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Old Iron escapes the scrap guy

Three springs ago, a despicable derecho ravaged our region. We eventually engaged a scrap iron guy to haul away some of the wreckage the storm had created at my parents’ farm. It was gratifying to think that the steel from our ruined grain bins was going to be recycled, perhaps into new grain bins. Like many farms, ours had a quantity of dilapidated equipment — a wrecked car, an ancient Case combine, other miscellaneous junk — that had been placed into long-term storage in the shelterbelt. I told the scrap guy exactly where these items could be found, instructing him to just ...

Love wins on Easter

As I begin this, I just got home from Palm Sunday Mass. It is a beautiful morning: warming sun, light breeze, hints of green. It is a time of beginnings. It is the beginning of Holy Week which will be near it’s end when you read this. Glorious Easter will follow. It is the beginning of the growing season. The tentative plan here is to begin planting this week. It is tentative, like all farming plans. It will take cooperation from the weather, machines, and soil. As they say, God’s plans are sometimes not our plans. It is the beginning of baseball season. I haven’t played ...

Earth Day should recognize worldwide endangered species

Next Tuesday is Earth Day, a time to recognize the need to protect the world’s environmental resources. Environmental advocates emphasize the need to take action now rather than waiting until environmental conditions become worse. For some species, it’s already too late. I recently ordered a book from a book catalog about extinct animals. It contains photographs of the creatures, along with short readable descriptions of how they became extinct. Some say we shouldn’t worry about extinction. They point to natural history and to the vast number of extinctions that have occurred ...

The danger of lead poisoning

In the Fall of 2024, some households were notified that there either may be, or are, lead water pipes supplying water to their homes. The notification is appreciated. The problem is supposed to be fixed in the Spring of 2025. Whether you received a notice or not, understanding the danger that lead represents is beneficial for all of us. A complicating factor in lead poisoning is that you cannot see, taste, or smell the lead to which you are being exposed. There is absolutely no safe level of lead in the blood or the body. Even if lead is in the blood for only a few weeks, during those ...

Sharing Easter memories through greeting cards

Easter is a strange holiday in that it’s constantly moving around on the calendar like a hyperactive mouse who has just consumed its body weight in caffeine. If you were born on the Fourth of July, you would know that your birthday always falls on the fourth. Its day of the week varies from year to year, which means that you are given a three-day weekend every few years to celebrate or recover from your birthday. Not so if you were born on Easter. The formula that determines the dates for Easter involves tracking the phase of the moon and checking to see if Jupiter has aligned with ...

Secure retirement should be a right, not a privilege

Some people might be getting tired of all the world and national news about the Trump tariffs, but one population group is wanting to hear every word. Middle class Americans who are 50 years old or older most likely have a large part of their life savings tied to the stock and bond markets. What happens to those markets has an impact on personal wealth. Trump’s tariffs are a gamble. It all hinges on what other countries do and how Wall Street reacts. Judging by the way stocks plunged after China retaliated with tariffs, Wall Street will react negatively to any steps that bring the ...