StillwatersIowa

Paul is in prison. He knows his time is short. In his 2nd letter to Timothy he gives advice to the much younger man. The next generation. He asks Timothy to guard the good, with God's help. Ronald Reagan said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be fought for, guarded, and handed on for them to do the same." This picture was taken at Becky and Brian's farm west of Peoria. For generations our predecessors have been guarding the good. They taught us to work. There were consequences if we weren't truthful. They taught us to be generous. And they showed us there were morals and values worth standing up for. This is my father's 8th grade graduation picture from Oskaloosa Christian School in the late 1940s. He is 3rd from the left in the back row. I like to add this 8th grade graduation picture just to pester my classmates. We had 12 boys and 9 girls in 1970. An interesting fact. Every boy in our class stayed in the community to ...

This is Kurt and Emily's, Lane. At three years old he decided he was going to ride motorcycles, just like his older brothers. Now, at four, he's racing them. Last Sunday afternoon a number of our family came to the Morgan farm to ride together. The Dads and the older boys rode a two and a half mile track through the trees. While the younger riders stayed on a closer, shorter track. Sydnie, Natalie, Brynn, and some of the rest of us just enjoyed the day watching. After a couple of hours of riding the crew came to the farm shop for supper together. Karl is watching Alex, Malaki, and Jim as we overhaul our second corn head. He had surgery to reattach a nerve in his hand Monday that he had cut on a fall in the hog shed. We had to call Steve from Midtown a couple of times this past week. Below he is repairing a scraper tire. We also had another flat on the mower tractor. While mowing custom CRP acres a stick went through the sidewall, ruining the tire. We have visited before about t...

I'm thinking about our past week and all the busyness of the bigger activities. Carbon pipeline visits, customer supper, harvest preparations, organizing and managing the job list. All good stuff. And even have pictures to go with the stories. However it's the smaller moments that were special to me. Jan and my conversation on a Sunday afternoon Ranger ride. Bringing food and encouragement to a close neighbor struggling with health issues. Going out to eat with "old" friends. Working with a crew of grandkids helping clean the place up. Bringing sweetcorn and hearing stories from a 102 year old former landlady. Having Toni at Bogies bring me extra brown fried potatoes because she remembers I like the edges. Having a 91 year old gentleman not let go of my hand on a visit here because he appreciates our family. Of course none of these smaller moments is remembered with a photo. But I do have a few moments with pictures. Last Sunday evening the Oskaloosa High School Stude...

As Mike was scanning FB posts he noticed an unusual request. A professional competition fisherman from Alabama was at a bass fishing tournament in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His boat didn't qualify for the event and he had posted, asking if anyone had a Gator Trax boat he could use. He was sponsored by Gator Trax. Mike messaged the gentleman saying he was four hours away in Iowa, but that he was welcome to borrow his fishing boat. Fast-forward... Keith borrowed Mike's boat. He stayed overnight in our home since the cabin and bunkhouse were busy. They became friends. Keith asked Mike why in the world would he let a total stranger borrow his boat. Mike told him here on the farm he was taught to share. Farming is more than a job. It's a way of life. It has a tendency to instill values. One of the first things that needs done when cleaning shop is scooping out the wash bay pit. Ezra, Jackson, and Elijah accomplished that. Farming teaches responsibility. Ezra, a 10th grader, and Elij...