns and operates the Eddyville Dragstrip near Eddyville. We went to a bakery for lunch.
Assisted living in Phoenix is quite a bit different from Iowa. It's a high rise building on a busy street. After our visit and while I was signing out I met another interesting lady.
Aunt Ruth had mentioned she lived here. I did not think a picture would be appropriate. Mrs. O'Connor was the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981 by President Reagan. She retired in 2006. Sandra is still very sharp and perceptive. I enjoyed meeting her.
Well 43 years ago this past Wednesday evening at 18 years old I married Jan in the Central Reformed church in Oskaloosa. Brother Bill was our uninterested ring bearer. Sister Beth was our cute flower girl. Today Bill and Julie have 7 children and operate Boender Electric. Beth and Dan live in Colorado Springs and have 4 children. Since we had no money and I had no inspiration we spent the weekend in Northwest Iowa for our honeymoon.
God has blessed our journey. We moved forward together farming side by side and starting a family in the 1970s. Farming in the 1980s was a struggle and God used that process to make me into who He wanted me to be. Jan has and continues to cook for kids, grandkids, hired help, high school, and church. Marriage is a journey that gets better with age. Living with Jan makes me want to try my hardest to be a better person.
That first spring we were married I drove to the local Farm Service and timidly asked Howard, the manager, if he had any custom application I could help with so I could support my family. He said, "son, never put yourself down". He took a chance and gave us their custom NH3 acres. One day Howard called Jan and asked if we would be interested in doing some custom spraying. He had a family that didn't care for those custom pickup sprayers. That family was Hugh, with sons Daryl and Tom. I sprayed 10 acres a batch with a 200 gallon 3pt. sprayer. There was plenty of time to dissolve the wettable powder atrazine as it loaded at 11 gallon a minute. I had a 24 foot boom mounted under the belly of my IH 856. Daryl decided to run for County Supervisor in 1978 and asked Jan and I to rent he and Rosie's 400 acres. Daryl and Rosie became close friends of our family. That transaction was God's plan for Jan and I's journey and was the backbone of our operation during the tough farming years.
That visit with Howard at FS was the start of our families journey and God's plan into the custom farming business and is a major part of who we are today. This week we put together a second tanker tender that brings hot loads (already mixed) of spray to our sprayers in the field. Compared to when we started the Load Command loads a 100 acre batch, 1200 gallon load, in 3 minutes and hooks and unhooks hydraulically on it's own.
About a dozen years ago God had another journey forward for our family. Marvin and Jean were considering retiring from their farming operation and were looking forward to more volunteer work trips. I had babysat for them when I was a kid and a neighbor. I also served with Jean on the COC board. God used those relationships to get us together and today our family rents their ground. This past winter Marvin had some health problems in Arizona and was flown to Des Moines where he is in therapy. Please keep Marvin and Jean in your prayers as they travel this tough part of life's journey. The neat part of God's plan is that they are more than landlords. They are close friends.
Yesterday as Ryan and I went to check on their farm we stopped at the bin site along the Lacey blacktop and noticed that someone had torn apart the electric breaker boxes, cut all the wires from the electric motors, and pulled all the copper wire from the conduits leaving everything a big mess. They couldn't have gotten more than $10 worth of copper yet doing thousands of dollars of damage. This is not the first time this has happened. Suppose if I left $20 in a breaker box they would leave our wiring along. They also cleaned out our granary of hoppers and tools.
BJ continues to improve. He ran skid loader some this week loading cattle manure. He is also keeping the progress on their new home moving forward as the plumbing and heating and cooling are being installed. Last year's fire and back troubles and this year's rebuilding and back surgery have also been a journey and their family is leaning on God and thanking Him for His plan.
Some of our family are looking forward to helping on a short work trip to southern Missouri with Pella II CRC church late this next week. We hope to help by bringing some equipment and cleaning up some old flood damage. Brother Doug is currently on a work trip to Honduras with his boys and friend Mike is on a work trip to Florida with his daughter.
Remember to get your chores done an hour earlier this morning or you will be late for church. We spring forward an hour today as Daylight Savings Time starts. See you next week if I have wifi in Missouri.
No comments:
Post a Comment