Monday, December 23, 2019

No, it won’t be a white Christmas this year.  The weather folks are predicting a warm and sunny week; on Christmas day we are supposed to reach 60ºF!  (16C).   Although it is not unheard of to reach such temperatures in December, it is a rare thing.  And I just heard this morning that we will ‘pay’ for this warmth in January and February!  The Weather Channel guys said, “Look out for January cold!”

Brandon is performing some minor repairs on the Pete semi-truck.  There were two leaky hoses, and a cable that holds the hood open to be replaced.  He also has that truck shining like new… he polished the chrome and aluminum as he had it in the shop.

We took the soybean drill to the Alliance Tractor dealership at Vincennes last Friday, to get them to perform a refurbishment of the row units.  The drill was essentially worn out after 3  years of planting.  The new parts will include an ‘upgrade’ to the “Pro Series” openers.   After the discounts, it is very cost effective to let them perform this task as compared to doing the work ourselves.  And the rebuild will have a year’s warranty on their work.  It will be a really good thing to have a ‘like new’ drill again!

Over last weekend, I washed up the pickup and my wife Pat’s car.  And the weekend weather allowed them both to remain clean.  Saturday afternoon, we attended our granddaughter Molly’s dance recital.  What fun!  Sunday, John and I took in the new Star Wars movie.  Then, in the evening, I went with one of the groups from church out caroling to the homes of shut-ins and widows.  That was really fun, too.

Washed the pickup, and later, washed up Pat’s car too.

Here is one of the groups that went out caroling Sunday evening.  

Some grain deliveries will need to be made end of the week.  We will be wrapping up 2019 in a quiet way.  Just like many Midwest farmers, we are okay to see 2019 in our rear-view mirror.  It has presented some particular challenges with work delays due to weather, and the market controversies have added to the mix.  We are hopeful that the announced agreement with China will actually be formally finalized.  And we are taking hope in knowing that the weather never behaves the same two years in a row.

Soon we will enter a new year and a new decade.  What will those bring?  Seems like yesterday we were told to worry over the arrival of Y2K.  All hype and no problem.  The 20’s will bring their own challenges and highlights.  We will trust God through whatever comes our way… and it’ll be okay.

Merry Christmas to you all from the farmers here at Carnahan & Sons!