Friday, January 23, 2026
Home Blog Page 165

Wheat Scoop: Building Tomorrow’s Markets: Wheat’s role in food aid programs in East Africa

By
Guest Columnist
-
0
Kansas Wheat

For the audio version, visit kswheat.com.

See a need, fill a need. That was the vision of the Kansas wheat farmer who first proposed donating surplus Kansas grain to people in need around the world. Today, U.S. food aid programs continue to serve this goal, using about one million metric tons (36.74 million bushels) of U.S. wheat annually. Kansas Wheat CEO Justin Gilpin joined a recent learning journey, organized by U.S. Wheat Associates (USW), to get an up-close look at food aid programs at work in East Africa and how this goodwill lays the foundation for future trade relationships.

“Food for Peace and Food for Progress are key programs and policies that were originally started by U.S. farmers and still supported by U.S. farmers,” Gilpin said. “We are in an increasingly important environment right now with dynamic changes in policy, seeing the critical work that food aid provides for those who are in need.”

“We are also introducing our product into a market. Africa creates a unique opportunity where we can provide humanitarian assistance to those who are in need through food aid with wheat, specifically being a high priority food, but then ultimately building goodwill and developing a commercial partner.”

The food aid learning journey took U.S. wheat industry leaders to Kenya and Lesotho to examine the transportation, distribution and impact of the two main U.S. food assistance programs — Food for Peace and Food for Progress.

 

Food for Peace Feeds Hungry People

The Food for Peace program supplies in-kind donations of food products, of which wheat makes up the largest proportion of emergency food assistance. The program started as a proposal by Kansas farmer Peter O’Brien in September 1953. In 1954, U.S. Senator Andy Schoeppel, a Kansas Senator, sponsored the precursor to today’s food aid programs as legislation, which was later signed by another Kansan, President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The team saw the impact of Food for Peace donations firsthand at the Kakuma Refugee Camp, which hosts about 300,000 refugees from a variety of countries across East and Central Africa. The camp is managed by the World Food Programme (WFP), which aims to provide refugees with the standard 2,100 calories each person needs daily. Reaching that goal is not always possible.

Peter Laudeman, USW director of trade policy, explained that due to other global conflicts and distribution issues, the camp was only able to provide 65 percent of the caloric need in the provided ration. At the time of the learning journey, that ration was down to 40 percent with the expectation that it could move as low as 20 percent, making it imperative to get resources — like available U.S. HRW wheat — moving into these programs.

“This is not a well-rounded meal of fresh fruits and vegetables; it’s truly just the basic calories of what you need for the month to live,” Laudeman said. “When you think visually about it, you’re basically getting a two-cup scoop and that’s what you get for the month. What we saw more than anything is that there is a substantial need for more food in that camp. We know we have wheat available in the United States.”

The Food for Peace program is administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is set to be absorbed by the U.S. Department of State. The U.S. wheat industry is actively advocating for the Food for Peace program to be administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which already administers the sourcing and procurement of commodities like wheat for the Food for Peace program.

“Moving Food for Peace into USDA is going to be more efficient and more effective,” Laudeman said. “Not just for farmers in the United States to have more predictability, but also for groups like the WFP to have consistency, so we are working really hard to make sure that’s a possibility.”

 

Food for Progress Builds Economies

The second major food aid program in the United States is the Food for Progress program. Under this program, donations of wheat are monetized, which refers to the sale of in-kind donations of U.S. food commodities in recipient countries for local currency. Through monetization, the United States, through USDA and USAID, provides food commodities, like wheat, to a cooperating sponsor, a recipient government or a non-governmental organization. The recipient then can sell that commodity to local processors or traders and the proceeds can be used for developmental projects.

On the learning journey, Gilpin traveled with Laudeman to Maseru, Lesotho, to get a look at the STEPS Food for Progress project run by Venture 37. The project was funded by wheat monetization in Tanzania that is building capacity for the poultry sector within Lesotho.

“The project in Lesotho is actively working across the entire poultry value chain to enhance productivity, target strategic long-term investments and build economic opportunity in partnership with the United States,” Laudeman said. “As an added benefit, many elements of the STEPS project connect to commercial export opportunities for U.S. farmers.”

