Albin news Nov 15, 2010

Albin News Readers,

It's been a slow news week in the community of Albin. After the late warm fall we've been having winter finally gave us our first snow! It was a beautiful put-the-wheat-to-bed blanket of wet snow that had the roads slick at night and sloppy in the day. The ground hasn't froze yet so most of this moisture should be around for next spring. We're now past the time change now too so there it plenty of time in the evenings to get together and enjoy the season.

To kick off the season of get-togethers, the Albin Community Center hosted it's second “Albin's Got Talent” community talent show. There were 18 wildly diverse talents on display this year. There was a little cowboy song and dance from last year's winner Tony Childers (Take Me Out to the Pasture to the tune of Take Me Out to the Ballgame), Diane Lerwick showed her geek streak by solving a rubic's cube in under six minutes, Caleb Anderson hammered out a daring drum solo, Brad Lundberg played his trumpet, and all the participants sang “God Bless America” at the end. The winners this year were Dean Anderson and Justin McCoy who played a couple blues harp duets. They showed real talent! Honorable mention had to go to the skit performed by Jill Lerwick, Sandra Anderson, Heather Lerwick, and Shawnae Branigan. The foursome replayed the harrowing tale of “Me and Earl” hauling a trailer load of “USDA grade 'A' cluckers” down Wolf Creek Pass. A good time was had by all.

There are also several more evening activities to announce this week. There is also adult volleyball at the community center on Tuesday nights and may be Thursday night basketball starting in December. More details to follow on the basketball. Also, Albin is in need of more volunteer EMTs. There are currently four in the community but I'm sure some of them wouldn't mind a break. If anyone is interested in training to become an EMT, contact Shannon Weller at 245-3400. You can also talk to our current EMTs Robyn Whitehead, Dean Anderson, Ed Allen or Kary Deselms. Evening classes will be two days a week starting in January. The class is still awaiting approval at the state level so I'll try make an announcement again later if it's a for sure thing.

The Boyce-Marlatt Chapter of American Legion Auxiliary met November 10 with five members present: Kathy Olson, Mary Kay Romsa, Elaine Perrault, Bertha Sandberg and Joann Hays. Wanda Carpenter of Pine Bluffs was awarded a certificate for 60 years of Auxiliary membership. $35 was donated to the community center for Christmas treats and $100 was donated to the Cheyenne Veterans Hospital for their project Christmas Year Round – this money is used during the year for holidays and birthdays. The next meeting will be Wednesday December 8 with guest Sheri Best, District President.

Here's the latest on Tim from Dixie:

“Today, our church had its Thanksgiving Service and Potluck.  During praise time, several spoke and those  who spoke of Tim were so precious and encouraging.  Tim raised his hand to speak..."I'm thankful to be alive, thank you for praying and keep praying!"  He was very excited to have his jeans on--we will work on his belt, buckle, and boots soon! He had very good therapy sessions both days--able to sit in an armless chair, bend left knee up and half-way down, then I could push it on down to the floor, spit better when brushing teeth, bend left arm more, learning how to whisper, and his attitude continues to be very positive.  His patience with us gives us encouragement and laughter!!  I've heard about and will be finding the book by Kerry and Chris Shook, Love at Last Sight.  It talks about having relationships develop and get better and better everytime you talk or see someone because you never know if it may be the last sight--More on the book after I read it (many of you are laughing right now when you read that I am reading a book!) We hope each and every one of you are planning a great Thanksgiving and you make a gratitude list!  We love you !”

I got to visit Tim this week and it was good to see that he's still Tim! He hasn't lost his sense of humor or competitive flair.

Here's the latest from Cindi on Garrett's condition:

