Christmas

The Rahn family operates a centennial farm in northern Illinois that includes row crops, hay production, cattle feeding and a cow-calf herd.

One of my annual routines to kick off a new year is to replace our big family calendar that is posted in our mudroom and begin filling it out.

At the height of the Christmas giving season, the governors of Iowa and Nebraska, two largely rural, heavily agricultural states, chose to play Grinch by turning down tens of millions of federal food assistance dollars.

It has been a blessed Christmas season. The halls are decked, presents have been wrapped and you can hear Faron Young singing Christmas carols when you step in the backdoor of our house.

Santa Claus is as popular a figure in antique Christmas collectibles as he is in today’s decorations. Most are more festive than this papier-mâché figure.

The holidays are in full swing with all the hustle and bustle and seemingly endless to-do lists. You know what we need, besides more money, lower prices and an extra week before Christmas?

They say you never know what you have until it’s gone. I agree. My years as the resident barn owl at Wonderland Farms have taught me that many take what they have for granted.

The Christmas tree was a scrub cedar hacked from the edge of the woods that bordered the farm. Big-bulbed lights, strung in barber pole fashion, generated almost as much heat as the nearby woodstove.

Do you have fond memories of spending a winter day sliding down a snowy hill? Sledding is a pastime that has been around for a long time.

Toys have been used as advertising premiums for more than 100 years, from the cloth dolls that first appeared in the 19th century and baseball cards initially issued by tobacco companies to Cracker Jack prizes and more recent toys in cereal boxes or kids’ fast-food meals.

Wool season is here in northern Illinois. Those wool socks, wool blankets, sweaters, gloves and mittens are so comfortable. Wool is a remarkable natural fiber. The website www.americanwool.org has a lot of resources to help with wool promotion.

It’s been great so far this December to do chores without having to break the ice on the energy-free waterers we use here. Pretty much all fieldwork has been done by now around here.

‘Tis the season to give, so I gave the rams to the ewes. Now everybody’s happy. I should start lambing about mid-May. Hopefully we will have a lot of green vegetation to graze.

Some advertising icons have obvious connections to their brands, like Planters’ Mr. Peanut or the RCA Victor dog with his head tilted as he listens to a phonograph.

Looking back through past columns, I came across one that hits home 10 years after it was penned. I began: “You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.”