It’s amazing how fast summer goes.

In the news business we used to joke summer was over after the 4^th of July. It was barely a joke.

Sure enough, I’m just about caught up on work I put off until after the 4^th of July tractor ride and the county fair is starting. It will be quickly followed by the state fair.

Then school starts. I haven’t had kids in school for more than 10 years, and that still signals the change of seasons. I can almost hear the football announcer and marching band now.

Once again summer’s gone all too fast, but then again, folks around here spent most of June praying for rain. Apparently it worked. It’s been coming an inch or more at a time about every other day for the past week or so. Just what the corn needs. They say if you listen close late at night you can hear it grow.

Yep. Heat and rain. That’s what makes us corn country. The other night we had a heat index of 91 degrees at 9:45 p.m. This week another heat wave is gearing up with mid- to high-90s. That should make something grow.

I subscribed to a local CSA this year. Twenty weeks of fresh garden produce delivered to my door. This week is week #10. Half way through the garden season and I’ve yet to yield anything of consequence beyond radishes and a few onions out of mine. Bring on the tomatoes and peppers.

The roadside sweet corn hawkers are out in full force. I found out 3 p.m. is too late in the day for the famed Iowa delicacy. We are corn fed here. And I have the elastic-waist summer pants to prove it.

I do still have sandals that haven’t left their box in the closet, but even though convention frowns on white pants and shoes after Labor Day, we’re still far from needing socks. Or even long pants for that matter.

Still the hazy, crazy, lazy days of summer are ticking by.

Good Lord, I haven’t even put in any serious deck time yet. If anyone out there has a deck – and the appropriate libations to go with it – I’m available over the next six weeks.

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. Continue reading →

And once again a blog entry is long over due.

“I want to write a blog,” she said.

“I’ve done a weekly newspaper column. Regular blog entries will be a piece of cake,” she said.

“I’m never really at a loss for words,” she said. (In my defense, several people agreed with me on that one.)

I could claim I’ve been busy. That would be correct. Not a good excuse, perhaps, but correct.

I’ve done a bit of driving down unfamiliar roads, talked to some interesting folks, explored some innovative new ideas. Those are the things that make my job fun. I still have to occasionally pinch myself and make sure it’s real I get to do all that for a living. Continue reading →

It’s a rainy Friday morning.

The few sprinkles on the sunporch roof have turned to a downpour.

Still, I sit with the sliding doors open – enjoying the view.

I’m in the midst of a meaty story (no, that’s not a reference to it pertaining to beef). It’s one that requires many varied sources, much research, and deep thought. A good old investigative journalism exercise.

I love these projects. They can be time and mind consuming – but the weighty challenge is a nice balance to some of the simple things I do. Oh, I appreciate the one-source, one-topic paychecks. They are my bread and butter. And I learn something new every time. But once in awhile it’s nice to put on the figurative scuba gear and dive in. Continue reading →

If there’s a theme to this season, it appears to be peaches.

Recent travels produced heaven on earth in the form of peach pie. An amazing visit with old friends (Yes, it’s been much too long. And, yes, I’ve missed laughing with you, too.) introduced me to a tasty peach cocktail (or three). Now, a friend has offered fresh, Iowa peaches for the taking.

They’re the Iowa variety – small, white, sweet.

I filled a bucket.

The excess will go into the freezer. It will be nice to feast on Iowa’s bounty this winter. Continue reading →