The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Greetings to ever one in western Illinois. Can ya call this, "Indian Summer" we has been a have'n through out this past week? I'm shore a think'n so.
Field crops is a come'n out in an orderly and rapid fashion with all this good weather. I have a friend in Kansas and he tells me dry weather has caused them folk some mighty poor yields. Additionally as a result of the drought there, the corns test weight is only 53 lbs. per bushel. It normally is 56 lbs. and frequently more. The result is dockage of 35¢ to 40¢ per bushel for light test weight. With the corn market decrease'n dramatically the dockage only adds to their problems.
On top of all that, much of the corn has drought related Aflotoxin which causes additional dockage and/or rejected loads. We have much to be thankful for, as a whole, in western Illinois this harvest season. Most folk have been surprised with their better than expected yields.
Which reminds me there are two days in every week about which we should not worry....two days should be kept free from fear and worry.
One of those days is yesterday, with it's mistakes and cares, it's faults and blunders, it's aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world can't bring back yesterday, we can't undo a single act performed, we can't erase a single word said. Yesterday is gone!
The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with it's possible adversities, it's burdens, it's large promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise, whether in splendor or behind a mask of clouds. But it will rise. Until it does we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.
This leaves only one day....today. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is when you and I add the burdens of two awful eternities-yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down.
It isn't necessarily the experiences of today that disturb our peace of mind. It is oft times the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.
We should therefore live one day at a time. Live it as if you might have unend'n youth, no matter your age.
Youth isn't a time of life-it is a state of mind. It isn't a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is a freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a natural predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease. This often exists in a person of fifty more than a young'n of twenty.
Nobody grows old by simply live'n a number of years; folk grow old only by desert'n their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles ones soul. Worry, doubt, self distrust, fear and despair-these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the grow'n spirit back to dust.
Whether a whippersnapper of twenty or an ole timer of eighty, there is in every being's heart the love of wonder; the sweet amazement at the stars and the star-like things and thoughts; the courageous challenge of events; the unfail'n childlike appetite for what's next; and the joy and the game of life.
Most folk are as young as their faith, as old as their doubt; as young as their self-confidence, as old as their fear; as young as their hope, as old as their despair.
In the central place of our hearts there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from earth, from men, and from the infinite-so long are you young.
When the wires are all down and all the central place of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then are you grown old indeed.
I'm a hope'n these thoughts allow you pause for reflection and bring joy this upcome'n week.
Keep on Smile'n
Catch ya Later
Barnyard Bruke