6 Years Ago ...

What ELSE would I be thinking about today?
Today my first grandson is 6 years old.  That is a bigger milestone than normal.
Just after noon the 29th I'm delivering propane when my phone rings.  I have a grandson.  1 pound 3.7 ounces. That was the last call from my Sue's cell phone as well, because she lost it in the toilet at the hospital.  But that is another story.
Contrary to what the laws of physics and the State of Indiana seem to dictate, you can drive the 90 miles or so to Riley Children's Hospital in just over an hour, but you are passing things going fast. God is Good.  I made it without causing or being involved in an accident.  Riley Children's Hospital is a scary and wonderful place, largely for the same reasons. If not for Riley I really doubt we would have gone from this

to this

That's David taking a picture with Aunt Jill's iPhone, taken by his little brother on Papaw's cell phone.  Isn't technology something?

Does God answer prayer?  All I have to do is look at this red headed little man and I know the answer to that.  As I understand it, today my grandson is taking a girl out to lunch ... his idea.
edit:  Here is a photo from lunch

Sorry if this has typos.  Papaw just got a phone call from David.  He wanted to call and tell me he was six years old.  I can barely see the keyboard.

God is good

Jesus Laughing

Brent Olson has been blogging since before the term was invented.  He writes regularly for Successful Farming's online site. http://www.agriculture.com/talk/views/humor  They put him in the humor section but he gets a bit deep at times.  His most recent column caused me to stop and ponder a bit.  Here's an excerpt:

The other night we went out to dinner with about a dozen friends.  As is often the case, there were a couple of conversations going on simultaneously.  At my end of the table, I was looking for a little help. “I still have to write a Christmas column.  Anyone have any ideas?”

There was a brief moment of silence and then from the other end of the table, from another conversation, someone said, brightly, “I always eat olives when I drink beer.”

Everybody laughed.

Then someone else looked at me and said, “Olives grow in the Holy Land.”

Everybody laughed again.

Well, yeah, I suppose that’s true, but not even I am likely to try to write a column tying together olives, beer, and Jesus.  I don’t know who could write that column, but I’d be willing to bet they never taught Sunday school in a Methodist church.

He goes on to talk about  Christmas:

That part of Christmas can slip my mind.  ...  – I already had the instructions.

“…I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people…”

Can’t get much clearer than that.

More from Brent:

it’s the shortest verse in the Bible, and maybe that means something.  Maybe we aren’t meant to weep all that much.

I’m sure Jesus did weep.  But I bet he laughed even more.

And he probably ate olives.

Everyone knows the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept."   But like Brent, I think we often miss the other side of it.  I am certain Jesus laughed, maybe a lot.

I even found a web site: http://www.jesuslaughing.com  That's where the print above came from.


That is one of the things I have heard mentioned by folks visiting Chilton's.  The food is good, the service is OK, but folks don't go many places where they hear laughter like you often do there.  I think that is the difference between a good and a not so good family gathering.  Laughter is a sign it is good.

Amazing Grace

In the fire and emergency service it is called a Line Of Duty Death.  It means someone died during or because of responding to help others.  I'd never been to an LODD funeral until this fall.  I've been to a couple since the first of October, and there is another Monday at Sullivan, Indiana. I can't say it is something I enjoy, but at the same time I am honored to be involved.

As I understand it the firefighter/paramedic from Sullivan had finished a run, sat down, and fell over dead.   The firefighter from Brocton the Oakland funeral was for had jumped in the firetruck to move it on scene and collapsed.  Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I seem to be hearing more about these kinds of things lately.

The Illinois Fire Chiefs Association gets really involved.  They have funeral guidelines (see http://www.illinoisfirechiefs.org/service.asp?id=25), offer assistance, and it doesn't matter if your department is a member of their association or not. I was at a funeral in Oakland and parked beside a Fire Chief from north of Chicago.

