Bob and Debbie Conroy - Enjoying the Journey Together!

Over the last few weeks, I have been across parts of Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. In all three states, there were many fires where large piles of trees and brush were burning.  The last time I saw this much clearing was when I first moved to Iowa from Michigan in 1979.  Back then farmers were encouraged by federal agencies to grow fence row to fence row.  Easy credit and low interest rates drove up the cost of farmland and many farmers leveraged their operations to acquire more acreage. This was followed by a bust that lasted over a decade and many families lost their farms to foreclosure. Many of these farms had been in the same family for over 100 years.  I served on the Warren County Board of Human Services in the 1980s. I saw firsthand the extent of the suffering that the boom and bust inflicted on so many people.  There is a story in the D M Register that some Iowa farmland sold at auction for over $26,000 an acre last week.  Maybe the bonfires...

I recently had successful surgery on my thumb. It was locked in a “thumbs up” position. The thumb situation had progressed from painful to bend to impossible to bend. The surgery required a small incision to cut the tissue around the tendon to release the pressure. I went to a surgery center and put on a hospital gown then was wheeled on a gurney into the operating room. There were three nurses in there to prep me. My arm was vigorously scrubbed from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers. The final rinse was with pure alcohol. After the alcohol rinse, a large sterile paper sheet was immediately placed on me with my hand was sticking out a hole. I was warned by a nurse not to bring any other body part out from under the sheet. The nurse went on to say that it was the best way to kill any bacteria remaining on my skin. So I wonder, why do people put a substance that kills all that it touches their body. It is sad how the alcohol cartel has hijacked our culture.