StillwatersIowa

There are weeks in farming every now and then when a person needs to look ahead, make a plan, and get some of those jobs done that have been on the list awhile. The crop still needs some attention but this week we put aside the fact that it's not raining, rootless corn syndrome, pythium seedling rot, and poor soybean emergence, and tackled some of those other projects.    Oh, we're still spraying. Since it's been so windy we have been to the field, loaded, and spraying by daybreak. Then we quit early when the wind gets strong.  BJ does a lot of baling. One day he called and needed a ratchet strap and a log chain. When he ejected a finished bale from the baler it rolled down a hill and into Arvin and Deana's pond. Every now and then you end up doing a job you never expected. Jamison and Ross are cousins. They came and turned seven dead pine trees into mulch for Jan. We poured a lot of cement in front of the shop and a little in front of the dock...

There are days in life when you can see down the road a long ways. As you look forward you can see possibilities and opportunities to get things done. I have always believed a person needs to be ready to take advantage of those opportunities. Sometimes we wait or are not ready to do a job, start a project, take a trip, make a decision, or visit someone. We tell ourselves we have plenty of time. Then on down the road we run into an obstacle we did not expect. A mild winter turned into an early spring in Iowa and gave us an opportunity to get a crop in. There were and still are risks of course. It could have froze off. The bugs could eat the early crops. It's maturity could hit a summer drought at the wrong time. However there are also risk when we wait or are not ready. First it was too wet. Then the weeds grew and it was too green. Now we have had two weeks of no rain and it is too dry. We also need to be ready to take the time to get together as family and friend...

Have you ever looked back to when you were young and thought about the characteristics your parents had that you now have? Sometimes those characteristics came from traditions and habits we grew up around. Many times our values and view of life came from our fathers and mothers instilling them in us. Those traditions, habits, values, and worldview are our roots. Both of my parents helped me form my roots but since it's Mothers Day I'll share some of my mom's characteristics. Mom was an example of serving. She taught me to be generous when I give and grateful when I receive. Mom and I both have the Uncle Jake mentality. That's not always a good thing. Being of Dutch heritage and never wanting to waste anything, Uncle Jake would always eat the dropped apples on the ground and save the good apples on the tree for a later day. The moral of this story is you never get finished eating drops because they keep dropping. I remember my life back then being steady and str...

Watching the rain gauge is something farmers do. It seems in our occupation that we often are either waiting for it to rain or waiting for it to stop raining. Our fields have been wet now for about ten days. Fortunately it's warm and the crop that is planted is growing. Waiting to go back to the field also brings opportunities for other activities and relationships. The grandkids are around more on wet days. They enjoy doing things together as cousins. Ethan was collecting worms in a paint can lid so little Anton asked Grandpa if I would help him find a worm. Well the first thing we looked under we found this selemander. Ezra, Elliott, and Zach are pretending to do dirtwork in their mom's flowers. One rainy morning we went to a landlord's house for coffeetime. Here Marv is showing the boys how a two row planter used to work. The warm wet week actually helped some fields emerge through a crust that had been caused from a previous pounding rain. T...