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 looks as though the warmer weather of last week is giving way to that cold damp weather that makes my joints ache at night, so let’s sit under a blanket where it’s warm and run through some random thoughts.

1. You know that cold weather will soon be coming when basketball season starts.
2. I have it on good authority that 104.1 has already started playing Christmas music. Christmas music..already? It’s not even Thanksgiving yet.
3. Thanksgiving. MMMM…. That very thought is making me hungry.
4. How will the economy affect you this year in regards to Christmas. I wonder if for many of us, it will be the year that we finally do something about actually celebrating the season the way we should. So often we get wrapped up in the giving that we forget what’s really important.
5. It’s kind of sad the first time you notice that all the leaves are gone.
6. Was visiting with a couple of Earlham residents over the weekend concerning the vote results for a new fire station. It’s always a delicate balance between the wants and needs of the city vs. the taxpayers. We all want services, but we also want them as cost effectively as possible. I don’t know that there is a right and wrong side in this debate. While it may look like there isn’t a need for a new fire station, I can also see the flip side of the coin. Economy rough, people unsure, but if you are going to spend the money to build, build for what you need 10 years down the road rather than what will do the trick right now. I’m not saying that one needs to build something that is way beyond the needs of the department, but I firmly believe that Earlham will continue to grow and maybe what the department was asking for fits into their long term plan. Perhaps there is more to this picture that both sides aren’t seeing?
7. Has anyone else noticed all the kamikaze deer lately? Holy buckets, one can barely drive down the interstate without running through the remains of two or three on the way to Des Moines.
8. Harvest has finally gotten to move along. I was beginning to wonder if there would be standing corn come spring, but in my drives around the countryside I think the farmers have taken the opportunity to get in the fields and get as much done as possible.
9. Speaking of farming. The new historical marker for the National Plowing Match site north of Dexter is coming along nicely. I stopped to read it last night, but that cold north breeze made me run back to the warmth of the truck.
10. Are you supporting your local paper? Remember like all businesses if you don’t support it, they won’t be around.
11. Finally this week. As we get closer to the holiday season, we should take a minute to remember the service men and women who are far from home. Max has a new Marine pen pal in Afghanistan and it has been interesting, even if it’s hard to get Max excited about writing back to him sometimes. We are planning on sending a care package overseas for Christmas. There are a lot of our boys, and girls over there right now, and not all of them get mail, or have people to write to. There are a number of places on the internet where you can adopt someone, and I would urge you to take time to do that if for nothing else, but to send a message that we appreciate them, we understand the sacrifices they and their families are making this season and that we haven’t forgotten hem.

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