Summer heat

Weather flash: It's 94 in the shade here, and very humid. Granted, it's not as hot as Iraq. But it's still hot. We would very much appreciate some rain very soon. Mom's garden is suffering.

Our water pump broke.
We have no drinking water, no hot water, and worst of all, no running water. We can get cold water from the basement, but that's it. We've been washing our hair in buckets; at least, those of us who care about cleanliness have, and have been carrying and heating water on the stove to wash dishes. I would tell you what we are doing with the toilet situation, but I don't think it would be proper to say in such a public spot. The whole situation is annoying, but not too terrible. It looks like it will be fixed by the time I get home from work tomorrow.

hog update and other news

Tonight is our hog meeting before the planning commission. I'm exhausted, but I really want to go. This meeting is going to be big and we'll have a few new tactics going on, and I want to blog about it. Aren't I a dedicated blogger? We are expecting Mr. ------- to maybe have a lawyer there, and have a much much stronger voice about the issue this time around. Everyone is saying he's going to "bring out the big guns." So another late night for me. Just to be clear, this is not our last hog meeting by far. We have no idea how long this will go on. They will probably still be having meetings while I am gone, and maybe when I get back even, if nothing decisive happens, like a court case. Even then, who can say? I know it might sound a little overdone, but this issue has brought a lot of stress int our lives. It can be hard not to get discouraged when thinking about the affects of CAFOs on people, and the subsequent changes we would have to make in our lives if it goes up, for example- moving. So I guess I shouldn't think about it!

On the subject of leaving- I now have less than a month left before I leave for Ft. Bragg. That doesn't seem like a very long time to me! It is scary and exciting to think about leaving home. I know I will really miss my family. It turns out I will be gone for more like three and a half months, rather than two and a half. The return date is still not clear.

On a more lighthearted note, Mom was telling us the other day about the investments she had made and how they were doing (Mom is the family financial dealer) and one of her investments is doing real well- Smith and Wesson. That's good, of course, but we thought it was funny; she only invested in that stock because she thought she was investing in Wesson cooking oil.

More random tidbits

I cut my finger today. I was cutting up a watermelon in a very stupid way. As I was remarking how it pained me, oh the blood, etc., my loving brothers said, "don't you want to be like a lean, mean, Marine?"
No!
Now I wonder where they learned that expression?

I made reese's today- peanut butter and chocolate were made to be together! They have to be kept in the freezer because they melt so rapidly otherwise. And they were calling my name... I could not escape them... in the end I managed to take them out of the freezer, put them all in a plastic bag, and eat two without the boys in the next room even noticing. That's what you have to be careful of- if one boy sees you eat a sweet, they all want to eat one too.

Various topics of conversation

Jeremy keeps us all either laughing or frustrated. Today he asked me a Theological question: can God turn me into food? I am not sure even Seminary would prepare you for that question. Jeremy still has a small bruise where the toilet lid shut on him- another story we laugh at. He spent a lot of the day outside spraying water all over with a plastic spray bottle. So cute!

So the 4th of July is almost here. We are going to the State Capitol for a Christian celebration of our Country's heritage. The ceremony should be wonderful, but I am a little apprehensive about afterwards. Having Jenni gone might be good for me, as far as gaining confidence by being alone in certain situations, but it's sure not fun. It was very depressing to me to be alone on Sunday, especially after various disagreements with friends.

Speaking of Jen, she called yesterday and she is having an awesome time dancing and making new friends. She said pointe class is painful, jazz and modern are easy, praise dance is God-honoring, combinations are good for her, and conditioning class is like ballet boot camp. She said they do lots of push-ups, sit-ups, etc, and they work her so hard her arms shake and she sweats a ton. But she is really having fun being with so many Christian girls who all love ballet.
I miss her!

Hog update

Here is a newspaper article about our last hog meeting:

”One of the most livestock-friendly counties in Nebraska rejected a proposed hog-confinement operation on Tuesday. After hearing complaints from neighbors about potential odor and health problems and damage to property values, the County Board voted 5-2 to reject a proposed 2,496 head wean-to-finish hog barn. Mr. -------, who lives (in a different county), said that he was surprised by the rejection of his hog operations after the first County Planning Board earlier had approved his plan on a 5-1 vote.
"I think they got a little bit scared," ------- said of the County Board. "It's a live stock operation, so it does smell some. But I don't think it would be as bad as what they think."
------- said that shortly after the negative vote, he reapplied for a county conditional use permit to build the hog barn, which would be the first one he owns.
While (our) County is not an officially designated "livestock friendly" county it has been in practice. It ranked No.1 in cattle on feed, 229,321 head, and No.4 in total hogs, 150358, according to the state's most recent agricultural census in 2002.”

