For Release October 16, 2001

I’d Almost Forgotten...

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

Earlier this month the Kansas Ornithological Society held their annual fall meeting in Wichita. A busy schedule, in recent years, had prevented me from spending as much time with these birdwatching friends as I might like. This year was different. With several projects behind me, I wasn’t nearly so rushed. I spent a fun weekend with these friends. We talked, we joked, we discussed birds and we watched birds. I’d almost forgotten how important old friends are and relished the opportunity to reconnect with these folks.

I have a couple of apple trees in my backyard. They are used as much for screening of my deck as for fruit production. But every few years they surprise me, and my lack of care, and produce some apples. One of the trees is a Red Delicious, for my wife, and the other is an old fashioned Jonathan, for me.

The other night I picked an apple off of each tree and sliced them up for us. They were right at their peak of ripeness. The minute I cut them open I could smell the wonderful apple fragrance. Since they were at room temperature, all those wonderful scent related chemicals were just bursting to get out. The apple flesh was that nearly creamy white. No hint of green here! The flavors were just incredible. The very first bite took me back to my childhood, growing up on the farm in Nebraska with a large orchard. Coming home from school I would walk through the orchard and grab an apple off the tree for an afternoon snack. I had almost forgotten how special a tree ripened apple tasted.

This past weekend I was coming back into town and drove across the dam at Milford Reservoir. It was mid-afternoon and the Republican River valley all the way to Junction City was a marvelous complex of color. The prairie grasses were sparkling in their purples, golds and yellows. The trees and shrubs were a mix of red, yellow, brown and green. Every hillside and every clump of brush was perfectly in place by the painter’s brush.

It reminded me of that October, 24 years ago, when first I ventured into Geary County as a member of a collegiate soils judging team. It was a beautiful October, much like this year, and Geary County was in all its splendor and I couldn’t help but think what a wonderful area this would be to live. I’d almost forgotten what a beautiful area this is.

On September 11th, I listened to the radio in stoic, yet sad, resolution as terrorists brought an unfortunate horror to this country. In the days and weeks that followed I watched the situation unfold, as did everyone else. I was often brought to tears by the images of sadness and loss, by the images of destruction, by the acts of heroism, bravery and selflessness.

I was buoyed by the resurgence of patriotism, by the way that everyone was able to put past differences aside. We all realized how trivial some of our disagreements have been and how important things like family, love, patriotism and belief are. And the eye still has problems staying dry with every new story of strength and every refrain of the Star Spangled Banner.

I am heartened by the continuing resolve of the American public. It is unfortunate that it took a tragedy of this proportion to bring us back together, but we did come back together. I’d almost forgotten how great this country is and why I love it so.

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