Monthly Archives: January 2012

Letter to Dave

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Dear Dave,

We spoke this week and you reported about 41 degrees and slight snow
cover in Carrington, North Dakota. I would say we are a bit less and
a bit more, respectively. Dad said the last time we had this type of
winter was in 1943; it was worth the wait for a repeat. We passed through an un-white Christmas without notice and now the cupids of Valentine’s Day may not need parkas.

I know you are busy assembling farm equipment at Erickson Implement in preparation for
spring planting. Good commodity prices mean that farmers not only
have some money to buy new equipment but it also means they need to
have the kind of equipment that can plant, spray and harvest the crop
in a timely manner. Better, more timely practices mean more bushels and more profits. Ten years ago people were not in a great hurry to spray expensive chemical on $2 corn-now the chemical for Round-up ready corn is an investment with a very short payback.

 

I have been more relaxed this winter as we’ve had little snow to plow
and our cattle need less hay brought to them when the weather is
warm. Freezing temperatures bring about increased need for
hay and it just gets worse the lower it goes. I purchased some hay
bales that received rain from our neighbor, Tom Scholin, and am using
them to bed for the cattle. Straw bales seem a rare commodity as
today’s combines chop the wheat stalks so completely as to make them
almost impossible to bale and so I use hay then top dress it with a little straw
to make it look nice.

I do have a few projects on the docket. I have removed all of the
shelving from the garage which once housed all of my old John Deere
snowmobiles. The sleds are gone and now so are the heavy shelves
which once held them. I have covered the walls with peg board to the
point that I no longer have any more stuff to hang from the walls. I
guess I thought the peg board looked nice AND overdid it just a bit.

I am also installing a filter to remove fibers from our
washing machine before they get discharged into our drain field.
Apparently, many of the fibers lost from our clothing during washing
end up in the drain field, do not break down and therefore create
a mat. It is just this sort of illegitimate carpet that ruins drain
fields and so we will now filter the washing machine’s gray water
prior to release. As is typical, nothing gets me excited like plumbing waste water; I guess I am still that little kid digging ditches so the excess water from the corn silo could run into the pasture.

 

I hope all is well in Carrington, Dave. I also hope that our good fortune of little snow ends prior to this summer or we are going to rightly call it a drought. It will be at that time that I will become nostalgic for a white Christmas-at least for the moisture.

 

You’re little bro’

 

The obits

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I like reading obituaries. I take no pleasure in the death of another however an obituary spends little time on death, it is mostly about life. We are all given an account at birth, unevenly filled, with time. The great freedom is that we can spend from that account as we like; an obituary is a final account of our spending habits.

 

I like the obituaries of old people. I don’t care to read about little ones or even young adults. Our greatest generation is coming to the end of their time and the obituaries have never been better. These are stories of the American dream, people who started out plowing behind a team of oxen and grew to take us to the moon. Later generations have benefited from birth in such a lofty perch yet have not flown nearly so high.

 

The obituaries of the old are inspirational just in their longevity. Octogenarians are common however centenarians seem to pop up more than occasionally. These people started out life exposed to the worst that life could provide and became tough. Hard work and simple food made them healthy and surviving a variety of childhood disease tested their immune systems; these folks are a breed apart from what you see walking around today. They have enjoyed the benefits of antibiotics and other medical improvements but their bodies did not expect these helpful medications and was prepared for a life without them. Their longevity is a due, at least in part, to this set of circumstances.

 

I am constantly amazed at what accomplishments are revealed in an obituary. I like to read about the ladies who are described as homemakers. The children of these ladies had such a head start. They arrived at their first day of school highly socialized, with a good breakfast and a love of reading. My mom read to me until I could do it myself and it gave me such a vehicle with which to learn. I still do most of my own education through books and not from lectures. The homemakers obituary usually tells the story of a woman who made her family well-educated, well-fed and with a strong religious and morale base. They created the kind of children that could be expected to achieve and thrive and who left the house with the kind of knowledge that is now out-sourced. Their work was like a stone dropped into a pond, it radiated out and became even greater through time.

 

I guess maybe I started thinking about obituaries this week because it was about a year ago that my old classmate, Paul Erickson, died. Paul was one of the most accomplished and successful people I know and his obituary was a real story about a life well-lived. I guess it is one of those things that makes me want to live the kind of life that one day will will make for a good read.

