News From Lowell Township

Phone: 785-994-6370 (home) or 785-476-5206 (cell)

All those dedicated people and volunteers out there braving the cold wind in the early morning preparing for the Pumpkin Patch Saturday should be commended. It was a fun event, and the pumpkins to select from were exceptional in size and color.

Pumpkins aren't just for decorating and carving. They are a good source of nutrition, providing vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber. You can store pumpkins in a cool, dark, dry place for up to three months. The only way I enjoy pumpkin is pumpkin pie. My Mom always purchased the 'Libby' brand of pie filling because it tastes the best, and I agree.

The cool weather we had earlier was not great until Steve finally lit the furnace. A person must decide whether to pack away summer clothes and get out the winter gear with the seesaw temperatures.

I hope those green weather maps for Kansas this week will provide some moisture. The country is just so dry and dusty.

I have been doing some fall cleaning, washing windows, and doing one room at a time. Opening windows in the country for fresh air is never a good thing to do.

We received our feed sample tests for nitrates, and only one sample tested high. The sample was from the feed planted where we calve, so the manure concentration was probably the reason.

Now is the time of year for weaning calves, either selling them straight off the cows or keeping and feeding them for a while. I can't say it is my favorite time because I don't like the cows bawling for their calves or the calves not liking being separated from their mommas. Also, soon, my bucket calf, Rocky, will be mixed in with the other calves, and I have spoiled him and hate to think of him being sold.

The following is a version of calves being weaned and taken to a feedlot by the late Baxter Black titled 'Stress.' Put yourself in the place of a 500-pound suckin calf this fall. You spend all summer withyourmammadrinkin' cool water, eatin' good green grass and mother's milk. You got up when you wanted, slept when you felt like it, and ate when hungry. Suddenly, over the hill come mounted riders! The boss, his wife, the neighbor, the banker, the brother-in-law, and eighteen dogs. Elbows flying, hats waving, and chaps flappin'. Scary? You take off to find Mamma with the dogs nipping at yer heels, Mamma's way down the trail. You catch up and travel five miles in her dust, choking and coughing. That night, you spend in a trap with 240 other cows and calves. Next mornin', here comes Custer's army again! Back on the trail, still scared, hungry and tired. All day, you walk at eye level with the dust. That night, you're put in a big corral. Momma's uneasy. You don't get much to drink. Sun-up, the infantry rides through the corral and pushes you into an alley with your brothers and sisters. They push you up a chute. They want you to jump into this big aluminum egg crate. Next thing you know, the ground is moving. Three hours down the road, you suggest a rest stop. No dice! Have you ever tried to tinkle out the back of a moving pickup? It's not easy. That evening, you get unloaded into a feed yard with strange-tasting water and something in the bunk that smells like old lawn clippings. The next morning, you get driven to a processing area. You're too tired to care. Whenever you try to back up and breathe fresh air, somebody jabs you. Then they trap you in this big noisy contraption, inject you, and stick things in your nose and ears.

Miraculously, you are released. You wander into a nice, bedded pen with some gourmet dish in the bunk (prepared by a chef who builds a recipe on a computer then looks at the manure to see if you liked it). You're scared, worn out, hungry, and hurtin' all over. STRESSED! The cattle foreman drives by that evening, checkin' the bunks. 'By gosh,' he says, 'Thank goodness they'll get over it pretty quick.' I suppose Mr. Black exaggerated a bit, but it still makes me feel sorry even after we've raised calves year after year, and this is part of life.

The first automobile in Osborne County was purchased in 1903 by Dr. A.C. Dillon. It was an air-cooled Franklin four-passenger. He paid $2,200.00 for it new, drove it for about one and a half years, and sold it for $200.00 to William Bodge of Portis.

Our minister's message last Sunday was titled, 'Gaza, War Some More.' He pointed out all the conflicts and wars in history and the present. It is so depressing that one might stop watching the evening news.

Phil and Sue were attending a Marriage Enrichment weekend. The instructor pointed out that husbands and wives must know what is important to each other. He asked the men to name and describe their wife's favorite flower. Phil leaned over and whispered to Sue, 'It's Pillsbury All-Purpose, isn't it?' What did the mother ghost tell the baby ghost when he ate his food too fast? Stop goblin your food.