This project is an example of the vision of the Food for Progress program — how government-facilitated commercial scales can build up economies and establish relationships with future trading partners. The wheat industry actively advocates for this program, including recent support to ensure a spring food aid shipment of 286,000 metric tons (10.5 million bushels) of HRW wheat proceeded as planned.

That shipment came through the port of Mombasa in Kenya, which the team visited earlier in the learning journey, along with the mill that worked to bring in the shipment of wheat and move it through Kenya to the end destination of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While no subsequent shipments are currently scheduled, this shipment represented the work needed to ensure food aid programs provide the right resources in the right places without market distortions.

“We worked to make sure that shipment went out to commercial partners in different markets that were planning on receiving that wheat,” Laudeman said. “We’re hopeful that once we have a better vision of how food aid will be structured in the long-term there will be more opportunities to share how shipments of wheat like this one work well in these programs, whether it is in Kenya or anywhere else.”

 

Food Aid Makes Good Cents

Overall, the USW learning journey underscored the enduring legacy and critical role of U.S. wheat in food aid programs. For Kansas wheat farmers, this work serves as a strong reminder of the power of feeding the world — both those in need today and those who will buy tomorrow.

“This USW learning journey gave us a great opportunity to learn about these important food aid programs that were originally started by farmers and still supported by farmers,” Gilpin said. “We were able to see tremendous growth through East Africa, including the role wheat plays in that market as humanitarian assistance and the market potential for future commercial activity.”

Learn more about the USW learning journey here.

Irritated Shopper’s

By
Milo Yield
-
0
Thayne Cozart
Milo Yield

As a column writer, every week I hope for some “nugget” that I can transform into column material. Last week, I got fortunate in having two such “nuggets” unintentionally dropped into my lap.

So, I’m using both this week. These stories are true, but I’ve taken literary liberty and altered some of the circumstances to protect the guilty.

***

A 30ish-aged farmer wuz having a bad day. He’d had an equipment breakdown in the field. He’d gashed a knuckle when a wrench slipped. He wuz in town ordering the expensive parts. He’d just got into his pickup to head home when he got a text from his wife.

She told him to stop by the grocery store and buy her some cupcake papers because she needed to bake some cupcakes to take to the 4-H meeting she wuz taking their kids to that evening.

So, although it griped the farmer to have to waste time in the grocery store, he dutifully went to do his wife’s bidding. Like most men, he was about clueless as to where to find cupcake papers in the store.

He looked up and down the aisles for the cupcake papers. A store clerk asked him if he needed help. His farmer pride prevented him from accepting assistance.

For another 15 minutes he fruitlessly looked for the cupcake papers — his blood pressure and his neck getting redder by the minute.

Finally, in exasperation, he finally ran down a store employee who told him the papers were in the aisle with the boxes of cake mixes. He replied is carefully measured tones that he’d searched that aisle several times and didn’t see any cupcake papers.

So, the clerk led him to the baking needs aisle and pointed to a round paper cylinder, camouflaged on the bottom shelf, that contained the papers.

He grabbed the container and on his way to the checkout counter, he spied a container of brown shoe polish that prompted him to remember he needed to spruce up his dress Wellington boots. So, he grabbed the polish and paid for both items at checkout.

Still seething from his wife’s instance of stopping at the grocery store, when he got home, he decided to get even. He left the cupcake papers in the seat of the pickup, and took only the brown shoe polish inside and put the sack on the counter.

His wife looked in the sack and asked tartly, “Where are my cupcake papers?”

He replied, “That’s what you told me to pick up.”

She replied, “How could you possibly mix up my order to buy cupcake papers with brown shoe polish?

He replied, “Well, that’s what I heard.”

With a loud “harrump,” his agitated wife said, “Well, fine. I’ll just drive back to town and buy the papers myself. I’ve got to have them!”

The farmer followed his wife out to the garage and watched as she opened the door and saw her cupcake papers laying in the seat.

She sort of saw the humor in his prank and asked him why it took so long at the grocery store.

He replied, “I didn’t know they came in a Pringles’ can. They didn’t used to be packaged that way.

