My wife, Debbie, loves her animals. She takes better care of them than most politicians do the folks who voted them in office.
   Just before Christmas, Debbie went with her brother to watch our middle nephew play in a basketball tournament. It was an all-day affair.
   I opted to stay home to pick up a sack of cat food at the local farm store, watch the OU vs. ISU football game, work on my newspaper news and do a little “on-line” Christmas shopping.
   Sometime after 3 p.m., I sent Debbie a text and asked if she wanted me to feed her animals. I’m sure she about fell off the bleachers.
   To put this in context, I don’t feed her animals. I sometimes help, if she can drag me outdoors, but I rarely feed her horses, the puppy and the kitty cats.
   It’s my job to haul the hay and pick up dog, cat and horse food and take care of other animal-related duties. If one of our nephews is with us, they use their muscles to help us load and unload feed and hay and that is a big help.
   As I mentioned earlier, Debbie is particular about how things are done. And it’s detailed, too! Everything from how to shut gate on the horse pen to the order she feeds our puppy his treats. He’s not a puppy, he’s 10 years old, but we still call him a puppy.
   So, after feeding the horses their daily regimen of feed, I opened the horse pen and tippy toed through the piles of poop to fill the hay rack. We have a nice hay rack we bought a few years back. Debbie places the hay in the rack and goes through it to makes sure it is hay. She wants to make sure there is no loose string or other foreign objects. I remember once when she found a paper plate and empty soda pop can in a bale of hay. It must have been the road ditch variety of hay.
   Afterwards, I latched the gate, fed the outdoor cat, checked on the indoor cats in the garage and then feed and petted our puppy.
   When Debbie arrived home that evening it was some time before she came inside. I thought maybe she was visiting with her brother or was on the telephone with one of the other nephews. No, she was out checking the horse gate. Apparently, I had the gate chain too loose and the extra wire she uses not even wrapped around the gate. I just wrapped it around the fence post.
   Debbie chuckled at it all and was thankful that I helped. Feeding the animals in the dark is never fun.
  Well, I am a city boy. Growing up I had a cat, but not horses, cattle or even a dog. Most of my cats were indoor/outdoor cats. I don’t even remember having a litter box in the house.
  My uncle and grandpa on my mom’s side of the family raised a few cattle. My mom loved to take a trip to her parent’s house, who at the time lived in Coweta, Okla., and milk the Jersey cow. She loved fresh cow milk. I didn’t care for it. I liked the store bought kind.
   Later, after my parents moved to their acreage south of Tulsa, my mom got her own Jersey cow and milked it for years. My dad raised a few cattle and the neighbor to the west let him graze his cattle on his land.
   When others asked how many cattle he had, my dad would say, “Under 100.”
  He would sell his calves every December at the Tulsa Stockyards and use the money to buy the family Christmas gifts. He also saved pop cans at work and he’d load his truck full of them and cash them. Oklahoma didn’t, and may not to this day, have a bottle bill. So, cans sold at the price of scrape aluminum. He raised about $50 and would take us all out to eat at Bob’s Fish and Fowl, a fried food delicacy in southeast Tulsa.
   Anytime we stopped for lunch or supper at Bob’s, my dad would always tell me to pass the salad and bread and get to the meat. “You will fill up on bread and salad and won’t have any room for the fish and chicken,” he’d tell me.
   Great memories!
   Life is all about learning and trying new adventures and we all know that 2020 has been an adventure.
   Well, a new year is upon us, so go out and make the best of it. Follow your dreams and keeping on moving forward one step at time. Just don’t forget to latch the gate.
   Happy New Year, all!
   Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. 

   What happened to “Merry Christmas?”
   It seems everywhere I go, folks are wishing me Happy Holidays.
   It is nice that people want to send me well wishes for the holidays, but why not just say, “Merry Christmas?”
   I was shopping last Friday in Des Moines. There were a dozen people around me near the cash registers, of course all social distancing, and I said, “Have a Merry Christmas,” before heading out the door.
   I’m not ashamed of that either. In fact, it comes naturally for me.
  It’s Ok in our politically correct world to say Merry Christmas. To send someone Merry Christmas blessings or do things for others in the spirit of giving during the Christmas season.
