On the run.....

it has been a crazy two weeks. We were busy getting ready for and then participating in Dairy Days at MSU. Suzanna placed well in showmanship, judging and management. She also had a reserve all Michigan junior owned heifer in one of her classes. Thomas learned the hard lesson of stubborn heifers. His was very uncooperative in the show ring and despite the frustration, he kept a smile on his face and says he will do it again. Kathryn placed in one of her showmanship classes as well.

I must say going from one in the project to three was a bit of an adjustment, but thankfully they worked well together. Thomas and Kathryn have spent three years watching Suzanna do it and I am sure that helped them a lot.

It was fun to have some of Trainer Mike's horse clients stop by and see how different it is to show cattle. They all wanted calves at home, not to show, just to pet.

Monday Kathryn and I were able to head to the Lenawee county fair with another family from our 4-H club and study the finer points of sheep showmanship. It was a wise choice to go and hopefully it will pay off in a couple months when the girls are showing at our fair. Today, Thomas and I took a trip over to Lenawee to get information about showing dairy starter steers. I think that will help him a lot and mom and dad too.

Now we are doing the mad pack to get away for a few days. We are headed way up north to a family wedding and then a few days around the Mackinaw bridge area for fun and relaxation. Supposedly the campground has WIFI, so I will try to post again while we are away.

Reacting.....

How do you react to news? Especially news that affects you? Perhaps political news? I am one who pays attention to what is going on in the world of politics. I grew up in a family that was very aware, I worked for a gentleman during my high school and college years who had spent time in Washington and knew a lot of the "movers and shakers" in politics during the 1980s. You couldn't help but be aware with Mr. Lipsett around. I was told once to get my head out of the MSU cow barn and report to work immediately at the new Conservative newspaper which had sprung up on campus. That was his style. He also said you needed to write letters to let people know your opinion of issues.

So jump forward a few years (lets not count how many!). I have really begun to follow Mr. Lipsett's advice. I am a letter writer.....well, maybe more of an emailer....but I am letting my opinion be known. My latest was to our US Congressman. There is a committee meeting on the Dairy industry today. He happens to serve on the agriculture committee and I sent him a letter to let him know my concerns relating to the dairy business. Yes, granted our family isn't making our living on dairy, but we are indirectly involved since the kids are raising replacement heifers. And they have been affected by the downturn of the milk price. So I made sure that our Congressman knew that.

Back when the stimulus was being voted on, both my senators and the congressman heard from me then too. Do I think I am going to change the world? Doubtful.....BUT I am involved! Even if it is one in many, my voice has been heard. Oh and a couple weeks ago, the voices of most farmers in our county were heard by our state Representative and he made his decision on a vote for the future of Agriculture in Michigan due to the overwhelming opinions he heard that day. React.....you may change something!

It's Summer and we're runnin' out of ice......

For those who don't recognize that line. It comes from the musical Oklahoma. It was the first thing that popped into my head this morning as I heard yet another report of the Michael Jackson memorial. I am a little tired of the whole saga.

I grew up in the 80s. He was a big deal then, and I have to admit enjoying some of the music he did. But then I got older and he got weirder (is that a word?). The insane focus that has been on him for the past week and a half is really over the top in my book. He was just a person!

How sad it is that people have come absolutely unglued at his passing. He is worshipped as a god. How wrong and how sad that there is this much sorrow for a man who could do nothing for these people. How different would the world be if they sought God the same way this human was sought and worshipped? Just a little food for thought.

Yikes.....time is flying!

And in two weeks, we will be headed for Dairy Days at MSU. I can't believe how summer is getting away from us.

The kids have been leading their heifers, but it would seem we have a stubborn bunch. Suzanna's younger heifer was better until she hurt her foot and we had to mess with her each day. Kathryn's heifer lead real well until she was dehorned and decided humans are something to be avoided at all costs. Thomas's heifer is the best of the three, until she decides to plant her front feet and stop walking. Could get interesting!

Kathryn's lamb, Lydia, is tame. She sees Kathryn and starts baaing at her. She loves to be scratched. She sleeps in the rabbit shack and one of the rabbits has figured out how to open his cage and gets out and hops around following Lydia. It is funny to watch.

