Update From The Farm

So I get this message from my beaucoc son saying something like why haven’t you written on your blog? I miss reading it.  So, I figured I’d better get off my duff, and write. Or, I suppose, more accurately, I’d better get ON my duff, in front of the computer, and write.  So here’s the latest from Fringe Benefit Farm.

The Sugarbeet harvest is over here in the Lower Yellowstone Valley. As you know, I drive a truck in the harvest, hauling beets from the field to a receiving station, where they are piled and then transferred to Billings to be processed into sugar. 

It’s really a good job. Sort of a vacation for me, whose life now that I’m retired is pretty much a vacation anyway.  For a few weeks, I get to go to work driving a semi again. This year I got upgraded fro the International that I had been driving for several years to a Kenworth.  Say... Bigtime! 

The harvest went well. We had a little rain, and couldn’t get into the field for a couple of days, and then had to be towed through the field for several days in order to load the beets.  Ytrying, and sometimes frustrating, but, all in a day’s work.

The beets are planted in rows, and irrigated by enormous sprinklers.  When they are ready to harvest, a worker drives a tractor pulling a defoliator, which cuts the green leafy tops off, and flails the greens into virtually nothing.  Then a worker, in this case, my boss, Steve Lachman, who owns the farm, drives a tractor pulling a beet digger.  The digger cuts them out of the ground, cleans most of the dirt off, and deposits the beets into a semi trailer pulled by a big truck tractor.  The beets are transferred to the piler, where they are weighed, graded, and tested for sugar content.  They are then transferred to Billings to the Western Sugar Co-op refinery to be turned into the delicious stuff that makes your tea sweeter, and your crumpets tasty.

It is October 29th, as I write this. The elections are getting close, and I have been busy campaigning for the Libertarian Party candidates. 

I am terribly worried about the direction the United States is taking under the leadership of the Republican and Democratic parties.  I am among a large number of people who think that the government is not following constitutional guidelines, and as the horsey set says, is about to come a cropper. 

I have been a follower of Ron Paul for a number of years, and not that he is no longer in the running, have switched my allegiance to Gary Johnson, the candidate of the Libertarian Party.

I have been a member of the Libertarian Party for a number of years, and believe that they have the right approach to the governance of our nation.  That approach is pretty much summed up as “Leave us alone, we can do it better by ourselves without outside, and especially government interference, thank you very much.”

I could go on for hours, but I won’t. (I can see the readers all saying, “Whew! he’s finally off of that political stuff”.)

The Lord has been blessing me recently as a preacher.  I have been delivering some (I think,) particularly good messages lately.  I record all my sermons, and in listening to the playback, sometimes say, “Wow! That guy really is a preacher!”

 If you want a CD containing some messages, I have them available for free.  I would ask that you kick in a couple of bucks for postage, and supplies, though. If you can’t afford it, I’ll send them out anyway, but it does rather put a strain on my income, which is largely Social Security.  (What!?!, a Libertarian on Social Security?!?) Yep.  I paid. I draw, but I don’t abuse. 

The blank CDs cost something, The labels, and the ink to print them cost something.  I DO NOT want to maker a profit, as mine is pretty much a self supported missionary effort. Kinda ,my way of paying back some of the goodness that has been given me by God’s wonderful grace, and the atoning blood of Jesus.

I thought about transcribing one of my sermons here, but I’m not all that good a typist, and it takes hours to do a sound to writing transcription.  But if you are deaf, I will.  Hey! Gotta get the message out about Jesus any way I can.

I am still doing freelance radio commercials from mky little studio here at home. - See my website -  leethevoice.com

I am currently doing commercials for The Marks Group.  It is a combine of eight or ten radio stations, and four or five TV stations.  I mostly do spots for our local outlets here in Montana and North Dakota, but have done several for the entire chain. 

I have done a couple of ads running nationwide for Betty Kilbride who is an author and friend.  I also recorded one of her books for an  audio book, but don’t know when it will be released.  I’m pretty proud of the fact that I did it though. Not many people get to do that. 

One of my ambitions is to do voice-overs and narrations for TV and films.  I’d like to do stuff like narrating National Geographic videos and the like.  I have a friend in California who does, or did, the voice over for Disney documentaries.  That looks like a pretty good gig.  I’d like to do cartoon voices too.  May not happen, but I can dream. 

We had a little bit of snow a couple of nights ago, but not enough to measure.  It’s Deer season in Montana, and My friend Ron and I plan to go out and pursue the wiley stag. If things go as they uysually do, we’ll have a cold snap and a heavy snow driven into a blizzard on the day we plan to go out.  It won’t stop us though.  That way the hunting stories are better.

I’d like to take my Kids and grandkids out hunting with me, but they all live a thousand miles away in the east and the west.  There is not a lot better place to live than Montana, but I do miss spoiling grandkids, and being a pest to my kids. 

We are having some friend in for Thanksgiving this year.  Mom, Buck and Mary were up last year. That was one of the better things that happened in a long time.  I miss my family. We are a pretty tight knit bunch, and our numbers are starting to diminish more rapidly than I would like.  We lost Judy and Virginia this year, and the older generation is looking pretty shakey.  Hmm. Guess Im pretty close to that age myself.  Oh, well.  I’ve enjoyed the trip so far, and am looking forward to the destination.  I can see it now.  “Lee, wipe your feet. I don’t want you tracking gold dust all over the floor.”

That’s about all for now from Fringe Benefit Farm. Hope to be a little more faithful in writing in future, but no promises.

Agape
Lee