Puffs

Some things never change, it seems.

Many years ago someone said, “There’s never a good day for a funeral!”

That statement has been proven out many times over the years and last Friday was another proof. We buried my brother, Bob, in Gretna, Nebraska. The day was cold, wet and just plain nasty . . . the gravel road on the way to the cemetery was under construction . . . and you had all the understandably sad feelings to go along with it.

Then, later in the day, we had to dodge the tornados that hit Lincoln and Waverly on the way home . . . and drove through “rain” on the way home, only to find we here in Nuckolls County seemed to have missed out on the heavy rains.

One of the things I’ll always remember about the funeral was the sermon when Bishop Golka noted that often people talk about the “afterlife” at funerals. His opinion was more to the effect that our life after our earthly death is the real life. The time we spent on earth before our earthly death should be called our “Pre-Life.”

Some weeks ago, I noted that we all die twice. The first time is when God calls our souls back to Him, separating it from the body. The second time we die is when the family stops telling stories about us. From all the stories I heard over those two days, I don’t think we have to worry about when the stories stop.

A O

When I was editor of “The Lawrence Locomotive” I received many ‘special’ publications. They often were produced by specific groups (either governmental or public) that felt the need to promote their specific view point. They certainly were not all bad, but some just used up paper.

I’ve been cut off by most of them since I am no longer listed as an ‘editor’, but I still get several. One of them I get is called “Water Current.” It is published by the Nebraska Water Center in Lincoln.

It is printed quarterly and often has informative content, some technical and some just written for the everyday person. The last issue I received had a couple of pages on Water Facts in Nebraska that I found interesting. Things I knew of before, but sort of forget most of the time. Just a couple of them I’ll pass on:

• Land in western Nebraska reaches a height of 5,424 feet above sea level, while the lowest elevation in Nebraska is 840 feet above sea level in the far southeast part of the state. That means there is an approximately 4,500 feet drop in elevation in Nebraska.

• Rainfall: averages 33 inches a year in the east, while the west receives 13 inches a year. Here in southcentral Nebraska I’ve always heard we get approx. 22 inches a year.

• In recent years we’ve heard the fears that we may deplete our underground water supply, or we may contaminate it beyond usefulness. Many of us are familiar with the work the local NRD’s are doing to eliminate these risks.

• Agriculture irrigation is 91 percent of Nebraska’s water use.

• From 1990 to 2014, Nebraska now grows 1.7 times more corn and 1.8 times more soybeans per gallon of water.

• Each person uses an average of 122 of water each day.

• Home water use has dropped by

1/3 in the last 20 years.

A number of other water facts were listed, but I found these the most interesting. The last fact about water is that: “it is the only substance found naturally as a liquid, a solid and a gas.”

A O

What’s the difference ? ? ?

Last week on the radio I heard our president talking about what he plans for the future at a Fund Raiser, some place in America.

I don’t remember what he was saying when the following statement came out of his mouth: “OK folks, what do you want . . . Freedom or Democracy ? ? ?”

What am I missing here?

I didn’t know that we had to choose between the two. Don’t they sort of go together?

As the election year goes on, I’m sure we’ll get a lot more statements from the liberal Democrats that just don’t make any sense. Remember, the liberals will take anything and change it to meet their need to control society. Once they get enough, your freedom will be gone along with you hope for the “good life.” Pray that we may not go that way. The primary election date is getting near. You have to plan for it, and then vote on the date.

A O

The other tidbit of information that caught my attention last week was a headline in the Hastings newspaper. It was: “Local election workers fear threats to their safety as November nears.”

I immediately thought maybe some election workers in Hastings, or maybe Grand Island had trouble with someone who didn’t like, or understand, the election system we have.

I didn’t have to read very far when I understood that the news article did not pertain to “Local” election officials. They were talking about election officials in Michigan who were afraid that some of the population would attempt to interfere with the election in some way.

The workers were “Local” in Michigan, but were not “Local” in Nebraska.

Now I read most of the article but what I’ll remember most was the headline that led me to believe threats were being made in Nebraska.

That is the way many in the national media work. I believe most people remember the headlines and may not even read the story. In the past year I’ve read many headlines that led me to believe former president Trump was already convicted of some crime when all the article said was that something was possible. It was not an actual fact.

I encourage you to take headlines with a grain of salt and don’t believe them as the whole story.

I learned long ago that the larger newspapers and magazines employed people whose only job was “to write headline.” They attracted people to read the papers.

In today’s world of “instant” news in all the Social Media instruments we have, it is even easier to mislead readers. And, especially with the liberal national media, they do whatever they can to convince everyone their opinions are the only correct opinions.

I truly enjoy reading, and I try to be careful of what I read.

A O