Greetings my friends on this Palm Sunday. I hope you are all hanging in there with grit. Grit is strength of character, perseverance, and commitment toward surviving tough challenges. Grit keeps us on our feet during risky, slippery, and unstable conditions. Gratitude and attitude are attributes that help give us grit. Malaki has plenty of grit as he washes the shop floor while his dad Karl, and I work on seed orders.
Last Sunday evening was Scoop the Loop in Pella. Mike said it was multi-generational and families. Back when I was a teenager kids would drive around the square on weekends. We would meet at a parking lot called Dutchman's in Oskaloosa. Grab a can of Pringles chips from Elmer's little grocery and magazine store across the street. And fill a car with kids while cruising. For those of you outside our community this current cruising was suggested as a way of socializing during our social distancing. Thanks for the picture Suzanne.
Speaking of Oskaloosa, last evening was Scoop the Loop here. Thanks for the picture Flyin High Drone Imagery. Also thanks for the early morning chats over coffee at our office.
Along with Jan's many talents of cooking and baking for us and others, making pillows for kid's birthdays, and sewing soft fuzzy baby blankets for new babies, she is constructing an igloo out of seed field signs for our small grandkids.
Who would ever dream we would need those old school desks again. Jackson is taking a break from helping his dad to do his school work from home. While little brother Lane is wanting to be part of the action. Neat picture Emily.
I have often quoted Mark Twain who said, "Don't let school get in the way of education". Cousins, 12th grader Gideon and 11th grader Ethan, have been working fulltime helping Brett and Cory repair trucks while doing their on-line high school assignments in the evenings. Yesterday when their friends came to go fishing I asked them what they were up to and they were working as well. Business folks, if you need good help in your industries and businesses, look in rural America. Our kids have grit.
We were in the field here in southern Iowa about a day and a half this past week. Below Matt is getting some chiseled cornstalks ready for another crop of corn.
Alex and Kasey worked on getting the rest of our custom NH3 wrapped up. Alex, Andy, and Pablo also spent a couple of long days spreading dry fertilizer. BJ and Kasey worked on finishing up a tiling project for Terry and Lois. BJ then moved operations to our place across the road hoping to dry up a few more wet spots.
Kurt and BJ also worked at getting their planters rolling. Kurt had one of his 24 rows planting 32000 population instead of the set 35000. After further investigation he found a mouse in that row unit.
It takes grit to chew through a plastic seed row unit. Thanks Jared for running out parts and helping us get tuned up. Jared and Chris are our precision and technology equipment managers with Centrol and are both excellent at what they do.
We value optimum soil moisture more than soil temp here in southern Iowa. We consider dry soils during planting season a gift. Many of our soil types are less forgiving when they are wet. Having said that, BJ's planter records soil temp as it plants and at 2 1/4 inches deep our soil temps were around 53 degrees on Thursday which is unusual for early April. Obviously our soils are back cooler now with cold rain. Planting fast emerging hybrids (ones with grit) just a touch deeper early helps keep that seed more stable during these back and forth warm and cold days.
I feel blessed and grateful to be beginning another new crop season. A crisis is an opportunity for a new beginning. We are coming to a crossroads. Which way will we as Americans go? Will we turn with renewed vigor and grit for faith, family, and friends? Or will we be forced to obey the rules of a few who want to do our thinking for us? I find it appalling and hypocritical how so many non essential reporters from the media are hammering on our Governor Kim to lock us up while they run around like children being negative. Governor, thanks for your leadership. And thanks for being a grownup.
There have been other crisis throughout history. Our grandparents and parents experienced pandemics, wars, and the great depression. Most of us experienced 9/11. Now this. Plus we all know folks who have died before we thought it was their time. I don't know anyone personally who has died of this virus. However some of you may. Google tells me we have many folks who join us for this visit every week from a number of other countries including China and Italy. I encourage you folks and would consider it a privilege to meet you someday. None of us knows how much time we have left on earth. What we do know is that this virus will not take us before God's predetermined time for us. We just need to be ready. Has our current situation caused you to think about "our time"? Good. Thanks for the picture Linda. And thanks for having grit in the midst of your grief over these past seven months.
We can't finish chatting until we remember what day it is. It's Palm Sunday. You know the Sunday at church when the little kids get up front and wave palm branches. Yeah, I know. It won't be happening today. However remember why we remember Palm Sunday. It's when our Lord decided it was time to ride a donkey down from Mount Olives into Jerusalem where the church leaders were planning to kill him. And folks stood along the roadside and shouted eagerly, welcoming him, hoping he was their leader. He was. However they didn't think on their own (sound familiar) and 4 days later they were shouting, "kill him". Jan, myself, and our now close friends from our Israel trip walked down that very road from Mount Olives to Jerusalem. It brings tears to my eyes to think about it. And it wasn't grit that made Jesus walk this road to his death. It was love. For us. Accept His gift of dying for our sins. And in gratitude be His hands and feet to others. Lets talk about an empty tomb next week. I appreciate all you folks. Thanks for reading.
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