 

Hunter Smith, a good character

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I watch the television channel ESPN Classic more for the classic than for the sports. However, last week I saw a feature that really caught my eye. Hunter Smith was a punter and snap-holder for the Washington Redskins football team. He is a twelve year veteran and has an exceptional career at his post. He has even thrown and ran for a touchdown during his brief appearances on the field. His career has been one of consistency both at punter and more importantly, at least to this story, as a kick holder. December 12th, 2010 came down to a final play, an extra point kick to send the game into overtime. Hunter Smith received the snap and bobbled it and Washington lost the game. The ball was wet, the snap was incredibly high and hard to handle plus the Redskins lost the opportunity to win several times that day through mistakes of other players. Hunter Smith was released from the the team for his mistake. I am slow to second-guess any boss as they see a larger picture than most onlookers, however this seems unfair. During the post-game interview, Hunter Smith took full responsibility for the failed extra point. He had not been let go from the team yet, so a more clever person might have tried to spread the blame around to other team mates. Here’s is the thing; this world has plenty of “clever” people and they cheapen our world, what we really need are some folks with the sort of character displayed by Hunter Smith. It starts in the elementary school. A child gets poor scores or causes trouble. His or her parents should support school-sanctioned disciplinary actions or ask the child to improve his/her report card, instead they become clever and scheme. They blame the teacher or the school and yell and scream until the school backs down. The child then learns to cleverly scheme from the very people charged to develop the child’s character. This results in a child that never grows and matures. This child will also have a rude awakening when they enter the real world and find that mommy and daddy can not always display their own lack of character and be rewarded for it like back in grade school. It is said there is no more important job than parenting because it affects people for generations. It must be a legacy of character and not one of clever deceit that begins with mom and dad. We are a litigious society, we have enough attorneys now in the United States to assign each of them as a character in every existing lawyer joke-and they need work. No one ever accepts responsibility for anything-even when they burn their mouth on hot coffee. People now sue fast food companies for their own obesity instead of taking responsibility for themselves and pushing away from the table. President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that said “the buck stops here.” The buck never stops anymore until it gets it’s day (deserved or otherwise) in court. The kind of character displayed by Hunter Smith who, even when thrown into that horribly unfair situation with a wet football and the high snap, stood up and accepted his situation seems rare. His parents must have told him he would sometimes fail and that he should deal with it with good character and do his best. He also accepted the responsibility without blaming others or playing it out in the court of public opinion. People look to the superstars of sports for role models, however in this case the special teams ruled the day. Not bad for a kick holder.

I Will See You in Heaven

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My favorite Christmas gift this week was a book. I want to tell you
about it but first a little background.

I am an animal lover; cats, dogs, cows, whatever. I also believe that
animals have souls. I sometimes feel few share in my opinion and that
some people see animals as nothing more than property or simply a
stuffed animal that happens to move.

I got a bb gun as a young man. I really enjoyed it but I misused the
responsibility one summer day. I had seen a Robin around our yard and
decided to shoot it. The second I pulled the trigger I knew it was a
mistake. I saw the Robin collapse and immediately walked over hoping
it was alive. It was dead. I wanted to take it back so much that I
carried it around with me then finally buried in the woods. I still
carry the guilt from that day buried in my mind.

Lisa gave me the book “I will me you in Heaven” for Christmas. It was
written by Friar Jack Wintz, (www.friarjack.org) of the Franciscan
Order in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Franciscan’s were an order founded by
Saint Francis of Assisi in the early 1200’s. Saint Francis saw the
beauty in things but also saw their life-giving reason and cause. In
his time, he ordered his Friars to set the best honey and wine out
for the bees, to help them during the cold season. Saint Francis
liked animals.

Friar Wintz has written a book that is easily read and has real
economy in its use of words. “I will see you in Heaven” could easily
be read in an hour if it weren’t for the intense context which you
must use to understand the use of scripture to support the existence
of souls and salvation for animals. It is well worth the effort
because of the truth it reveals. What people have mistakenly done is
create a hierarchy of God’s love and try to use this hierarchy as
some sort of meter to gauge to whom God reveals his gifts. In the
Bible it says God loves all things. It does not say God loves
some more than others, although is does say He loves some people
specifically. Friar Wintz says it this way, “we have much to
learn about God’s inclusive love, and about our role in collaborating
respectfully with other creatures as we go on our way to fulfill our
Creator’s holy designs.”

I say a few words for all the animals on our farm each night and
individually before I bring them to the locker plant. I feel it is
something I do for them, however it is also something that makes me feel better. I was
thinking about that Robin I shot when I was eight and realized
something; I could make it better. I could pray about that Robin the
same as I do for the cattle and at the same time receive some peace from
that awful act. It worked, it really worked.

“I will meet you in Heaven” includes three very useful prayers to be
used in the course of interaction between animal and man. A portion
of the proceeds from the book go to a no-kill shelter in Cincinnati,
Ohio and it is a darn fine read. I told Lisa that this is all I would
have needed for Christmas, it is that good and I recommend it.

http://rreflection.areavoices.com/2010/07/29/a-good-story/