Cow Creek After 1.5″ of Rain

Well, we knew there was an occasional creek running through our property when we bought it, and today we have proof. It rained most of the night, and now Cow Creek really is a creek. Here are a few photos showing the water level after 1.5 inches of rain overnight. It confirms …

For a variety of reasons, I’ve shied away from writing about politics lately. Both sides are strongly polarized, and so firm in their beliefs, that it’s hard to come up with any compelling new arguments.So I’m trying a new tack today. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. It seems that it’s not only lefty, liberals who aren’t voting for Bush this year, as evidenced by the large list of powerful and influential Republicans who are not voting for Bush in 2004. If your beliefs in Bush have been shaken, but you really want to do the right thing for our country and aren’t convinced that "regime change begins at home", at least take the time to review the words of some of the strongest Republican leaders who have made a different choice this year. You would be in very good company, indeed, if you followed their lead in this election.Former Michigan governor William Milliken speaks quite eloquently on why he’s made such a difficult choice. I’ve taken the liberty of quoting his entire statement, beginning below and ending in the extended entry section of this post. Please, if for no other reason than to disagree and confirm your own choices, read what he has to say, and give it some thought. For one thing I know for sure, that despite our apparent differences, at heart we all truly only want one thing, and that’s what’s best for our country, the United States of America.

Statement by William G. Milliken
October 17, 2004
As a lifelong Republican, I have had mounting concern watching this year’s presidential campaign.
I have always been proud to be a Republican. My Republican Party is a
broad-based party, that seeks to bring a wide spectrum of people under
its umbrella and that seeks to protect and provide opportunity for the
most vulnerable among us.
Sadly, that is not the Republican Party that I see at the national level today.
My Republican Party has always been a party that stood for fiscal
responsibility. Today, under George W. Bush, we have the largest
deficit in the history of our country - a deficit that jeopardizes
economic growth that is so desperately needed in a nation that has lost
2.6 million jobs since he took office.
To make matters even worse, this president inherited a surplus, but
squandered it with huge tax cuts structured primarily to benefit the
wealthy and powerful.
My Republican Party is the party of Michigan Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg
who helped forge a bipartisan foreign policy that served this nation
well and produced strong alliances across the globe. This president
has, in a highly partisan, unilateral way rushed us into a tragic and
unnecessary war that has cost the lives of more than 1,000 of our young
men and women. In this arrogant rush to war, he has alienated this
nation from much of the world.
What’s worse, the basic premises upon which we were taken to war proved
to be false. Now, we find ourselves in the midst of an occupation that
was largely unplanned and has become a disaster from which we cannot
easily extricate ourselves.

I still don’t have a lot of time for posting, but did want to share a couple of nice photos I took late yesterday afternoon. We were about 3 miles southwest of Lindsborg for the first photo, and a couple of miles west for the 2nd.The first image is looking northeast, with the …

This is an excellent recipe, and the resultant chocolate pound cake is moist with a fine, tight grain and an incredibly rich chocolate flavor. It’s basically the same recipe as the one found in the Cake Bible, though you’ll have to buy the book for all of Beranbaum’s commentary and expanded directions….

Traditional Swedish welcome message adorns the old river bridge entrance to Lindsborg.Four weeks ago we closed the deal for our house in Lindsborg; it’s been four weeks since I’ve posted here. Coincidence? I think not, given all that’s happened in the past …