Yello!

“The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter.”
Eisenhower, Dwight D. 34th president of the United States (1890-1969)

The first ever Democratic caucus was held yesterday. As a result of an e-mail I sent a few weeks ago inquiring where our county caucus would be held, I found myself helping to organize and host it at our local library meeting room. Like most other caucus sites around the state, we were pleasantly surprised by an overflow crowd of citizens who turned out to discuss the issues facing our nation and make their presidential preference known. It was encouraging to hear the genuine concern and heartfelt passion of those who attended. And it was refreshing to see so many local Democrats turn out considering the Republican to Democratic ratio in our state.

My interest in becoming more involved in politics has to be due, in part, to my experiences as a child who often tagged along with mom to political events across the state and nation. My mom first became active on the state level when a high school classmate ran for and won a seat in the legislature. After that, she spent the next twenty years fundraising on the local level, serving on the State Republican Central Committee, attending dinners for candidates, and volunteering to work on various campaigns.  I accompanied her on nearly all of those adventures. Probably the two most memorable were the National Republican Women’s Convention in Washington, DC where I met presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and the Nebraska Republican Party Family Camp one summer at Fort Robinson.

As an adult, I came to realize my viewpoints were more in line with the party on the opposite side of the aisle from the one I had grown up with. But I’m sure the example my parents gave me in being involved in the political process has shaped my interest in politics and issues.

If any of you are still undecided about who you will support in the race to lead our country, there are a couple of good web sites that can give you an unbiased idea of which of the candidates from both parties are most closely aligned with your own view of the issues. You can answer a few questions at http://votechooser.com/ or http://cbs2.com/yourcandidate and receive a ranking of how your opinions match up with the candidates views.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, one thing is certain… Jan. 20, 2009 will be a turning point for the future of our country when a new person steps into the role of the all-important, top “decider” person in residence at the White House! 🙂

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~Anne Bradstreet

January has come and gone and , hopefully, the bitter cold weather is gone for awhile too. We’ve had snow on the ground for several weeks, so we’re ready for a bit of a spring thaw now. Winter on the farm means extra effort goes into caring for the animals who are, by necessity, out in the cold during snowstorms and bitterly cold nights. Last week Francis went out early one morning to find a newborn baby calf that was nearly frozen by the cold wind and snow. So he carried the 90+ pound calf into our house and warmed it up in our downstairs bathtub! After a soak in the warm water, the new baby calf lounged for a few more hours snuggled in towels on the bathroom floor gathering strength before it needed to be returned to an anxious mama out in the barnyard. The problem was that the bath that saved it’s life also washed off the scent that the cow would have recognized and it took a day or two to convince her that the calf indeed was her own. Francis has been around cattle his whole life and is pretty good at knowing how to handle such delicate situations. Fortunately, mother and her baby are doing well and the calf is relatively unscathed by it’s ordeal with the exception of the frozen tips of his ears.
Here’s a couple of photos Francis took yesterday of some big snowflakes and the cows. Luckily the snow didn’t fall very long and the day warmed up a bit so we didn’t have too much accumulation.