America: Celebrating 250 Years

Last evening, we went to Sterling Community Theatre's production of the musical, Come From Away. It tells the true story of how the people in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, opened their homes and community to strangers when American airspace closed during the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately, 38 international planes carrying 6,579 passengers and crew were diverted to an old air base in Gander.

The airline passengers were from all over the world, speaking different languages and practicing different religions. But local residents opened their homes, schools, churches, community buildings and hearts to thousands of travelers they had never met. While the musical acknowledges some misunderstandings when the various cultures collide, the overriding message celebrates how ordinary people can find common ground and care for one another with hospitality, compassion, and human connection during difficult times. 

 

Photo from the Theatre Kansas Facebook page

 

I'd never seen the musical, but I read the book on which it was based, The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, by Jim DeFede. The Sterling Theatre Troupe is chock full of talented singers and actors. The musical has a 12-member cast who portray more than 150 characters. There aren't elaborate sets. Only a few chairs and tables are shifted to create the illusion of being inside an airplane, at a local pub or finding shelter at a school gym. (If you're near Sterling, there are still two opportunities to see the musical at Sterling High School: 7:30 Friday, July 3, and at 2 PM on Sunday, July 5. There is no July 4th performance. Tickets are available at the door.) The production also includes a talented nine-member band that almost made you believe you were in a pub in Newfoundland with their whistles, mandolins, fiddles, accordion and more.

 

The musical's central message is this: Despite our differences, we are all connected. And isn't that a good message to remember as we celebrate our nation's 250th birthday?

 

Display along Highway 50 in Stafford, KS

 

It may be hard to remember that, if we're only relying on news programs or scrolling through our social media feeds with the plethora of contrasting opinions and points of view ... and the viotrol that often accompanies those sources. 

 

This morning, I picked up a little book that has been decorating my mantle from Flag Day to the 4th of July. It was one of the "treasures" from my Grandma and Grandpa Neelly's house. It's called We Love America: Simple Stores of American Living. The back cover says it is part of the Patriot's Series. I don't remember my Grandma reading this particular book to us, but I loved the illustrations so I brought it home anyway. 

The book's copyright is "MCMXLI." I'll save you a Google search. That's 1941.

On the inside cover, it says: Janis Neelly from Your Sunday School Teacher. It's Grandma Neelly's handwriting, so it was really to my mom from her mom masquerading as her Sunday School teacher. (We moms are always wearing multiple hats, aren't we?)

It had been awhile since I'd looked inside. But this morning, I picked it up and looked through it. 

The book "visits" different children and tells about their homes - everything from the "big city" to an "Indian pueblo." I've shared a few of the pages on the blog before.

 

Some of those children live on a farm: I couldn't help but contrast the hay found in the book with some photos I took a couple of weeks ago in a neighbor's hay field.

  

I liked the patriotic wrap against a dramatic sky.

 

But, back to the book. Other American children live on a ranch:

It's not surprising that the farm and ranch pages appealed to me. But this time, I noticed some other pages. In one, three little boys watch a parade. But they don't all look the same. 

  

  

"They do not all have the same ways. But they all like parades." 

 

The same is true for three little girls at a circus:

 

"Do you know something? American girls do not all look the same. They do not all have the same ways. But they all like to go to the circus."

 

A little boy discovers he can go to school, even though he doesn't have any money. 

 

Sammie learns that American libraries are free. 
 

One of the pages reminded me of the message of Come From Away: "It's fun to be friendly, wherever you go."

 

Perhaps those are messages worth remembering as we celebrate our 250th birthday. May we - like those Newfoundlanders - find common ground in our differences and respond with compassion and understanding.

 

Happy Independence Day weekend everyone!
 

Knee High by the 4th of July?

Knee high by the 4th of July.

Just like putting something in the "ice box" or saving something to a "floppy disk," the terminology is no longer relevant today. Once upon a time, corn farmers measured the success of their corn crop, wanting it to be "knee high by the 4th of July." 

So did Rodgers and Hammerstein have a more accurate measuring stick for today's corn? In “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from their musical, Oklahoma!, the main characters marvel at the height of the corn, singing:

“There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow ...

The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye,

And it looks like it’s climbin’ clear up to the sky.”

Since there were no elephants around, I used my handy 6-foot-1-inch measuring stick. I'd say it looks good ... for now.  

With significant advances in agricultural technology, genetics, disease control and growth efficiency, today’s farmers can expect corn to reach far higher than the knee come Independence Day. Modern corn can flourish in conditions that might have stunted the plant in past generations. So in dry times or wet, too warm or too cool, the stalk generally keeps on growing and produces an ear. 

As you can see in the photo below, we got quite a bit of rain last week. Depending on the location, we got between 2 and 4 inches.

While our dryland corn liked the moisture, it was not so good for harvesting wheat. We cut late Monday afternoon (June 28 - after rains the weekend before kept us out of the field) and then weren't able to cut again until late evening, July 2. It gave us plenty of time for a crop update tour and other excursions.

The toadstools growing on the Stafford golf course sometimes caused some confusion with golf balls. It's not often you make a trip to the golf course when there's still wheat to be cut. But it took our minds off the uncompleted task for a little bit, I suppose.