I know it sound like I am a bit morbid pondering on this today.    I got on this train of thought because someone linked me to a youtube video of Andre' Rieu leading in playing Amazing Grace.  It seems to be a standard at one of these funerals for someone to play Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. Crank up the volume and listen to this
(NOTE to Mom and anyone else without a fast internet connection.  Click the play button then pause it and let it load a while before touching play again)

A search of YouTube for Amazing Grace gives 490,000 hits!  it has been called the most popular song in history

Here are 3 of the best vocal renditions:

Wintley Phipps offers some background I found interesting and his performance is outstanding

 Hayley Westerna gives a marvelous version  She has a fantastic voice

  But I think Rhema Marvanne does the best job of singing Amazing Grace I've ever heard:

Amazing Grace

John Newton (1725-1807)
Stanza 6 anon.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares

I have already come;

'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far

and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.

His word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

I think I made the right choice this evening

It's been a beautiful week down here on the prairie.  I didn't realize how beautiful until today hit. WOW! did winter make it's presence known.  We went from what would have been a pretty nice
 March day to a "let's go to Florida" December storm almost overnight.

I replaced the Fire Department's Automatic Electronic Defibrolator today.  We got it under a state grant a couple years ago.  We were notified this fall it had been recalled.  Friday we got a new one in the mail.

So I have to box up the old one and send it back to them.  We have never needed it and I'll be happy if we never do.  Because if WE are using it that means the EMT's were busy elsewhere.

But anyway, I mentioned making the right choice.  We had the church Christmas party scheduled for this evening.  I came home, pulled the truck in the barn ... and couldn't see the house for the blowing snow.  I told Sue we weren't going anyplace that wasn't absolutely necessary.  
I called the preacher, one of the elders, and one of the deacons and expressed my opinion that this would be a good night not to have it.

Setting here I've been listening the the police radio.  Westbound I-70 between Martinsville and the county line has one 5 semi truck plus 1 or 2 passenger car pileup, with another 2 truck/minivan wreck east of that and a jackknifed semi in the passing lane east of that.  Cars setting in line are running out of gas.

It sounds like dispatch has gone into major incident mode.  You don't hear any radio traffic that isn't related to this incident or something major.  Kind of like I used to tell the kids: If you scream like that someone better be bleeding.  If it doesn't involve personal injury I think dispatch it telling folks to take a number and call in the morning.

Yep, last week was beautiful.  I should have enjoyed it more.

It's What ?!!!

Yes kids, don't faint, your folks have their Christmas Tree up and decorated and Becky didn't have to do it.  Sue had Kinsey come over and spend the afternoon decorating.

 Here are a few photos to get you in the spirit of things:

Grammaw's new bed

We did something recently we had never done our entire married life.  I guess it was time. We bought a new bed.  No, we haven't been sleeping on the floor, but it was never in a new bed of which we were the original purchasers.  The guys from Glidden's showed up with it today.  They had some highly qualified assistants.

The assistants noticed little details, like that guy had a "Ready? OK" (David/Adam term for a measuring tape.  You pull it out and say "Ready ?  OK" before releasing it to rewind.

David was the first to try it out.  It makes good bed angels. (Bed angels are like snow angels but not nearly as cold).

What do you mean I can't jump on it?

It must be good, it's the same name as the town Uncle Jim lives in.

I had a dream ...

I had a dream ... Normally when you hear that phrase it is some kind of uplifting, life-changing speech. Naw.  I had a dream last night and I'm more tired now than when I went to bed.


In my dream we were still under those extremely dry weather conditions we had for the last month or so.  Kind of like living in a tinderbox.  I dreamed I was driving down a local road just a few miles outside of our fire district and saw a fire in a field.  I stopped to try and put it out.  The wind kicked up and it jumped to multiple locations and started spreading toward several houses.


I called dispatch but they wouldn't accept where I said I was as a valid address.  I heard them on my radio dispatch the wrong fire department to the wrong address.  I got rattled and made it worse.  So I called some of my guys on the cell phone to come in our trucks.


