A Landmark

A landmark can be an object that's easily recognized but often no longer used. We have a field we call the 4 silos. Everyone that sees the silos knows where the field is. However these landmarks don't always last. Have you ever been given directions from someone who says? "Just go to the crossroads where Hubert used to live. Then after you've driven to where the railroad tracks used to be turn right and drive to that oak tree that was struck by lightning back in 1960". If you don't remember Hubert, the railroad, or the old tree, you're going to get lost.

Jan and I went on a long Ranger ride last Sunday afternoon. We drove through 7 communities including Given, Eddyville, Cedar, Wright, Keomah Village, University Park, and Oskaloosa where we stopped at Caseys and picked up a pizza for supper. We stopped at the old Lake Keomah bath house and both remembered swimming there as kids.

A landmark can also be an event that marks a turning point, a discovery, or a decision. Just after driving through the 50 plus homes in Keomah Village we drove across a bridge over the lake. The bridge is not a landmark to me. What happened on the bridge is. As an 18 year old I was not near as creative as young men are today. Jan and I were dating. I liked her a lot. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. So one evening we drove out to Lake Keomah and I asked her to marry me on the old bridge. She said yes. We had a family. And the rest is history (His-story). Three generations later God is using that decision to have eternal consequences.

A lot of good hay was baled in our community this past week. BJ and his son John worked on mowing, raking, baling, and picking up bales most of the week.

We are a little late getting started but we have been spraying fencerows and mowing road ditches and waterways.

Alex and Kurt spent the week adding nitrogen to the corn crop. Both the corn and soybean acres benefited from a mostly dry week and are growing fast.

Karl and Kasey covered our corn acres with a second pass herbicide. Pablo, Andy, Layton, and others of us drove semi from Nutrien to the field with "hot loads" (loads mixed in town) to keep the sprayers in product.

We planted soybeans on a few of our hay acres. Below Karl and his son Malaki are planting as I cultipacked the field just in case it doesn't rain for a while.

BJ is still finishing buffalo in his feedlots. The market is a packing house in Colorado. Kasey is getting ready to feed buffalo as well.

Well, for the second year in a row we did not get a test plot planted on our farm west of the Eddyville Flats. So I asked Alex if he would help me plant it to a regular hybrid. I guess it will now show the difference in yield between April 4 and June 4 planting dates.

I got a kick out of Rachel needing to pull her brother John back to the shop after his 4-wheeler refused to run. It was an easy fix.

Yesterday Karl planted one last batch of sweetcorn at his place. Our patch here at home looks as pathetic as last year. I had planter issues. Actually operator issues. When we try to have a spread out sweetcorn season we shoot to have spaced out planting dates. That means just planting a small amount of seed at a time. On more than one occasion I ran out of seed.

Our family lost another cousin this past week. Bill was one of six boys from Uncle Guy and Aunt Helen. He started hauling livestock when he was a young man. Then he was very successful selling insurance. That led him into banking where he retired as the president of Leighton State Bank. Norene, our thoughts and prayers are with you as you deal with the loss of your husband. Some of my favorite memories are visiting with you and Bill when you came to our pond to fish. Thank you for taking such good care of him during his later years. Bill will be remembered well by the community. Especially for his passion for building mobility carts in Leighton for the handicapped overseas.

How will you be remembered? As an object landmark where folks say, yeah, I remember him or her? Or as an action landmark, where you will be remembered for changing your little part of this weird world we live in. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Please don't be overwhelmed by the craziness of this world we live in right now. In John 16 Jesus tells His disciples that in this world there will be troubles. But He says to be of good cheer because He has overcome this world. We as a nation have a decision to make. Will we repent? Or will we rebel? It's as simple as that. Does our nation want to continue to be remembered as an action landmark making a difference? Or just an object landmark?