Fall is a great time to add trees to your landscape. Not only do they provide shade, remove pollutants from the air, and help manage stormwater; but many also provide food for bees. Keep this in mind when selecting and planting new trees in your yard now and in the future.

I’ve been in and out of the office the last couple of weeks helping my family with harvest, my favorite time of year. I have my 5- and 9-year-old sons with me as much as possible which means that safety on the farm is always on my mind. Growing up the motto on our farm was (and is) “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Farm safety extends to the roads during harvest.

I condemn the brutal attack and the atrocities that are being committed in Israel by Hamas and other terrorist organizations and I fully support Israel.

Not since World War II Nazi Germany have we seen such atrocities committed against innocent Jewish citizenry. Certainly not on the same scale, but much like the Nazis, the animals in Hamas stealthily crossed from Gaza into Israel and began murdering civilians attending a music festival on a Jewish holiday. The horror didn’t stop there. The barbarians rolled into communities where the assault on citizens continued. They rounded up Jewish people, executing some and kidnapping others.

“The Exorcist.” Without a doubt the scariest movie I’ve ever scene. The 1973 classic, haunted my nightmares, and for that matter, my daymares, for quite some time after I first viewed it some years after it was first released. Still, every time I watch it today — the tension created every time they approach the closed door, the horrific behavior of the demon possessed child, the subject matter itself and the chilling them music — left an indelible mark on my psyche.

Israel is at war and in a terrible crisis situation. We are to pray for Israel according to Psalms 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” And we are sure that many are praying in Israel and around the world for peace and protection. The Lord has intervened supernaturally for Israel in the past and we need to pray that He will do it again.

The Middle East is someplace where we are generally better off if we do not hear anything about and particularly prefer it being absent in headlines. Nothing good ever happens there. Abu Dhabi, Emirates Airlines and the LIV Golf league all have a public relations challenge to overcome. The cultural animosity of the region is so ingrained between people amongst themselves that even sects of the same religion despise and kill each other.

I experienced something this weekend I rarely come across in the sporting world. On three different occasions, I felt bad for my team’s opponent.

Has anyone ever had this happen before?

Normally, I love it when my team is on the positive side of a good old fashioned beat down. After all, I’m a firm believer in the philosophy, “It’s better to give than to receive.” So, in the spirit of generosity, let the drubbing begin.

“You hear ‘bout Andy’s barn?” Dud asked. We nodded and had another sip of morning coffee.

“You s’pose it was all globally warmed up?”

“Beats me, Windy. Could be.”

“Buncha that,” Windy said. “On the news and all over the place. Fires and rivers goin’ over the bank and killin’ cows. Some places, they say, got so hot it caused a earthquake and shook people’s houses down.”

While we, as Americans, are dealing with such internally important issues of rampant crime in big cities, transgender studies in the classroom, pooping and drug using homeless in the streets, Washington, D.C., political chaos, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift sightings, and the always divisive sports rivalries — many places around the world are crumbling around us.

On Sept. 26, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued a press release observing that as fall harvest starts and progresses across Iowa, the risk of wildfires in crop fields increases. Some recent rains across Iowa provided some relief from the on-going drought, but crop fields are still dry, cured and could spark wildfires. This has been an extended drought year, particularly in northeast and southeast Iowa. Find the latest drought conditions on the U.S. Drought Monitor webpage.

President Joe Biden has abandoned and punished our farmers on every front imaginable. His new WOTUS rule invites federal bureaucrats to saddle Iowa farmers with costly red tape, his electric vehicle mandates threaten the vitality of our biofuels industry, and his economic agenda jeopardizes longstanding provisions in the tax code to strengthen Iowa agriculture.

Bring a bit of your fall garden indoors. Many of your fall flowering perennials make great cut flowers to enjoy in arrangements for your home and bouquets to share with others.

Harvest your flowers early in the morning whenever possible. This is when they are fully hydrated, helping to extend their vase life. Early evening is the next best time, but any time you need to cut your flowers will work.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host the Second Annual Northwest Iowa Parkinson’s Disease Conference on Thursday, Oct. 26, from noon to 5 p.m. at the Lakeshore Center at Okoboji in Milford.

It may seem a little bragadocious on my part — especially two weeks before MYFL championship weekend — but Spencer is going to be the sixth grade league champion this year.

Call it confident not cocky. Both Spencer teams are playing for the league title against one another.