The next meeting is two weeks from now, so we’re looking at getting a lawyer and some more support, because we know he will be a whole lot stronger in his denial of our concerns this time around. I guess I am very easily discouraged about this whole issue right now, because a) our county leadership doesn’t seem to care about the issues we brought up last time, b) we live in such an agricultural state that some of our friends and most of our leadership support big hog operations, in all their filth, and especially when it’s your friends opposing, it’s discouraging, and c) I’m missing Jen an whole lot more this week. The longest we’ve been apart before is a week, and it’s been two. I’m starting to feel very lonely. Today was especially bad. But our “We don’t want hogs for neighbors” group met tonight and everyone is still going strong on opposing this thing, so that is a plus. And besides that, God is in charge. Whew!

It's not over until the fat lady sings

I looked up the meaning and history behind the saying "It's not over until the fat lady sings" and I couldn't find too much to clarify the story. As far as I could figure, it was meant to be a sort of threat, meaning it's not over yet and we still have a chance, it's not over until it's over, etc. I didn't want to post it if it's meaning was meant to be rude and insulting, but the only thing I found rude about it and in it's history is that you shouldn't call people fat and doing that in this sentence is a prejudice against Opera singers. I haven't heard much opera, certainly not live opera, and of what I've heard I mostly don't like except for what I've heard of "Carmen". But that is a whole different subject from what I am going to talk about in this post. Here's an interesting article about opera.

This post could also be titled "Hog update number three".

Mr. ------ apparently re-applied for his building permit immediately after the meeting. We knew there was a strong possibility he would fight the decision made last Wednesday. We found out the day after the meeting that he had re-applied by reading the Omaha World Herald. We have not been contacted by any officials as far as another meeting, and we don't know what will happen next. So this is still hanging over our heads, with an uncertain future decision. That can be so depressing. I was so hoping that Mr. ------ would consider how many people live in the immediate area, and our position on the proposed CAFO, and decide to just farm the land instead. But men are naturally sinful and want their way, and Mr. ------ wants no less!

So, it's not over until the fat lady sings.

Hog update

I meant to post this last night, but the internet wasn't working. Sorry to keep you all waiting.

This morning was the meeting of the board of Supervisors, to discuss and vote on the hog confinement planned for next door. Dad and Mom both took off from work and the whole family went, except, of course, for our dearly departed sister(dancing in MS) and our brother (independent working man). So we got the boys all dressed in clean clothes and went down to the county court house.

The meeting only lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes, and most of that was made up of us on the opposing side giving our arguments, again. And again, Mr. ------ said very little. His building contractor spoke for him, and one other person, but they didn't have much to say. It was pretty tense- the two speakers were not rude as they were last time, but more forceful. It was implied by the opposing side that we would go to court if the board approved the CAFO. The board members again didn't seem to care about health issues; the reason that seemed to most motivate them to vote against the CAFO was mainly the force and size of the opposition, -us. We were told that on average, in our county there is a livestock operation for every square mile, but this is the first time that there have been so many people living near the proposed site, and that those people have been so strongly against it.

It has been such a weird day!

There were maybe thirty people at the meeting on the opposing side, and only about seven on the other side. The board is made up of seven people, and so we needed four votes against the CAFO to win.


We got five!



We won round two, and we really(really, really, really, really) hope there will not be a round three. There is a strong possibility that Mr. ------ will go to court. So I'm not sure how much we should celebrate, but I am very glad that we won. It was a surprise to us that we actually got five votes. We are all very happy with our district supervisor, who said strait out, "These people are in my district and I'm voting against it." We are all for voting him back in next election day! So now some of the pressure is off. Our neighborhood is having a "celebrate fresh air" party some time next week, and for now we just have to keep our eyes on Mr. ------ and watch for a lawsuit.



I went outside today and I breathed fresh air! Hallelujah! The skies were blue and there was no smell! Thank you, Lord! There is still a plain cornfield next door- I love you, cornfield! I'll never complain about the view again! I love our house, our land, our neighbors, and our God!