In my dream one of the firefighters I called was at a restaurant where a salesman passing through was driving a demonstrator fire engine set up for foam operation and ready to work (Hey!  If you're going to dream, dream big!).  He responded with it while others brought all our equipment.


It was a difficult fire, feeding off dry vegetation and being spread by high winds.  But we kept it away from the houses.  We beat it.  And we had no more than got it out than the department who was supposed to be responding showed up.

I was about as exhausted  in my dream as I was at our Firefighter's Challenge at the Fall Festival a few years ago.

And now I am setting here at 6:30 Thanksgiving morning as physically worn out as if I'd actually fought a fire, wondering "What was all that about?"


But hey!  Any time you beat a fire and save the day you should be thankful.  And it is Thanksgiving Day.  So in addition to the uncountable blessings I have to be thankful for I can add beating a fire, even in a very weird dream. Be sure and count your blessings today.  You'll run out of numbers before you get done.

Deer retrieval

I've figured out a great new sideline.  I'm thinking of going in the deer retrieval service.  You shoot him and I'll go get him.  Might work.

Steve got one late Friday.  It was actually pretty easy to get to.   Nice more or less 10 pointer (I'm not sure the technicalities of point counting)

It was just sundown by the time we got it loaded, so I don't have any really good photos.  My Kodak quit and my cell phone doesn't do low light very well.

It was really pretty easy to get to.  Pull off the road, down the grade, across 4 ditches, up the GREAT BIG hill turn right and it was laying in the weeds by the edge of the field.  Steve says next year his plan is to shoot one earlier in the day so it isn't dark when you are doing all this.

Customer expectations

I think I spent too many years in sales.  30 years ago when I started with Pickering Seed Company the guy who signed me up could sell ice to Eskimos.  But he was absolutely terrible at managing a sales force.  He kind of left us high and dry right before planting season my first year of selling seed corn.  I called asking about some seed for a county test plot and all he would say was "You better call the company about that."  I went to a new season kick-off meeting in Indianapolis with Ken Fleck.  We were very dissatisfied.  We got there early and ended up helping set up some things.  In the process we spent a fair amount of time with some guy named Woody airing our opinions of how we had been treated. Later we found Woody was our new state manager.  One thing he said has stuck with me through the years.  He looked me straight in the eye and said "Now you know how not to treat people.  Your job is to treat them right".

That concept has been bouncing around in my head the last few weeks.  We have been kicking around trading combines  Our 15 year old combine is usable, but to get it back fully up to snuff we're going to have to sink $20,000 in it. The immediate problem is a main drive gearbox seal leaking, which has to be removed form the combine to be repaired. And it has ruined the main drive belt. And while you have it all apart fixing that you better replace the hydraulic drive coupler because it's been in there 5 years and is a weak point in the 2166.   The clean grain augers are worn out.  The unloading auger tube is worn so thin we had to replace the elbow this summer because the mechanic who did our combine inspection was afraid it was going to fail and drop the auger on the ground!  The horizontal tube is thin enough the metal has wrinkled at a critical point!  We found a piece of the top sieve had broken this fall and made a patch out of a piece of galvanized sheet metal from a furnace duct. There are 3 patches on holes in the bottom of the grain tank. The chopper blades need replaced. And we haven't gotten to the elephant ears and transition cone.  On and on.  And when I get done doing all that I still have a 15 year old engine and drive train in a combine worth $30,000 on a trade.  So we start looking online, and I make a few phone calls. 

I think the phrase is level of service.  Maybe it is customer expectation.  I guess it is a hazard of too many years keeping groceries on the table by being a salesman. The biggest deal I ever worked on was about $20,000, which 20 years ago was several copiers and typewriters.  If someone called my store and said "I'm thinking of spending $150,000" I'd be their new best friend.  I've contacted ... well, I won't name names. Let's just say I think I've talked to all the Case and John Deere dealers within at least an hour drive.  My approach has been pretty much the same:  "I've got --- and need to replace it.  I'm willing to spend $xxx per year on a good used combine."  My requirements were pretty simple, 4WD, at least a 20 ft platform, and $xxx per year.

