I'm guessing our chances for any more fall work are probably over. :) We had equipment out in the fields yet and worked this past week on getting them rounded up.
This tractor gelled up on the way home. That means it's so cold out it's diesel fuel turned to jelly and wouldn't flow. Mike told me he would run to New Sharon and get some conditioner. As I was waiting in the tractor cab watching the snow blow across the road I thought, what if. What if the blowing snow closed the road? How cold would I really get even though I was dressed warm? So I hollered at Mike on the 2 way and told him I'd just ride along to town.
We've had a real winter this year. Many folks are calling it just like the old days. Ain't it something how we remember the old days? Weathered means getting worn out by being in the elements. Or to wear away by exposure. This year has weathered folks. However it also has another meaning. To reach the end of a situation without too much harm. Like they weathered the storm just fine.
There were many occasions when I stopped and pulled folks out of snow drifts this past week. The first was an icy morning. I was on my way home from Pella early. An Asian fellow was on his way to his job at Central. He said he was working to feed his family. Eric and I became instant friends. I told him next time it might be him doing a good deed for me. On that same trip home a fellow had hit a snow drift with his pickup and no longer had a reverse gear.
I woke up very early one morning and looked out the house windows like I always do. To the west between our and Karl and Kristin's house were headlights and taillights stopped on a road that goes nowhere in particular. (Not this picture) I thought it might be a feed truck stuck or something. It was cold enough to be dangerous out. So I got dressed, got in my truck, and went to check it out.
I found a small car (not this picture) in a snow drift with 6 cold adults in it. I asked where they were headed and what they were doing in this horrible weather. They were evasive. I told them if they hooked my log chain to the front of their little car I would pull them out. They said there was too much snow packed under their car and just to hook the chain around their front tire. So I got on my knees, dug with my hands under their car, in the dark, until I found something to hook to and pulled them out. They never told me their names and I didn't tell mine.
BJ's tiling equipment is sitting just over the hill,on the job, in hibernation, waiting for the winter to pass.
Next week we are to see few temps above zero. Karl is loading out fat hogs every day. What a hard job it is to get semis in with feed and out with fat hogs in this weather. His sheds are out to be emptied, power washed, and 10,000 head of 12 lb. baby pigs coming in 10 days. Also what a hard job to keep these sheds and cement warm for the new arrivals. So yesterday Mike, Karl, and I covered the side curtains with insulation since the curtains won't be coming down anytime soon. Just for the record animal lovers, these warm buildings are so much more humane than a pig in an outside shed in a snowdrift.
These animals look a little more normal with frost all over them however they still enjoy going inside out of the wind and cold with dry bedding. We stopped yesterday at BJ's and checked to see if their waterers were thawed.
We stopped to check BJ and Cassia's chores because they are in Des Moines with our churches youth group. They packed food the Heartland, cleaned at Joshua Christian Academy, and went to WinterJam this weekend. Below BJ is doing devotions.
As I mentioned in an earlier visit a winter job for farmers is to make a plan for the next crop growing season. If a farmer borrows money for inputs as most do this plan involves a bank visit. Basically farmers and their lender discuss where they've been (last years results), where they're at (balance sheet), and where they are headed (a projected cash flow for the upcoming year). What a blessing our family has to work with folks that are not only business partners but friends.
So what's the difference between being weathered by the storms and weathering the storms? ATTITUDE. We have a choice how we handle predicaments. Are we going to be a lemon? Or are we going to make lemonade? Another winter job we enjoy is working together in our farm shop.
Mike sees the cold weather as ice getting hard enough to fish. Since the kids are home so much due to bad roads he and Jackson went ice fishing.
Our crew has and continues to move snow for others just to be neighborly.
Jan fixes a meal, posts it on snapchat, and invites everyone in for a warm lunch.
Gideon and Ethan were dropped off supper (Mexican takeout) in the shop while they were busy dismounting and remounting new snow tires.
I received the neatest gift in the mail this week. The Dordt College Pro-Tech manufacturing class made me this piece as a thank you for my help and support. Wow. Your thoughtfulness warms my heart. Thank you Joel and class. I would love to get up your way for a visit and school chapel.
These gals are busy as ever and always helping someone and I love to share their picture with you all when I get a recent one. Jan and I are so blessed to have these gals as part of our family. They are our daughter and daughter-in-laws. Stacy, Cassia, Suzanne, Emily, Becky, and Kristin.
2019 is off to a running start in the storm department. However there may be more than just snowstorms. Other storms may involve cancer or heart trouble. Finances or relationships. Jobs or accidents. Never forget on our own we are stuck in a drift without hope of rescue. However with God loving us, helping us, and even having a plan for us, we can get unstuck and move on.
Well I see lights on in the house. Jan must be cooking her hamballs for our church potluck today. I think I will go see if I can get a taste test. Thanks for the visit. Stay warm and you will weather this season just fine.
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