I think he still had to polish his boots in the garage that evening.

***

This second story is also about rural shopping.

A busy farm wife wuz the mother of two rambunctious sons both late elementary school aged. She usually didn’t take them with her shopping, but family circumstances that day required her to take her sons along on the shopping trip.

While in the store, the two ornery boys too frequently were out of sight of their mom, but she wuz still surprised and annoyed at what transpired at the checkout counter.

The store manager approached her and told her that her sons had been caught red-handed in a prank that other customers didn’t appreciate. He told her that the store would not press the matter further, but that she needed to explain to her sons about appropriate and inappropriate in-store behavior.

Well, she chastised her wayward sons roundly when they got to the car and told them they’d have to explain their errant behavior to their father when they got home

And, when they got home, the wife summoned her husband and told him “his sons” had gotten into trouble at the big drug store and they were going to confess their sins to him.

So, he sat his boys down and said, “Tell me what you did to get into trouble.”

His ornery sons told him that they’d discovered the display of condoms in the store and had lifted some packages — and then, and then, and then (suspense) — carefully dropped them into other customers’ shopping carts.

Their dad with a straight face told his boys, “How did you decide who needed them?”

I think from that story that the boys might have inherited their orneriness from dear ol’ Dad.
***

Words of wisdom for the week: “The secret to a long and happy life is drinking beer, wine and whiskey in moderation and avoiding conversations with idiots.”

Have a good ‘un.

Horticulture 2025 Newsletter No. 07

By
Guest Columnist
-
0
KSU horticulture

1712 Claflin, 2021 Throckmorton Plant Science Center
Manhattan, KS 66506 (785) 532-6173

PDF Version

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:
Drought Tolerant Plants for a Challenging Kansas Landscape
(Archived K-State Garden Hour)
You might not be thinking about drought right now with the spring weather, but it inevitably affects our landscapes at some point during the summer.

April GARDEN CALENDAR
Find out what to plant in the garden this spring.

VEGETABLES
Planting Warm Season Veggies
Most of our warm-season vegetables can be planted in early May, however, winter squash and pumpkins should be delayed until mid to late June. The first generation of squash bugs is active in July. Delaying the planting date for squash will result in younger plants that can escape this round of squash bug damage. Plants will need protection from the second generation of squash bugs which is present in August.

To read more about squash bugs visit our KSRE publication: Squash Bugs

Protecting New Vegetable Transplants from the Wind
Wind is an important environmental feature for the plant world. Many plants rely on the wind to disperse seeds and transfer pollen from one plant to another. Young plants strengthen their stems as a result of nudging from the wind. As you move seedlings into the garden remember to harden them off by exposing them to the elements gradually. Without preparing the plants for the wind through increased exposure they are more susceptible to breaking under this force. In small scale gardens, you can also create a wind break to further protect young transplants from the wind, but this is not practical on a large scale.

Soil Temperature and Warm Season Veggies
Tomatoes can be transplanted when the soil temperature is 55 degrees F. For peppers, cucumbers, melons and squash the soil should be at least 60 degrees. Our soil temperature is high enough now that it is safe to plant most warm season crops.

Remember to check out the Kansas Mesonet resource. You can access current and historic soil temperatures to help you plan your garden calendar.

FRUIT
Integrated Approach to Fruit Tree Care
Success in the landscape begins with good cultural care. For fruit trees this means cleaning up debris, proper pruning, minimizing weeds, planting in the right location and providing supplemental water as needed. Even with the best cultural care there are times where spray treatments are necessary, but healthy trees are better able to stand up to the stress from diseases and pests.

At this time of year, you can do all the cultural care right and still have problems with disease and pests on fruit trees. Starting a spray schedule in April and May is often necessary to prevent problems such as cedar apple rust. The fungicide you use will change from spring into summer and organic options are available. Check in with your local Extension agent for a recommended spray schedule.