Wow! Where to begin. OT (occupational therapy) started working with Garrett. Mon OT wrote numbers and words on a piece of paper, which G either showed the numbers on his fingers or pointed at (ear, nose, knee). G did curls and other stuff with a 4# weight and he spelt his name in sign lang. On Tue G went down to the gym. He sat at a table with about 7 objects. He found the flashlight and tried to it on (it was a trick, the flashlight had no batteries) - found the brush and brushed his hair, found the hammer and tapped it on the table. Was given pencil and paper but could not write his name. Oh well, that's OK. We don't want to do everything all at once - have to stretch it out!!!
Speech showed G 2 pictures and he pointed to the correct one every time. Still working on swallow. He has a strong swallow, it's the control of the tongue we are working on. She has also started working with voice. There was one PM I was washing my juicer and I could have swore I heard him say MOM. So I started talking to him. Went over to the bed and asked him if he said MOM or if he was just clearing his throat - nodded his head at MOM. Thank you Jesus even though he has not done it since then. The way I look at it - once is better than nothing!
PT, also at the gym, stood G up at the parallel bars then sat down. Did that twice. Now I am not saying that G STOOD up at the parallel bars, but they HELPED him. They actually did most of the work, BUT they could feel G trying to help. (If that makes sense.) They also put his feet on bicycle pedals, which he did do all by himself. OK only half of the rotation since his L side does not work. PT also put him a wheelchair. Talk about dying and going to Heaven. I'll take the wheelchair over the recliner chair any day. Just a little push and he'll roll right away from you. Today, in fact, he dropped his R hand, put it on the wheel, and was helping me. (Kind of - I was going faster than his hand was moving - we would still be out there if I waited for him!)
Talk about bursting a bubble -- come in from outside, G gave no indication if he wanted the radio or TV, so there was nothing. He was sitting there quietly and I was busy with something. A nurse came in and said something about entertaining him - what - entertain him - now I have to think! Went to Walmart and got a couple of little things. Ask him if he wants to play a game - nods head. By the time I raise him in bed and get him situated, he falls asleep on me. Now what does that tell you?
Told you last week that the nurses were telling me that G's status was changed from sub-acute to acute rehab. Well that must be true. Ripley came to re-evaluate. Have had a visit from Spalding and Craig liaisons. Scott came to Denver on Fri so we could tour. It matters not where we go because God is doing the healing - but what would you pick - 4 wks or 60 days? So, Monday we will be leaving for Craig. What to pray for #1 transition to Craig will go smooth. Mon we will move, then the next couple of days will be evaluating. #2 G can STILL walk out of Kindred and push his mother in the wheelchair! #3 L side movement #4 voice.
God is so amazing and ever so present. I praise Him for His sovereignty, love, wisdom, power . . . I trust Him with the 'whatevers'. Deuteronomy 29:29 31:6 Psalm 62:7-8, 11-12 Proverbs 16:9 Psalm 121 

In ag news this week, the commodity markets do seem to be cooling off for the time being. We are five months away from spring planting though so there is a lot of story left to tell on this acreage battle. There is a NASS report out in January that will tally the planted winter wheat acres. In 2008, it was this report that sparked the huge bull run that ran wheat up to $13.00/bu! With the late fall we've had, and wheat prices staying strong through wheat planting time, it's hard for me to believe that there won't be plenty of winter wheat planted this year.

Albin News Nov 8, 2010

Albin News Readers,

I would like to announce the beginning of the Wyoming Wind Festival in the Albin area lasting from now through May. Attendance is mandatory but admission is free. Pull out your carharts, put on the coffee, check out Pam's new quilt shop, take lunch at the cafe, whatever you have to do to enjoy the season. A couple of quotes from old cowboy songs come to mind: “The Wyoming wind, how it raps and it rattles, it blows the old road shut and chills to the bone” and “the wind whipped the granite above me, blew the tumbleweeds clean through my soul!”

Despite all the rapping and rattling, the wind somehow has a subtle cleansing affect that is usually only appreciated by those absent from it. Another quote from “Wyoming on my mind” goes like this: “..... and when those cleansin' winds would blow, I recall almost exactly how it felt: like my sins were all forgiven and my soul was minglin' with the rock of time.” Maybe the best way to deal with the wind is to step into its current, face it head on, then start walking. A walk in the winter wind can do a lot of good. In the sports world they call it resistance training!

In community news, the benefit dinner/auction for Garret is December 12^th, not November 12^th as I incorrectly reported last week. Instead of a Friday, it's a on a Sunday at noon. Once again it's at the Rendezvous Center in the Torrington Fair Grounds.

The cafe was closed Monday and Tuesday last week because Jan Rundell was in Nebraska watching her grandson Christopher Randall play football for Nebraska Westlyan. Christopher is a junior kicker for the team. Nebraska Westlyan won the game over Doane University by a score of 12 to 13. Jan stayed at Jeff and Don's one night to get her grandchild fix then reopened the cafe Wednesday for lunch.

The Boyce-Marlatt Legion Auxiliary met October 30. Guests were Pam Acosta, Chapter President of Legion Auxiliary, Dora Jone and Alice Norfleet all of Cheyenne Unit # 6. Albin members attending were Doris Sorensen, Sherri Sorensen, Jeannette Bishop, Bertha Sandberg and Mary Kay Romsa. Plans were discussed for the coming year. The next meeting will be at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 10. Bring items to be donated to the veterans at the Cheyenne hospital: puzzles, 2011 calendars, fountain pens, small soaps, gloves, large toothpaste, hats, puzzles, and pocket books.

Here is the latest from Dixie on Tim's progress:

“Tim worked really hard in his therapy sessions---and he is able to lift his left leg and move his left arm a bit now! PTL!!   He is holding his neck and head straighter and stronger and we know that will help him walk soon! We worked a group a cow and calves on Saturday and he tells everyone he so badly wants to walk and work!! Part of goal-setting is saying over and over what the goal is!!  So good to be in church with family and friends--favorite day of the week! We are excited for the upcoming week--even if the snow is coming!  Continue to pray for Tim's strength and movement, and please add my sister, Shena, in your prayers--the cancer road is really rough and bumpy this week!  We ask God for a miracle with her!  God Bless!”

