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."

It starts slowly…that soft rumble off in the distance. Is it the Iowa Interstate pulling another ethanol train east to market? Is the wind out of the right direction and I’m hearing the traffic of the interstate as people from every point zoom past the place I call home?

It’s been a long day of mowing. I love mowing. Watching carefully as the front wheel rolls along the edge of the split between mowed and unmowed grass. The end of the row, making the turn and settling back into the next swath I cautiously glance to the sky. Off to the west the sky is dark blue nearly black. I know the yard won’t get finished today. Pressing on I move the throttle ahead, watching to be sure the chute doesn’t clog. Back and forth across the yard. Maybe I shouldn’t feel the need to mow every inch of the back lot.

A sprinkle? Was it really a sprinkle or was that my imagination? Looking at the green hood of the mower to see if I can spy any dark marks that would clue me into the start of the rain. Still nothing as I turn the corner and head back the other way. There it is again…another sprinkle perhaps? Yes, yes, that was certainly a sprinkle of rain. How much longer can I mow? This grass is already pretty tall and fairly damp. It must be getting ready to rain soon as the misquitos and black flies are now feasting on my legs.

Ok…I’m getting soaked now…Shutting the deck down and headed for the shed. Pulling into the shed and idling the mower down I shut it off and remember the blankets hanging on the line. Hurrying to the house I pull them off and drag the damp material into the house. A few minutes in the dryer and they will be fine.

Standing on the porch, watching the rain as it moves across the fields to the west. That soft gentle rain that comes and saturates the earth giving new life to the crops. A streak of lightning flashes brilliantly across the sky and I feel the explosion as the thunder cracks. Yes, the first good severe storm of the season.

As we all know now…this little even yesterday afternoon turned into a good old fashioned gully washer. Some spots received three inches of rain in an hour. And yet at the end of it all, there was a rainbow. The sign of the storm past.

Our lives are much like these spring days, we are working through our daily lives, just mowing along when the rain comes. It starts as a sprinkle and then turns into a raging storm. We ride out the storm, seeking shelter where we can, sometimes standing out in the rain getting soaked, but at the end of it, there is a rainbow…we’ve survived another storm and made it through a little battered, but still standing.

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