Regardless The Circumstances

Good morning. I've driven by this cattle coral on a ranch in the mountains on Highway 14 near Walden, Colorado many times during visits. No one lives here anymore. 20+ years ago as a young man working out here one winter BJ used to pick up these rancher's kids and take them into Walden to school. My point is times continually change. Our country is currently experiencing an unraveling of society. Regardless of the circumstances life is an attitude. Make sure the folks you interact with have a positive experience.

About 10 days ago Cargill closed for annual maintenance. So Jan and I hooked up the camper and enjoyed some time together in northwest Colorado south of the tiny town of Gould at around 9000 feet elevation in the mountains surrounded by lodge-pole pines and colorful aspen trees.

I was truly able to relax away from phone, internet, electricity, farm, and our countries circumstances.

Since we took our Ranger along we enjoyed God's creation by riding trails up the mountains. Some smoother ones. A few rough ones.

We saw wildlife including moose many times. This mother still had a yearly young one following her around.

Last week Saturday we drove to Walden and attended their North Park fair. Cassia's parents who live here gave us tickets for a get-together barbecue followed by their 4-H auction. The kid's steers were bringing around $10000/head. Sheep brought $2500. A pen of rabbits or chickens were going for $700.

I always enjoy the people here. There are a few loggers. Some construction folks. Business owners. However many are young families managing and working on cattle ranches owned by investors. They are very patriotic and in the picture below everyone is looking and honoring our countries flag during the national anthem.

On Sunday morning we were given a three hour tour of the large cabin BJ worked on so many years ago when he met Cassia and her family. It's currently a beautiful 126000 sq ft single family log home tucked in a beautiful valley. It has design and plans to expand to 200000 sq ft which would make it the largest home in the country surpassing the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Kudos and a big thank you to Steve, the current project manager from California who has been on this job since 2017 and manages around 40 craftsman fulltime. I'm guessing 10 more years till completion.

We attended church while in town. Riggen and his family pastor this community church. He is also a ranch hand at a local ranch.

One afternoon at our campsite we had a visit from a family who own and operate Adventure Ranch. They invited us to come to their place for lunch. What a beautiful ranch. What an enjoyable family. Thank yo Mark, Debbie, and family for your hospitality.

An interesting thing in the mountains is once in a while you get an occasional cell service or internet reception while riding around. It was heartwarming to get snaps from family back home. BJ and family used the warm weather last week and break in harvest to finish haying season. Thanks for the picture BJ.

Mark and family had a rather large cement project that they started at daylight one morning. Thanks for the picture Stacy.

While things were slowed down some the guys calibrated the combine monitors. Thanks for the picture.

Late this week we started back up with harvest on both corn and soybeans. Yesterday morning we loaded semis for Eddyville delivery tomorrow morning. They are going to have limited hours and limited corn dumps. 

After getting the semis loaded yesterday Ezra who is in 8th grade combined soybeans while Grandpa unloaded in the bin with a tractor and wagon. Regardless of the circumstances these days I came back home from Colorado feeling so blessed to be able to work with family.

On a bright sunny Friday morning I came from the field to see a rainbow in the sky. The first rainbow ever was a promise to Noah God would take care of him. I saw this one as a promise to me that God is giving us that same promise. Regardless of circumstances.

One noon the guys picked me up from unloading corn and we went to Eddyville for lunch. Thanks for quietly paying for our meal Jim. Working together with you and Nutrien Ag has made us better farmers.

God's beauty in nature and His goodness in our lives is an amazing contrast to the darkness we are slipping into. One thing I have been reminded of the last year and a half is that He still loves us as a country no matter how hard our leaders try and get rid of Him.

So with God in charge I'm working on contentment. Contentment is not apathy. Contentment doesn't mean conformity. Contentment is not an excuse for poor work ethic. Contentment isn't relying on government. Contentment is a peace in our hearts that regardless the circumstances, in our farming operation, or in our country, we can enjoy life, empower others, not be envious, be generous, and generally help make life a pleasant experience for those who hang around us. Thank you so much for stopping by.