Stand For Something

In 1991 Aaron Tippin helped write and sang a song that said, "You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything". This past week we celebrated our countries independence. Below Cody spent the 4th at Lake Red Rock with friends and their families. Cody is Mike and Suzanne's son. He is working for Al and Ryan fixing tires this summer and looking forward to his Junior year at PCHS playing football.

Standing for something means being courageous. Courage doesn't mean you're not afraid. It means you're willing to take a risk. Below Kurt and Emily's 5 year old Jackson took a risk and jumped off the diving board at our pond.

The corn crop is growing thanks to our warm weather. The dark green color means it's roots have found the nitrogen. As the picture below shows adding nitrogen with a ground rig is probably over.

The earlier planted corn is just starting to tassel. Below Mark planted 108 day corn on April 14 around he and Stacy's house. Thanks for the picture Mark.

With all our moisture, lack of canopy, and some folks not getting a pre-herbicide application on before planting we have been helping clean up some weedy fields.

There are several kinds of herbicides being used this year on 4 different kinds of herbicide tolerant soybeans. That involves really being intentional about thinking what has previously been in the semi tender. What did the sprayer spray last and what kind of soybeans are being sprayed next? What kind of soybeans are in the neighboring fields? Finally remembering and applying the different application rules for different herbicides.

Having two sprayers helps manage and accomplish all those options when spraying and helping others keep their crops weed free.

Last Wednesday evening Jan and I went to Leon, Iowa, stopped at Long Creek Outfitters, a big western clothing and boot store just west of town, and then attended one of the best rodeos in the state.

We went to watch Gideon ride bulls. It ended up being a rainy night. The bulls were soaking wet and none of the 22 bull riders stayed on for 8 seconds. Gideon is the one on the right with cousin Ethan in the center and brother John on the left. The gentleman in the black is the announcer on his horse.

We sat with BJ and Cassia's family. It was fun to see brother Bill and his daughter Mariah there. Many of you have called and asked about Bill's health. Thanks for your concern. Bill has been fighting a serious blood infection since March. He is scheduled to have his cancerous prostate removed July 23 at Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota.

2019 continues to be a year we'll remember. Weeds are not the only thing we fight on wet years and sometimes there is a balance between weedy fields and muddy conditions. This bottom was perfectly dry on top however mucky underneath. We could not get our sprayer back up no matter how much horsepower we put on the front.

So thanks to Layton, Wyatt, Dan, Virgil, Bill, and John's help we unloaded the sprayer's load and reloaded it back in the semi on the road two days after it got stuck.

After finally pulling it out empty we noticed in the 40 inch deep tire ruts there was sand under about 12 inches of top soil.

Friday evening Jan and I joined brother Doug and Ginger at North Mahaska in New Sharon for their daughter Ki's last regular softball game. Their son Ben was also playing baseball. It was fun to go back. I attended North Mahaska my freshman and sophomore years of high school a long time ago.

After Mark and Stacy and BJ and Cassia's families came over for swimming and pizza on the 4th Jan and I sat on our porch and watched the Oskaloosa fireworks 4 miles away. We could also see Pella's.

In the spring of 1776 and while some still hoped for peace, the colonies were at war with England. In May eight colonies voted to support independence despite the fact the British were sending a massive war fleet consisting of 30 ships, 1200 cannons, and 30,000 soldiers. On June 11 a vote was postponed and Congress recessed for 3 weeks after appointing a committee of five to draft a statement presenting the colonies' case for independence. Jefferson wrote the statement which was then revised and edited by the committee. Passage would not be easy. Some in Congress opposed independence. For 2 days they struggled changing Jefferson's document 39 times. Finally on the afternoon of July 4, 1776 delegates to the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to adopt what we now call the Declaration of Independence.

However the freedoms we have today did not come without a price. There were 56 men that signed the statement. Most of them believed in a sovereign God. 14 were ordained ministers.  Many signers loaned their entire wealth for the cause of freedom. It was never paid back. The last sentence in the Declaration says, "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor". Nine of those men paid with their lives. Many saw their families killed or imprisoned. Most all of their homes were burned and estates plundered. Many never saw their children again. Most died as poor men, unremembered in their time, their reputations lost. What a price to pay for being willing to stand up for a cause. Thanks for the picture Gina.

What about us? What are we willing to stand up for? Our freedoms that others paid for with their lives? Our values that are absolutely necessary for us to exist as a country? Our faith which is constantly trying to be taken away? Who are we willing to stand up for? Those who can't stand for themselves? The forgotten? The unborn? And finally what are we willing to pay? Our interest? Our time? Our efforts? Our money? Our reputations? Is there a cause that we would be willing to give our lives for? Are we willing to give everything and go unremembered? The next time we are asked to risk something for what we believe, we need to remember the men who bravely stood up at the birth of our United States. Our grandchildren need to know how much we appreciate the price paid for our freedoms and what we what we are willing to stand up for since they are learning less and less of it in school. As Lee Greenwood sings, I'm Proud to be an American and God Bless the USA.