The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Greetings ta ever one in western Illinois and all readers of "The Quill."
I'm a hope'n this weeks column finds ya in good spirits and eager ta do something good for a relative, friend, and/or neighbor.
Rain
This last weeks rain shorted us a bit around my part of the country. We received, from all the rains, about four tenths (.4) of an inch of moisture.Some areas up north reported an inch or more. Non-the-less ever little bit helps and the crops look a site better even with what little rain we received.
Here we are now, officially in summer and it has cooled off a bit. My, but life is "Good!"
The recent land auction is complete, up north in Media Township, Henderson County.
The fellers that were successful in given the top bids are satisfied with the results. Others question the price.
In reality such choices can best be described in Robert Frost's poem entitled "The Road Less Traveled:"
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sign
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
So I reckon those successful bidders, on the 4 tracts of land of the old Pendarvis farm in Henderson County, can certainly be thought of as have'n taken the road less traveled.
Here are some additional thoughts ya might want ta consider in your spare time:
Don't Put Off
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed?
Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched "Jeopardy' on television?
I cannot count the times a friend of mine called his sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?"
She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday.
I had a late breakfast. It looks like rain," and my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. They never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.
We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained.
We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet.
We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older.
The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer.
One morning, we awaken, and all we have got show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday when things are settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my "seize the moment," friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips.
She keeps an open mind on new ideas.
Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you are ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process.
The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now..go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to..not something on your SHOULD DO list.
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?
And why are waiting?
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running though your head?
Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die?
Just call to say "Hi"?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like a unopened gift:.thrown away..life is not a race.
Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
Show your friends how much you care.
Share this with everyone you consider a FRIEND. If'n it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.
To those I've shared this with..we at "The Quill" cherish ya friendship and appreciate all ya do. We have some good history together.
Life may not be what we've hoped for..but whilest we're here we might as well enjoy it.
Enjoy your week, visit a friend, and if'n ya get some a hard rain look for the rainbow.
Hope'n ta see ya in church.
Remember; wherever ya are, whatever ya be a do'n "BE A GOOD ONE!"
Keep on Smile'n
Catch ya later
Barnyard Bruke