Thursday, October 28, 2010

Be sure and Vote it is your duty Citizens (267)


Just a reminder here that next tuesday is our day as voters in this nation. It is the day we can actually take part in doing something about our government. We have the power to elect who will represent us at local, State and National levels of our government. We can make it what we want it to be, but we must do our duty as citizens of this land and make sure we make our votes count.

LET US HAVE FAITH THAT RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, AND IN THAT FAITH, LET US, TO THE END, DARE TO DO OUR DUTY AS WE UNDERSTAND IT.

These words were from the speech in New York that propelled Abe Lincoln into the Presidency in 1860. That was 150 years ago but his words are good for us today also.
Our country was not built on handout programs, our country was built on hard work and a will to be free and out from under the heavy hand of too much government. We must remain vigilant and true to that cause of staying free and not allowing government to spend us into debt that we will not be able to emerge from. We are close to that I fear, and so I for one will watch what our elected officials do after they get into office. If they vote for things that we as a nation can not afford, I will work hard to vote them out....Right now we have a lot of them that need to go as comprehensive government of everything for everybody is about all they know. We need representation that gets us back to basics of smaller government, that provides for a strong national defense but starts to wean us off of the many programs that we can not afford....I hope you will also vote your wishes for the nation on election day....

But in simpler terms, let me say that free ice cream for everyone as is the goal it seems of our current government, is just not practical. You see to have free ice cream you have to have a cow and to have a cow giving milk you need hay and then you need someone behind the cow cleaning up the mess...you get the drift, freedom is not free and free stuff is never free, it all cost money, big money that we do not have and can no longer afford to borrow....Let us be about getting it right on Nov. 2nd.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Voting early, Another Wedding and The Kentucky Bourbon Trail...(266)


Picture at left is the reception behind the Tutt home, huge tent first class all the way...loved it....











Picture above taken at the rehearsal dinner at the Hunt Club in Lexington. What a great setting an old corn mill probably 200 years old, no doubt used to grind corn for white lighting, now a great spot for special events like this. The wedding of Stuart Mercer and Rebecca Tutt seen here. I do love these big weddings in Lexington.. Lots of fun.....

Me and sweet pea voted early today at the Pay Less Grocery Store. It was fun to get it done and get it over with...Knowing our conservative votes are in the hopper waiting to be counted is a good feeling. Ronald Reagan would be proud, well I think he would, but I did vote for one democrat. Our county assessor had been doing a pretty good job of late and just to keep them honest at the court house I voted to keep her in office. But, now I have to wait till Nov. 2nd and the rest of you to cast your votes before I can pop a big batch of corn and relax in my easy chair and watch the returns come in...I saw a good sign today though. The line was long to vote and they were all older generation people. This could bode well for the conservatives I am guessing. Young people bought into the all the wonderful free shit that Obama was promising last time. I think they helped the Democrats put their miracle worker into office. Now that we all realize the free shit is none existant and we actually have to pay for all that non-sense the dreamer promised, maybe they will all just stay home. I hope so, there has never been a free lunch and never will, but people do swallow hallow promises hook line and sinker as we saw in 08....Let us hope we have learned a lesson that reason has to be assessed with golden promises. That golden miracles, promises of wonderment, are just that, pure bullshit to get one elected...every good politician knows that you can fool a lot of the people some of the time...Lincoln said that once remember, you can fool some of the people some of the time but you can not fool all of the people all of the time, something like that, but anyway you get the drift...some people can be fooled, now and then...

Attended another great Lexington Ky. wedding...sure was fun, Lexington is a great town, no doubt the most upscale of all cities in Kentucky for sure....And then Yesterday we visited the Woodford Distillery and seen how they make that great Kentucky Bourbon whiskey...Clicking on the title above will take you to their website and get you a look at the old limestone building...The operation was started in 1812 by a guy named Pepper....forgot his first name so we will just call him Mr. Pepper...anyway interesting process of taking fermented corn and putting it into charcoaled white oak barrels for 7 to 9 years and out comes Kentucky Bourbon....Loved the taste of the stuff, even bought a 1 liter bottle and someday will become a maker of Manhattans....Hey maybe that is part of that new idea at Purdue...you know the "makers all thing"...Yeal I can be a Makers All of Manhattans....gee and I was just starting to finally feel a little bit like a boilermaker....now I am a Makers All.....wow, that is just so funny and maybe a whole lot lame....see ya later....

