Planting Time

     God grants me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, gives me the courage to change the things I can and gives me wisdom to know the difference.  I struggle with three simple words.  What. When. Where.
     I am glad that i do not depend on farming for a living anymore.  Instead I put in a little seed for the wildlife.  A couple years ago, my cousins Bradley and Ryan  and I just up and figured it was time that we get with the times and start putting in food plots.  Ryan has a little land up north of town in a swamp.  I remember planting trees with his dad Eddie up on that farm.   I don't know how it all happened, but we worked up a little one year and scattered a little soybeans by hand.  While they were growing we got this bright idea to work up a little more for the following year, so we resurrected a few old implements, gave Eddie's WD45 Allis Chalmers a little TLC and went to work.  The next year came and we got a hold of an old corn planter, we worked up a little more.  Now we have about 15 acres to plant, and our conversations each spring are debates and debacles about what to plant, where to plant it, and when.  As of today before this last rain shower we have about 3 acres of corn and 4-5 acres of soybeans.
     So the debate and questions sometimes seem rhetorical for the sake of hearing the answers and opinions of the what, where, when to plant.  Many frustrations and feelings occur arise out of those questions. Sometimes tiffs or arguements. The Bonds of men through hunting and family ties must be considered.  Ryan and his sister own the land and a tractor.  Bunky has the planter.    Bradley has a sprayer.    We all come up with some seed. it seems.   Little chess games need to be played until someone finally goes out and  just starts putting seed in the ground.   It's not anything close to precision farming and by today's standards of auto steer and satellite technology, we are lucky to stay straight for fifty feet in a row (depending on who is driving). The actual money farmers don't get a vote on whether the crop is good or bad.  Only the benefits of wildlife and  hunter's that share the benefits of being in our gang share the satisfaction of coming to hunting ground that has been enhanced for the enjoyment of living an outdoor lifestyle that has been handed down to its benefactors for 5 generations.
     I didn't get to plant last year.  Didn't get to watch the plot grow.  To top it off, I didn't get to hunt.  " How unfair," I thought.  But little did I know that this was the least of my problems.  They did get worse.  Life as it would have it moved from the recreational wa waaas of bickering kids in a sandbox to things that people in a free God loving society shouldn't have to go through.  Many stories of women from the Bible come to mind Eve Deborah Delilah Jezebel.  The reader should get the picture and I choose not to tell thier stories.  My story is of the aftermath and I am a guy.  It reminded me of the Story of Jacob with his dysfunctional family problems;  more so, his son Joseph.  Such is life when times when life doesn't treat a person fair.  Gen 37:23-24, "So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing.  Then they grabbed him and through him into the cistern..."  It got worse for Joseph.  He was thrown in prison, made a slave, but he made his best to serve the Lord.  And in the end things turned out for all around him.
     Oh those brothers of Joseph.  Oh those kids, wives, cousins, friends....  If they....
     Joseph was granted courage to change the things he could.  Serenity?    How could he have that all the time.  We need serenity to accept the things we can not change.  First I cannot change other people's attitudes or their actions.  I have to accept the consequences of my own actions and take responsibility for my past failures.  1 Sam 15: 11 ," 'I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.'  Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night."  I can only look at the decisions that I have made, look at the seed I have sown and say yes.  That was me. I did these things.  This is my part. These are rows that I planted and the seed I used for the ground I put them in.  Try to make them right.
     Wisdom!  What is the difference in knowing between the things I cannot change and having courage to change the things in which I can?  Well for me the answer is  prayer and scripture.  I must pray for God's will to be shown to me and to make me willing to live in the spirit of obedience.  My father a fellow hunter isn't here to hold my hand any more and my children are old enough  that their grip in times of need seem less firm.  Others express their opinions on my future decisions. But ultimately they don't get a vote.   Just as when those questions arise of what where and when to plant in a simple little food plot for wildlife; it is not much different in the question of human life.  The question ,"If" is in the middle of the word L"if"E. It always seems that I find the answers in the Words from the Bible.   Living obedient to those words where I hadn't before is the only wisdom I have found to make a difference.  Praying for God to show me His will and to give me the right seed to plant in others.  I must live in a spirit of gratitude for the lessons and tests in life.  Be where I can live and act in a spirit of obedience and guard it all the time.
      For those who Believe,  Jesus also struggled, but accepted, In Luke 22:42-53  Jesus is met by his betrayer, neither panics nor is frantic ...simply offers a simple question," Judas, did you come to betray me with a kiss?"  Then he healed again a slave who has his ear cut off.  Jesus first asked ," if you are willing, remove this cup from me." Likewise serenity is not simply detachment – distancing ourselves from our dreams and desires. Rather, what we see in Jesus is a continuance of his mission…with hope! It is a trust that God is good and out to do good to us always.
     As Paul wrote, “God works for the good in everything with those who love him and are called according to his purpose.”
     I have planted my seeds now as straight and true as I can in the best places and most ready where God has shown me to plant in this time between the rains. God has shown me many ways in which he wants me to trust Him.  I will continue to plant each year straighter rows with better seed suitable for the right purpose .  I will watch for the plants to flourish , grow and hopefully mature.  And I will travel back to the plots to see where my Faith is good, my Trust is reaffirmed.  And continue to see the good in where my failures of tests have lead me.  And fear not- knowing that in the journey I am doing the best I can.  My Peace.

