Time

Good morning. Everything we do has a time factor. Driving and speed limits. Scheduling work. Crops growing. Racing. Rodeoing. Time seems to stand still in this picture. A high school classmate of mine caught this sunset last Saturday evening over our pond. Thanks for sharing Cheri.

It looks as if time as turned backwards in this picture. These mammas were enjoying a mud hole in their sow pasture. Jan and I were on a Sunday afternoon Ranger ride looking at crops south of Fremont when we spotted these gals.  

Jan designs and puts together quilts including ones for her grandkids. Time has flown by as I watch these guys grow up and help their dads after getting out of school for the summer.

Last Sunday noon we enjoyed the holiday weekend by going to brother Doug and Gingers for potluck lunch.

Last Sunday evening we joined Mike and Cody at their campsite along the river. I'm not a fish guy however Mike knows how to prepare fish so it is delicious.

 Stacy spent some time in the ER Sunday afternoon. Anton is a motocross racer however he broke his arm playing with friends in the yard

Malaki and Elijah are hauling dirt with their toy trucks from one corn row to the next.

It's haying time. With humidity in the mid twenty percent range these past afternoons a lot of good hay got put up. 

After haying BJ cleaned his cattle lots and spread the manure on the hay stubble. This particular hay field has been planted to late soybeans.

It's time to make a plan about the fall crop. I can think of five friends building bins this year and big ones. Bins don't sell your crop so you still need a marketing plan however bins can make harvest go smoother. 

A job I enjoy is spraying fencerows. Time slows down. You can't hear your phone. It's soaking in the sunshine and sometimes chemicals if the wind is wrong. It's a great way to scout crops. I love to see a dike, road ditch, or fencerow, free of weeds and trees. And I think it shows landlords you care about the appearance of their property.

Although we seldom have time to use them as much as we like and rarely use them together, three kids have dozers. Thursday afternoon I moved one to the large pond project Mark and Mike and their kids have been working on at Mark's place.

Tomorrow and Tuesday all three dozers will be racing against time filling in the center of core and pond dike. It's a race against possible heavy rain. Can you imagine starting to stop the creek, only getting half finished, and getting a large rain covering your unfinished work? This project reminds me of the summer of 2005 when we built our pond.

Home insurance requires you to list your contents in case of a loss and will only pay on the lost items listed. Can you imagine trying to think of everything in your home from phone chargers, to silverware, to outgrown clothes in boxes, to Christmas decorations, to kids toys, to bathroom supplies, to food. The list is unending. BJ and Cassia have spent the last month on this daunting job after the loss of their home. Cassia is up to 15000 items on 80 pages of paper. Then they have to go through and set a depreciated price of everything. This past week the girls got together to help her price.

We are thankful we started early and worked hard at getting our second spraying application and our additional nitrogen put on. The corn is growing fast and the rows are closed on many fields.

Much of our time is spent working. However we realize downtime is necessary and we also definitely know how to have fun and participate in competitions. Often those competitions involve a race against time. Mike and Cody bow fish. Mark and family race motocross. BJ and Cassia race side by sides. Jim drag races. Alex golfs. Kasey rides bulls. I'm forgetting others.

When we can, we go and support one of our crew who is competing. Last evening's rodeo was in Albia at their fairgrounds. This location brought back memories of me and others including John, tractor pulling when I was in my twenties. I also remember my kids racing four wheelers through the mud here when they were in their twenties.

After joining some of the crew at Bogies for supper we watched Kasey ride bulls last evening. I have found there is no better use of time than spending it together with folks you care about building relationships. As a husband, father, grandfather, and employer, I enjoy few things more than watching my kids, grandkids, and help interact and enjoy each others company. I'm thinking our Father in heaven is blessed and honored when we, His children, care about each other, help each other, and get along down here on earth.

Last Sunday morning we had church as a class to finish up our reunion weekend. I was inspired listening to Nuper give his testimony and talk about his life and God's involvement in it. Nuper talked about how we spend our time. So often Christians come across as superior, crabby, and negative, trying to follow rules. When in fact we are to be courageous, contagious, and caring. In others words we are to be a blast to be around. Lets make it happen.