TURF
Spring Fertilizer Application for Cool Season Turf
Lawns should typically be fertilized when they are actively growing. Cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue and perennial ryegrass benefit from being fertilized in fall and late spring. The fall application is important as it helps the turf build up food reserves enabling it to green up earlier in the spring. Cool-season grasses usually have a flush of growth in mid-spring using up much of the stored energy. By applying fertilizer shortly after this growth, the turf is able to replenish the depleted nutrients ensuring the plants are strong heading into the stress of summer. A slow-release nitrogen fertilizer is best for the May application. Liquid or dry fertilizer are fine, though dry tends to be easier for homeowners to apply.

Warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass, buffalograss and zoysiagrass should be fertilized in late spring and/or summer. https://bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/mf2324.pdf

Always read the fertilizer label for the correct rate and specific instructions.
Sweep dry fertilizers off hard surfaces and back onto the lawn to prevent it from washing into storm drains polluting our waterways.
Water after applying fertilizer if rain is not in immediate forecast.
PESTS
Bagworms – Too early to spray!
Mid to late June is typically the best time to treat for bagworms but if you had bagworms last year, you’re likely antsy to prevent their return. If there are empty bags on trees and shrubs in your landscape, it is likely you will have bagworms this year as well. Treatments for bagworms should not be done until most or all of the larvae have hatched. For now, if you see young bagworms, you can manually remove and destroy them. Treatments will be largely ineffective right now.

Cucumber Beetles and Bacterial Wilt
Description: Cucumber beetles can either be striped or spotted. Striped cucumber beetles are more common with ¼-inch long bodies, black head and antennae, straw-yellow thorax and yellowish wing covers. There are three parallel longitudinal black stripes down the body. Spotted cucumber beetles have 12 black spots on the wing covers with yellow on the underside of the abdomen.

Life Cycle: There are two generations of cucumber beetles each year. They overwinter as adults. After mating the females lay eggs in the soil at the base of cucurbit plants making it easy for larvae to feed on roots when they emerge. Two to three weeks later the larvae pupate in the soil giving rise to the second generation later in the growing season. It takes about four to six weeks for a single generation to go from egg to adult.

Damage: Cucurbit plants are targeted by cucumber beetles whose feeding reduces growth and can cause plant death. Young pumpkin and squash plants are common targets. Holes in leaves, stems, flower and fruits caused by feeding can affect yield. Cucumber beetles also transmit the disease, bacterial wilt, which causes sudden browning and death of cucumbers and muskmelons. Once infected the plant cannot be cured making prevention key.

Control: Protect young plants now by using row covers, cones or another physical barrier. Seal the edges of the barrier to prevent beetles from entering. Use transplants which can stand up to bacterial wilt better than seedlings. Mulch with straw around plants to create a habitat for predators such as wolf spiders. Remove crop debris after each growing season and manage weeds. Monitor plants regularly and manually remove cucumber beetles. Sticky cards can be used to help monitor for pests present in the garden.

Insecticides with permethrin (Bonide Eight Vegetable, Fruit & Flower Concentrate and Hi Yield Garden and Farm Insect Control) can be used when pollinators are not present. Always follow all label instructions and only use insecticides in combination with proper cultural controls.

Read more at our KSRE Publication: Striped and Spotted Cucumber Beetle

Eastern Tent Caterpillar
Description: Native to North America, Eastern tent caterpillars are hairy and black with a white stripe down the back and yellow/brown stripes on the sides along with blue, oval-shaped spots. Caterpillars create a tent-like nest that can be a foot or more in length. Full-grown caterpillars can be 2 to 2 ½ inches long. The adult moths have reddish-brown wings with two whitish bands across the forewing. The eggs, laid in masses, are covered with a shiny, black material enclosing the eggs. Cocoons are one-inch in length and white or yellowish in color.

Life Cycle: Caterpillars emerge in early March when buds begin to break. They create a silk tent in a tree crotch with many other caterpillars to create a colony. Mature caterpillars leave their nest to seek a safe place to pupate. About three weeks later the adult moth emerges. Upon mating, females lay masses of 150 to 400 eggs on branches to overwinter and hatch the following spring. There is one generation per year.

Damage: Caterpillars emerge from their tents when it is not too hot or raining, usually early morning and evening to feed on leaves. Defoliation may not kill trees and shrubs directly, but does put the plants under stress as photosynthesis is reduced. The silky nests in the trees are unsightly.