  No matter what the world says about it, it’s still Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus. For me, it will always be Merry Christmas!
Holiday decorations and more
   One thing I’ve notice this year is more homes decorated for Christmas or the holiday season. There are some beautiful displays. It’s fun to drive around and see all the lights and Christmas displays. 
   As I’ve mentioned before, my family didn’t put up a Christmas decoration until Dec. 15. The Christmas lights, the decoration and the manger all stayed in the garage attic until that day.
   After hauling all the goodies from the attic, my dad put up the lights and I was in charge of decorating the tree. We always had a live tree and usually bought it at the Christmas tree lot at 41st and Harvard in my hometown of Tulsa. The man who owned the seasonal lot also owned the local fireworks company. He knew how to celebrate.
   Debbie and I usually try to put up our tree around Thanksgiving or the first of December. This year has been a little crazier and we just got the tree up, thanks to our nephews, on Dec. 12. We haven’t even put a Christmas ornament on it, but the lights are sure pretty.
   Another thing I’ve noticed this year is stores such as Hy-Vee, Fareway and other businesses not selling live Christmas trees. Picking up a live Christmas tree at the grocery store with your steak, sack of flour and loaf of bread used to be as normal as breathing.
   I put a question on Facebook asking my friends who bought live trees where they got them. One said they drove to Indianola. Another said they drove to Oskaloosa to get a tree. Those who commented said they had to go elsewhere for a tree.
   Curious to know more, I spoke with a friend and former Christmas tree farm owner, and he said 2020, as we all know, has been an unusual year and Christmas tree growers have not been immune. He said it takes about 10 years to grow a nice tree to size. He said the industry went through some tough challenges about 10 years ago and that has led to shortages. Also, fires out west have made growing Christmas trees tough. And he also mentioned that COVID complications have curtailed the harvest, distribution and vendor sales. For instance, my friend said, restrictions became very onerous to be able to ship live trees across the border out of Canada, so some Northeastern states had to source more trees out of Midwestern USA states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He added that the demand seemed to spike, like the toilet paper shortage, where folks were more than ready to “get out” and do a family activity together, and picking out a Christmas tree fit that bill very well.
   That reminds me of when I married Debbie. Our first Christmas three months after our wedding, I took her to a Christmas tree farm near Millersburg. I had my mind and heart set on finding the perfect Christmas tree. I even took my handy crosscut saw and was going to cut it down and load in my truck like they do on the Hallmark Channel.
   I ended up getting stuck and had to walk to the office and get some help getting unstuck. We compromised and bought a pre-cut tree.
   The second year of our marriage, we purchased a tree at tree farm near Holiday Lake. We didn’t have to go too far to find a nice tree and the owner cut it down for us. It looked lovely in our living room.
   We have since made the switch to an artificial tree. It’s not the same, but as I mentioned earlier, the reason for the season is Jesus, time with your family and giving to others.
   It’s time to get the tree decorated.
   Merry Christmas all!
   Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. 

   Anyone who knows me, knows that I try to see the positive in everything I do and say. I pour my heart into all I do at work, at play, in giving to others and in life.
   It has always been that way to me. No matter how difficult a challenge or situation is, I always try to find the good in it all. The glass is always half full in my life.
   With that being said, I love Christmas and the giving and receiving of gifts. I have such wonderful memories of family gatherings and waking up on Christmas morning and finding a gift from Santa and many other gifts under the tree. Even in the lean years, my family has always found a way to give. In my 61 years on this earth, I have always received gifts at Christmastime. And I am thankful for it all.
   That is not the case for many. Some people have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, company downsizing and closings, or have fallen on hard times due to life’s many challenges. Hardships and life challenges have no season for many families struggling to make ends meet. 
   With the help of Darla Wilson at the Montezuma Ministerial Alliance, who also serves as welfare secretary and treasurer of the Salvation Army, I have compiled a list of area agencies and outreaches in Poweshiek County and beyond who can use a helping hand in their efforts to make a difference in the lives of others.
   If you have a few extra dollars, some new socks or mittens, a box of food or a toy, you can make a difference in someone’s life, especially during the Christmas season. Giving to others never gets old and any amount is always welcome.
