Air December 24, 2003

Thank you Gary, and good morning everyone. Wow, here it is Christmas Eve Day. A week from today is the last day of 2003. There'll be plenty of things to talk about then, but for now lets just enjoy the season. Okay, one business item first - holiday travel safety. I know I talk about it all the time, and you're probably sick and tired of hearing about it, but I feel the need to be the little nagging voice that stays in your head that tells you to put on your seat belt, slow down, don't follow so close, don't drink and drive, don't drive when you're tired.. Am I annoying enough yet? We all know how to be a safe driver, we just have to be reminded to practice being a safe driver!!

The holidays are always a special time and yet we tend to get so busy with EVERYTHING we are trying to do - that much of it just flashes by. We need to realize that some of the important presents we could hope for, have already been given to us. It's easy to spend most of our time thinking about what we don't have and failing to see all that we do have. We truly do have free speech, and freedom of religion, and freedom of travel. Compared to most of the rest of the world we live like kings. Now I don't tell you this to bring you down on the day before Christmas, I say these things to help us stay focused. You see, I believe that Christmas is a magical time. But it's a personal type of magic. 22 years ago this month I came to Junction City Kansas and interviewed for this job. Six weeks later I moved here and have been on this job ever since. At that time I was the best Scrooge you could have ever hoped for. I was so Scroogey I made the original Scrooge look like the ghost of Christmas future. But a series of events in those first 12 months created a revelation much like the original Scrooge's. Everyone has to find their own meaning of Christmas, and we often can't explain what that is. Every year I feel like my best present is all of you and this wonderful community I live and work in. I couldn't ask for a better present than that. So this year, take a little extra time to explore your own special meaning of this holiday season. Merry Christmas everyone!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2003.

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