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I will be voting again on Nov 2nd (265)

I have never understood people who sometimes do not exercise their right to vote. To me it is a civic duty that we support our governing system by making good choices in those that serve us in public office. I guess I will always think that way, that to do otherwise is showing disrespect for the nation in which we live. I felt that way about military service when I was young also, it just seemed like I owed that to the great nation I was fortunate enough to be born into. I guess I still feel that way, but especially so for voting in every election, primary's and general elections. They are all equally important to the health of our nation.

And I fully understand that one voter staying home refusing to vote probably changes nothing. Their voting that day will not get someone elected that would not have been nor would it not elect someone that could have been elected. That is fully understood but to me it does not lessen the obligation to vote for who you think is the best possible candidate that will improve the government that we all live under. Just as a worker staying home from work does not change to production of our nation very much if any. But what if 100 workers stay home or 1000 workers stay home and not go to work. Then corporately things do start to change. And voting I believe works the same way, if a million people or even 100,000 people say my vote will not change anything, they are wrong, their lack of votes corporately do change things and the will of the people is not carried out. I really believe this and I guess is the reason I have never missed a vote in my life since becoming old enough to vote.

And even though I realize my single vote changes really nothing, I enthusiastically embrace the opportunity each time it presents itself. I feel good having made my choices and supported people who I feel are the best choices to serve us all.

I will try and chose candidates who will be somewhat conservative on spending of the peoples tax money. I like candidates who look at the governments business as they would their own business they could run or would run if they had a business.

I hope congress does come under a major change and I hope if this happens that they will be true to the task and turn government to be responsible. If it happens I will feel good about where we are headed. If it does not I will look to the next election for it to happen. Somehow soon it has to happen as we are headed for a cliff. How high the cliff or how far we could fall, I don't even like to think about nor do I know. I hope all of you are equally concerned and equally excited about doing your duty as citizen of this nation that was great and could be again.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Medical Alert and my new cell phone (264)


This breaking news of this new, but finally identified decease comes just in the nick of time and I felt it my duty to get the info out there...You may be afflicted and don't even know it. So read it and follow instructions and we will do our best to bring you back and stamp out this terrible infliction...Early voting has started so you can take your first treatment anytime you want now....Click on the annoucement to make it larger to read

And on a lighter note check out my new cell phone to the right here....man I love this thing..no more punching buttons for me...back to dialing and I have a really really loud ringer on it too...almost sounds like a fire drill, but by golly I don't miss any calls...it don't have missed calls and voice mail and all that nonsense on it but who needs it anyway....

On the farming front, everything is pretty well wrapping up around here...a few farmers still have a field or two that needs to be harvested but for the most part its done. My corn planter got new disc openers this week, and is field ready now, awaiting April in Indiana...currently I am repotting "rain lillies". I had 3 pots of them...they bloom you know about 24 to 48 hours before it rains..I do like them and I look at them as a revelations of God's sense of humor...he had to have chuckled when he came up with these things...knowing it would absolutely drive the atheist and evolution folk up the wall trying to explain it...seldom do they miss it...if it don't rain for a month you don't see a bloom...all of sudden one day there they are and you better keep the umbrella handy...anyway I think they may have went 5 years without being seperated and re-potted. I now have about a dozen or so pots of these guys...I will give them to friends next spring after they spring to life.....

If you want to read about Zephyrathes grandiflora (rain Lillies), just click on the title of this post...it will take you there...it will also tell you that they bloom after a rain....oh really, not at this house...Ok, maybe God has a bigger imagination than I thought...maybe he makes them bloom before the rain, for believers and after for non believers...I don't know but I got my guesses....