A list of area food pantries and outreaches:
• Montezuma Food Pantry, 501 N. Front St. Tax deductible donations can be sent to Montezuma Food Pantry, c/o treasurer Deb VerMeer, P.O. Box 189, Montezuma, IA 50171. For more information, call Wilson at 641-623-3275 or reach out to pantry director, Ashley Wenke.
• Brooklyn Food Pantry, 103 W. Front St. Donations can be sent to the Brooklyn Community Food Bank c/o First State Bank, 104 Jackson St., Brooklyn, IA 52211 or contact food bank director, Mary Carlson, at 641-522-9283.
• Mid Iowa Community Action (MICA) Food Pantry, 611 4th Ave., Grinnell. For more information visit: www.micaonline.org or call 641-236-3923.
• Poweshiek County (Malcom) Mobile Food Pantry. The first Wednesday of every month from 4:30 – 6 p.m. at the Malcom Auditorium. Contact Dawn Hamilton at 641-990-4300 for more information.
• Malcom Food Pantry, every Thursday from 5 – 7 p.m. at the Malcom Methodist Church. Contact Dawn Hamilton at 641-990-4300 for more information.
• Heart to Heart Food Pantry, a privately funded outreach of Lynnville Heart of Worship. The pantry reaches a several county area and is open every second Saturday of the month from 9 – 11 a.m. or by appointment. The outreach is under the direction of Rhonda Pool. For more information visit the Heart to Heart Facebook page or call the church at 641-527-2758. Donations can be sent to Lynnville Heart of Worship, 14283 Highway F62 East, Lynnville, IA 50251.
• Back Pack Programs, a food program at Montezuma, BGM and Grinnell schools. For more information, contact the school in your district.
• Dollar General, Montezuma - Locally sponsored toy and sock drive for the Montezuma Ministerial Association Clothes Closet.
• Montezuma Clothes Closet – an outreach sponsored by the Montezuma Ministerial Association and supported through community donations of goods and monetary gifts.. The Clothes Closet, 109 S. 4th St., Unit C, provides free clothing, toys and household goods. The Clothes Closet is open on Tuesday from 12 – 5 p.m. and Thursdays from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. For information, contact Wilson at 641-623-3275.
• Salvation Army Poweshiek County Service Extension #261, an outreach that provides funding for schools and families through the Red Kettle Drive. For every dollar donated, 90 cents stays in Poweshiek County. Donations can be sent to the Salvation Army, c/o First Presbyterian Evangelical Church, P.O. Box 189, Montezuma, IA 50171. All donations are tax deductible.
• Toys for Tots, a Marine program that distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. To learn more, visit www.toysfortots.org
   In wrapping up this week’s column, I learned of a displaced family with children who needs an affordable place to live. They are not the only family homeless at this time of the year. I encourage people to look beyond their own trials and struggles: it’s better to give than to receive. For more information on how to make a donation to help a displaced family, contact Wilson at 641-623-3275.
   Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

   I nestled in my red Lazy Boy chair for my afternoon nap the other day. I just got settled in when my email on my cell phone went off like a machine gun in a war zone. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…it rang out like a Christmas Carol.
   I checked and what do you know? It was Christmas ads central. Not just a few, several hundred of them.
Overstock, Lowes, Menards, Wayfair, Sears, Tractor Supply, Hy-Vee, Sam’s Club and more.
   Every time I look at something on Facebook, eBay or check the price on Amazon, I have to give my email out or somehow it magically appears on the email list and my inbox.
   That happened the other day. I was looking at a product on Wayfair and I had to give my email to find the price. Many business ask for your email. They all promise to not sell your information, but somehow one email leads to 10 more emails.
   Just a few days earlier, I opened my email account and I had 400 Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
I spent the next 30 minutes, as if I has nothing else to do in life, deleting 385 emails. Most were Christmas related, but others were just junk. An hour later, I had 25 new advertisements fill my inbox. They all went in the trash, too!
  I remember the first time I got an email account in the early 90s. I was a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced cheese.
   I checked my account often, thinking someone may write. Of course, no one knew I had email, so no one wrote me.
