HAT TIPS
By Dean Meyer
Hello,
One of my favorite movies was “Field of Dreams.” You know. The Costner movie about this corn farmer that builds this ball field in his cornfield. And then the ghosts of great ball players come out of the corn and play ball. Shirley says it was make-believe, but I think it was real.
Anyway, one of the best lines is when one of the players asks Costner, “Is this heaven?”
And Kevin replies, “No, this is Iowa.”
Lately, just about every time you wake up around here, you have to look around and wonder, “Is this heaven?”
The rains have been more than adequate and timely. Whenever you think it is a tad dry, a shower pops up and refreshes the whole country. Oh, some places were inundated last week with a foot of rain, but around our outfit, it was as near perfect as you can get.
The mower-conditioner is hooked up and Will has removed the keys from the tractor to keep me from cutting hay until the ground dries up a little. Which should be happening this week. After the disastrous drought last year, cutting hay will be fun.
That reminds me of a story Dad tells. He had bought this new John Deere combine years ago. It was a big one with an extra seat so the banker could ride with you. Dad was driving the combine through Berthold when he spotted this old neighbor walking down the street. The old boy was around ninety years old. Dad stopped and helped him into the cab and went out to a field just out of town and made a few rounds.
The old boy hadn’t said anything and when Dad was going to stop, he just waved him on. After about an hour, this old boy who grew up on a threshing machine was ready to get off. As he dismounted the machine, he looked at Dad and said, “More fun than a dance!”
That’s the way haying will be this year. More fun than a dance!
We just got home from the High School Rodeo Finals in Bowman. And as they do every year, the Bowman outfit does a heck of a job of organizing and producing a heck of a rodeo.
It always makes me proud to watch the kids compete. They cheer each other on. They have broken hearts and broken dreams and get up smiling after tipping a pole or missing a steer. But they come back the next day and compete even harder. For every broken dream, someone else has a new dream to live. And they all know that it is a rodeo, and there is another one next week, and another one the week after that.
Their little brothers and sisters cheer them on, and mom and dad comfort them when they have tough luck. And when the deal is done, and you load those horses in the trailer and drive away from Bowman, you can snuggle up in that crowded pickup and know that you tried your hardest, had fun, and that win or lose, it was a heck of a weekend. Thanks, Bowman.
One of the stories I heard just has to be repeated.
Do you know what Davy Crockett said to Jim Bowie as they stood on the wall and saw thousands of Mexicans surrounding The Alamo.
“I hope they are coming to shingle!”
Later,
Dean