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I don’t know how they are picked for it seems every day of the year is a special day recognizing something. Sunday, for example, was National Daughters Day and Monday was National Public Lands Day. Since I don’t have a daughter, I didn’t check to see how the day was to be observed. I did learn that on National Public Lands Day, everyone was encouraged to explore the outdoors and enjoy the physical, mental and spiritual health values that nature offers. With the deadline for the printing of this newspaper on Tuesday rapidly approaching, I had t...
I know I watch too much TV and a couple of things came to my attention this past week that helped support my feelings. They are: No. 1: I was watching a morning show Saturday. It had news as usual, but towards the end of the show, it introduced a musical band and singer. This wasn’t the first time I noticed what was to come, but it finally got the point across to me. The band was just a four piece band with two of the players singing as well. About half way through their song, I realized I could not understand most of the words of the song. T...
I left a window open and woke up in a chilly house; it was a brisk 53º downstairs. No wonder I’m still feeling under the weather; this time of year always gets me. With harvest starting, my sinuses will surely be full through the new year. I got a surprise visit from my oldest last night. It was so unexpected and wonderful. I found it funny that he popped in for dinner and washed a load of clothes like a normal kid. That’s never happened before. I miss him so much; he is only a couple of hours away, but it is still hard to get a visit between h...
It’s that time of the year when the garden produce is abundant and available for the asking or giving. The gardeners with green thumbs are bringing bags of tomatoes, squash and green peppers to share with friends and neighbors. Gardeners have been canning and freezing their produce but have decided they have reached their limit and are anxious to give it away. I am pleased when gardeners bring their extra produce to church, coffee time at the local cafe or to my house. My container gardening didn’t do well this year and so I am thankful for...
Shortly before I left work Saturday evening, this newspaper’s weather alert radio warned Republic County residents of thunderstorm possibilities. Neither Jewell nor Nuckolls counties were included in the alert and I dismissed it as something I need not be concerned with. It was past most people’s supper time, when I decided to head home and complete preparations for a Sunday School class I had agreed to teach the next day. As I left the newspaper office, I was surprised to see cotton candy thu...
I got a letter from Jacob Friday, who has an ear infection and pneumonia. I hope he is all better now since I have not heard otherwise. Monday was the beginning of Swim Week for his company. All I can say is he better do well with this one. After all, we have spent the last six years preparing for it. LOL! I woke up last Thursday with croup. I get it almost every year around this time. Hate it! I am feeling better, but mornings are still tough. And that horrible hack lingers around for what seems like an eternity. Between that and getting...
September harvest? ? ? Most years, the fall harvest didn’t start until the very end of September, most likely in October. However, 2022 may be remembered for how dry it was and how early the harvest began. For a couple weeks we have been watching corn being cut for silage. That is not all that unusual, however, how much and how early is a bit unusual. The pasture ponds are drying, the Little Blue River has no water and the Republican River has little water. 2022 in rural south central Nebraska will be remembered as a dry year. A O Do you rememb...
This month features several historical and memorial events we should keep in our hearts and minds. At the end of WWII, the Japanese signed surrender papers in 1945. The Benghazi Attack occurred in 2012. The terrorist attack destroying the Twin Towers and killing more than 3,000 people. Recently Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96, England’s longest reigning monarch. Certainly there were other historic events that occurred through the years in September but these stand out the most in my mind. Currently our attention is drawn to the d...
Sept 18, 2022 In June of 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was exciting news for me. We didn’t have television or the internet then but I was spellbound listening to radio news broadcasts from London reporting on the festivities. I suspect I curled up on the floor with a toy truck in front of the Philco console radio and listened to the broadcasts. Compared to today’s radios, the old Philco was a monster. It must have been at least four feet tall and three feet wide. If my parents were present, my father was probably sitting nearby in...
Where I formerly lived in Pennsylvania, most of the fields were fairly small because of the mountains and forests. The fields were wedged between hills and trees and aerial spraying or crop dusting as it is sometimes called, was not a common farming practice. As time went by, farming the small fields became less profitable and many farms were sold to developers. The developers broke the farms into one, two or three acre lots. The lots were sold to people from the cities and houses sprang up everywhere like mushrooms. One such farm had fields...
Q: Should Christians go out and evangelize proactively or should we wait for opportunities to come to us? A: Yes and yes! The Bible lays out the great commission for His Calso in Acts 1:8, “You shall be witnesses of me…” These verses make clear that our purpose for living as Christians is to share the gospel with the world and train up others to do likewise. The gospel (which literally means, “good news,”) is the best news that has ever been shared with the world and it is vitally important for the world to hear it (John 3:18; John 5:24; etc...
People who teach other people to write usually preach that a person should write what he knows, or is most familiar with. Since I’m still learning to write, I’m going with that theory this week. I know I’ve written about some of our medical trials recently, and I hope I don’t bore you with more. However, after this past week, medical stuff is what I’m most familiar with, so here we go. I’m not wanting to complain, just making observations. I felt I saw the future this past week and I didn’t like what I saw. What I saw was what our National Heal...
I got letters from Jacob yesterday, not the standard letters, but actual letters! He wrote across the top of one in giant print, “I LOVE YOU!” That made my day! I thought the days of the kids’ scribbles on the refrigerator were over for now, but maybe not. This mama’s heart is happy. I’ve been cleaning out the garage in preparation for community yard sales, which are coming up. Who knew one family could have accumulated so much unnecessary items. I have promised myself that whatever I place on the sale, and does not sell, will not come back...
