StillwatersIowa

Well. School is out. And for this good looking bunch high school's been out for 43 years. My classmates got together last evening thanks to Peggy, Leann, Karen, and Bryce. Thanks to Jan for preparing the meal. We were a rather non conforming class back in the 1970s. So it seemed appropriate that we would get together on a year that didn't end in a five.  I joined this group at Pella Christian High as a Junior. Our class's "claim to fame" was being sent home from our class trip a little early. It was fun last evening watching folks walk up to the cabin and putting a name to a face more than 40 years later. Some hadn't changed a lick. A few I didn't recognize. Around 45 of the 70 some classmates attended. I think we have had 3 classmates pass away.  Our grandkids are out of school as well. As a grandpa I know I'm getting older when I watch Ethan and Gideon clean out the inside of their trucks.  Since Ethan's 8th ...

I'd like to introduce you to a friend I met last winter. Zane Grey was born in Ohio in 1872. He did not apply himself in school, barely getting by with grades. He was a natural writer however he struggled with grammar. In between fishing and baseball he became a dentist and an author. He idealized the American frontier, pioneer lifestyle, and western adventure. Much of his writing came from listening to stories of his Grandfather Colonel Zane and Isaac Zane's experiences. Isaac had married a Wyandotte Indian princess after she had saved him from being burned at the stake.   Zane's strength as a writer was in his description of the Old West as only he remembered it. He also had the ability to get his readers to relate to the characters and countryside of his stories. Zane died suddenly and unexpectedly at his home at the age of 67. Last year Jan visited the What Cheer flee market where she found a collection of these hard cover westerns. For...

We live in a self service world today. We pump our own gas. We check ourselves out at the counter. We load our own purchases at the big stores. We can even shop on-line on our own. Jan's mower ran out of diesel the other day. I helped her fill it up.   Using several semi loads of diesel fuel a year farming we often get offered a price savings if we would set up for semi tanker deliveries. However that would mean a one drop location. We would then have to self serve ourselves to all our outlying locations. With large tractors holding 400 gallon of fuel it would be a fulltime job for someone just delivering fuel. Brent does a great job of keeping us filled up and delivers to us just about every day during field work time.   Dr. Gary says we all have an emotional tank that needs to be filled. It can be filled by others with acts of service, quality time, affirmation and encouragement, gifts, and physical touch. Do you know what fills your loved ones ta...