StillwatersIowa

There is a sacredness about early mornings. It feels like the rest of the world is still sleeping. You look up in the sky and see the front edge of the big dipper pointing to the north star. It's just you and God since He is always awake. Later the red horizon in the east promises it's going to be a good day. Every new day has it's possibilities. We start with a clean slate and need to be intentional about goals. Which might include work, projects, time off, and others. Kurt, Ben, and Jake took their boys camping down by the river before the busy season starts again. I remember when Jan and I were first starting out as a family. An addition to our clan. A piece of machinery showed up. Or when the phone rang about an opportunity. Those days felt good. Kasey and Sydnie are starting a new venture on their farm southwest of Eddyville. They purchased a dump truck and are looking forward to their own day to day business. If you need rock, lime, or dirt hauled, give him a call. He...

Trains accomplish their purpose because they are connected. The engines lead and power to the appointed goal directed and driven by the railroad engineer. This train came by our soybean field headed for Eddyville as I was mowing road ditches and waterways near our landlords Buddy and Eileen. The Pella Christian High School girls volleyball team was out this past week for an afternoon and evening of fun and connections. Kudos to the gals that coach these girls, not just in volleyball but life as well. The Oskaloosa Christian Grade School had their board/staff social Thursday evening as they kick off their school year. Kudos to those who came. Thanks to those who prepared and planned. We are blessed to have company this weekend. Ron and Zelda are over visiting with Ron's family. They made the effort to get together since the kids and grandkids live all over, including Canada. It's been so fun to make connections and get to know good folks. This picture is about Jan, our kids, our...

The ability to immediately understand or be aware of what is going on, or how someone is reacting is a hunch, a first impression. An intuition, a clear understanding, an instinct, a deep knowing with little information is a gut feeling. I think hunches, first impressions, and a gut feeling often have value.  Last Sunday morning at church I snapped a picture of folks visiting during coffee before the service. When I looked closer at the picture last evening I noticed everyone in the photo had the same last name I have. 😊 The Oskaloosa Student Council kicked off their school year here last Sunday evening. Kudos to the kids serving and the adults willing to lead them. A big thank you to family and help who worked together Monday morning to set up tables and chairs for our appreciation supper. The gals did another amazing job with preparing and serving the meal. We had close to 300 guests on a beautiful evening.              ...

When I was a kid some years ago I used to help clean this barn east of Lacey with a pitch fork. Later as a teenager we had an IHC 706 with a Westendorf loader. We would take off the muffler and the steering wheel would hit the top of the door as we ducked to get inside for every bucket of manure. Two generations later we now have grandkids that same age helping. This 60 year span in many ways has flown by. Time does not wait traveling on the road of life. On Wednesday of this past week we had a couple day reprieve in our hot dry summer with a rain shower. Our creeks are dry and our rivers are low. The US drought monitor shows about 30% of Iowa is in moderate drought. Typically August has more chances for rain so we hope and pray for showers of blessings. When the crops are stressed the insects come. We spent some time this week spraying additional soybeans. BJ finishes buffalo in his feedlot. When not bothered they are generally docile. However they hate being crowded making loading a ...