The clouds provided a pretty backdrop for some dramatic landscape photos on the way home, too.

 

The humidity didn't allow early starts in the wheat field.

After Randy checked pastures on Saturday, he suggested a photo opportunity along U.S. Highway 50, just outside Sylvia. Someone had decorated their barbed wire fence with American flags. 

That excursion had me looking for my own medium-sized American flag for some shots in our wheat field while we waited on the sun to dry out the wheat.

Test weights suffered from the rain, but, thankfully, we didn't get hail or extreme wind, so the crop kept standing. The wheat is still yielding well. Yes, we are still cutting.

And, when you have time to play with filters and such, you make patriotic messages on photos.

The hiatus also gave me more time to practice the patriotic piano prelude I had planned for church on the 4th of July.  I played "The Star-Spangled Banner," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "God Bless America" and "America" before church started on Sunday, July 4. And I also played during communion, so it was a lot of extra playing. These days, I think about my piano teacher, Mrs. Lighter. She'd be amazed that the Moore girl with the least natural ability on the piano spends so much time playing these days. If only I'd devoted that practice time as a kid ... Oh, the wisdom of advancing age!

Thankfully, we hired a young farmer from the area to do some custom cutting for us. So we are getting closer to completion. The finish line is hovering at the horizon (though not today).

 

We are thankful for the co-op workers who came in to weigh and dump wheat trucks at Zenith on Saturday and Monday. I did take them some cookies. (I know it's not much, but we appreciate their work when many people were celebrating the 4th at the lake or elsewhere. The custom harvesters got a cookie delivery, too.)

The hay fields liked the rains, too. As I walked to the combine through an alfalfa field last evening after delivering supper, I decided that my camera needed "smell-o-vision." Swathing and baling the second cutting will have to wait until after we are done with the wheat.

Randy is battling some mud as we continue cutting. So far, he's been able to work his way through it. We hope that trend continues.

 

Busman's Holiday

busman's holiday

noun                bus·man's holiday \ˈbəs-mənz-\ 

A holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work. 

Etymology

First recorded in 1893 in the UK. The idea is that a busman, to go off on a holiday, would take an excursion by bus, thereby engaging in a similar activity to his work.

From Wiktionary

 

On the morning of the 4th of July, we took a busman's holiday.

Except we used 4-wheelers.

I was more on holiday than Randy, who had to fix fence while we were there. 

However, when you get to ride 4-wheelers and see views like this ...

... and this ...

... and this ...

It feels more like a short getaway rather than work.

We were checking to make sure that our cows, calves and the bulls were thriving in their summer "vacation" spot on the Ninnescah.

They seemed curious about the interlopers in their quiet pastoral getaway. Who were these people interrupting their breakfast? Who was so rudely covering up the sound of bird song and the gentle breeze rustling through pasture grasses?

It was the farmer on a "busman's holiday."

They were all present and accounted for. 

While the 4th of July is often associated with explosions and drama, we were just as happy as the cattle that it was a quiet, peaceful start to the day.

Country Holiday

July 4, 2016

When faced with the reality of work undone and wheat harvest uncompleted, it's easy to suffer from a bad case of amnesia. But a trip to the Rattlesnake Pasture earlier this week gave me a little different perspective. It was just 4 years ago when a similar trip to check cattle yielded a much less beautiful picture.

August 2012

In August 2012, there was not a drop of water in the Rattlesnake Creek. So on this 4th of July, as we listened to the water flowing and Randy looked down from the eastern edge of our property line, it put the abundant rain in perspective.

Yes, the flowing water means that Randy & Ricky will be working on the fence tomorrow morning between our pasture and the neighbor's.

But the abundant rains are a blessing after several years of taking cattle out of the pasture early when a drought robbed the water supply and reduced the prairie grasses available to graze.

The overcast and cool morning was a wonderful way to celebrate Independence Day morning. There is definitely freedom from drought this year!

Our bulls, cows and calves have plenty of water and grass at their summertime "getaway."

They are looking sleek and well-fed this summer.

The wildflowers are proliferating.

The vibrant flowers were nestled into the prairie grasses.

They provided splashes of color as we drove by on the 4-wheeler.

I don't need to know all their names to appreciate them.

The U.S. Stream Gauging Station is getting more of a workout this year ...

July 4, 2016

... as compared to 2012.

August 2012

There was certainly no fishing back then. And while Randy didn't catch any fish, he could still appreciate the pretty morning, sitting along the banks of the Rattlesnake Creek.

That was especially true when thinking about the same scene, four years before.

I was glad to go along and read my book.

He didn't have any better luck catching fish from the top of the bridge. We saw the fish. They just weren't biting.

I "caught" my fair share of photos though!

After our pasture excursion, we went to the uncut wheat fields to look things over.

Then I went along for the ride as Randy played a round of golf at the Stafford course. I stayed under the shade of the golf cart canopy and read some more of my book.

We went to Sterling Lake for their fireworks show. Randy remembers going there as a child, but it was the first time in our married lives that we'd ever gone there for the holiday show.

Next time, we'll know a little better where to sit to avoid getting part of the show blocked by trees. But it was a beautiful way to end the day!

I don't know that my fireworks shots will ever rival my wildflower shots. And that's OK.