Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

Since the sump pumps are running full blast around here lets hop back and pick up a few random thoughts this week.

1. There is something to be said for the first weather event of the season. I’ve been watching as the trees and grass start to green up and after a little rain last week things really started to green up. But with this latest deluge when you come out from the ark you have been building be ready to watch the trees really pop this week. Not sure how much rain but I did hear that near Panora someone reported 7 inches over the weekend.
2. The legislature of this state spent two nights working through the final drafts of new laws. Of course last week when there was a deadlock our Governor was no where to be found, but once the largest most expensive budget in Iowa history has been rammed down our throats including the I-Jobs pipe dream that Culver has been running around the state seeking the green light to borrow $830 Million dollars. Great timing Chet! I see more and more friends laid off or fired, nearly everyone that I know has taken a salary freeze (a fancy way for your boss to tell you that he’s spent your raise on new chairs for the boardroom), a reduced wage option (which aren’t options) or are looking around trying to figure out how to post things on craigs list just to make enough money to cover their bills, and yet YOU, our esteemed Governor, ,feels that it’s a perfect time to go barrowing money.
3. To put the $830 MILLON into terms you and I can understand. According to the US Census bureau there are 2,988,046 citizens of this state. That’s $277.78 for every man, woman and child in this state. Heck…if you want something else to go by here. Iowa had only 16.9 Million hogs in the state in 2006. And we thought that was a lot of pork!
4. I finished up planting 90% of the garden last week before the rain came. Only thing left to do is tomatoes and peppers. The chives are up and as aromatic as ever and the rhubarb is really starting to grow.
5. I’ve not yet suffered a stiff back, but I’ve heard a rumor that there were a couple of people with stiff backs from bending over down around the Orient area.
6. I was thinking the other day as I looked through some old high school memories with a friend that it’s been an awfully long time since I drove the high and dry south of Creston for a piece of fresh strawberry pie. I wonder if it still gets made every summer?
7. I’ve decided to give myself a few days off coming up. Going to load up the camper with plenty of bait and beef sticks and go find a campground somewhere nice and quiet to hold up for a few days and spend some time fishing. I’ll report back if I catch anything good.
8. Finally this week, I know things are going to get hectic here soon. Baseball and Softball Little Leagues start this week and yes, Coach Nate, Coach Tony and Coach Weez and the rest of the West Central Diamondback’s are ready to play…with a smile on our faces. So if you see a little league game going on over the next few weeks, stop by and cheer the kids on, they are having the time of their lives.

See you next week. Remember, we’re all in this together.