Control: Scout for egg masses during winter to remove and destroy. Dispose of tents as they appear in spring. Exposing young caterpillars makes them susceptible to predators such as birds though mature caterpillars are less appetizing due to the hairs present. Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki) or Spinosad can be used to kill young caterpillars. Mature caterpillars can be treated with pyrethroid-cyhalothrin or permethrin insecticides, but be aware these will harm beneficials as well. Do not use these products when pollinators are active. When inside the tents, caterpillars are protected so insecticides applied at this time are much less effective.

TREES
Suckers on Trees
In spring some trees send up growth, known as suckers, from the base of the tree or roots. Suckers can develop several inches to several feet from the trunk of the tree and can be an indication the tree is under stress. However, some species are just more prone to sucker growth regardless of the health of the tree.

Not only are suckers unattractive but they deplete energy from the tree so removal is recommended. Use pruners to clip suckers at the base where they are attached to the main tree. If the cut is not made at the point of origin and a stub is left intact it will likely cause branching and exacerbate the problem. If there are minimal suckers present, removal can be delayed until early summer when regrowth is less likely. Herbicides should NOT be used to treat suckers.

Storm-Damaged Trees
Much of Kansas experienced heavy winds and rain over the past week or will at some point this season. Here are recommendations for managing storm-damaged trees.
Not all trees should be salvaged. Trees with bark that has split and exposed the cambium or those where the main trunk has split are not likely to survive. Trees with so many broken limbs that the structure is altered may best be replaced. Though these trees may produce new growth, they are under such extreme stress they are much more susceptible to diseases/pests and can be dangerous due to increased risk for further breaks.
Prune broken branches to the next larger branch or the trunk. Do not cut flush with the trunk, but rather to the collar area between the branch and the trunk. Cutting flush to the trunk creates a larger wound that takes longer to heal.
Cut back large limbs progressively. The first cut should be made on the underside of the branch about 15 inches away from the trunk. Cut up about one-third of the way through the limb. The second cut should be made on top of the branch but about two inches further away from the trunk creating an angle when joined with the first cut. This will cause the branch to break away. The third cut should be made at the collar to remove the resulting stub.
MISCELLANEOUS
What to do about a hard crust layer on the soil surface
Heavy downpours of rain often lead to soil crusting. Intense rainfall can disperse soil into small particles. When the soil dries quickly it seals the particles together creating a concrete-like layer. Young seedlings struggle to break through the crust and consequently die. The crust layer also creates a problem for drainage since water is no longer able to penetrate.

To prevent soil crusting, keep the soil covered. During the off-season grow a cover crop for the nutrient benefits as well as to protect the surface from the impacts of heavy rain. Increase organic matter content and till as little as possible or not at all. Organic matter improves the texture making the soil less susceptible to crusting because the particles of soil are not easily displaced.

To remediate soil that has a crusty layer, cultivate lightly to break up the hard surface. While there is a risk of damaging existing plants if done carefully, it is much less harmful than the effects of crusted soil.

Useful Resource: K-State Extension Wildlife Management Website
May is Gardening for Wildlife month and we have a wonderful resource available through K-State Extension Wildlife Management. Find research-based information for gardening with wildlife by creating habitats to meet their needs. Check out the podcast “Fins, Fur and Feathers” hosted by Extension specialists, Drew Ricketts and Joe Gerken, YouTube guides and more at
KSRE Wildlife Management.

QUESTION of the WEEK
“I was at the park yesterday and saw these little bugs crawling all over the place. What are they?”
These are the larvae of ladybird beetles, more often referred to as “ladybugs”.

Adult and larvae of the ladybird beetle are beneficial insects. They feed on pests such as aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies and scale and do not harm garden plants. The larvae may look menacing, with the orange and black markings on their bodies but they are effective at managing garden pests.