During my many travels across the country, I attended several Mother Earth News Fairs. The first one I went to was in Wisconsin. While there, I decided I might be able to work for the fairs and offset my travel expenses. I was told...thanks but most of the work is done by volunteers at each venue. I left my name and number in case there was a job opening. The next fair I planned on attending was in Pennsylvania. A few weeks ahead of the fair, I called the Mother Earth News magazine office to check on a job. After some checking they said that...
Sept 8, 2022 Earlier this week, a subscriber to our e-edition reported he had purchased at an auction a small box that had Long & Son Hardware, Superior, Nebraska, stenciled on it. I envisioned the box to be smaller but much like the one I have in my garage which holds the leaves to the dining room set my mother purchased in 1941. Only that box has the name of C. R. Phillipi Furniture, Superior, Neb. Mr. Phillipi was married to Grandfather Blauvelt’s sister, In 1918, he and my grandfather opened a furniture and undertaking business in the b...
I sometimes wonder what other people do to celebrate Labor Day. In this family, we labor a little more. Typically the holiday weekend is used for preparing the yard for the fall and winter seasons. This year George and I decided to clean out the dungeon and put together a home gym. The workout equipment was in an area of the garage, but with all the extra money pit supplies we have been collecting, there was not enough space to use it. We are not quite finished with the project, but we have made tremendous progress. Unfortunately, three days...
Did you notice last week end? The Cornhuskers won a football game. We had to pay more than $500,000 to get a team into Lincoln that we thought we could beat. We did, but just not in the manner many hoped for. I think it’s time. A O Look how far we’ve come. Many people these days can’t remember those days before technology events connect us to the world. Even before radios and TV’s took control of our lives. And certainly before all the computers and phone became such an important part of many people’s lives. You can argue the positive...
I’m working on something I promised myself I would never do again. My husband and I made the decision to try to sell many of our things that have been in storage and we just don’t have a need for anymore. We are having a yard sale, “By hook or by crook.” We try every day to go about rounding up these items but it all takes time. We get caught up in remembering why we bought it, where we got it, when we last used it and with some things we wonder why we never used it like we thought we would. Sometimes, items get put back into its storage...
Have you ever thought of your refrigerator exterior being a large family bumper sticker or a large family scrapbook? While visiting a friend, we were seated on bar stools in her kitchen having ice tea together and catching up on all the happenings in our communities. My attention zeroed in on the collage sticking all over the front of her double door refrigerator. As our conversation continued, I began to ask her about her photo collection on her refrigerator. She said it was her way of feeling connected to all those friends and loved ones...
Monday morning I fist bumped a traveling sales person and shared our first long conversation since the start the COVID pandemic. I’m sure the conversation took longer than either of us expected but it was good to catch up and learn how COVID has affected her business. While I know sales people are motivated to call with the hope of making a sale, over time the good ones become their customers’ friend. As this is being written, I’m anticipating the arrival of a combination sales and service representative since midweek. I’ve known since Friday...
Q: Were there biblical laws before the 10 commandments? A: I guess it depends on what you mean by biblical laws. God designed the universe to function according to certain fundamental laws; whether they be physical laws like gravity, motion and thermodynamics, or moral laws like family, faith and character. Living with a proper respect for these laws (i.e. not jumping off a cliff or changing God’s design for family) has always resulted in blessings and fulfillment in life. The Bible refers to this respect for God’s laws and right living as “ri...
I can remember well during my years as an EMT for the Lawrence Ambulance Service trips to the emergency room on Friday nights with a boy injured in a football game. Last Friday night I was going to the emergency room when I recalled those trips. Last Friday was also the beginning of the 2022 football season in Nebraska. About one-half hour after arriving at the hospital . . . sure enough someone brought a football player (in full uniform) in for treatment. I was surprised, but yet, not surprised. Some things don’t change. A O Can history r...
The enviable truth of being a parent is that someday the last one will leave the nest. No matter how exciting it might sound, it still pulls on the heartstrings a bit. Everyone jokes and says, “It’s going to be hard when your baby leaves,” but it’s no joke. Not because he was the baby, not because he was the favorite, but simply because he was the last. The last 18-plus years you have changed diapers, kissed boo-boos, chased one child or the other all over and back, and now you are just supposed to switch gears like it’s nothing. In the blink...
Though today’s times call for fast food, hundreds of channels offered on the large screen television, loads of entertainment and the latest in technology. There are times when we realize how lucky we were growing up. I remember when the only dogs we had as pets were “mutts” No one back then owned a purebred dog. We were taught patience while waiting at least three minutes for the television to come on. We were thankful to receive a quarter, made of real silver, for an allowance. Gasoline was 30 cents a gallon and some gasoline stations offered...
When I was growing up, I’m glad I didn’t know the health risks associated with mice. Unlike some of my playmates who were afraid of mice, I wanted to demonstrate my manliness. I liked to think of myself as a “big boy.” If I found a snake, I ran for a hoe and swiftly dispatched the snake. Likewise with mice. See a mouse, stomp on it! Mice were a major problem around the gasoline station. The doors were open much of the time and when closed the gaps were large enough to provide freeways for a roaming mouse. The business and associated buildin...
