I sit here on this eve of the eve of Christmas wrapping up loose ends as much as possible before the final countdown to the festivities begins. I’m never far from email and I have been known to slide work into celebration hours, but I try to avoid having anything pressing. I want any such interaction to be strictly voluntary.

Projects that require little contact with others are lined up for the mid-holiday week. One never knows others’ availability. It took a few years to learn not to depend on it. I guess the voluntary rule applies through the whole stretch.

It will be 2016 by the time this desk and household see anything resembling regular routine, a concept with a sketchy definition here in the best of circumstances.

No formal enfolding of any time period comes without reflection. Or at least it shouldn’t. And so it is with the year at hand.

The best part of my job is discovering and writing fascinating stories. That’s what attracted me to being a reporter and what still excites me. Every story is interesting in its own way, but some stand out – for the experience as much as the written word.

Here are a few thoughts on those that left their mark on 2015:

Number 1. I sat in my chair one Sunday morning, watching the array of news shows as is my routine, when I heard a conversation on Iowa Press about the spring and summer’s Avian Flu outbreak that struck the poultry industry. Good show – Iowa Press – my unabashed opinion. Anyway, being absorbed in beef stories at the time, the little voice in my head said, “What if that happened to beef?” With the backing of DroversCattlenetwork Editor Alan Newport, I launched into a series of captivating phone calls with people in industry circles, ag disease research, and the bureaucrats who set policy, then have to make the rubber meet the road when disaster strikes. Their ability and willingness to think out side the box – in an interview and on the ground – gives me hope in what would, from every angle imaginable, be a disastrous scenario. It was an enthralling exercise. This is why I love journalism. When Disaster Strikes Beef

Number 2. The journey to Henry Farms in Southern Missouri not only earns high ranking as a story, but claims “Road Trip of the Year” honors. Eight-ish hours each way from here gets you south of St. Louis. Three days. 1,000 miles. And the smoothest filling of a sweet story you’ve ever seen in a sandwich cookie. You have to wait for it, however, scheduled publication is 2016. But I can tell you the road trip was magnificent. With Ink & Lens Road Trippin’

Number 3. I was approached a year ago by Amana Farms Beef Manager Jon Haman about a feature story. This month, Responsible Beef: Making Resources Work in DroversCattlenetwork magazine is on the stands. Responsible Beef is a joint project between Drovers and Merck Animal Health. Look for more on the story as it becomes incorporated into the Responsible Beef website.

A third of a state away, I found I knew very little about the Amana Colonies; just a few basic tourist facts. I knew even less about their farming and beef operations, so the past year has included acquainting myself with the Colonies’ 26,000 undivided acres, a new monoslope barn and a methane digester that provides power to the colony villages, the pitfalls of farming under corporate statutes when you don’t demographically fit the mold, and the challenges of building a future on that rich heritage.

Great story. Great folks. Great attitude. Great time.

It is a privilege to get to tell stories like this.

Number 4. Every once in awhile, you discover a precious little gem. When you find it in your own backyard, it truly is priceless.

I was given an assignment by Farm Bureau Family Living: “A southwest Iowa farm family has started a food blog called The Gingham Apron.”

I’m not exceptionally close with the Herricks, who live north of Greenfield, but I certainly know them, and I knew there was not one single chance of this being an unpleasant experience. Nailed it. I can’t recall when I have had a more pleasant Saturday morning (or better muffins). There are good people on this earth. And these are good people.

The Gingham Apron blog involves two generations of farm wives living the way life is lived on the farm these days. And telling about it in a wonderfully entertaining, thoughtful, visually appealing, and gastronomically appetizing way. I just made some Candied Pecans and Cranberries from one of their recipes that may not make it to Christmas. Check them out. Despite my best efforts, they still tell their story much better than I. A Taste of Farm Life

Number 5. If you’ve been in livestock circles at all in the last couple years you’ve heard of WOTUS. WOTUS is Waters of the U.S., an Environmental Protection Agency plan to regulate waterways. By all accounts, WOTUS was overreach, and not deemed so just by those who think any government is overreach. The plan didn’t score well on practical application. The good news is that particular version is likely dead in the water, so to speak.

But the issue of water is not. A friend, known for his vision and foresight, told me nearly two decades ago ‘the next big issue before us will be water.’ And so it is.

We here in Iowa turn our attention to water quality. Other than a few key times a year or valleys of drought cycles, having enough water is seldom a problem. The regulatory effort is focused on controlling run-off from fields and livestock, as are most producers.

But when I talked to the boys out west, my eyes opened to another chapter in the story. No less unimpressed with WOTUS, their primary problem is water supply. The aquifer is draining (making run-off important there, too, as they work to protect the remaining reserve). In some places it is illegal to drill a new irrigation well. Feedlot and other business expansion is curtailed by lack of available water. Water rights are big business. And population growth is increasing demand. Feed-Lot Magazine Water Woes

Yes, we will be riding this wave into the future. (Sorry, couldn’t resist)

And, in the name of segue, so will I……on to 2016 – May it be a year filled with life, laughter, and great stories.