Summer weather is here for the week, lots of sun and warm temperatures. Hope the garden gets going. It has been a rough spring for growing stuff.

It sure was hot!

There, I got that covered. Suzanna and I spent three days a MSU and the weather was just plain GROSS. We arrived Wednesday afternoon and it was at least 90 degrees out with 100 percent humidity. Of course, I had to park the car about a half mile from the dorm.

Suzanna took a dairy judging seminar and her classroom was air conditioned, so she got a little relief there. I took one about making ice cream. It was so hot the ice cream wouldn't freeze. The class host said it took double the ice from the previous year.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the evening entertainment. To begin with, the Wharton Center was air conditioned, and we were able to sit in cool comfort and listen to a group called "Fiddlers Unstrung". They were outstanding! It is a group of 17 high school students from Saline, MI and boy could they play.

Thursday was spent in seminars. We managed to visit the museum and tour a little bit of campus. I could show Suzanna my dorms from when I lived on campus. Thursday evening was the State Awards Assembly. We went to cheer on the four nominees from Hillsdale County. I am happy to report that we had the State Dairy winner. Congrats to Matt!

A check-in with daddy on the way back to the dorm provided the exciting news that Penny had calved sometime that afternoon and it was a heifer. Suzanna had already picked out a name, so the heifer will be known as Paige.

Friday was one more opportinity to attend our seminars. Suzanna's second session was on Historic Michigan barns. She now rides in the car, identifying was style of barn we are driving by and its condition. I took a class on Sheep Showmanship in an effort to help Kathryn out. I learned a lot and hopefully will remember it long enough to teach her a thing or two.

Needless to say, with a new heifer at home, Suzanna was ready to get home. We had to stop at the barn first on the way up the drive and meet the new heifer. What a cutie! We took Penny to her new home at a local dairy farm in the afternoon.

Kathryn impatiently waited until 6:30 when we finally went over a picked up Lydia, her new lamb. Believe me, the whole family spent a nervous night, praying that all was safe in the "beefed up" security of the sheep pen. Kathryn went out a couple times in the night, as did daddy and momma and Thomas. All was well at each check and we have been able to relax a little. Kathryn has spent time in the pen and the lamb is beginning to get used to her and the treats she has too.

Just a quite weekend at the zoo. This week we push on. With the nicer temperatures, the heifers are getting worked. Dairy Days is just a few short weeks away.

Dorm room......22 years ago

That would be the last time I slept in a dorm room. I am about to change that though. Suzanna and I are on our way to Michigan State for 4-H Exploration Days. She and I are roomies for the next three days. She is excited about this new experience. She has the chance to take to "classes" and spend time with fellow 4-Her's from around the state. I am the chaperon!

I will report on our adventures when we get back.

Property values.....

An acre of land around our area sells for more than $3,000. A farmer can get $60 or more cash rent on an acre of land. But I know an acre of land that is special and worth nothing to the "world" because it isn't earning any money.

Suzanna began playing softball in the Christian Softball Fellowship league when she turned 5. It was organized by a family about 10 years before she started playing so that kids could have a place to play ball that was just for fun. Great fellowship, recreation and with other believers. Thomas and Kathryn were thrilled when they reached 5 and could join up. Last year, the family that had originally organized it handed the reins over to myself and a friend. Our kids were devastated at the thought that there would be no ball, so we are continuing a tradition that has been going on for at least 20 years.

The games are played on a field in the country. The man who owned it passed away this past week. A friend went to the visitation yesterday, and was told by a family member that he believed that acre of land was the most valuable of any he owned. Wow! He recognized that the families that spent 6 Monday nights each year there were more important than the all money that spot of land could have earned him in the last 20 years. Amazing, huh?

So how do we value what we have? Do we consider the moments we take with our kids to be a burden? Taking us away from some important task? Or can we slow down and realize that sometimes the most valuable things in our lives earn us no money, no fame and no reward? Mr. P had it figured out and today he is in Heaven with his Lord.

Oh, and his family wants the games to continue, right there in that yard. So those Monday night games will go on.