Travel

Two weeks ago, we headed out to Lester, Iowa for the Metzger Cousins Reunion (Grandchildren of Fred and Carrie).  I worked until about 1:30 in the afternoon on Friday, and got the double-crop soybeans planted.  We were on the road by 2:30 and drove partway Friday night, stayed in a motel, and arrived in Lester about 10:00 A.M. Saturday.  It was a beautiful morning, so we went to the cemetery first and strolled around the graves of friends and relatives in the beautiful country cemetery.  A peaceful place to contemplate the purpose of life, and the certainty of death.

We started with 84 first cousins, four have passed away, but a large percentage of the rest of us were in attendance.  It was a blessing to get together again and reminisce, update, and eat good food.  We stayed with Bill and Charlotte in their comfortable, beautiful home.  They took us on a driving tour of farms and businesses around Lester, Larchwood, Rock Rapids, and Lyon County.  It was great to see the old, the new, and to remember all the places I used to hang out when visiting the area growing up.

One noticeable change in Lyon County is the amount of livestock operations that have expanded and the number of new ones.  There isn't a square mile that doesn't have a livestock facility on it.  Just the number of building permits for new hog barns in Lyon County for this year outnumbers the total number of barns in our county here at home.  Illinois farmers don't seem to want to work that hard!

Calves at Multi-Rose Jerseys

Last Sunday morning at 4 AM, Gus woke me up with his barking.  I was too lazy to go out and check, so I went back to sleep until 6 when the alarm went off.  As I left the house to go out to do chores, I noticed him sitting patiently under a big tree in the back yard, staring up into the treetop.  I looked and looked but could see nothing unusual, so since I was in a hurry I went about doing chores.  Coming back up to the house an hour later, Gus was still sitting under the tree looking up.  So I inspected again and noticed what looked like a large nest clear up in a top branch.  I retrieved my rifle from the house and fired into the "nest".  It moved.  The second shot brought the raccoon falling dead to the ground.  And Gus claimed his prize!

I hustled into the house to clean up for our trip down to C-U for Phil and Leah's wedding.  We picked up Herb, Lori, Kandace, and Cliff, and got there in plenty of time, because we were the first car to park in the church lot (the home folks were parking on the street).  We were honored to be invited and enjoyed the service and had a blessed day of worship and fellowship.  After the reception at Lake of the Woods, we headed back home for the evening chores.  We have been gone three Sundays in a row now.

Son #2 got back from his Alaskan backpacking trip to the Gates of the Arctic National Park.  There are no roads up there, so the only way in is by bush plane.  Since it is summer, the sun never completely set at night while they were there.  They backpacked into the Arrigetch Peaks area.  The mountain men spent some time in Fairbanks with Jim and Kitty, and also had some time to take a couple of charter fishing trips out of Seward.  They brought back their salmon packed and frozen on the plane, but had the halibut shipped home separately.  We are looking forward to seafood dinners!


And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind:
II Corinthians 8:19