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Pittsburgh's Rick and Linda (263)


Old friends are the best kind and that is what we have here...Met these folks in Hawaii in 1980 so we have 30 years under our belts....We are still friends and when ever I pass through the Burg of Pitts I try and see what they are up too...On our recent trip to DC for the Marine reunion we had the chance to meet at Cracker Barrel on I 70 near Washington Pennsylvania on our way back to Indiana....close to Pittsburgh a place we usually meet up when we have these opportunities.

My wife Linda and I were on our Honeymoon when we met them. They like us had booked into a two week tour of the islands, but can not remember the name of the tour, its on the tip of my fingers here but not popping up just yet...Carlton maybe that was it, Carlton Tours maybe....anyway both of us were the youngest on the tour...all the rest had white hair like we almost do now, but we were in the younger years and so we kind of gravitated to spending time together on this two week tour of I think four of the islands maybe....

Anyway we stayed in touch and began to visit back and forth when time and circumstance presented itself. I remember once while in Pittsburgh helping Rick who had a repo business at the time repossess two semi tractors....it was somewhat scairy as the drivers had hid them behind a flea bag motel and knowing these guys carry guns sometimes it was a little scairy to be opening these trucks up and getting them while these guys slept in the motel...not something I would want to do on a regular basis...And then on one of their visits to Indiana, I enlisted Rick into the farming trade...Had him working ground for me ahead of my corn planter...lots of dust, you should have seen him...Both Linda's could not believe I got Rick to do this...I can not believe I got Rick to do it either, but he did...I remember I later sent him a "citation", declaring him a "farmer extrodinaire" with a bunch of fancy words to accompany such non sense....sure he kept it for a few hours at least...actually have never seen it hanging in his office so I think it may have not had the affect I had inteneded....
Rick was very good at the repo business...I remember many a time maybe on our way to eat at a restaurant in the evening maybe and Rick would suddenly do a U turn in the street no matter where we were and follow a car he had recognized...a couple times it was a car he wanted and he would follow and find out where it was being "hid" at night... the next night he probably had it...
He had other businesses now and doing well I believe...
Anyway this trip I had the opportunity to introduce them to Susan as you can see in the photo...They liked her and she liked them so we will see if things continue....

OK on another subject, I am looking forward to the elections coming up next month...As Mrs. Palin said in a recent speech, "we can see November from here"....I hope an pray the people of the nation will respond to the dire need we have to get responsible good government...I look forward to voting my choices and then watching with interest that evening to see if we are serious to move our nation into a path of responsibility....Both parties have failed us miserably...now it is a time to shitcan the ones from both parties that have not taken this work seriously...and to instill good Americans who will move us in the right path...I hope we can make a major move in that direction...and away from nutsville we have had the last few years.

Great weather but we need rain....

Monday, October 4, 2010

The Corn Shucking Champion (262)


In 1930 my father Lawrence C. Lahrman at the mature age of 40 won the Tippecanoe County Corn Shucking contest. Done in those days all by hand, not as a sport but a way of life, the way corn was harvested in those days, the old fashioned way one ear at a time, by hand. Well saturday afternoon I relived that era for a short time. I walked along side the wagon pulled by horses at the State Park with the Historical Farm here in Lafayette, and I tossed long large ears of open pollinated corn into the wagon. I kidded the driver of the wagon to let me know if the ears were coming too fast and bouncing from the bang boards and falling into the wagon that I would "slow up". I made sure he knew that the son of the 1930 corn shucking contest was on site tossing this corn, along with a couple high school age girls who by the way were staying right with me. I tell you right now I am no Lawrence Lahrman, when it comes to shucking corn. I break them over my hand which in a days time would probably just about do ones hand "in", for sure. My dad used a metal hook rivited to a piece of leather that straped around the base of his hand. It could rip the shank off the ear of corn and at the same time the shucks that were attached also. He showed me a couple times how to use it but to be honest I really did not want to know how to use it. Mechanical corn pickers had been invented and were become numerous and I knew it was a era, a trade that was to be short lived, so I just know this for sure, it was interesting to watch him use the hook and to see the ease and the confidence he had as he grabbed an ear of corn made one pass across it with the hand with the hook attached and then tossed the ear into the air toward the wagon and immediately grabbing the next ear. Maybe even ripping it with his hook and sending it airborne toward the wagon before the first one had completely hit the bank boards and fallen into the wagon. I got to see all of that and I am glad I did and glad I was asked to help out and to see how talented and hard working a man I had for a father.

