Puffs

It’s that time of the year . . .

Time to enjoy God’s beautiful handiwork in making the countryside gorgeous.

I have commented on this before, but I’m going to do it again.

Father Val Peters, founder of Boy’s Town in Omaha once noted the following about life out here on America’s prairies. These may not be his exact words, but:

“It’s easy to be impressed by the seashore, it is beautiful and impressive. The same with the mountains. However, with the prairies, you have to listen and watch carefully to appreciate the beauty and worth.”

This thought of Rev. Peters came to mind this past weekend as we had the opportunity to take a couple of short trips through the countryside.

The vast majority of people in the United States live in cities and they have many marvels to enjoy. However, we in rural American have the natural beauty of the country side. Every change of seasons brings forth different views for us to enjoy. The autumn season is always one of the most colorful, even with the very dry conditions so many of us have endured this year. There must be hundreds of shades of brown, red, yellow, green and other colors I can’t know the names of.

I hope all of you have taken the time to appreciate God’s handiwork in all of this. I know I am easily amazed, but even you, who are smarter than I, should be able to realize the beauty that surrounds us is truly a gift.

A O

Another gift I really enjoy is finding something long forgotten or long overlooked.

A week or so ago I was sorting through some “old” papers from days gone by. I opened an envelope stuffed with “copy” from the Centennial Book of Lawrence we printed so many years ago.

I found a couple of pages of hand written stories about the Lawrence Telephone Company.

Since that building was just burned and the land cleaned up, I thought it good to relate a story, or two, of what I found.

“Mrs. George Rempe, Sr., the former Eleanor Kohmetscher was employed by the Lawrence Telephone Co. for a few years around the 1930s. She had a couple of experiences which kept her sitting at the switch-board all night. One winter night when all the roads were blocked with snow, little Barbara Bangert decided she was going to come into the world. Dr. Dierker was summoned and the only way he could get there was by farmers hitching a team of horses to a lumber wagon, cutting cross country, cutting fences when necessary. One farmer would take the doctor a mile or so where another farmer would meet him and continue the journey until they reached the present Vincent Ostdiek home where her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gerhard Bangert, were living at that time. The doctor used the same method of returning to Lawrence. She was a very nice little girl and she was worth it. She is now Mrs. Edgar Alber.”

(The above was written for the 1984 Lawrence Centennial Book.)

A O

I don’t know your attitude with the every two year election cycle. Some dislike it because it comes every two years and a person has to take the time to understand what they are voting on. “It’s a pain,” as someone once said to me.

Others appreciate the opportunity to have a chance to have some control in our government and society. By voting every two years maybe we can help ourselves and others live better lives.

2022 is one of those years.

In many of the years past, the presidential election years got all the attention by the national media. In recent years, however, that may be changing.

I don’t watch ‘all” of the TV channels, or read “all” the newspapers, but it seems that the 2022 election is getting a whole lot of attention. This, in spite of the fact we are not electing a president this year.

If that is true, and I suspect it is, the reason may be that the national media has come to understand how important these elections are. It doesn’t happen every year, but this year the control of the House of Representatives, and the Senate will be determined for sure. Also, it seems that many states are electing governors this year and many more people are beginning to realize how important that position is.

I also realize from “polls asking questions of important matters to voters” just how voters are judging subjects.

For example, maybe one of the most important concerns is inflation. While the Republicans controlled Congress and the Presidency, inflation was very low. Now, (with the Democrats in power), in less than two years, inflation is around the 8 to 9 percent mark. Gasoline prices are almost doubled and some food items more than doubled in two years. Can the Republicans do a better job ? ? ?

Another example: migrants coming into the United States at our southern border. Some people would call it an invasion, but the Democrats don’t seem to care that more than two million people have crossed the border in less than two years. And . . . an increase in drug smuggling has accompanied this as well. Can the Republicans do a better job in controlling all of this?

Another example: abortion . . . Even though the Supreme Court returned control of abortions to the individual states, many liberals (Democrats) still want the federal government to have control of the systematized killing of unborn babies. Can the Republicans do a better job of eliminating this immoral, shameful practice ? ? ?

The answers to these few questions is “yes.”

Now, in last week’s edition of this newspaper and again this week, sample ballots can be seen in this election and printed. Please look them over. A lot of the choices you have to make will not show ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’ and a lot of them you may know little or nothing about.

The State Board of Education for District 5 is such an example. The names on the ballot are: Kirk Penner and Helen Raikes.

What I do know is Penner is a ‘Pro-Life’ person while Raikes does not even respond to questions from the Nebraska Right to Life organization.

I know little about either’s knowledge about education, but . . . the fact Penner is “Pro Life” tells me that since he cares about unborn babies, he would care enough to give us the best education system as well.

This election cycle is exciting. Not only in Nebraska, but across the nation.

Not only am I excited to see how the voters vote, I am also excited for the whole event to come to an end.

A O