StillwatersIowa

While we were out in Colorado a few weeks ago our granddaughter Rachel was given a horse for free. Now if you figure the fuel it takes to pull a trailer to Colorado and the time it takes for BJ her dad to build fence I'm not sure it was quite free. Also as Uncle Karl said you can't just back a horse in the corner of the machine shed until you need him.   But hey, how can you not go after Bear, the horse, when you see how much he likes his new owner. O, speaking of hay, BJ usually sells that as a cash crop. Might have to save a little back. How much hay will Bear eat? Will he like Iowa hay? Who will feed Bear? I'll let you in on a little secret. When Rachel's mom Cassia was Rachel's age her first job was taking care of horses and cleaning pens in Colorado. She probably fed Bear since Bear is a senior citizen in horse years. Since Rachel loves horses as much as her mom does I dare to bet Bear is going to have a great time becoming an Iowan. Since harvest ...

We are going along focusing on our work. We look ahead and we see something or someone coming our way. We wonder if those approaching will be complimentary or critical. A team has goals. Winning shouldn't be the only goal. In fact winning shouldn't even be the top goal. Who do we represent as a team? What do those we represent stand for? How does that determine how we act as we come and go? Sometimes our family is the face of agriculture when visited by guests from the city. We got to meet some new friends from Anheuser Busch who were visiting Cargill/Eddyville and came out for lunch. Sometimes our crew is a team tackling the tough jobs. We were cleaning out the shop pit and drain getting ready for company. Tough jobs go so much better when there is plenty of help. If you are having company you need to be prepared. Karl is setting up the drinks for our appreciation supper last Wednesday evening. We went through 40 gallon of tea and lemonade. Some...

Often I catch myself doing little jobs that need done but neglect to make a plan that would help our operation and team have a direction on what needs accomplished for the week. Even when responsibility is shared someone needs to be the communicator. We stopped for breakfast at a McDonald's where there were customers lined out the door and the manager was occupying his time cleaning the hoses on the Slurpee machine. While it was commendable for him to do menial work he wasn't accomplishing his major responsibility of feeding people in a timely manner. We had fun with little jobs this week that were getting ready for bigger more important things. Kind of like wearing swimming suits and cowboy boots at the same time. The PCHS volleyball team was over late last week. They had a retreat and did a service project helping on the cabin. Their first game is next week Monday evening. Wish you the best girls.   Also the PCHS board and staff kicked off another year by ge...

This past week we enjoyed a trip to northwest Colorado. We took along our ATVs, a camper or two, and plenty of food. We stayed on a ranch just east of Walden, CO. in a large cabin.   The ranch lays in a large basin called North Park up in the mountains around 8500 feet elevation in Jackson County. The population of this county is 1350 people, the fourth least populated county in Colorado.  Our son BJ worked construction during the winter months on this ranch many years ago. The ranch is managed by an Oskaloosa native, Mark. BJ met his wife Cassia here when she worked for the ranch doing horse chores. Her parents, Mike and Melody, owned and operated a hardware store in Walden at the time. The ranch adjoins a state forest with trails going to the top of the surrounding mountains. Below little Jackson is enjoying a ride with his dad, Kurt, and Uncle Mike.  We put around 100 miles on our Rangers riding the trails and enjoy...