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Whether you travel over the country roads, city roads, go short or long distances, or even if you remain at home hosting the family dinner, it is hoped you have a happy and thankful Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving Day may be extra special as family and friends get together, while watching the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade on television, or preparing to take in a great football game. The Thanksgiving meal is a special one and the cook sometimes is the least recognized as several trips are made to the grocery store collecting needed items and the...
A cousin left our family recently and though he died, the memories of him remain in our hearts. I am blessed to have so many cousins because both sides of the family had numerous children and from them came a lot of offspring. Dr. Suess said it best, “Sometimes you never will know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.” I’ve found as I age, I’ve had parents, aunts, uncles and now cousins die. Oh, I always knew they were important to me and other family members but we think we will always have them around to talk to, to give us hugs,...
The country roadways in most areas locally have become bumpy and are now rough for traveling. A driver has to watch out for pot holes filled with nothing but rock dust along the roads. I’ve been told, the rock road conditions were brought on by a really dry year, and recently from harvest trucks hauling grain into the elevators. It is hoped the road conditions will improve. Regardless of the native rock country roadway conditions, my husband and I decided to take a route homeward from Superior that I hadn’t traveled for some time. It brought ba...
It’s soup weather! With this week’s cold snap, it’s time to create one of my favorite and easy meals. To top things off, delicious soups make my husband and family happy this time of year. Soup may be made in a crock pot in the morning and enjoyed for supper. A big pot of tasty soup or stew can also be made on top of the stove. A pot of soup can last for two to three meals. I’ve heard it said that soup tastes even better the second or third time around. I’ll share some of my favorite soup recipes and some that have been passed down to me fro...
Shopping on a Saturday afternoon is nothing like it used to be. A drive down the main street shows only a few vehicles parked and in some towns, the main street is bare on Saturday afternoons. Several of the stores display closed signs and advertise they now close at noon, or mid afternoon. Thank goodness the grocery stores are open. Even during week days, unless a person knows for sure, phone calls may be needed to be made before making a trip into town. It is not certain some stores or eating places are open that day. These stores or eating...
It is with a heavy heart that I write this week’s Country Roads as hearing and seeing all that is currently happening in Israel is so terrible. Prayers are with Israel and its people. My mind goes back to thoughts I shared a few months ago with a friend that I grew up with and attended school with. We both shared we were so thankful for God placing us in the country where we were born, the community and time we grew up in, and with the parents and grandparents we had. Our country has been blessed during its almost 250 years since the United S...
It’s pumpkin time! They are ready for picking up in stores, at local markets and in gardens. Yards, porches and homes have fake or real pumpkins on display, adding to the fall spirit. There are the usual real pumpkins, or pumpkins made out of fabric, painted on wood, plastic pumpkins and paper pumpkins. There are pumpkins designed and implemented into quilts, table clothes, pillow covers, wall hangings and wreaths. For me, it’s the time for a delicious pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin spice creamer to add to my morning cup of coffee. It sur...
It’s been great weather so far this fall. Most of us received much needed rain over a week ago and everything is greening up. The temperatures have been just right to get outside and do some fall work, or just to enjoy the day. The evenings are cooling off and the air conditioner is sometimes not needed which will make it easier reading the electric bill when it arrives. I remember those early fall days years ago rushing home from school. Climbing out of our school’s Jeep bus and making a run for the house. Mother would usually have one of her...
Where did the summer go? In just a few days, autumn will arrive. You’d think with this summer being so hot and with a lack of rain, it would seem like summer drug by but for some of us, it somehow flew by. Autumn arrives with football and volleyball games, bon fires along with wiener roasts, tasty s’mores, pumpkins, apple pies baking, leaves turning colors and falling to the ground, cooler days and nights and colorful mum flowers blooming. There are golden brown fields full of milo, stalks of ripened corn, golden soybean fields and com...
Sept. 11, 2001! It’s hard to believe it was 22 years ago that the United States was blatantly and willfully attacked by terrorists. The horrible scenes of the Twin Towers in New York as they were hit and fell to the ground were shown by the media. Many innocent people were killed. Then the Pentagon was hit miles away in Washington D.C. It was unbelievable. How could this be happening? Later it was learned an airplane hijacked by more terrorists and was headed for more destruction but crashed to the ground when brave heroes decided to take c...
Communicating with people, other than in person, has come a long way. Earlier forms of communication included scratching pictures on rocks and trees for others to read, body language, smoke signals, shooting of firearms and tapping on something. Code languages were used especially during war. Horse back message deliverers were counted on. Then came the telegraph system for faster delivery. The mailing system used the Pony Express and later the railroads to carry mail faster. Radio and television opened doors of communicating. News and weather...
After six days of more than 100 degree daytime weather, relief came at the end of the week with a much needed rain and cooler temperatures. A drive along the country back roads showed a display of native sunflowers and how showy they are now. Sunflowers are bright and cheery. Every year I look forward to seeing them show up. After all, sunflowers are Kansas’ state flower and I can see why they were chosen for that honor. Sunflowers have become popular in interior decorating, featured on clothing and included by professional florists in many o...