Contributors:
Cynthia Domenghini, Instructor and Horticulture Extension Specialist
Kansas Garden Guide

Division of Horticulture
1712 Claflin, 2021 Throckmorton
Manhattan, KS 66506
(785) 532-6173

For questions or further information, contact your local extension agency.
This newsletter is also available on the World Wide Web at:
http://hnr.k-state.edu/extension/info-center/newsletters/index.html

The web version includes color images that illustrate subjects discussed. To subscribe to this newsletter electronically, send an e-mail message to [email protected] listing your e-mail address in the message.
Brand names appearing in this newsletter are for product identification purposes only. No endorsement is intended, nor is criticism implied of similar products not mentioned.
K-State Research and Extension is committed to making its services, activities and programs accessible to all participants. If you have special requirements due to a physical, vision or hearing disability, or a dietary restriction please contact Extension Horticulture at (785) 532-6173.

 

Cynthia Domenghini, Ph.D.
Instructor; Horticulture Extension Specialist
Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources
Kansas State University
1712 Claflin Rd.
Manhattan, KS 66503
785-340-3013
[email protected]

Turtle Market

By
Milo Yield
-
0
Thayne Cozart
Milo Yield

On occasion I’ve written about unusual ways that me and my early school friends spent our time playing.

One such story wuz about having gram weight lifting contests with land terrapins (turtles) used as the power source. The way we did it wuz to drill a painless hole in the rear edge of the turtle’s shell and tie a string to the shell, then thread the string through a tiny pulley fastened above the turtle, then fasten the other end of the string to gram weights made to be used on a balance scale.

The “winner” wuz the turtle that could heft the heaviest gram weight the highest into the air. The owner of the winner captured bragging rights.

***

Well, that story prompted a faithful reader from nearby Green, Kansas, to stop by our morning Old Geezers’ Gabfest and Coffee Klatch, to tell me about another funny turtle story that he recalled.

This story originated decades ago on one of the big ranches in the southernmost Sandhills of Nebraska. The son of the owner, while making his regular rounds on the ranch checking to make sure all the windmills were pumping water for the cattle, noticed an abundance of flat-shelled land turtles near the water tanks.

So, out of curiosity and just for fun, he started collecting the turtles in a long cattle trailer. As his “turtle herd” grew he kept it well fed and watered. Eventually, he had so many turtles that he wuz faced with a problem of what to do with them all.

According to the story, somehow the young rancher came up with an idea on how to cash in on his hoard of turtles. One weekend, he hooked up to the turtle trailer and headed for Denver. Once there, he found a big urban farmer’s market and got permission to sell his country wares.

It turns out that the flat-shelled turtle market in Denver wuz booming. Every turtle carried a hefty price tag, and it didn’t take the Nebraskan long to sell out his inventory.

You might wonder what the big appeal of turtles wuz to up-scale, yuppie Denver urbanites. The surprising answer wuz they wanted to use the turtle shells — with the turtles still alive inside — as paint pallets for personal messages or scenes.

Who would have guessed? The young rancher turned a handsome profit from an activity that would assuredly be illegal in today’s highly sensitive woke world.

***

The creative ways to have fun and waste time among rural youth seems to have no bounds. Another youth-prank story that wuz told at the Geezer’s Gabfest is this one.

Some rural teenagers in the northern Flint Hills of Kansas caused quite a stir with a prank they pulled many years back. At the time of their prank, the annual spring ritual of burning off the tallgrass prairie wuz in full swing and the local volunteer fire fighting brigade was on high alert for wildfires.

Here’s what the ornery teens did. They had saved up a bunch of smoke bombs from the previous Fourth of July celebration. Then they went to a secluded vacant old farmstead with an abandoned tile upright silo. One by one they climbed to the top of the silo and dropped smoke bombs into the silo.

Rather quickly a satisfying plume of smoke emerged from the top of the silo and could be seen from any direction for miles around. The sight of smoke immediately started a chain of phone calls to the volunteer fire fighters and they gathered a team and rushed to the origin of the smoke.

Of course, the pranksters were long gone by the time the fire fighters arrived. But it didn’t take the firemen long to realize they’d been bamboozled and they vowed to find the perpetrators.

The story teller said the pranksters kept mum long enuf for the furor to die down and they got away scot-free. However, he did wonder why he and his buddies needlessly climbed to the top of the silo to drop the smoke bombs in. He said the prank would have worked just as well by tossing the smoke bombs through an open window at the bottom of the silo.