I have 3 dealerships that have never called back.  One salesman came and looked at what I had, said he had several that would fit my needs and he'd get back tomorrow with some combines for me to consider.  I guess that old song was correct  "Tomorrow never comes".

Jerry at Schilling Brothers came out, looked at what we had and listened to our expectations.  I told him it would be like changing religions.  I'd never even driven a green combine.  He brought us out a machine to demo.  After we got caught up he took us to look at a machine that was being traded in. He even bought lunch a time or two.

Bill from Bane Equipment responded quickly, came and looked at what we had, and let us demo a combine and corn head.  And bought lunch.

OK, so I'm like a baby, feed me and I'm happy. 

It's interesting, Aman and I haven't really set a time line as to when things have to happen, but we both seem to have the idea that we need to make a decision by about the 15th of this month.  If we don't trade the 2166 in we need to get it in the shop and start taking it apart.  We also seem to have come to the same conclusions about which combines to consider.  We've pretty much narrowed it down to 2 machines.  Want to guess who the guys are selling them?

I just about tripped the trigger Friday, but Bill asked if I would give him until Monday morning.  He had a wild idea and needed to make a few calls to see if he could come up with something else.  I said "Sure".  Because the way thing are leaning right now, Adam isn't going to understand.

Hello from Tennessee ....

We did something this week I have never been able to do before.  We loaded up and went to Jill's ... IN OCTOBER!  Harvest is done, plowing is a couple days from being done, Sue wasn't teaching, I wasn't teaching, no Jr Church because it was the last Sunday of the month, and we had some furniture we had been saving for Jill.  So we loaded up and headed south and east.

Here's Jill's house

 Before you get too impressed it is split into 3 or 4 apartments.  We walked around the neighborhood this evening, I guess it is a common thing.  Either someone buys an old house as an investment or they inherit one and don't want to live in it.  Dad the firefighter was impressed to find this right outside her front door

 Saturday evening we went with her to supper at a friend's house.  It was kind of a treat, having a meal at the home of someone whose writings you have been reading in Christian Standard for years.  We went to Hopwood to church with her this morning.

Even met a couple Farmers... Mr and Mrs Farmer that is.  I think both are Doctors, but one in theological and the other medical.  Nice folks.
Seemed a bit odd my daughter being one of the communion servers. Hopwood is attached to the campus of Milligan.   I'd never been there in the fall  Quite pretty.  Here is the entrance to Milligan from about the same spot I took the Hopwood shot.

 Milligan Chapel

In our walk around town we found several flowers blooming that really shouldn't have been.  Like Iris's

 And Dogwood's!

We also got to visit her office

 Dad was impressed with her desk set

I guess she gets her sense of organization from her Dad

Methodist Church across the corner from her house apparently was having a tailgating Halloween party of some kind, complete with inflatables.

 We had a good time.  We're meeting Jill in the morning and then we'll be heading northwest again.

Sometimes you have to set back, take a deep breath, and look around

It's been "one of those ..." (insert appropriate time frame: days, weeks, falls, etc.)  I was driving down the road this week when I realized those clouds were beautiful.  Sometimes you have to set back, take a deep breath, and look around. So here are a few photos from this fall with a common theme. Look at the sky, often just a background in the photo for what I was trying to shoot.  The sky has been beautiful this fall, we have just been to busy to enjoy it.

Isn't this spectacular?

 And here is a great sunset shot

 Rainbows have been few and far between this fall

 I think this was an accidental button click, but it shows just how clear the sky has been most of this fall.

 Here I was taking a shot of the plot harvest, but notice the clouds in the sky.

and in this photo as well

If you pay VERY close attention you can tell me where this was taken, but you REALLY have to think about it and know where we farm.

Are you familiar with Woot.com ?

