Thanksgiving

Sunday,  several of us went to the Western Illinois Correctional Center to visit Phil.  He seemed to be in good spirits and doing fairly well.  Our visit helped me get my mind focused as we entered Thanksgiving week.  It reminded me to be thankful for my Christian upbringing, my supportive family, and my Faith and Fellowship.

I chatted with a couple of the guards while they were searching our vehicle and again while being "patted down" about what some visitors try to sneak into the prison and how they do it.  Everything from hiding drugs in their baby's diaper to weapons in their underwear.  As one guard said,"There are a lot of stupid people in this world".

I am the 2%! 
And I help feed the 98%. 
I "occupy" a combine in the fall, a tractor in the spring, and a hog building much of the rest of the year.  I am an American Farmer. 
And I am thankful.

Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who still guides us on to the end of our days.
God's banners are o'er us, His light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
As forward we travel from light into light.

His law he enforces, the stars in their courses And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains, The deeps of the ocean proclaim him divine.
We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a Song let us raise
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
"To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!"

And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
John 6:11

KC

We spent a wonderful weekend of fellowship and worship in Kansas City.  We made it a 4 day weekend which was a first for us in a long, long time.
On our way down, we stopped at the new Scheel's sporting goods store in Springfield.  I was very impressed with the store and all they had to offer.  They pretty much cover all of the major outdoor and indoor sports and activities.  It is a huge place; it has a Ferris wheel in the middle of the two story atrium.  Along with a stuffed animal mountain (like Cabelas and Bass Pro), walk under fish tank arches, and a stuffed grizzly bear that you can get your picture taken by.  Being in Springfield, it has a Lincoln/Presidential theme with statues and wax figures throughout.

We made it to the KC area late afternoon, and Friday evening we ate out at J. Alexanders.  I had their famous prime rib (with horseradish sauce).  Very Good.

We spent Saturday downtown at the National World War I Memorial.  It is a very nice museum that was updated a few years ago.  Not much is taught about WWI in schools, the Civil War and World War II get most of the attention.  So It was good to learn more about the war.  You enter the museum over a glass bridge with 9000 red poppies "planted" underneath it.  Each poppy represents 1000 combat fatalities.  I think the world changed more because of the first WW than after the second.  America entered the war as an insignificant nation, and left as a superpower. One of the main things I came away with, was how the conclusion of the first World War contributed to the causes of the second World War.  From the top of the Liberty Memorial Tower we had a great view of the city including Union Station, Crown Plaza, and the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.  We also saw some Occupy KC protesters camped in the park, but I didn't acknowledge them with a photo.  We had lunch at Jack Stack at the Freight House.

Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.
2 Samuel 3:1

Finished

The weather was so nice earlier this week that I really wouldn't have minded some more harvest.  But we are finished.

(Children’s) Harvest Song
O'er our fields the frost has descended,
Labor is done, gone is the sun;
Safely stored, the harvest is ended;
All in a ring, dancing we sing.
She who leads is innocent Pleasure,
Ending the year, gladly with cheer;
Joy and comfort, barns full of treasure,
Everywhere health, Autumn's ripe wealth.
(french folk tune)

We didn't exactly dance in a ring, but we were thankful to be done.

When we started combining the last land in the last corn field, two coyotes came loping into the corn.  They were looking for the pheasants and rabbits that they knew would be left without cover.  The combine played hide and seek with them for the next few rounds.  But on the last round, they bailed and took off across the field away from us.  The 3 pheasants and 2 rabbits that I saw didn't flush until the very end and were thus safe from the coyotes.

Thursday it rained most of the day, so in the evening I finally got to go to the new Bass Pro Shops store in East Peoria.  And I ended up spending more money than I had intended.  I need to go back and spend some more time there because I know that I didn't get to see it all.  Even the old farmer's wife enjoyed the visit.  She said she felt like she was on vacation, because we like to stop at places like this when on vacation.

I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
John 17:4