Christmas 22

Our big family Christmas was a week early at the Morton Fellowship Hall.  We had a very good turnout, and it was a day filled with food, fun, fellowship, and gifts.  It's an all day affair, but I always slip out mid-afternoon and go home and do chores.  I realized that I have been leaving family Christmas for chores every year since 1982 when the oldest farmer moved to town.  Maybe this will be the last year?

The annual Grand and Great Grandchildren photo.

   We learned that morning that my cousin Jay had passed away the previous day.  He was a half year older than I am.  He had had knee surgery a few weeks ago and a large blood clot broke loose from his leg and lodged in his lung.  Despite living about 500 miles apart, I feel like we grew up together.  We would get together 3 or 4 weekends a year and spend the full three days together.  Jay was a town kid and I was a country boy, so I learned a lot about life from him.  Some good and some things not so good; I didn't grow up naive!  Jay went through some struggles and dark times early in his life, but was able to turn his life around and became a successful man of faith.  He lost his only son 5 years ago, and now he leaves a widow and his daughter.  We will keep them in our prayers.  Because of our immediate family Christmas ( with our kids coming from out of state) I was unable to attend the funeral.  If there would have been a direct flight from Peoria to Minneapolis I would have gone, but that flight has been discontinued.

Our first major winter weather hit the end of last week.  Fortunately, we only had a couple inches of snow.  With the three days of bitter cold and high winds that followed, we would still be digging out if we would have had the predicted amount of snow!  My infrared shop heater quit working in the middle of the cold stretch, but I was able to use a kerosene heater to keep the shop from freezing.  I was able to get parts quickly, and the heater is producing again.  The weather moderated just in time for Christmas.

Our kids and grandkids were all here for the day Monday.  With 12 grandkids age 11 and below, we had a full house and a lot of activity.  As always, there was good food, gifts, and lots of books.

The small end of the room.    

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.                Isaiah 9:6

F2F VI

 Last week we headed out to Omaha to attend Farmer2FarmerVI, put on by Farmers Business Network.  Due to the pandemic, they took a two year hiatus.  There were about 3000 farmers in attendance from all over the country.  FBN has had a large expansion into the Canadian prairie Provinces, and also into Australia.  There were many Canadians in attendance and one farmer that flew the 8000 miles from Australia. The company has grown tremendously since we last met.  Despite fierce industry resistance, there are now 55,000 farmer members, farming 110 million acres, supported by over 1000 employees.  What started with data analytics to help level the playing field, has now grown to include input manufacturing and distribution, seed genetics research and production, insurance products, livestock feed and supplies, operating loans and finance, land investment opportunities, marketing assistance, and sustainability programs.  A pretty impressive company that started just eight years ago by a couple of millennial tech guys in California!  It involved three days of speakers, seminars, networking, trade show, consulting, and lots of food!

The first keynote speaker was Alex Honnold, the legendary rock climber and subject of the National Geographic documentary film "Free Solo".  He is the only human to free solo climb (no ropes, help, harness, gear) Yosemite's 3000 foot El Capitan.  His feat has been called the greatest athletic achievement in the history of the world.  He shared his story and how his training, mental focus, and preparation tactics can be used by anyone to overcome the mountains and obstacles in our lives.

The next speaker of note was the legendary Navy Seal and Seal trainer Jocko Willink. He is now a Leadership trainer, author, and strategic advisor.  He shared his story and how Seal training can be used by anyone in leadership positions. He stressed the importance of humility, teamwork, and not passing blame for mistakes.  Training, discipline, self discipline, and structure give freedom to the team members during execution.  Never make tactical decisions(short term) that hurt your strategic (long term) goals. I kept thinking of the spiritual applications of his lessons as well as the intended business applications.

The other speaker that impressed me was Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical strategist and author.  He consults with Governments and businesses to help people understand how the world works.  He has an expert understanding of demography, economics, energy, politics, technology, and security.  His insights and predictions on how the world will evolve geopolitically in the future were very interesting. Afterwards, I met him and bought one of his books, which he signed for me.  An early Christmas gift to myself!

We stayed in a nice hotel downtown several blocks from the convention center.  I usually walked to the meetings in the morning and took a shuttle bus back at night.  The weather was cool, but nice while in Omaha. We didn't eat out, shop, or sight-see this trip.  The old farmers wife did a lot of online Christmas shopping from the hotel room while I was attending the more "boring" meetings!  We had light rain on our way home.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.                        I Corinthians 13:2

Thanksgiving Weekend

Three of our kids were with us for Thanksgiving at Paul and Jean's on Thanksgiving Day.  We had good food and fellowship and many reasons to be thankful.  Our Iowa kids spent Thursday night with us.  Late Friday morning we headed to Indiana to spend time with Nathan & Michelle & kids.  They were on duty, so they were staying on campus.  We took the older two kids with us and stayed in their Grabill house for the weekend.  We visited my sister at the big house Saturday afternoon and then took our kids, grandkids, and the house residents out for supper Saturday evening. I think they all enjoyed it.  We headed for home Sunday afternoon.

Playing games together at Pine house.

Tuesday, Brother, nephew, and I went to the Peoria Farm Show.  We were babysitting two of our grandsons, so I decided to be brave and take them with us.  They got a little tired with all the walking, and it got a little long for them, but they did good and I think they enjoyed it. And they got to bring home some farm swag.

 

Last week our clothes dryer died.  It's a Maytag that is probably 30+ years old.  It needs a new motor, which is expensive, and with two service calls the cost to fix it would be $450.  We decided to buy a new dryer rather than wait for parts.  I looked online last night and bought the dryer the serviceman recommended, which was on sale locally for $500.  I picked it up and installed it this afternoon, and we are back in the laundry business.  I took the old Maytag out to the shop, and I think I will order the motor online (for $150) and attempt to replace it myself this winter.  Then it can join the wash machine already out there.

I was able to shoot a nice buck on opening morning of deer season, and this morning Son#1 shot a nice doe, so we have meat for the winter.  Son#2 in Iowa already has a large buck with a bow, and gun season is still to come.  I attended a Zoom farm meeting today, and this evening we started looking at Christmas lists.  Its probably about time to start shopping.

     Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.                                            Acts 14:17