Woot (http://www.woot.com/ ) is an interesting site. Most of the time they sell one thing a day, and when it sells out they just don't sell anything else until the next day.  Well, unless they are having a Woot-out when they sell limited quantities of stuff all day.  You have to see it to understand.

One of the interesting things about Woot is the product descriptions of the stuff they're selling. Usually it is more commentary than description.  It's often worth visiting their site every day just to read the product descriptions.  Here is one from today.  If you aren't interested in the media player the commentary is still an interesting viewpoint.

Last Sunday thought it was so cool. But you know what? There won’t be another 10-17-10 for a hundred years, either.

Around here, we don’t believe in privileging one date over another just because of some numerical accident. It’s all a bit arbitrary, ennit? If we were still going by the Julian calendar – don’t laugh, the Russians used it as late as 1918 – that awesome 10-10-10 would be the much more humdrum 9-27-10. Or the Islamic calendar? It renders that day as 11-3-31. The Mayan Long Count calendar says it was 12.19.17.13.18. Yeah, we don’t really get it either. If you bump into any Mayans, ask them for us, wouldja?

So where do people get off designating a certain Sunday as a once-in-a-lifetime event and the next Sunday as barely worth remembering? There are all kinds of incredible things happening today, too. Somewhere, a woman is crying through the first seconds of motherhood, her heart swollen with a love she never knew possible. A man has just broken free of an addiction that had reduced him to something between a robot and a slave: 10-17-10 is the first day of the rest of his life. TV’s Sharon Leal (Boston Public, Guiding Light) celebrates turning 38. And Woot is selling the Sandisk Sansa Fuze 4GB Media Player.

Yes, on this date like no other, Woot salutes a media player like no other. The Sansa Fuze loads files through trusty old drag-and-drop – no need for some bloated proprietary interface. It’ll play just about anything that calls itself a “media file”, from MP3 to WMA to OGG to JPG to AVI to MOV to WMV, including podcasts and audiobooks, plus a bunch more. (You might need to run some video files through Sansa Media Converter, but as The Simpsons said, “Pobody’s nerfect in Australia”.) And its middling 4GB of storage space is expandable with the addition of an SDHC card. It’s the perfect media player for a unique day like today. We think every day is unique and special. And they’re all worthy of celebration.

Except May 24th. No particular reason, really. That date has just always gotten on our nerves.

Hope we never do this again

West Union has always been a little ... different. One former resident commented recently three things about West Union were way beyond a town of its size.  One was the Library, another was the park.  But one thing about West Union that was extraordinary was the ambulance service.
West Union paused this week to honor one of its own who was key in developing that service.  Rick Poorman died as a result of injuries suffered in a traffic accident involving the ambulance he was working in.  No world shattering act, nothing particularly outstanding all, just a traffic accident.
The response has been breathtaking.  The funeral visitation started at 4 PM Wednesday and went on until 11 !  People Rick had touched from literally all over the country showed up to honor him.

 The funeral Thursday was almost as amazing.  Fire departments and ambulance services from all over Illinois and Indiana sent representatives, and equipment to honor Rick

 Marshall sent 2 trucks and crew to man our station during the funeral

It was an honor to have them do this.

Saw something I'd never seen at a burial.  2 medical evacuation helicopters, from different providers, flew over the grave site.

To make everyone's day complete, at 9 PM the Fire Dept gets paged to Chiltons Cafe for a fire.  Fortunately it was a grass fire behind the building we put out quickly.

Lost a friend this weekend

It was a long night last night and today is even longer By now this is all out in the public, so I don't think I am betraying any confidences with it.

Local ambulance with 2 EMT's on board picked up a patient complaining of pain (As I understand it he had been in an ATV accident a day or two earlier) were taking him to the hospital in the ambulance.  They were going up a state highway about a mile north of the county line in non-emergency mode, no lights, no siren, 58 MPH ( there was an off-duty police officer 2 cars behind also northbound in his personal vehicle)


Pickup on a crossroad didn't stop and pulled in front of the ambulance.  Ambulance (I think) hit pickup then rolled. It tore the side off the ambulance, threw the EMT in back and the patient out.  Took one entire wall off the box and scattered ambulance contents a long ways. Driver was trapped and very disoriented.

