 October 25, 2004 Simple Serenity Farm Update
by Carla OffenburgerSaturday afternoon, October 23, when I was on the long bus ride home from our very successful Offenburger.com Tour “Beyond the Mississippi: Kentucky & Tennessee” (you can read all about that in Chuck’s column “Out in Greene County, Iowa”), I was concerned about what this update for Offenburgers’ Farm Journal would include since I was gone from the farm all week.
It took less than 24 hours for me to have at least two good stories to tell you.
First, it was wonderful to pull into the driveway on the moonlit night and see that Simple Serenity Farm was there for us. Indeed after a week of travel, I was ready to be home.
Our animals were happy to see us. Our three “holiday cats” – Dooby, Tigger and Freddie – seemed to have put on an extra coat of fur while we were gone. And they apparently had been extra busy with mice patrol as we found “gifts” on the porch and sidewalk. This patrol continued as Chuck walked out the porch door this morning to find another “well chewed” mouse there on the doormat. No wonder all three cats seem to be getting so fat!
The cats and our old dog Ginger were well taken care of while we were gone by Omega Wise, a young Jefferson woman who is in between mission trips this fall. Our Realtor Judy VonAhsen introduced me to Omega earlier this fall. What a blessing she has become. She stayed overnight at the farm a few times last week and brought her mother along with her. Doesn’t that sound like fun – a mother/daughter slumber party in the country?
Like I said, it didn’t take long for things to start happening here.
When I drove in the drive around 8 p.m. Saturday night, a skunk ran across the driveway and found his way into the front ditch. I’m glad I didn’t hit it, or scare it – but I don’t like the idea that it’s around the property. I sure hope it was just “passing through,” but I was reminded of a skunk smell I noticed down by the barn a week ago. I can see that I’m going to have to do some skunk research this week.
I certainly don’t want the cats or Ginger to surprise a skunk. And I don’t want to surprise a skunk, either!
On my way home from church on Sunday, I turned east off Iowa Highway 4 on to our road, 310th Street, to see Chuck parked along the road, flashing his car’s lights at me. As I slowly approached, I saw a beautiful blond cow politely standing on the south shoulder of the road – while the rest of her pals were grazing across the road to the north, behind a fence in our neighbor Jim Giese’s harvested soybean field. I slowly drove by and stopped by Chuck to find out that he had discovered the cow when he arrived home 30 minutes earlier.
Chuck had already called Jim Giese and another neighbor Dick St. Clair to seek help. Neither of those men were home, so Chuck called in Cooper resident Kenny Monthei, who was on his way down to help. I offered to go home and get the camera, thinking the whole time, “I have something to write about in my Farm Journal now!”
Our farm neighbor Jim Giese had a small herd of 10 cattle grazing in a harvested soybean field Sunday morning while he was away. One cow figured out how to escape the field and amble along our 310th Street. When Chuck found her, as he was driving home from church, he said he ''didn't think I could talk her into going back into the field.'' So he phoned another neighbor Kenny Monthei for his expertise. Kenny had Chuck chase Bossy down the road toward Kenny, who had opened a gate and directed the cow right back where she belonged.
By the time I returned with the camera, Kenny was down the road opening a gate to the field, and Chuck gave me instructions on how to walk the road with my arms outstretched in a way that would “shoo” the cow toward Kenny and the gate. While the other cattle watched from behind the fence, the process worked like a charm and in no time the cow was back where she belonged.
It was an exciting way to get back to farm life. And it certainly reminded us that there’s always something new to experience here.
I spent Sunday afternoon at Deal’s Orchard, southwest of Jefferson, as part of the “Kids with a Connection Mentoring Program” for a hayride and picnic there. I recently volunteered to be a part of “Kids with a Connection,” which pairs an adult with a young person for mentoring. I met my new friend for the first time when I picked her up for the Deal’s Orchard picnic.
We had a great time together as we enjoyed the hayride, successfully maneuvering mazes in both the hay and corn fields there, drinking hot apple cider, tasting apples and roasting hot dogs on an open fire. We ended our picnic by making ''S’mores'' for dessert.
As I dropped off my new young pal at her home, I thought about how much fun the two of us are going to have in the future, as we’ve now made the commitment to spend at least four hours a month together for the next year or more.
By Sunday evening Chuck and I were back to a bit of normalcy. The travel laundry was done, the second game of the World Series was on the radio, and both Chuck and I were checking our calendars and writing out our week “to do” lists.
Oh yes, it’s good to be home at Simple Serenity Farm.
So, what do you readers think of all this? Bill Doubler, Jefferson, Iowa: “I was glad to read that you and Chuck enjoyed Barry Williams and Bill Smith (recent visitors from New Zealand and Texas, respectively) as much as our family did. My wife Ann and I met Bill and his wife about 10 years ago when they stayed with us at our B&B, previously in Jefferson. We have spent more time each year with Bill, as he has increased his time in Iowa each fall/summer that he has been here. Barry was such a delightful individual. We hosted him along with Bill at a tailgate party before the Texas A&M vs. Iowa State football game, and got him into the biggest John Deere combine made for a ride shortly after he left your place. Sometime when you two are heading east on U.S. Highway 30, stop in at the Beaver (Iowa) office of West Central Cooperative and tour our ‘little’ corn pile on the north edge of town. It should be over a million bushels by sometime Wednesday and there is a ways to go! The popcorn is always hot and fresh, and you might be able to find a Deal’s apple there, too.”
Jennifer Huffman, Napa, California: “O.K., Carla, after reading all this time about Cooper and Jefferson, you ought to post a few pictures of these towns and places you’ve been hanging out.” Jennifer, I’ll have pictures of my hangouts for you next week, I promise.
Debra (Klinzman) Stewart, native of Bagley, Iowa now living in Omaha: “Chuck, I have been reading your web page for a few months and finally decided to write to you, although you probably get way too many e-mails as it is. Anyway, what prompted me to finally write you was your column mentioning the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band’s appearance at the Iowa State-Texas A&M football game. My husband, son Kory and I also attended the game, driving from Omaha to Ames and back to Omaha in a 12-hour span. We knew the band would be there (see schedule at www.aggieband.org). They are remarkable, but what you saw was actually only the upperclassmen, not the freshmen. They often travel with the little-bit-smaller group for road games. Anyway, my husband is an Aggie graduate, and we now have two sons at A&M, one in College Station and one in Galveston. My late father-in-law was an Aggie, my husband’s brother and his wife, their daughter – you get the idea. The Aggie tradition is truly amazing. Also in the small world department: I grew up on a farm two miles north of Bagley, but went to school in Jefferson. I rode the school bus with a neighbor kid named Terry Rich – he was a mouthy kid, too! I attended seventh and eighth grades at the school in Cooper, which was Jefferson’s junior high school at the time. I graduated from high school with good friends Cindy and Jerald Deal. I enjoyed reading about their fall festival, and yes, they should get a paved road, as you suggested. After attending our class reunion in June (35 years! Yikes!) I drove south on Iowa Highway 4 and found myself in Cooper. I was sad to see most of the school gone. Anyway, reading your site brings me a slice of home, even though I haven’t lived there for many years. I don’t get back there very often, as most of my family is gone from the area. Used to be you couldn’t throw a rock in Bagley without hitting one of my relatives. We still do have the ‘Klinzman Picnic’ each year at the community center in Bagley, the second Sunday in June. As a teenager, I never thought I would miss the farm, but my perspective has changed over the years. Enjoy Cooper and the farm life!”
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