It was about 57 years ago that my dad purchased a used one row corn picker. And I was honored and elated to hear him say you know I really don't like running these things would you want to stay home from school and do that for me...like asking a 15 year old if he wanted to skip school for 10 days? Man I jumped at that opportunity for sure. I loved it and did it for about 3 years I think before graduating from school and joining the Marines. But back to hand shucking, before we could start harvesting the corn in a field with that picker we had to shuck 3 rows of corn around the field, and make a few 3 row cuts through the field also. Reason being was that the tractor and picker straddled or knocked down three rows of corn and then picked the 4th row.
So Dad and I would need to shuck out by hand the first three rows...The operation went like this....Dad would take two rows and I would take the third row. His abilities with his hook being what it was and I breaking the corn over my hand to dislocate the ear he would start to pull away from me and I would fall behind. Then I would be surprised when all of a sudden maybe 15 of my stalks had no ears to harvest. Dad had reached over and was harvesting all 3 rows to allow me to "catch up" so I would again be up and abreast of where he was shucking....I would fall behind again and the same would happen. He was totally amazing in his ability to harvest corn by hand. And to top it off he "loved it", he told me many times that his favorite time of year was 'corn shucking time'....Can you imagine getting up in the dark doing the chores feeding your livestock, eating breakfast and then taking a team of horses and going into the corn field to harvest and try and get a wagon load by noon...going in scooping it off into the crib eating lunch and going back into the field all afternoon to get the second load, scooping it off, doing chores, eating dinner and falling into bed?????? and loving it????????

Well I believe it, he did love it, and the corn shucking contest did become huge events in each county, farmers would come with their teams of horses and wagons and they would compete for a specified period of time and then the corn was weighed and a winner was declared. In 1930 at the age of 40 my dad was that winner in this county. And he proceeded in a week or so to Elwood Indiana for the Indiana State Corn shucking contest....In that contest he did place 10th....His name appears so in that ranking in a book titled "The battle of the Bangboards" I have a copy, it is a good history of these contest from the 20''s and 30's and then it all ended about 1941 with the world war and then mechanical pickers...But these state winners also went on to compete in National contest usually held in Iowa or Illinois. These event pulled thousands of spectators..they were huge all day events and the forerunner of todays "farm progress shows".....with crowds almost as large as today's yearly events.

Ok the picture to the right was taken at Elwood the day my dad competed there and placed 10th in the State contest. He was standing by a new mechanical picker of that day, wishing I suppose....the large picture above is of my Dad's family...Dad is the handsome dude sitting staddle the chair on the left...His dad on the right holding the book and his brother Albert standing in back...his sisters and mother also...As I look at the picture I kind of see a little of Danny Moore in my Dad...just a fleeting glimpse but I see it....The youngest sister beside him I see my granddaughter Monica Cole....again just a fleeting glimpse but it is there...it is just amazing how genes stay around through the generations...Maybe others will see similarities from their own families...Maybe my face book friend Thomas Lahrman will see something from his great grandfather Albert Lahrman seen in this pic....

OK I have probably bored you long enough here, but just in case you want to read a story I submitted and had printed to Reminise Magazine a few years back about my Dad and Shucking corn here is how to get to it on this blog....in the upper left corner you will see a search box by the orange B....just type in Bang Boards and it will come up below this story....try it...I just know a couple of you will....
Oh one more thing if you click on the title above will take you to a great site about old time corn shucking contest and other stuff.