Traci had this to say about her son Garrett:

For about a week, G has wanted his trach out. He would hook a finger or two around the strap that goes around his neck. Wed when we were outside, I had a friend visit. It was 'kind of' mentioned that if he wanted the trach out, he could do it himself. It was suggested that he put his fingers under the gauze. . . I told him to wait till I shut TV off (and preferably asleep). Yes, he was listening, while in the shower, I thought I could hear him cough. When I shut the water off, I could really hear him coughing, stuck my head out the door, and G had a death grip on the trach. I could not pry his fingers off - HELP. Poor Respiratory if they didn't have quite the sight when they walked into the room!!! He had pulled the gauze off and RT could not find the cap to the trach. I told them to check his hand and sure enough there it was. (He has pulled the cap off before.) I told him to wait till tomorrow so we could talk to Speech and he gave me a thumbs up. Long story short, he is decannulated - trach out. Where the trach is, there are no stitches or anything. They just cover it with a piece of gauze and in a couple of days, it is healed. Fri outside I took the gauze off so the fresh air and sun could do their healing affects and that night G pulled the gauze off. I guess he knows when enough is enough!
Fri he was negative for C-diff. While outside they cleaned his (our) room so we did not have to move. T-h-a-n-k Y-o-u Jesus! I did have to go and wash all my stuff though.
G is not talking but he really wants to. Thurs PM he was looking at me, mouth just a moving, and a strain in his eyes. Thumbs up if you are in pain - nothing. Thumbs up if you are trying to talk - thumbs up. I put my hand on his face and told him not to worry about it - it would come. Ever since the ABC's his hand will be very active. It's kind of like a baby who first starts to talk - you are trying to guess what it is saying. Well with G kind of the same thing -- T. . . D. . . N-M. . . (OK son I need a vowel!) He wants to communicate so bad but just not there yet.
Was flipping through the channels tonight and came across a BB game. Asked him if he wanted to watch BB - his thumb went up so fast. He wanted Denver and I was for Dallas (I think - who knows - who cares). I lost. I believe that 'sharing' my TV will be more and more. What he does not know - when he shuts his eyes, I can turn the channel!!  :)
Thank God for friends. Two friends from Laramie came today and of course he was showing off. I was so pleased and I know that it was good for G. They were telling stories and laughing AND G got a big ole half smile on his face. Very obvious! We even believe he was laughing because you could hear 'sound' periodically. Laughter is a good healer. Thank you Sarah and Becky - he sure does love you both as he showed you more than once today. (I had to keep my eye on them!) Actually, I didn't want them to leave and what was really neat, he knew exactly what they were saying.”

In ag news, it's the time of year when farmers must sharpen their pencils. There's a battle about to be waged over which crops get planted on the one thing we aren't making any more of - land. With the price of corn and wheat staying high, companies that want farmers to raise dry beans, sunflowers, hay, sugar beets, millet, barley, etc are going to have to pony up. Meanwhile, the farmers have to know what it costs to raise this respective crops and try to figure out what returns the most dollars per acres to the land. With the prices for seed, fertilizer, chemical, utilities, and rent all moving around, this can be tricky to do. This is where those math classes start paying off!

Last week I said that this acres war would only happen if corn prices held through next spring. The latest crop production report was just released and was about as expected. However it was still bullish (caused the markets to rise) because they once again lowered the expected corn and soybean crops. The corn crop is now projected at 12.5 billion bushels down from 13.2 billion bushels last year. The next crop production report is scheduled for December 10. At this point most of the corn is harvested and the yield picture is pretty clear.

With the supply side of the equation pretty well known, the wild card now becomes the demand side. Hopefully the speculation on what the price should be will settle down a little bit! As reported last week, domestic demand could weaken if the ethanol's blender's credit or “VEETC” isn't renewed or is implemented at a lower or flexible rate. Given the fact that this is a subsidy and energy prices are so high, my guess is that legislators will be under a lot of pressure to change or eliminate VEETC and the price of corn will adjust accordingly.

Besides the domestic demand, this market is very much affected by world demand, more specifically China. China is the second largest producer of corn behind the US, producing roughly half what the US does. However, despite having a good corn growing year, their domestic demand has outpaced this year's production. This begs the question; what would happen if there was a dip in corn production next year? Since most corn becomes animal feed, I think it's pretty clear that people would have to pay more to eat meat or eat less of it.

What this all boils down to in my opinion is that the corn price is going to go the way of the global economy. It's two biggest markets are for energy and animal feed, both of which will lose demand in a slowing economy and gain demand in a growing economy. It will be interesting to see in the coming months how much corn gets exported or turned into ethanol at the current price levels.