   That isn’t the case these days.
   Nowadays, people communicate with email, businesses make deals on emails, students do assignments on email and other outlets such as Goggle Docs.
   Even on my day job, I use email to communicate. I use computers to fill orders, move supplies and work on the company newsletter.
    It’s all kind of crazy.
  I can remember when we didn’t have email or texting, when people actually talked in person or on the telephone to visit or get information. And a person used a dictionary, not Alexa to spell a word or look up information. I had to use Alexa to spell Alexa. I can also remember dial telephones, driving a car without seatbelts and riding my bicycle without a helmet.
    I love Christmastime and have many fond memories of waking up on Christmas morning to see what Santa left under the tree.
    I remember one year I got so excited about Santa and Christmas that I went to bed at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, thinking the magical day would arrive a little quicker.
   Later that evening a knock on my bedroom window aroused me from my slumber. I pulled back the window blind and there was Santa with his bright smiling face checking on me. I got so excited I was about to run into the living room to see what he left me. It was only 8 p.m., a little early for Santa to visit. He must have made a special trip to say hello!
   I still have my Allstate train from Sears and Roebuck that I got when I was 7 years old. It’s a little rough around the edges these days. All it needs is a new transformer and it will be good to go. At 61, I’m a little rough around the edges and sometimes I need a little transformation to get going, too.
    I can remember my brother, Tom, and I always left cookies and milk for Santa and on Christmas mornings all that was remained was a saucer and empty glass.
     I can’t forget about decorating the Christmas tree. My family never decorated for Christmas until Dec. 15.
I still have the manger set with Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the animals and the Wisemen. My mom bought it at TG&Y Five and Dime store in Tulsa. The manger is in poor shape and I hope someday to have a replica built.
    And I can’t forget about the many Jackson and Horton family gatherings on my mom’s side of the family and with my great grandmother Minnie and other family on my dad’s side. Such wonderful memories.
   COVID has brought a lot of unwanted changes in this world. But there is one thing it can’t steal, your memories. Hang on tightly, keep walking, keep praying and keep believing. Good days are on the way. Merry Christmas to all!
     Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

   Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect on our many blessings.
   I can say with confidence that my life has been filled with many blessings. I have never done without. I have always had a roof over my head, food on the table, a comfortable place to rest, clothing on my back (and front) and friends and family who love me.
     Even in lean times when there wasn’t a lot of money, God has always provided a way. 
    And a recent blessing that I wish to share is my weight loss journey. I have been overweight most of my life. My mom said I began blossoming around age 7. When I was a little fellow, she couldn’t get me to eat a stack of pancakes, let alone spinach. Someone must have turned on an eating switch.
      I have lost and gained weight through the 50 plus years since I was a youngster.
     I lost 100 pounds in 1983 after winning a bet with a co-worker at the Tulsa newspapers I worked for at the time. Our bet was for $50 to the best man who could lose the most weight in two months. I got into running and lost 39 pounds to my co-workers 26 pounds.
     Instead of the $50, my co-worker and long-time friend, gave me his old camera, a Konica FP-1. That camera opened the door for me to return to school and eventually go on to earn my college degree. From there I landed in Iowa.
    Back in my running days, I ran a few 5k races (3.1 miles). I remember one in particular where I was running at the back of the pack and two race walkers walked right past me. I didn’t quit and ended up finishing with an average mile of 9 plus minutes.
    They were faster at walking than I was running, but I was the real winner in the race.
    In 2013, I topped the scales at 352 pounds. 
    I’m happy to report that on Nov. 18, I visited my doctor in Montezuma and I have lost 54.5 pounds.
I dropped below 300 pounds for the first time in more years than I can remember.
   Some years ago, I purchased a tie dye shirt at the Iowa State Fair. I tried it on and it seemed to fit me OK. I got home and put it on and thought it was tighter than I was comfortable with, so I put it in the dresser drawer. I set a goal at the time that when I went below 300, I would wear it. I tried it on the other night and it fit like a glove.
    I credit my weight loss to not giving up, but also to my desire to keep moving. I walk a lot, mostly on my day job, often topping 40,000 plus steps a week.
