For Everything, There is a Time

It has been too long! The seasons are changing and so does life. Looking back over forty years on this place, I see the lessons that must be learned. Without learning something to take forward into the positive future, there is no good reason to look back. Certainly, we are not to look back on childhood stories to blame others for our mistakes. Learn from past mistakes and press on to finish the race well. Our stories are not over until we have passed from this physical earth so we must take from the stories written in our lives from the past and take the effort to write our stories well with our Creator’s direction. He knows the ending. And we may be sure of our inheritance with him if we believe in his Son. What an awesome continuation of the story.

Once again the garden is under cover of straw waiting to be worked into the soil for next year’s crop. Looking to the future, we prepare now.

Last year there was a severe drought here in the Dakotas and this year has been a year of recovery. Crops in the field have prospered and gardens have given forth their bounty. With fall rains in 2021, there came relief, then record snowfall through the winter, a late spring with a late spring snowstorm during calving season. My heart went out to all those involved. It was my first season without calving in forty-five years.

It is a delight to report produce to put up from the garden: tomatoes, scrumptious tomatoes to can, cabbage for sauerkraut, beets for pickles, carrots (for everything including carrot cake), potatoes (russets for lefse and baking, reds for everything else), green beans and snow peas for eating fresh and greens galore. Corn? Well, in a brief time of vacation, only one meal was enjoyed before the raccoons leisurely ate the rest. My mental visual looks like this- Rocky Raccoon, discovering no dog or human to interrupt him, lounging on his back, holding that fat cob of corn with bulging kernels between his paws, nibbling each kernel leisurely. How do I know? There was not a kernel missed.

Even through layers of straw mulch, weeds took over some rows, I admit and the realization of a smaller garden next year, settles in.

Seasons of our lives change and it is best to embrace the changes. It makes sense to me that change brings an interest in life; a sense of adventure. Without it, we will become stagnant and lose interest in life or depend on others to motivate us.

Then it is to ask, "What is our motivation as we move through the seasons of our lives?” It is a question of reflection. No one has the answer for another. So let’s meet here again before long.