Thursday, I made a trip to Riceville, Lime Springs, and Cresco.
I saw lots of fertilizer being put on the fields. Some of it chemical fertilizer, or maybe it was weed killer. All I know was there were big machines with really fat tires putting something on the ground.
Others farmers were hauling natural fertilizer. I know about that! I hauled it myself about 60 years ago. But that wasn’t the worst job on the farm, nor was it the reason I went to college.
Building fences, picking up rocks, and cleaning the chicken house were the tasks I most disliked. They are the three reasons I went to college!
I made it to Lime Springs just in time to have lunch at KCDs. I was invited to join a round table with, among others, Phyl Stevenson and Kenny Mensink. Kenney’s the oldest or next to oldest guy in town and going strong! It was good to get caught up on the news.
I stopped at Earl & Betty Walker’s and learned that Earl is recovering from bypass surgery last month. They think recover is a bit slow, but bypass surgery is no trivial surgery. It takes a lot of energy out of the body and weeks to recover fully.
I’d not seen the new bridge at Old Town, nor the revamped Lidtke Park, so made a trip down there. They added pads for campers, plus electricity and water. It’ll be a great place for campers this summer! The picture is taken from the park entrance.
After lunch, I headed for Cresco via the road past the cemetery. There are several new (well, new in the last decade or so) Amish houses along that road. And I saw some field work being done with horse-drawn equipment. That turned my clock back several decades!
In Cresco, I those beautiful huge houses on North Elm street are still beautiful huge houses on North Elm Street! I have always loved the looks of them and have always been glad that I did not have to pay for the upkeep on them!
At Evans Home, I visited Adel Jones, 92(?). She’s my dad’s first cousin and the only remaining member of that generation. Her room is in a great location at Evans, with a good view. We had a good visit!
Then I made a couple of business calls. I’m pleased to report that you can now have your oil changed at NE Iowa Motors and get AMSOIL!
And I caught Marcie in her new office at the Times. Now with the bigger job at a larger paper, she’s really busy!
And finally, after all these years, I met Cherri Caffrey, County Recorder. To me, she’s the daughter of our long-ago neighbor Buddy Peter and his wife Dorothy, who was our “hired girl” when I was a kid and my mother needed help. We had a pleasant chat about “the good old days” involving Herb and Hazel Peter and Mom and Dad.
Then it was time to head back to Cedar Rapids. The shortest way, and possibly the quickest, is the straight-south route. That takes one past Protovin, to Lawler, past Sumner, then to Readlyn and straight south to I-380 at Raymond.
Both on the way to LS via US-63 and on the way home, I noticed that a lot of fields had been tiled since the crops were harvested last season. I suspect that means that farmers had a good year and had some money to spend on improving the productivity of their farms.
It was a good day! It’s always a good day when one gets to visit with old friends!