   My goal is 5,000 steps a day. I sometimes don’t make it and other times I exceed it with 8,000 to 10,000 steps in a day. It all depends on what I am doing that day.
    I started walking in the Spring of 2015 and many days have walked up and down my driveway and on the gravel road in front of my home.
   It was a long time before I started seeing any results. It wasn’t that many years ago when I had to stop and catch my breath to walk up my driveway, which has a slight incline, to go get the mail. Now, I can walk up and down 10 or 15 times and I feel better with each lap.
   At the same time, I went cold turkey on Pepsi. I only drink unsweet tea, water and milk on occasion.
  I also have made some changes in my diet by eating more baked and grilled foods along with steamed vegetables, boiled eggs and salad. 
   I still like digging into the chip bag on occasion, but I have worked to change in that area by eating yogurt, fresh fruit, granola bars and other healthy alternatives.
   Eating breakfast is also a good idea. Mine consists of sausage patties cooked in the microwave and oatmeal.   I sometimes eat a piece of buttered toast.
    I do enjoy a pizza and Debbie and I have one on Fridays. We call it Friday Night Pizza Night.
    There are more pounds to go and more walking to be done, but I’m moving forward.
   The key to life, at least in my thoughts, is more than eating right, it’s having a good attitude in all you do. Life is not just results, it’s about not giving up even on the those days you miss the mark.
    No matter what you want to do or achieve, you can do it, I believe in you!
    Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

​There’s not a better job in the world than being a community journalist.
            Throughout my long career, I8 years as both an editor and managing editor and last two plus as a freelancer, I have had the opportunity to cover all sorts of topics from agriculture to high school sports.
I’ve ridden in rusted-out pickup trucks with famers to feed their cattle and check their crops and I once drove a combine while doing a feature story. I remember once climbing a grain bin to get a better view, only to discover that climbing down with a camera hanging off my neck was much harder than going up.
            I’ve drove through corn fields, followed pheasant hunters on a cold January morning and I will never forget the time I got pooped on at a dairy farm. I got it good, too!
            Another time, during an ice storm, I drove five miles on a sheet of ice to cover an overturned semi carrying hogs to market. The little squealers where roaming all over the road.
            I’ve ridden in school buses and sat in locker rooms during halftime of a game and listened as the coaches pumped up the players. I’ve stopped to interview someone and they invited to the table for supper.
            I remember going to a football game once in Russell and had the opportunity to write a column about a girl who played football. She was one tough cookie as was her parents. Her dad laid carpet and her mom drove a semi.
            A reader once grew me a batch of okra in her garden and brought me a bag full. There was so much that I gave some of it away to the local grocery store owner and the rest I cooked and ate. Okra is a southern delight.
            I once had a fellow tell me he enjoyed reading the paper so much, that he took it to the toilet with him. No award on my wall can stand up to a man reading a story I wrote while taking care of his business.
            I’ve stayed up all night at the after prom parties and ate lunch with the kids at the school cafeteria. I’ve covered hundreds of community events, parades and county fairs in two different counties. I’ve photographed hogs at the county fair for 24 years. I never miss an opportunity to cover the swine show at the county fair. It is one of my favorite things to do at the county fair.
            I’ve traveled to Washington, D.C. with a HLV one year and I’ve attended performances at Hancher Auditorium, thanks to the late Orville Bloethe.
            I’ve covered FFA, once traveling to Louisville, Ky., to cover the National FFA Convention. And I’ve done hundreds of stories on 4-H youth and that great organization. And I can’t forget about Farm Bureau and the many stories I’ve written about that grassroots organization.
            I’ve interviewed political and gubernatorial candidates, once even interviewing presidential candidate Fred Thompson.
I’ve covered stories at the Iowa State Capitol and remember the time I was walking down the Capitol corridor with then Representative Danny Carroll.
            “Hello, J.O,” one person said as we walked by. Then another said hello and I stepped into the prayer chamber and some else I knew greeted me.
            Representative Carroll asked, “how many people do you know?”
            “A bunch,” I replied.
I’ve mentioned a long list of accomplishments, but the best part has been the people in the communities I have served. They’re the ones who are making a difference. I just get to tell their story.
