It’s time for the fair! Once this hits your inbox, we will already be moving the cows in, shaking the flakes of hay out, and raking the alleyway for herdsmanship. Below is a piece I wrote years ago. It was prompted because one of the FFA leaders was looking for a garden gnome to complete their display at the fair. The request gave me pause to think and recollect…
Last week I took a trip to Iowa to visit the Iowa Soybean Association. I introduced them to the concept of finding the best donut in Des Moines (Bethany and Lydia were very good sports), and they introduced me to 2 of their farmers and Iowa soybeans. The trip was about overseas markets and the economic environment here. We talked about fuel costs and fertilizer costs and the…
Dear Readers, It’s been a busy week! Lacrosse is in full swing, the leaves are about ready to burst out of their buds and I think, by the time you open this article on Monday morning, there will be lilacs ready to be picked. I do love this time of year, it’s so fresh. What I wanted to share this week, is just a little piece of a…
On Tuesday, November 5, 1985, my life and the way I think of goodbye changed, forever. Over the last few weeks, I have watched close people in my life suffer through losing people close to them. I have been affected. Loss is a trigger to reflect and go deep within yourself. And even though it may not be your loss, you can’t help but be affected watching people…
On this morning after prom, I am here to say that I think it’s much easier to be the mother of a boy during these occasions. Not nearly as stressful as what it is on the girl side. Mothers of boys spend their “day of” cleaning vehicles, reminding their boys to wash behind their ears, and then attach the boutonnière to their lapel. We give them a quick once…
Dear Delta, I just wanted to thank you for the mind-numbing experience you gave me during my flight last week. How thankful I was that you placed screens on the back of every seat. I was able to view 14 different things at once as I looked on either side and to the rows ahead of me. Watching all of those different screens certainly helped to free my…
Anyone who has ever lived in an old farmhouse during the winter has a special appreciation for what it is to feel warm, inside. 🙂 In an old farmhouse, it’s about waking up to frosty windowpanes, and watching the curtains blow, ever so slightly, to the rhythm of the wind blowing in through the cracks in the casings. It’s listening to the sporadically rattling old storm windows that…
Good Morning! Happy New Year! From my family to yours 🙂 This is what I am thinking about today: Responsibility. Specifically, how it is going to carry us through the new year. I am going to go back to New Years Day when a friend of mine brought to my attention an observation that they made. I was very calm, allowing my 16-year-old to chauffeur my 12 and 19-year-old…
It’s the little things that give me the energy to get through every day. I am so thankful for them. I thought I would honor those this Thanksgiving. It seems that the big things always get the attention. I am grateful for the big things like my kids, family, friends, and health. I recognize that what keeps me happy in my day-to-day life are these little joys that…
There are always those situations that we wish we had handled differently. I am talking about a bad draw of interaction, a time in which you might have been put into an uncomfortable spot—not because of you, but more because of the mood of someone else. (eyebrow raise) I always feel that I need to immediately come back with a response when I am spoken to. I think most of…
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