Chillin In Sunny Arizona

This past mid week northern Arizona had a snow storm. 12 highways were closed including interstates for a time. Temperatures were cool all week. Overnight temps where we stayed first in Yuma and then the Phoenix Valley were cooler than southern Iowa a couple of times.

Jan and I spent four days in Yuma, coming down through Dalhart, Texas and Deming, New Mexico. This is farming country and I often enjoy stopping at implement dealers and field drives to visit with farming folks.

Jan enjoys stopping at fabric and quilt shops. She also enjoys comparing the Costcos and Sams Club in different parts of the country. She makes sure she hits the local Farmers Market visiting with the vendors. Below we were at the large flee market in Yuma. While I wait on Jan shopping I watch people. I was surprised at how old everyone was. Then I realized they were mostly all our age.😊

We went to Los Algodones, Old Mexico. It felt safe. I enjoy using what little Spanish I know. Because of multiple visits over the years we have friends here. We buy multiple antibiotics, Predizone for when folks gets Poison Ivy bad. 800 mg Ibuprofen since it's coated and easier on the stomach. And of course Ivermectin since our country does not like meds that work well on the virus, as well as side effects from the shot.

Israel is 54 years old. We hang out with him every year. He brings us deeper into town where we have coffee with chips and four different kinds of cheese and salsa dips. Then his favorite shops. He always finds a friend to polish my boots. I usually ask about family and living conditions. I ask how much for the polish job and then double it. True relationships are made caring about others.

We again drove to San Luis which is as far south as you can get in these parts. And then drive the Wall Lane all the way back to Yuma. We stop when we meet border patrol and visit with them. 42 year old Michael lives in Yuma with his family. He says the Mexican folks aren't as big a problem as the folks coming through from all the other countries in the world. Many of them with bad intentions.

I asked the border patrol how they can pick out the bad guys. They say it's easy, the bad ones run when you approach them. Below is a huge construction site with tons of machinery and wall materials to finish the few spots where the wall is unfinished. It is locked up and has not been used since our current administration took over in January of 2020. More on the border next week if I'm short on stories.

Last Tuesday we left Yuma, drove to Mesa, and had supper with Dave and Gina. A fun visit with friends from Sheldon, Iowa. Their oldest daughter was also visiting. Then we drove to Chandler. I don't have enough room to write about the friendship and relationship we have with JoAnn and her late husband Howard who passed away exactly 16 years ago this past week. Howard was a mentor to me. He believed in me as a young farmer. That's a rare friend these days. Thanks for spending time with us a couple of days JoAnn. And thanks for letting me borrow this picture with you and your daughter Sheryl.

Jan went with me to the Richie Bros auction in Phoenix. It's a huge two day sale on mostly construction equipment, trucks, and trailers. We were given free lunch tickets for signing up as a bidder. The sale isn't as fun as it used to be since they require only bidding on-line now.

One of the nicer places I've eaten at is The Henry. It's an upscale bar and restaurant in Phoenix where many folks use valet parking. We needed the exercise and parked ourselves a ways a way.

We met Dawn by accident last year in Tucson, AZ. She is a wife, mom, attorney, and a true believer in Jesus. She ran for Attorney General in Arizona this past year. Her grandmother started the Solheim Cup, a golf tournament for gals. Her family also owns Ping Inc. They build golf clubs. Thanks Dawn for the friendship and taking time to have dinner with us.

My mother-in-law used to say things happen in threes. Early this past week my brother-in-law Roger was in the hospital unexpectedly overnight. Thanks for the picture Donna.

Then we heard Sydnie broke her leg on the slide at school. Karl and Kristin had to take her to Des Moines to get it set. Below her friend Sienna came to the farm office to visit her. Thanks for the picture Karl.

Finally Friday we heard Elijah broke his arm. Mark or Stacy will take him in Monday for more x-rays. Thanks for the picture Stacy.

Just a reminder tomorrow morning at 10 am we are having a planter clinic. That's when you get together and visit about making sure planters are ready for spring. Becks is also coming with a couple of toolbar planters with different color (brand) units on them. And will compare the differences as well as talk about planter management for the best job in the field. We have been hosting this every year for our customers and the community, after the dealerships in the area stopped doing it.

Last week Sunday we went to church with Pastor Tom and Erin at a Lutheran church in Yuma. Lutherans tend to be a little more liturgical. Their bulletin was 23 pages long. However what a service! The music was upbeat and genuine. The message was biblical as well as practical on "What does forgiveness look like". And it was the first time I was served communion, up front, on my knees, while spontaneously singing Jesus Loves Me with the rest of the congregation. Tom and Erin are coming back to southern Iowa for three months this summer to preach.

 While we were in Yuma Jan and I attended a movie one afternoon. Something we don't do very often. It was the Jesus Revolution. It is the true story of a spiritual revival during the early 1970s. The hippie generation was truly searching, just all in the wrong places. A reluctant pastor named Charles Smith at Calvery Chapel got to know a few kids through his daughter. He started inviting them to his old fashioned church service.

For awhile the hippies sat on one side of his church and the older folks sat on the other. Many older folks had all kinds of excuses not to include them. Wasn't reverent enough. They weren't dressed appropriately. They might get the new shag carpet dirty. Many older folks left. These young folks continued coming, finding Jesus, and three years later there were 20 Calvary chapels across the country. In the process Pastor Chuck invited and mentored a young man, Greg Laurie, who now has a large congregation and a harvest ministry in California.

My most favorite line in the movie is when Pastor Chuck came home late one night, and sat down for a cold supper. His daughter came in and told her father how much she appreciated him for becoming uncomfortable, taking a chance, and making a change. She said, "Dad, you opened the doors to our church, invited the hippies in, and Jesus came in too". Maybe something to think about today. Blessings.