            The American “can do” spirit is alive. Don’t let COVID, the election and threats of this and that crush your will to be difference makers.
            We all have something to offer from the custodian to the teacher, CEO, factory worker, cook, writer, banker, community business owner, political candidate, barber and historical timekeeper. We all play important role, not only in our communities, but in the world.
            Don’t give up! Take time this Thanksgiving to be thankful for opportunity. A door is waiting for you to open and go in.
            Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

   I’ve heard of Yule logs, but never tied it a Yule log cake. In fact, I never realized that it was a food item. I thought it was a common phrase in a Christmas song with some deep meaning and tradition that was beyond my years.
   Well, it does have a deep tradition that dates back to the old Winter Solstice festivals in northern Europe.
Debbie and I were watching a Hallmark movie, “Coming Home for Christmas,” starring Danica McKellar, when the term Yule Log was used.
   Being the curious type, Debbie looked into the meaning of the Yule Log and I followed suit. According to History.com, people would feast to celebrate the days finally becoming longer. To cleanse the air of the previous year’s events and to usher in the spring, families would burn logs decorated with holly, pinecones or ivy. Wine and salt were also often used to anoint the logs. 
   From log burning, the tradition somehow evolved into a cake that is decorated like a log. It reminds me of a Little Debbie Swiss Roll. A Swiss Roll sounds quite good right now. In fact, anything with chocolate and cream filling sounds good!
   Growing up, I don’t recall my mom making a Yule log cake, but she knew how to bake a apple pie. She used an apple peeler and fresh apples. Her homemade crust recipe from the well-worn Betty Crocker cookbook that was tucked away in the top kitchen drawer right next to the paint stir stick she used for a paddle, was to die for. 
   She made other tasty pies such as pecan, peach and cherry. None of the store-bought varieties, all of her pies were made from scratch.
   And I can’t forget about her homemade biscuits. She’d make her dough, roll it out on the kitchen counter and use her well-worn biscuit cutter. They were so good fresh out of the oven with splotch of butter. Mom would also make homemade bread. She’d put the pans of bread in the bedroom window so the yeast would rise. 
   I can’t forget about Mom’s Broken Glass Cake with various flavors of Jell-O diced into cubes, graham cracker crumbs, heavy cream and enough white sugar to send one’s blood sugar to the moon and back. I found a recipe that referred to it as a Stained-Glass Cake.
  In addition to the sweets, my mom cooked a Butterball for Thanksgiving and typically a  ham for Christmas. I never cared for her dressing, but the candied yams, green beans and mushroom and of course, fresh mashed potatoes, filled my plate.
   I remember once stopping to visit with the folks and my mom started cooking supper. I noticed a box of instant mashed potatoes. I put a halt to that and drove a few miles to the grocery store to pick up a sack of potatoes. 
   After unwrapping our gifts, it was off to see my grandparents on my mom’s side near Coweta, Okla. My grandmother raised seven kids and spent much of her life in the kitchen. For years, she worked as a school and nursing home cook. And in later years, my grandparents worked on the river boats that traveled the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee rivers where my grandmother cooked for the crew.
   Some years we visited my great-grandmother on my dad’s side. My dad’s mom on that side of the family died when she was young, so my great-grandmother was my close connection.
   She wasn’t quite the cook as my mom’s mom, but there were always plenty of biscuits (the canned variety) to eat. One year I remember spending Christmas Eve at her home in Bartlesville, Okla., home of Phillips 66 Oil Company. She had my mom take her to the mall where she bought a Christmas tree, carried it in the house and set it up. The next morning, we all opened gifts and within minutes, the Christmas tree came down and was outside in the backyard. I received a Timex watch that year and I still have it and it still works.
   Traditions are good and should be kept, but making new traditions is good as well. I might have to make a Yule log cake this year. Or, a box of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls might have to do.
   Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

    Escape Rooms seem to be a “hot” item on the fun things to do list for couples, families and group gatherings these days.
     My first experience in an escape room was in early 2019 at a company outing in Des Moines. We also threw axes and think I hit the wood twice.
        There is an art to mastering axe throwing.