A perfect Sunday afternoon was enjoyed. There was no boating on the lake, or a big family picnic going on. It was a simple Sunday following Sunday School and the church worship service in the morning, a nice lunch at a local cafe with a cousin, and then it was back home. It was a warm August afternoon, with promising weather reports of rain arriving later in the afternoon. The rain would certainly be welcomed as on a farm a rain arriving in August is always needed and welcomed. Spotty rains have come and gone recently, and for some the rain...
Last week, my hubby and I headed to Colorado for a short trip to get away from the heat. We had a good time but when we went to view the Royal Gorge, I chickened out walking out to the bridge to view down into the canyon below, as my semi-fear of heights seemed to kick in. Hubby, not being the least bit afraid of heights went to see the bridge and view as I remained checking out the Visitor’s Center. My thrill was taking the train ride down in the canyon the day before. I was able to look up to see the bridge above. The train went along the A...
In this hot summer weather, I must admit I’ve been doing a lot of lollygagging and even some dilly dallying. Now I have no idea where those phrases originally came from, but I remember my grandmother, mother and others using those unusual sayings. Let’s face it. It’s just been too hot to feel like doing anything! When the temperature gets into the 100s, energy levels decrease and mine sure does. Outdoor time is limited. It seems just going out to water the flowers and container garden is about all that seems to get done outside. Indoors is a...
7 summer is turning out to be a “a hot and dry one”as the end of July temperatures crank up into the high 90s and into the low 100s. We thought it couldn’t get any worse than it did last year, but it seems to be proving to be that way. For the farmers and ranchers, it is a big concern with the dry conditions and lack of rains, along with these heat waves and windy conditions. They know the weather is having a significant negative impact on their crop yields. A report said nearly 2/3 of Kansas is in severe, extreme drought. Wheat harvest was...
A while back, a cousin of mine gave me a picture that some may question the subject matter in the picture. It is of a few head of cattle walking into and around an abandoned house, in the middle of a pasture. I proudly have it hanging on a wall in our house as it portrays a scene I had told my cousin about years ago. She remembered and gave me a treasured gift. When my late farmer husband and I moved back to our hometown area, he longed to get back into farming as he had grown up with it and loved it. Even though he had studied and worked for...
Being a long time farm wife, I’ve learned to recognize signs or signals given by my farmer as to what he really is feeling or wanting. The minute he walks through the door and asks if I have time to make a quick trip to town, I know he is in need of something that will require me to either go gather a machinery part, go to the vets to pick up some medicine for the pigs, or to pay a bill he forgot about. If he begins to talk about his parents and if we’d heard from them lately, I realize it’s time for me to have them over for a family dinne...
July has arrived and with it has come fireworks, camping, picnics, swimming, fresh garden products, family reunions, freezers of homemade ice cream, boating, fishing, county fairs and vacation trips. Usually in this rural area July means checking cattle, baling alfalfa hay, spraying or digging thistles, cutting out cedar and locust trees from pastures, finishing the planting of milo and feeds, and finishing wheat harvest. This July wheat harvest around here is almost a “no go.” Lack of moisture caused for the wheat to be thin, short and not the...
It will soon be time to celebrate another Independence Day, July 4th, the birthday of our country, the United States of America! It would take a giant birthday cake to hold our country’s 247 candles. When we think of America’s most patriotic songs, some of the songs that come to mind are of course the “National Anthem,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “This Is My Country,” “America,” “God Bless the USA” and “Yankee Doodle.” My father’s favorite patriotic song was “God Bless America,” and as the church’s song leader, at every patriotic holiday...
Burr Oak, my hometown, is unusual in having two main road bridges with creeks running under them, within the town’s city limits. Since the town was founded where the Burr Oak Creek joins the White Rock Creek, there had to be bridges on the north side and west edge of town. The first iron clad bridges were used for many years. My family crossed the bridge on Highway 28 on the north side of town to visit my grandparents. It would rattle every time it was crossed. Next to the bridge, in a low place, was the Huntsinger filling station. The tall i...
While driving past a corn field, a large red bull was spotted, lazily grazing in the lush corn without a care in the world. My husband and I talked about who the bull probably belonged to, but couldn’t come with a clue. My husband assured me that before dark, the owner would come and direct the bull back to a pasture or lot where he belonged. The next day, a visitor stopped by and mentioned she had noticed a large red bull out in a corn field. Apparently, the owner either came and got the bull but it escaped again, or it had been roaming around...
Thoughts often take us back to happy times in our youth, with childhood friends and classmates. There were many birthday parties and slumber parties, where several girl friends would get together and have lots of laughs and fun times that will never be forgotten. While taking piano lessons from Mrs. Lackey, while we were living in Stockton, her oldest daughter Peggy was the same age as I was. We hit it off and became close friends. Then my family moved back to Jewell County. As luck would have it, the Lackey family would soon move to Jewell...
One flower noticed the most in the cemeteries this time of the year is the beautiful peony. The peonies are blooming in all their glory, showing off their colorful and fragrant blooms in cemeteries, yards, and even in vacant yards and landscapes. In this “neck of the woods” peony bushes are popular and showy. Memorial Day, everyone who visits the cemeteries look forward to seeing the blooming peony bushes that decorate grave sites. Have you ever asked yourself why there are so many peony bushes planted at the grave sites? Not only do they hav...