***

Writing about rural youth getting creative in having fun and passing time conjured up a way I used to entertain myself when I wuz a kid growing up on a farm in the 1940s-50s.

I used to sneak a serving spoon out of the kitchen and find a wet spot in the ground in the shade. Then I’d dig a bottle-shaped hole in the ground about 4-5 inches deep. Then I’d capture either a half-inch long black carpenter ant climbing on a tree trunk of a big pincher beetle that I’d find under a board. I’d drop the critter into the hole.

My goal wuz to dig the hole well enuf that the ant or the beetle couldn’t climb out of it. Sometimes if the bugs were nimble enuf to climb out, I’d find some fine dust and put a ring of dust around the top of the hole. That would make the bugs fall back into the hole every time.

***

I’ve mentioned many times about my mechanical ineptness and unluckiness. I proved that again this week. I wuz working on my new raised garden beds using a skill saw. To power the saw, I connected two heavy-duty extension cords. I wuz busily sawing away when Nevah yelled “fire,” and I looked around to see a fire blazing where the two extension cords were fitted together. To make matters worse, the fire wuz squarely on top of a rubber garden hose. So, I damaged two extension cords and a garden hose at the same time.

***

Words of wisdom for the week: “‘On time” is when you get there.” Have a good ‘un.

Just a Little Light: Mothers

By
Dawn Phelps
-
0

Dawn Phelps
Columnist

 

Mother’s Day is almost here, and I found an article which is similar in structure to Paul Harvey’s 1978 speech on his “Rest of the Story” radio show entitled “So God Made a Farmer.”  But this one is about mothers.

I am unsure who the original author is, but one source gives credit to the Imperfect Women Team.  This article has a bit of a modern twist to it.

And on the 6th day, God looked down on Adam in his planned paradise and said, “I need a nurturer.”  So God made a mother.

God said, “I need someone who feels deeply and loves fiercely, whose tears flow just as abundantly as their laughter, whose heart is warm, and their ability to guide and set limits is strong. I need someone whose influence on those that they nurture is eternal.”  So God made a mother.

God said,  “I need someone who can hear a sneeze through closed doors, in the middle of the night, 3 bedrooms away,  while daddy snores next to her, who could kiss the ‘boo boos,’  scare away the monsters under the bed, clean up the middle-of-the-night accidents, and live off of 4 hours of interrupted sleep.”  So God made a mother.

God said, “I need someone who can ride the roller-coaster of anxiety, hope, fear, and pride with an outward appearance of calm assurance as she sends her child off to his first day of school. 

“I need someone who will buy the school supplies, drive for the field trips, help study for the history tests, fill out the permission forms, clap from the back row of the spring musical, and help coach a sport she’s never played.

“I need someone to teach a child to tie her shoes, make new friends, handle disappointments, shop for a prom dress, and drive a stick shift. 

“And when that child is 18, I need someone to ride that roller coaster of anxiety, hope, fear, and pride again as she sends her child away to college with the same calm confident outside exterior.”  So God made a mother.

God said, “I need someone who is willing to jump in a car and drive children to school, soccer games, and piano lessons on a daily basis.  I need someone who can run to the grocery store twice in a day, because someone forgot to add something to the list.

 “I need someone who can take the animals to the vet, drop off the dry cleaning and pick up prescriptions and still make sure dinner in on the table for the family to eat.”  So God created a mother.

“Somebody who realizes that children need to be allowed to grow, gain confidence in themselves and be encouraged to be independent individuals and accept the path they choose. 

“Somebody who realizes that their job is one where the better they are the more surely they won’t be needed in the long run.

“Somebody whose breath will be taken away when they visit their first newborn grandchild in the hospital and their daughter looks at them with loving eyes and says “I hope I can be the kind of mom you are, Mom.”  So God made a mother.

No matter how old your children are, mothers are special people who never stop loving and caring for their children.  So for all mothers out there, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day! 

[email protected]

1...164165166...4,781Page 165 of 4,781

Kansas News, Auctions & Classifieds

Trending

Categories

© Rural Messenger