StillwatersIowa

Every four years or so, about this time of year, folks come to our turf to participate, report on, or just watch a race.  Currently there are some newcomers leading in this race on our turf.   Folks watching are confused. People they trust are cheering for the loud, the angry, and the arrogant even though they haven't seen them in a race like this before. And are trashing and talking bad about the very folks they cheered for in the race four years ago.  In the opposing party we have a socialist and the dishonest leading the polls. When there is something that needs to be done these folks say vote for us and we will get someone to do it for you and even pay for it with someone else's money. In the party I am part of we have about a dozen or so in the race. These two are leading and folks are saying one of these two is your winner. They are both campaigning with a focus on self. They both have large sums of money at th...

Sometimes my thought process doesn't always follow the seasons. We had a number of meetings and visits this past week about looking forward to the future and why we do what we do.   This is the last week of January already and for the most part the last crop season is wrapped up. 2015's crop is same as gone and the obligations from last year are taken care of.   The guys are working on machinery, selling hogs, still doing dirt work, working on projects at home, and a little ice fishing. We are only 9 visits away from Easter and the first of April. So we are also getting in seed for next year, tuning up the technology on planters for spring, having tax appointments, deciding acres, buying chemicals, doing cash flows, and meeting with bankers to show them our plan for the new year. Yes, it's a much different scenario in farming today than it has been. There are no home runs and it takes a sharp pencil to get a base hit. There are two simple fa...

In February of 1996 Jan and I attended a Rural Water Conference in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. On that particular weekend we went to church with and visited Uncle John and Miss Vivian who were living in the area . This past week we made the trip back down to Georgia with my parents. We had the privilege of getting a look into the lives of Uncle John who passed away in 2010 and Miss Vivian who passed away in 2015.    My Mom was to go to the courthouse to be sworn in as Trustee of Miss Vivian's estate. Her job is to carry out the wishes of the will. We were also to meet with folks who were hired to disperse of Miss Vivian's earthly possessions. Aunt Marge was my Mom's sister. She married Uncle John and they lived in Michigan. She passed away about 20 years ago. We found this sewing machine in Uncle John's stuff in the basement. We are quite sure it was Aunt Marge's and according to pictures we are pretty sure it first belonged to my Grandma Ru...