Getting Ready

As I was walking to the office early this morning I was greeted by a 30 mph NW wind. However the temp was +30 degrees and here in Iowa, this winter, that's progress. Getting ready involves anticipating, looking forward, and preparing for. We are busy getting ready for spring. We are anticipating it will be later and shorter than normal.

 Snapchat is a fast way to send or share a moment. This sender suggested maybe this could be an option for our early planting. We're obviously kidding. However there is much to be done this spring and possibly a short window to get it accomplished in.

So because of that scenario we are helping Malaki (in the first pic) upgrade this 24 row planter to a high speed machine. These planters are designed to accomplish accuracy in seed depth and placement at twice the speed of a normal planter. You can see the big hoppers where the bulk seed goes. That seed is blown to a mini hopper in each row. Then a seed tube that looks like an airport elevator escalator delivers the seed to the ground on a belt instead of just dropping it. Every row also has an airbag that delivers down pressure or up pressure on the go as it senses whether the ground is hard or soft. The cost of this upgrade is 75% of what the planter cost 4 years ago.

This is a picture from the first week of April last year and shows the planter unfolded in the field. Getting ready involves a plan. Kurt runs this planter. BJ runs a 12 row high speed. Last spring BJ was planting just 2 months after a lower back disc replacement surgery. Alex is in charge of our soybean planter. And then we have a simple 12 row we use wherever needed.

We are busy servicing tractors. This week Jarod is coming to help us make sure all the technology in these machines are calibrated and working right. Technology is the computers that talk to the satellites that keep the tractors driving straight. It also controls the machines they're operating including monitoring the high speed planting details. Technology and a laptop can account for every single seed planted in a particular field.

Mark was called out to relieve ground water pressure under a hog shed finisher whose perimeter tile had gotten smashed during construction. There was around 18 inches of frost under bare ground.

Yep. 44 years ago on March 7 it was winter also. Jan and I were married on a Friday evening in Central Reformed Church with ham buns and cake in the church basement for a reception. We took a two night honeymoon to northwest Iowa. Back then I wasn't much of a planner however I knew who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Jan was 19 and I was 18. The little gal on my lap is my sister Beth who was 5. Brother Bill was bribed into kissing my bride. God took my lack of planning and through a series of character building years helped get me ready for the rest of my life.

Elijah is getting ready for the fair this summer by buying and taking care of his first bucket bottle calf.

Amelia is taking home her bucket bottle goat for her fair project. Amelia and Elijah are part of Mark and Stacy's family.

Last Monday Jan suggested I keep the older preschoolers occupied while she put down the younger preschoolers for their afternoon naps. So I suggested to Jackson, Malaki, and Harris that we watch The Apple Dumpling Gang and I promised them it was a funny movie. Well, 15 minutes later I notice I'm watching this movie by myself and might as well go back to work. The boys went upstairs and told Jan my movie was boring. So much for enjoying Don Knotts and Tim Conway.

At the Osky Christian School fundraiser auction I bought the kindergarten class project and hung it in my office. It's a 6 foot board that helps keep track of growth. As you can see I only have a third of the grandkids measured for this year. Remember when we use to just take the kids and back them up to a wall and make a mark.

Yesterday it rained all day and was around 34 degrees. We had an inch. Since the ground is still frozen and snow covered the rain all headed downhill to the nearest stream or creek or pond.

I met Mark a couple of years ago in St. Louis. He is a professional business coach. We have similar backgrounds and have become friends. I invited a group of business leaders, managers, and folks who work with people, for lunch Friday to hear what Mark had to say.

Mark talked about leadership. About being an active influencer. And about helping others. He also brought his latest book called Active Transformation.

What's on your agenda for this coming week? Do you have things or projects to get ready for? Has God put an opportunity in your path that you need to consider? Are there folks you could help? Maybe just a visit or a note to let them know someone is thinking about them and cares. Have you ever prayed to be a helper or an active influencer in someone's life? Get ready. Often those prayers are answered. Are you ready if this was the last day you had on earth? 

Hey. I'm sure you thought of it already however I'll remind you anyway. Don't forget to STOP and set your CLOCKS forward an hour. Or else you will be late getting ready for church. Have a good week. It's going to warm up a little.