Another note from Jose

Hola Tomas, Buenos Dias and all that stuff.  You know what I mean Amigo.

Just wondering what you been up to my friend.   Things got warm here in Racine, then they got cold , then they got wet again.   Went and seen my dad in New Mexico.  He just got back from Antarctica, its gonna get cold down there.  He says the penguins are doing good, seems that when all is said and done the global warming is doing them good after all.   It seems that the warmer waters has heated up reproductive activities, and more fish seem to be coming their way, especially the mackerel.

Talked to the boss he thinks maybe the end of next week we go back to work.   Like you say where you come from... Uff Da!
Hope to see you soon.

Your friend,
 Jose Jimenez

P.S.  Hey AMIGO can you bring the potato tortillas that you put butter and sugar on then roll it all up? leftovers or something you called it.  It was good.

Dear Jose,

Good to hear from you.  It sounds like you have the same weather there as we do here.   I may or may not be on your crew, they sent me to the training center to learn how to dig alongside the bomb.  It's a good thing to know yoga when you dig along side of pipe.     But maybe I will get sent back out west.   Hoping to get close to Williston or Watford City.   Do you remeber that lady from church?
Well she is becoming more special in my life, and she is even coming to visit Middle River again.  Seems as though she sort of likes the swamp and welcomes the look of leaves contrary to sage brush.
It's a good thing to have her as a friend.  Hmmmm.!?  I often wonder and hope for a brighter bigger picture with her.

It sounds like Hunter and Gracei had a good Spring season of ball.   Hunter and Gracei are both learning the fine art of throwing a pitch.  Although Hunter appeared to get a good talking to about control issues and beaning other opponents.

Going to pick some mushrooms tomorrow, so I have yo go to bed.
Buenos Noches My Friend

Tom

The Magic of Rainbows Present

   

  I was watching the birds in the yard yesterday.   I have quite a variety of birds visiting lately: blue jays, 2-3 different sparrows, dark eyed juncos, robins, flickers, woodpeckers, and a strange small red bird that i have not yet identified.   But the strangest thing I saw was when I was watching a deer sneaking in to the yard cautious and skittish as if it were being followed.
     I got my camera ready just in case something wonderful and amazing would appear, but just as fast as the deer appeared out of the brush, it got scared and ran off.  I stood and watched in anticipation.  I could just sense that something amazing and wonderful would happen.  Maybe a coyote would come running.  Maybe a bobcat or mountain lion would be on the prowl. Perhaps a timber-wolf or a bear was out cruising.  Nothing appeared.  I put the camera down and continued to do my daily chores.  It began to sprinkle.
     I listened to the rain for awhile, and during the rain times my thoughts seem to drift back to people and places I remember.  It just so happened that that one Beatles song came on the little radio in my kitchen, "In My Life."  As soon as the song was over and a little tear ran down my cheek, the sun came out and to the east across the the willow bog I saw a bent rainbow, faded and colorful, not too far away, and far enough to know that I could not walk there. Underneath this magnificent spectacle I thought what I saw in the grass evidence of stirring critters.
      I paid no attention to the long canary grass matted down at first.  Curiosity stirred the hunter and trapper in me.  Perhaps I would see a glimpse of a predator, maybe a baby predator.  Skunk? Raccoon?  I began to study and focus all my attention and senses underneath the rainbow.  The shifting in the grass was moving toward the yard.  Soon I knew with all the confidence in my heart that this great stirring underneath the grass was what caused the deer to leave.  I just knew it.
     A snowbank  still exists in a little band of trees between my yard and the willow swamp.   The life in the grass slowly was working its way to this snowbank.  I for sure would get a god glimpse of the creature as soon as he got on the bank.  I grabbed my camera. quietly exited my house, posted up for a good shot, and was truly astonished when the creatures appeared on the snowbank.  Click! I got it.

     Immediately I broke down into tears of joy and laughter.  Three winters ago when I moved back to my dad's farm,  his penguins had disappeared.  I put an advertisement in the local paper, but no one responded. "Lost: two breeding pair of penguins last seen heading north toward Middle River."  It was the last time I had seen or heard of dad's penguins since he built the great fence for them.  Yet from underneath the rainbow two baby penguins appeared as if to tell me in person, "We are alright.  Today everything is all right."
     They left, and immediately I wrote a letter to my friend Jose Jimenez.  I told of my kids ball games and how we are finally getting some green grass, and how we would soon be back to work.   I sent him the picture to share with his dad in Antarctica.  I named the two penguins Bobby and Tommy.  The picture should explain why; two buddies traveling along, taking a break on their journey and talking it out whatever matters are on their hearts,  wondering which way to go next.
     Hopefully the two babies will get along with the geese that are making my pond home.