Life continues

Ever so often, I like to write the state of the farming industry and anything else that might come to mind.
First off seeding is 80 to 90 percent done in Manitoba despite cool and colder temperatures, limited rainfall and trade actions and misgivings. Talked with my brother Jack the middle of May who told me he’d finished seeding. That night a timely .4 of an inch of rain improved the moisture, and the earlier seeded wheat is already up and growing. That doesn’t mean all things are perfect, but the farmer keeps doing his part planting the crop and applies the practices that so indicate, while the good Lord provides the rain and sunshine to finish off the harvest.
And yet, governments and politicians on both sides of the isles and world keep messing things up by letting their egos and ideologies dictate their minds and sometimes make decisions that make no sense at all. But what is the most annoying is the window-dressing that follows to cover up those silly mistakes. Mistakes that often cost those down the supply chain much and sometimes result in pressure points that cause them to make poor decisions, too.
I’m talking about the canola issue with China causing great angst amonst the farming industry in Western Canada. So far no resolution, yet farmers took to the fields to plant a crop that for so many years kept grease on the wheels so to speak. I search, hear, listen, and digest the information that keeps coming, but to no avail.
I think for the most part farmers know what to do when it comes to the crop they grow and the rotations they need to follow, but this was one I believe had unnerved some farmers as to wondering what they should grow this year. In most cases, farmers will do what is right, follow their instinct and gut feelings, and follow the rotation.
The hog industry around the world keeps wondering about this crazy African Swine Fever that has many Asian countries wondering where will their pork come from. And in North America, the industry keeps talking about the dangers if it happens here; what we can do to keep it out, and what to do should we get it.
One can get all tied up in a vast knot if we allow all those things to affect us negatively. Had lunch with a doctor friend recently, and he said how we deal with life depends on our thankfulness. I can’t agree with him more. I spent four days in Winnipeg recently and can’t believe how many people believe the entitlement of not needing patience when driving, but using the horn and accelerator instead. People get so angry at the slightest hiccup in their lives living off the idea of entitlement, meaning it is all about me and what I want right now.
Someone sent me this little prayer. Sometimes, I forget to thank the people who make my life happy in so many ways. Sometimes, I forget to tell them how much I do appreciate them for being an essential part of my life. So, Thank You all of you, just for being here for me!
May 18 was the first anniversary of the passing of my dear wife, Judith. I remember thinking back a year ago what will it be like one year from now. Will the pain still be there, or will it ease? Today as I write this, on May 23 the day we held her funeral service and celebration of life on this earth, and life after death, there is comfort in the fact that some people care, some people care and act, and others who you thought would care, seem to disappear.
With all the firsts out of the way I’m so thankful, I can rejoice more than I cry. Not an hour, sometimes not a moment goes by without some thought, though fleeting at times of my wife of 47 years. Life continues. I pay tribute to the woman I loved for more than 50 years, the mother of our children, the friendship I cherished, and the inspiration she gave me from the day we met to the day she left this earth. And through her actions as an all-encompassing nurse, helping, helping, encouraging, and enabling those who crossed her path. •