The off duty officer saw it all and had it called in before the driver find his handheld and do it on the radio.  Dispatch went into a mass casualty mode and called everyone but the National Guard. Because of the location and cell phones accessing different towers we got response from 2 different counties.


We ended up with 4 ambulances from 3 services, 2 different rescue units, 2  fire depts, 2 Sheriff departments, 3 different helicopters, and IL State Police

One helo landed on scene, the other 2 met the ambulances at local hospital.  EMS decided they could get to the hospital before the choppers could arrive.

To further confuse things I believe there was another property damage only traffic accident down the road about 5 miles about the same time.



Rick Poorman was the EMT we lost.  I can't remember not knowing Rick.He did a lot of things in the community and will be tough to replace.

I think I need a rainy day ...

Maybe a couple of them.  It's been a great fall for harvest.  Almost no rain, good running, pretty good yields.  But this many days running starts to wear on you, even if we do generally take Sunday off.  I did something tonight I have never done before.  I parked a plugged up combine in the shed and left it.  I reached the point tonight the best thing to do was go home.

The last few days have had some frustrations.  I had some kind of email glitch last week and it seems some email didn't go out even though on my end it said it was sent.  Like to my insurance agent, the lawyer who is trustee of some ground I farm, a few "unimportant" things like that.

Then the elevator got full of beans ... about the same time the landlady's bean bin got full.

But we are getting by.  I took some to Snyder, and it looks like we'll squeak by. This afternoon I am trying to finish up first crop beans.  Creek bottom fields are dry in the middle, but the field edges are still green.  Do I leave 20-30 ft around 2 fields or cut them?  I cut them ... but the moisture dock I got may have made it an unwise choice.  Have one field left, actually just a portion of a field.  This is one we left the green along the edge and in a low spot a couple weeks ago.  It's dry now.

So I start in.  Turns out to be more area than I thought.  And VERY tough going.  Down and twisted beans,some green weeds and grass, damp ground underneath, just tough cutting.  It's going to be hard to finish by sundown, and if I'm not done by sundown it will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to cut.  So just before sunset ... yep, I plug the rotor.  I get out thr big black ugly awkward wrench and try turning it backwards.  Seems to turn fairly freely.   I get in the cab, start the engine, hit the switch to turn it on and somehow hit the switch to reverser the feeder house.

For those unfamiliar with the idiosyncrasies of a Case combine, if you reverse the feeder without first raising the reel if can cause the header auger to damage the floor panels on the header.

Did you notice I never mentioned raising the reel?

And the rotor won't turn on.

So back on top with the big ugly wrench..  Then back on the ground and pull the side covers off

Nothing.

It's now dark.  I clean of the combine, put everything back on, and take it in.  We get the truck in, I send Aman home, and then get to thinking about it. I get my handy little pocket flashlight out, open the door on the feeder house and look inside.

And drop my flashlight.  Just out of reach.

I get a little crows foot bar from my truck toolbox, reach in to try and fish it out, and hit the off switch.   Which worked. THAT is when I decided it was time to go home.

Oh, and as I pulled in the driveway I remembered the tractor and grain cart we forgot to bring in setting along the road.  So when Sue got home from church we went after it.  It's in my backyard.

I think I need a couple rainy days to catch up and take a break.

You probably have to be a farmer ....

You probably have to be a farmer to see some of these sights.  Maybe even to appreciate them.

The blaze of corn fuzz as you fill a bin with the fan turned on late in the afternoon

For instance the sound corn makes when it goes through a corn head.

Sunset from the top of a grain truck

A rainbow at an unexpected time

A most unusual weed

Yes, those are cottonwood trees coming up in corn stubble.

I just thought I'd share a few shots you don't normally see.

I guess that means I'm not normal?