Chilled, from deep winter's freeze the winds whosh and whistle sending leaves and debris hip scotching along barren branches twist and turn remembering Chubby Checker! (C'mon everybody, let's do the twist!) Wrapped against the chill I freeze out in the wind and melt in sun drenched lee spots Cold, hot! Cold, hot! It's springtime [...]
A pinhole or a crack is all the howling wind needs to send snowflakes sailing in Blizzard Whiteout Hour after hour Snow swirls and drifts sculptured piles arise packed hard and firm challenging man and beast In grandma's day the drifts topped fences so the cattle walked over them as did she and her [...]
Some two thousand years ago a parade of folks was moving urged along by a star A star above, Bethlehem, small town Israel plain people, none of note But along came a couple wife a young mother to be husband a good sort of fellow and the baby came in a stable Born in [...]
Happens once a year a gathering of the arms Illinois Farm Bureau 407,378 members represented by 342 delegates from each county in the state Cars and busses trains and pickup trucks the farmers pour in to the Chicago Loop toting suitcases (and billfolds!) Delegates and alternates, friends and staff officers and directors and onlookers [...]
From the garden the orchard and the fields, fall is the pouring season! Nature pours forth rewards for labor and energy for thinking and planning and so we see The tomatoes and potatoes the squash and onions gathered into baskets and coming in The kitchen is alive with processing, changing summer's bounty into keepers [...]
Fascinating to watch a skilled chef who knows the chemistry to watch him or her mix then taste, savoring, thinking a little bit of this, a little bit of that With soil, we dig a trench to see the profile, from top to deep we slice a sample a core then head to a [...]
Sandy soils overlaying the ocean holding back that behemoth of waving, foaming power give way to sandy soils over plentiful water Fields carved by streams and rivers water, water everywhere! Navy, fishermen, pleasure boaters attuned to the waterman life What a treat! Refreshing, for the flatlanders of Illinois! How tempting to wet a line [...]
Our structures stand wind and rain sun and cold strong against the elements But in a moment the wind can torture the rain can flood the sun can certainly age them hard and the cold can make them crack Above these things the humans reign building, tending, repairing but in a moment an angry [...]
Delight comes in ever so many ways! Years ago a college student called. "Could you use some harvest help?" Indeed I could, so I invited the young man out. On the farm he was in his element. 'Can do!" was his aim. He did! Expeditiously with a smile! In the field or at our [...]
As a runner I've been there: that last 500 feet The finish line to cross Yes, the race matters all of the way The hills, the straight aways the curves we can't see around yet there's something about that last 500 feet and the line we need to cross A year of planting, tending, [...]