March 30, 2024

Now that spring has arrived I awaken every morning to the cacophony of the birds. This morning our resident quail gave his/her “Bob white” shrill. I heard the pheasant in the orchard calling with his deep throated croak. The Killdeer is our harbinger of spring along with the Red Wing Blackbird. These sounds are the music I listen to as I go about my work opening the greenhouse to greet the plants that are growing in anticipation of warm weather.

I am grateful for the path my life has taken. To be my own “boss”, a self-employed person accountable to my customers, many who are relatives and friends. The years have passed swiftly, but there is still so much work to be done.

I am thankful for our local radio stations and our local newspaper. While many newspapers are shutting their doors, ours has been able to keep us informed of what is important our rural town and county. I appreciate hearing and reading about city council, county supervisors and school board meetings, to name a few. I love seeing pictures of my granddaughters, nieces and nephews involved in their school activities. The radio stations keep me informed of area news that impacts my life. How would we know what is going on if we didn’t have our local news sources?

The downside of my job is being captured by the news that emanates from local to international. I am a news junkie so I have to be disciplined to not get caught up in everything blasting from the radio, my primary source of news. Lately I only have the capacity to read the headlines and listen to a few news reports. Lately the news tends to put a dark cloud over my day.

Our lawmakers in Des Moines have been working hard to change the way Iowa has functioned during my lifetime – a state that valued education, sought to re-establish people fleeing from their oppressive countries and welcomed new ideas. It’s never been perfect. There were a number of shortfalls of course, but generally Iowa was a good place to live.

The established one party rule, Republican, in Iowa government has sought to punish people for being different, underfunded our public education system in favor of private schools and will not act on two major issues – water quality and the rising cancer rates. What happened?

I try to keep my anger and frustration at bay, but this week the dismantling of Iowa’s top notch Area Education Agencies has gone too far. The majority of Iowans have high respect and need of the AEA. What makes the governor and the legislature think they know more about Iowa education than the educators themselves?

Now they are beginning to dismantle our tax base that supports our schools, libraries, fire departments – all sorts of agencies we pay taxes to support. Sure, no one likes to pay taxes and getting rid of income tax sounds like a great idea. But when our tax base no longer supports our local library, how much are you willing to become a “member” to have access to books? When a fire breaks out, will you be on a waiting list or will you have to pay a membership to have access to emergency services?

Gee, somehow I got away from luxuriating in my morning salutations and got caught up in the everyday news that bombards my life. I guess I better go back to listening to the birds, they offer me comfort and solace.