Happy fourth of July everyone!

Hello again. No matter where you are, or what day you are reading this, today will be the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. That is, if you happened to worry about it. Some do, and some don’t, and whether we do or we don’t, today always shows up, like it or not. And with todays column, we leave behind another month in the year of 2020, and begin the seventh month of the year -- July.

July gets its name from the Roman dictator Julius Ceasar(100BC-44BC). In 46 BC, Julius Ceasar made one of his greatest contributions to history: with the help of Sosigenes, he developed the Julian calendar -- the precursor to the Gregorian calendar that we us today. The flower of the month is Larkspur and the birthstone stone is Ruby. The first special day of the month is the fourth, coming up this Saturday.

“The brightest day that ever shown on earth, the day that Liberty received her birth.” -- Wm. Emmons

That’s what the book says, but we know there were many “bright days” before that. When predicting the weather, the almanac also says, and I quote, “the 4th will feature some fireworks from nature. Sunstroke is no joke. Protect your pate before it’s too late! Thunder mutters while rain rattles gutters. Blazing! Jupiter is up and amazing!” So be alert, as the world needs more “lerts”.

We have passed the longest day of the year, but probably not the hottest day, and July seems to bring a lot of hot days. In the 2020 almanac, it lists July 24, 2018 as averaging the highest monthly temp in the world at 108.1 F in Death Valley, Calif. The “dirty thirties” also claimed many hot July days.

We don’t often read the Declaration of Independence which is celebrated on the fourth and is America’s revolutionary charter of Freedom -- the document upon which the nation’s founding principles were established. The following is an excerpt from such (US 1776).

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying it’s foundation on such principles and organizing it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

Not being a politician, nor understanding all of politics, and considering some of the things happening with politics today, I sometimes wonder what our forefathers would say if they came back and saw how confused all of their plans for the population have become. Most people I know are peace loving and abide by the rules, but we must also do as we are told by the elected officials who are supposed to be upholding the constitution. I’ll step off of my little soap box now and report on a few other important days during this month of July, namely the birthdays of community members.

Lilly Glaug of Omaha spent last week with her grandparents Roger and Bonnie B. and Aunt Danielle. On Friday, June 26 she observed her 10th birthday and a family celebration was held when her parents Tony and Lindsay and sister, Ivy, arrived for a weekend visit. She returned home with them later.

To begin the new month we find Jim Toof Sr. and Reid Olsen having birthdays on the 1st of July (today). Reid will become 4-years-old and Jim is much older. Dwayne Rickert will celebrate on July 5, Evelyn May and Myron Peters on July 3, Paul Mick, Royce Buller and Greg Klipp, all on the 8th.

Former residents Gordon and Pauline Quiring will observe an anniversary on the 7th. They recently moved to Lincoln to be closer to their family. We send wishes for a good day to all.

*** Former resident Marjori Ericksen joined her husband Duane in death on June 17 in Lincoln where they had resided since May of 2018. Duane passed away on Feb. 26, 2020. A joint service was held at the Village Auditorium on Saturday afternoon, June 27. CDC guidelines were followed with family and friends attending. Pastor Miles Ruch of U.L.C. officiated. Duane was a Hampton native, son of the late John and Vannie Ericksen and Marge became a member of the community when they were married on Oct. 23, 1955. They would have celebrated 65 years this October. They were both active members of the community and United Lutheran Church. Duane is survived by two sisters, Nell and Dorothy. Marge was one of 12 children and survived by five siblings. Together, they are survived by three sons, Gregg, Bruce and Brian and their families, nine grands and six great-grandchildren. Their daughter Shari preceded them in death. They will be greatly missed by all. Our condolences to the family on the loss of both their parents.

“Eye hath not seen - nor ear heard - the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” -- 1 Corinthians 2-9.

*** Time marches on and I think I have run out of news and views from our little community in the Heartland of America. We are surrounded by corn, beans, alfalfa and cattle. Especially corn. I do not get out on the roads quite as often as I used to, so sometimes I am shocked when I see how fast the crops are growing. Before irrigation they were happy if corn was knee-high by the fourth, but today, your guess is better than mine what that might be. It seems things got off to a slow start, but are fast catching up.

Have a good week everyone. Mind your p’s and q’s and stay safe. But enjoy yourself and the 4th of July as much as you can. A few fireworks have been heard around town already. Like my parents used to tell me when I went out, “have a good time and behave yourself.” (a very confusing thing to tell someone!) Something to think about.

Doctor - “You’ve simply got to have more diversion and relaxation.”

Patient - “But, Doc, I’m too busy.”

“Nonsense! The ants are hard-working creatures, but they always take time to attend all the picnics.”

A politician was campaigning in California when a woman asked where he got his coat of deep tan.

“You’ve been playing golf?” she asked him.

“No,” he replied. “I got this tan in Florida making outdoor speeches.”

“Well,” she told him, “if you got that brown, you talked too long.”

Talk is cheap.

“Talk about others, you’re a gossip, talk about yourself, your a bore.”