The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Greetings to ever one in Western Illinois and all readers of The Quill.
Here we are in the month of September already, Labor Day weekend has come and gone and farmers that gather here and there are talk'n of harvest.
Harvest A Come'n
Some sez it'll be at least three weeks off, others talk of some farmer up around Oneida, Illinois who has already started corn harvest.
What ever may be the situation, it will probably come one week earlier than most are prepared for. There is a lot needs to be done, in gett'n ready fer harvest. A lot more than most city folk realize.
Rain
The Farm Progress Show shore turned out ta be a disappointment fer those who planned to attend the third day of the show.
Heavy rains and lightning caused the organizers ta cancel all events the third day, and shut it down completely. Those who had traveled great distances from Illinois, Indiana, and other far off distant places simply had ta turn around and go back home.
Rain also fell on local events over Labor Day weekend, along with high winds and lightning. As far as I know, the events continued as scheduled.
Shore was fun take'n in the threshers shows, scattered here and there. They had some nice entertainment as well.
Weather
I overheard on the 5:30 a.m. radio talk show, RFD ILLINOIS, that the record books are closed out fer August 2014. Turns out we had warm weather as a catch up fer the crops, as if we needed some one on the radio ta tell us that.
That is, of course, if'n you worked outdoors this past August, ya knew we had some warm steamy days. Those of youn's that hid in an air conditioned environment might of found the warm weather news as a surprise, but now it has been reported fer ya ta know what ya missed out on.
Bragg'in Rights
The same radio program reported harvest progress'n in Louisiana with bean yields at 75 bpa ta 80 bpa. They went on ta quote a gambler on the board of trade who predicted those yields and better, fer us folk up north. My guess is he is short on the market and try'n ta beat it down so he can make up his losses.
No, ya sez ya didn't think about things like that go'n on at the expense of the innocent?! Well, in that case I know where there's some stock fer sale in the Brooklyn Bridge, whilst ya is still gullible.
Blythe 150th
Anyways, on another subject the 150th settlement celebration, put on by Gary and Cheryl Blythe, shore was a good event and the weather cooperated allow'n them ta have it the 29th of August, the exact day it was purchased, way back then. Congratulations from the boys and I go the entire Blythe family.
UP
How about this fer a phenomenal two letter word. I hope ya enjoys it.
This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is UP. It is listed in the dictionary as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election (if there is a tie, it is a toss UP) and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car.
At other times, this little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is blocked UP.
We open UP a store in the morning, but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with (UP) to a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it soaks UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now. My time is UP!
There ya has it then, I hope this helps cheer ya up. With that I'll finish UP this week's column.
Hope'n ta see ya in church this week. Where ever ya is, what ever ya be a do'n "BE A GOOD ONE!"
Keep on Smile'n
Catch ya later
BARNYARD BRUKE