        Anyway, my family and I signed up in early October to participate in a Halloween Escape room on the Old Threshers Grounds in Mount Pleasant.
       Due to COVID, Old Threshers canceled its annual Midwest Haunted Rails and Thrashers House of Terror, replacing it with escape rooms. What a great idea.
       Our four options where “Trapped in the 80s,” “Evil in the Big Top,” “Infection” and “Zombie Uprising.” We chose the latter.
        Arriving just before our 1 p.m. start time, my family was divided into a group of three and a group of four and sent to separate rooms. Each group had to share clues using Morse Code between the two rooms. It didn’t work, so we hollered at each other through the paper-thin walls. My nephews seemed to know more about it than I did, so I just hung out and watched and pretended I was trying to figure it all out.
        Maybe writing a college term paper might have been easier.
        After getting it figured out, we all ended up in a second room divided by a metal fence with two locks and chains. There was the heartbeat code to follow, sort of like the Morse Code, and a handful of fake clues to throw us off the trail.
         It took a solid 20-25 minutes in that room, which ate up most of the hour we had to finish the course.
       With a little help, we got in the final room with five minutes left and watched as the time ticked off the clock. We, I mean our nephews, got it figured out and the final door opened as we stood there looking through a  locked fence. We kept going back, thinking we missed one more clue. We were right there. We discovered afterwards that the gate was chained, but the other side wasn’t locked. We just needed to push.
        Afterward, we enjoyed a meal together and time of fellowship.
        Family time is important and right now with COVID and the election mess, being with family and enjoying life is important.
        It is easy to find the negative and look for what it wrong, but being with family is never wrong.
       With Thanksgiving just around the corner, there is so much to be thankful for. I have such fond memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family. This year, even with all of its setbacks, it is a good year to look for the positive.
        The gate may seemed locked, but it is wide open and opportunity hasn’t taken a backseat to anything or anyone.
        I challenge you this year to find something to be thankful for and escape from the garbage and evil in the world. Write it down. I also challenge you to do something good for someone else.
      Volunteering at the local pantry, buying someone a gift card or a sack of groceries, helping clean out a neighbor’s yard or garage are great ideas to help others. Take part in an angel tree or a Christmas Share program and buy gifts for a family who has little to nothing this holiday season.
         Debbie and I have done that in the past and it is fun to help others.
         Let’s end this year on a positive note doing good for others!
         Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

   My Uncle Leon, a younger brother to my mom, lived north of Tulsa in Collinsville.
   A Veteran, he had a nice place with a pool table and big garage. There were intercoms in each room and a fireplace. I always enjoyed staying the night on occasion.
   Any time I stayed, he always kept track of the food I ate and Pepsi Colas I drank and listed a monetary value to the items. A bottle of Pepsi might be 50 cents and a side of green beans might be 25 cents.
   I was in elementary school at the time  and I don’t recall paying him back. Out back of his house was a large chicken house for lying hens.
    My cousin Eddie and I went out there to gather eggs one Saturday morning. Leon, who was in a wheelchair, was there with us. Eddie was having a hard time gathering eggs and Uncle Leon was getting after his son. So, I volunteered to stick my hand under a hen and gather the fresh eggs.
     The old hen pecked me and I jumped back as Uncle Leon laughed.
     I don’t remember what happened next, only that the effort might have been worth a reduction in my food bill.
    Anyway, when my parents moved to their farm south of Tulsa near Bixby, Okla., in the early 1980s, they wasted no time in adding a farm lot of critters.
     My mom bought a used mobile home from her nephew in southeast Missouri and had it brought to Tulsa sight unseen.
      I had worked for my Uncle J.W., another of my mom’s brothers, setting up mobile homes back in the day. So, my mom and I decided to block the mobile home ourselves.
      My Uncle J.W. was quite good at setting up mobile homes. He could level a mobile home with one tier of concrete blocks. The rest of the block tiers were added to stabilize the home.
     Somehow by God’s mercy, we got the mobile home level and set up. My mom planned to build a chicken house and ended up putting the cart before the chicken.
     She bought a bevy of baby chicks and with no chicken house. So, she built a wire mesh in the mobile home bathroom and put the baby chicks in there.
