Merry Christmas

This morning on the way to work I heard a report on NPR about something called Blue Christmas, which apparently is some kind of so-called ministry that is catching on in churches across the land. The way it sounded, people sit around and think about how badly their life has turned out during the Christmas season. Sheesh! What a way to celebrate the birth of The Savior.

Maybe if you're sad during Christmas it would help to take your mind off yourself and think about this: Christmas isn't about your kids or your grandkids or the fancy presents you bought them. It isn't about the pretty decorations or the wonderful music or the family gatherings. Christmas isn't about a big meal or television specials. Christmas isn't about you.

It's about Him. So if you're alone this Christmas, or you've had tragedy in your life, I'm sorry for you. All I can tell you is: Worship the Baby in the Manger, just as the Wise Men and shepherds did. Worship the traveling preacher, who Peter declared to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Worship the man on the middle cross, of whom the one thief asked forgiveness. Worship the Risen Savior, who talked to hundreds of people after he had been declared dead and buried. Worship God the Son who sits on the right hand of the Father, and who will one day be your Judge.

Make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, the center and focus of your life. That makes everyday Christmas.

More soldiers for Fort Leonard Wood

There's some good news for the Ozarks economy today. The Associated Press reports that nearly 1,000 more soldiers will be stationed at Fort Leonard Wood under a new Army plan.

Reports the AP:

The largest addition will be 570 troops as part of the 4th Combat Support Brigade. An additional 170 service members will become part of the 512th Military Police Combat Support Company.

In all, the base population will swell to nearly 28,000 troops.

“It has been my goal to make Fort Leonard Wood one of America's premier military installations,” said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo. “These new forces will be a welcome addition to Fort Leonard Wood's military family and will only enhance the post's reputation,”

The troop additions are expected to be complete by 2013.

What a visitor thinks of Christmas in the Ozarks

A British citizen living in Rolla has written about the way Americans decorate their homes for the Christmas season.

Here are some excerpts from Susan Carroll's dispatch to the London Telegraph:

The run-up to Christmas is when I most notice the difference between American house exteriors and English ones.

Back in London, most people have a back garden. At our former home in Maryland and even more so here in Rolla, Missouri, the heart of the Midwest, it is all up front

This means inevitably that everything Americans do is on display. To judge from the shops and catalogues, dressing up the house or yard is akin to a national sport!

Many of the natives put up their Christmas lights early - I saw the first set glowing on November 12 this year, a record even for Rolla, Missouri.

Where will it all end? Probably not with any scaling down of America's love for front porch festivities.

Britons may be getting more keen on extravagant light displays at Christmas but when it comes to celebrating the holidays Midwest America still does it bigger and brighter.

The snow

Well, we didn't get as much snow as the weatherman predicted. This morning I measured about 2 inches at our house, which is in Rolla. The Springfield TV weatherman had been predicting we'd have six to 12 inches on the ground this morning. Weather predicting is not exact.

Saturday was a perfect day. It snowed off and on, and there was snow on the ground, but the streets were clear for traveling.

Today, it is sunny out, and right now is 26 degrees. I went to Sunday School and worship this morning, and had no trouble getting out to the country church I attend.

In Sunday school, we are studying Genesis. Today in Genesis 8:22, we read these words from God Himself: "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

I've been criticized for not believing in manmade global warming. If the earth is heating up, it's because of something natural; perhaps it's solar activity. The earth has been warmer than this before, and it has been cooler, but I'm not worried that the earth is going to heat up and cook us, because Genesis 8:22 says that as long as the earth is here, we'll have a time to plant our gardens and we'll have a time to pick tomatoes and cucumers. We'll have cold weather and we'll have hot weather. We'll have summer and we'll have winter. You can be as sure of that as you can be sure that the sun will come up in the east tomorrow morning and it will go down in the west tomorrow evening.

Weather prophet accountability

Here's what The Old Farmer's Almanac says about December weather for the Heartland, which the Old Farmer defines as all of Missouri except the Bootheel and part of the area north of there, all of Iowa, most of Kansas, a little less than half of Nebraska, western Illinois, a few counties in southeastern South Dakota and a few counties in southwestern Wisconsin:

Temp. 29 degrees (1 degree below average); precipitation, 1 inch (half inch below average).
Dec. 1-7: Snow showers, then sunny, very cold.
Dec. 8-13, Sunny, mild.
Dec. 14-17, Rain, then sunny, cold.
Dec. 18-21, Snow, then sunny, cold.
Dec. 22-28, Rain, then sunny, seasonable.
Dec. 29-31, Freezing rain.

Well, today on the 7th of December, it is 33 degrees at 3:20 p.m., overcast and wet. We got some sleet and a little snow yesterday afternoon.

We're going to keep an eye on this Old Farmer.

How much are you paying for gasoline today?

The price of gasoline in Rolla today is $2.77. What's the price where you live?

Opening your farm to visitors

I've been busy with my other job as a hardware salesman, so I'm behind on my Ozarks Chronicle duties, including posting to this blog. That's why I only today read this Dec. 5 news release from the Missouri Department of Agriculture about the growing importance of agritourism.

You can click on the link and read the entire news release about Ag Director Katie Smith's meeting in Liberty, but here's an excerpt:

During a visit to Carolyn’s Country Cousins, a pumpkin patch and market in Liberty, Director Smith met with Buddy & Carolyn Raasch, co-owners, and other area agribusiness owners and community leaders, to hear about the Raasch family operation and to hear some of the challenges their industry faces while learning more about their progressing business and other businesses in the Liberty area.

“Agritourism is a growing sector of Missouri agriculture and many producers are taking advantage of the opportunity to add value to their farmland by establishing pumpkin patches, corn mazes, Christmas tree farms and farmers’ markets,” said Director Smith. “Carolyn’s Country Cousins is a great example of how adding agritourism can open up new opportunities to educating visitors of the agricultural industry and diversify farmland.”

....

“Agritourism is the perfect mix of agriculture and tourism – two of Missouri’s largest industries. By opening our doors to the public, it has enabled us to diversify our farm, give our children an opportunity to stay on the farm and create a value-added product for our farm,” said Carolyn Raasch, co-owner of Carolyn’s Country Cousins. “Families are now two to four generations removed from the farm and don’t get to go visit Grandma and Grandpa’s farm every weekend and summer like they used to. Through our family business, we are able to give children and families an opportunity to enjoy the countryside, have some fun, learn about agriculture and create family memories.”

I remember a talk by someone (I believe it was Small Farm Today editor Ron Macher, but it may have been columnist Kelly Klober) at a National Small Farm Conference in Boone County, Mo., a few years ago, in which he stated emphatically that the No. 1 product of a small farm ought to be a country feeling for the city folks who come visiting. Now, he was speaking to a group of farmers who were looking at ways to enhance their farm income by opening up their farm to visitors. There are a number of ways to do that and The Ozarks Chronicle website has a couple of stories about local agritourism or agritainment ventures you might find interesting if you're looking to diversify your operation by opening it up to visitors from town.

It seems to me there's plenty of room for growth of this kind of business in the Ozarks. It sure beats what they've done to Branson, and what they're planning to do to Branson, to bring in tourists.