StillwatersIowa

I have always said that any nice weather we have in Iowa after Thanksgiving is a gift. It's a time when we wrap up all those unfinished jobs as we get ready for the winter season.  Last Sunday afternoon several of us went for a hike at the Cedar Bluffs. There are trails in the timber to a bluff overlooking where the Cedar Creek runs into the Des Moines River southeast of Tracy. The trail shows some Iowa history as it goes along an Indian burial ground at the top of the area and some Indian carvings on the rock face of the bluff. This hole was made by a tree spade getting ready to plant a tree. After a dry brown summer things are still very green for late November. If you look close you can see Jan's still mowing yard. Here comes the tree. The dirt that fits in the hole that's around the roots on a four inch tree weighs around four ton. Wayne, the gentleman who delivered the trees, is the father of a family friend. He has been a Cadet counselor in church just ...

A small church in our area asked if I would be willing to come and share my walk with the Lord following a Thanksgiving supper they were having this evening. That's not something we do very often in our church. We should probably do it more but we worry what people will think rather than what God will think. Now since I can sit in front of a computer and visit with you folks no problem I'm going to practice on you if that's alright. I'm planning on sharing ten things God has given me that has had an effect on me.   Parents: I am thankful for Christian parents that raised me in a home where I was taught to love God and my neighbor. People: I'm thankful I had a houseful of brothers, sisters, and foster kids growing up. I'm also thankful for the people God placed in my life in the right place at the right time to give me guidance and advice when I needed it. Plan: When I was in 7th grade I made four goals that I wanted to achieve by the time I was 3...

Have you ever had weeks when you just kept running into closed doors? What do you do? Do you get discouraged and give up or do you get determined and keep trying? There are days it seems when everything you touch breaks and needs fixed. There are days when things just barely seem to fit and your load is bigger than your truck. There are days when you just get stuck and have to call for help. There are days when you have to make a move. Your surroundings change. Everything is different and anxiety sets in.   Once in a while your project just doesn't go as planned. When things don't go as planned and doors seem to close it's always helpful to have folks you can bounce your ideas off of as you come up with plan B. As far as this past weeks elections go it is my opinion that the dependents have outnumbered the independents and we now have more folks riding the wagon than pushing the wagon. The folks that want the government to take care of them are ...

The definition of impact is a force having an effect or influence on what happens. Karl is using an impact wrench to have an impact on this tire. Hurricane Sandy definitely had an impact on the eastern seaboard states of our country. We farm for folks that own land in Iowa but live near Philadelphia. They were confined to their home without electricity for some time.                    This is a picture of storm water coming into the subway system.                      Our thoughts and prayers are with those folks as they start to put their lives back together. An interesting story closer to home. We had borrowed a honey wagon suction hose from my cousin Stanley to water and pack dirtwork before it started raining. Someone told Mike it needed to be returned so Friday evening Mik...