      Both my parents grew up in the sticks, so they compromised and did what they had to do to get by. I don’t remember thinking much about it back then.
        We built a chicken house and I helped put a roof on it. It was little crooked, but it worked for many years. And after they got rid of the chickens, the house became a storage shed.
      My mom raised fresh eggs and used them in the many cakes she baked for her customers. She made beautiful cakes for years, including birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, etc. She had a bevy a Wilton character cake pans. My favorite was the guitar pan.
        The mobile home had a gas stove, so Mom would lay the eggshells on the stove and turn on the burner. After browning the eggshells, she would feed them back to the chickens.
      The browning of the eggshell kept the laying hens from eating their own chickens. It is one of those scientific things I can’t explain.
         A few years ago, some of my family and I went to a George Strait concert in Des Moines. After the show, we decided to stop at McDonalds for some cold refreshments.
         We were all relaxed and talking about the show as we waited in a line of cars. Somehow we got to talking about chickens.
        When all of sudden I said, “My mom kept chickens in the bathroom.”
        That set everyone in uproar as it was totally unexpected and a wonderful memory.
When it comes to eggs, I can’t stand a burnt egg. My mom could fry a smooth over easy egg with no burnt edges. She always told me that folks have the griddle too hot.
        I can’t fry an egg to save myself. So, I scramble them and that is just fine.
Some folks like a burnt egg. I’m not one of them. I can’t stand an egg McMuffin from McDonalds. I could use the egg to scrape paint of the side of my house.
        I think I’m going to fix a scrambled egg sandwich with mayo and cheese.
        Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

​   Next week, we the people of the United States of America, will have the opportunity to cast our ballot for the President of the United States and various other state and national offices.
    What a privilege and honor.
    There is no other country in the world that gives us this right.
    I am so thankful for the forward-thinking vision of our Founding Fathers and the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
   I’m not going to try to persuade you to cast a vote for one candidate or party over the other. That is personal choice and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
     However, I will say that I am not in favor of early voting or even voting by mail. I think it opens the door for fraud and no telling what else. We’ve all heard and read stories of missing ballots and the such.
      I would like to get back to the day when we voted on voting day. Maybe make it a holiday.
    I remember as a kid growing up in Tulsa going to the polls with my parents. They voted at the Safeway Television Repair shop at the corner of 15th and Florence, one block from my boyhood home. Voting was from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
      My folks would carry me to the voting location and I had the opportunity to play with a toy voting machine while they cast their ballots. I remember the old voting machines with levers and the curtain that you pulled around you. 
       My mom leaned more Republican while my dad leaned more Democrat. I remember my folks getting into a few fusses and disagreements through the years, but never about voting.
       They voted and neither of them talked about it before or afterwards.
    It’s not that way these days, at least for some. With social media, we are bombarded with ads, news, opinions 24-7. People get upset, pass the blame, point the finger, get crazy and they write about it on Twitter, Facebook and every other social media platform.
     A couple weeks ago, I asked Debbie to remove Twitter from my cell phone for me. I get up at 5:15 a.m., thanks to Debbie, to shower and get ready for work. I always pick up my phone and when I had Twitter, my message inbox was filled with a dozen political tweets.
     I want to hear something good to start my day, like how much God loves me or how I can do somethin good for another person, not all the rubbish.
     I still have a Twitter account, but I don’t use it much. I may have made a half dozen tweets through the years. I’m kind of old school, I only have a couple dozen followers. If I want to tell them something, I’ll send them an email, message them on Facebook or call.
     I do enjoy Facebook and like to post a funny every day. I enjoy posting my accomplishments, family photos and positive sayings. I stay away from politics. With nearly 2,000 friends, I have quite a network. And the funny thing is, I really do know them.
     That reminds me of some years ago when I was doing a photo story on Danny Carroll of Grinnell at the Iowa State Capitol when he served Poweshiek County as a state representative. I arrived at the Capitol around 7 a.m. I followed Danny around for a while and met one person I knew and then another. After a bit, Danny turned to me and said, “How many people do you know?”
     A bunch and I’m thankful for each and every one of you!
     Don’t forget to vote next Tuesday. 
     Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.