August has arrived! And I am not ready for it! However, it brings back lots of memories of days gone by when everyone had small grain and it began to ripen in August. Some would remember cutting the grain and shocking it into little tepees, at least that is what they looked like, waiting for the threshing machine. The sunflowers were usually doing very well about that time of year, popping up everywhere, especially where you didn’t want them, with their golden yellow flowers. When autumn arrives it brings back many memories!So far, we haven’t received much rain. We had a light shower on Tuesday evening and that has been all of the moisture we have received of late. This means that we have to get out and water our gardens and flowers in the evening. It is not quite like having it rain but it is better than nothing. The crops are looking very good. They seem to have done well even when moisture was very much needed. No longer is there much, if any, small grain planted in this area so threshing is about a thing of the past. Hopefully, the temperatures remain on the cool side so things can mature and be harvested at the right time. Mr. and Mrs. Gerrit Spronk, Pipestone, and Bertha Christoffels were coffee guests in the Bill and Bertha Bosch home Friday afternoon. Other guests were Mildred Keunen and Jo Aykens. Those who returned home on Aug. 8 from a mission trip with the FCA to Guatemala and El Salvador are Cassi Tilstra, Erin Boeve, Kelly Mulder, Ashley Bosch, Dustin Bonnema, Kale Wiertzema, Lee Jackson and David Top and their sponsors, Randy Mulder and Shanna Tilstra. Welcome home!Dries and Laura May Bosch, Nathan and Erin, Sioux Falls, and Paul and Diane Bosch, Brandon, S.D., attended the Irish Fest at Terrace Park in Sioux Falls on Saturday evening.Guests in the Arnold and Jane Bonnema home Friday evening were George Bonnema and family, Luverne, Dan and Carol Bonnema, Hull, Iowa, Milton Bonnema and Lowell and Glenda Bonnema, Steen, to help Arnold celebrate his birthday. Dries and Laura May Bosch met their son, Tom and Amy, and children, Emma and Isabel Bosch, Sioux Falls, at the Rock County Fair in Luverne Friday evening. The most important news that I have this week is that I just got home from a four-day vacation. I can’t remember when I went somewhere just because I wanted to. It is usually because I have a meeting to attend. However, I joined a group for a big trip to Iowa. Now that shouldn’t be such a big deal as I only live one mile from the Iowa state line. However, I enjoyed every minute of it.As we traveled through the farming country it was just like a picture. The corn was a brilliant green and was beginning to tassel. The trees were lush and loaded with leaves. When we looked up into the azure blue sky there were fluffy white clouds sailing along. I can’t think of anything more beautiful. I decided right then and there that you do not have to travel many miles to enjoy a beautiful and relaxing vacation.As you think back, maybe you can remember a few things from your past if you have lived on the farm. For instance the softness of a baby chick in the palm of your hand. Some memories that were not so pleasant were running after the hogs or cattle that had managed to get out. I think we can all remember how it was, and remembering I am so happy. This is my Father’s world, and it is good, very good! He has given us a sense of appreciation, so we can experience some of his happiness from the beautiful things he has created.
