StillwatersIowa

I have another teacher story. I was the new kid in 11th grade. I was also a new kid in K, 3rd, 5th, and 9th grade. It wasn't like I didn't know folks. I just didn't quite know where I fit. Anyway Mr. Blankespoor was our homeroom teacher. He also taught English. And would have us write correct grammar like nouns and verbs, commas and apostrophes. So I would write stories. I noticed my corrected grammar assignments weren't being returned like many of my classmates. One day Mr. Blankespoor showed me the corrections to my papers, my grade, and asked if he could keep them. He told me I had a gift for writing. I kind of shrugged my shoulders and said something like I wasn't sure it was a "guy thing" to write. He encouraged me otherwise. And we were friends until he passed away in late 2020. With the crops going in fast Mike is limited to where he can push dirt. His father is postponing planting a field or two so he can build terraces. BJ has also postponed plant...

When I was just a little older than Lane, recess and playing ball were big deals in grade school. After our lunch box lunches we would grab our gloves, rumble down the fire escape at the old Christian School building, and head for the ball field to pick teams. One noon Mrs. Slings, our teacher, asked me to stay in the classroom for a minute. As I stood in front of her desk she told me God had given me a bright mind and she believed I had potential if I would just apply myself and try harder. You see, all of my efforts were focused on helping my Dad on the farm. And I thought school was just getting in the way of my education. I don't remember what Mrs. Slings taught me in school. I don't remember whether we won or lost ball games at noon hour. But I will never forget how my teacher made me feel when she took the "time" to say she believed in me.  I'm not sure if this is Jayden, who is in kindergarten, or Lane, who is three, doing his chores. Thanks for the picture...

To treasure is to appreciate, to value, or to cherish. It might include someone, something, or someplace.  There was a lot of crop put in the ground this past week, not just in our operation, but in the community. Below Kurt is planting corn near the Muchikonick Creek on Buddy and Eileen's farm. Where we store our treasures identifies what our treasures are. What we most value we will safeguard because it is our security.  Every year there is a couple of weeks where our seed shed is buzzing with constant activity. Usually the starting week, and the wrapping up week in the planting season. This past week was very busy. Our storage location for our treasure might be a bank account, a grain bin, a plat book, a machine shed, the stock market, an affluent position, or our home. When the crop goes in there needs to be a plan to get the acres sprayed or weeds will take over. Karl and I ran two sprayers on our planted crops while Jim, Matt, and Pablo tendered us product to the field i...

Twenty five years ago the little town of Beacon, Iowa had a Caseys convenience store. A rough looking elderly lady named Mary always got up early to make donuts there. She smoked Marlboro cigarettes. She had a fifty year old son who would come in and ask her for money. One Easter Sunday morning I walked in the store to get a cup of coffee. Mary hollers from the back of the store, "Hey Steve, He has risen". She surprised the socks off me. I stuttered back, "Yeah, He has". She says, "No Steve, you're supposed to say, He has risen indeed". 😊 Yea Mary. That's what a win looks like. Our helper Jim showed me an idea this week. He reeled out a tape measure to about 75 or 80 inches, and says, "That's the average life expectancy". Then he asks me where I am on that tape. 66 looks like I've got a lot more inches behind than ahead of me. Yesterday I asked Jacob, Matt's son and Dean's grandson, to put his finger on the tape measure n...