Starting a new year

By Rennie Phillips

Well we have made it another year and we're starting a new one. Looking back on it, last year was pretty good. I had some good things happen, and there were some sad things as well. But that's life, isn't it?

I made some new friends, but lost some as well. I had a couple gardening buddies pass away, which was a bummer. I miss them. But at the same time, I've been meeting some gardeners who want to learn some new ways of growing tomatoes, which is one of my favorite crops.

I enjoyed the Christmas season and the family as we gathered, visited and ate together. My wife was off a few days, so we enjoyed the time together. It was kind of a preview of the days ahead, when she retires for good and we spend day after day together. Some wonder how we will be able to handle both of us not working and being together. I'm looking forward to her being off and free to go and do as we please. The only problem we probably will have is she will want to go south to warmer weather, and I'll want to go north to ice fish and do some snow stuff. I always enjoyed ice fishing when we lived in Nebraska. I always spent the first of January ice fishing.

When Marge is off we like to eat in home, but we also like to eat out. We seldom go to the big restaurants along the Interstate, but we decided to do that over the break. Marge had a pork chop and I had catfish. It was really good food, but what stood out was the young man who waited on us. Then we drove down to Sikeston, Missouri, to visit her mom and we ate at one of the steak houses down there. I always have the teriyaki chicken and food bar. Since we raise our own beef, we almost never get a steak at a restaurant. It's always good food, but again, it was the waitress who made it even better. Both of them deserve a raise.

Usually around the first of the year we start getting gardening catalogs, and we have really been getting them. Some I use and others I kind of look at. Some are very specific and focus on particular items. One focuses on flower bulbs. It sure is a pretty catalog. One has about everything in it, but the main focus is on beans. Beans take a lot of work here in Missouri with weeds the way they are. One focuses on onions and how to choose the right varieties, and then how to grow enormous onions. Weeds are a problem with onions as well.

The internet has really changed how I shop for gardening seeds and supplies. I'm on several Facebook sites where the focus is on growing tomatoes, and it seems like everyone has their own favorite variety of tomato. So I start my list of tomato varieties I want to grow this summer and a list of those I'd like to try. Some are varieties I go back to year after year. Jet Star, Big Beef and Celebrity are the varieties I depend on, so they are at the top of the list. Then comes varieties like Kellogg's, Dr. Wyche, Mr. Stripey and Stupice. I always pick a couple to try. This year the one I'm curious about is the Lucid Gen Tomato. It's smaller, with an average size of 5 ounces, but supposed to be real sweet. We'll see.

Usually around the end of the year or first of the new year Marge does some shopping for bargains. She usually looks for clothes for both of us. For me, she looks for dress shirts or flannel shirts. I wear a size between a 2X and a 3X. A 2X just isn't quite big enough, but most 3Xs are huge. I wear bibs, so those are pretty easy to get. Seems like clothes for her are a little harder to find and choose. The color and how it fits and how it looks all matter. Most of the time I wear what's comfortable, regardless of the color.

I always think about what I'd like to do different this new year or change for the better, and most are pretty generic in nature. I'd like to go to church more often. Seems like stuff gets in the road and we miss going. Just last Sunday we needed to take care of our steers because it was so cold. Marge helped me, but it was noon when we finished. We need to have our boys and their families up more often. Our one son has a hankering to roast a whole hog. It would be fun. I find about a 50- to 60-pound hog and roast it whole. I invite some of our friends down and play horseshoes, Frisbee golf or sit and visit.

I'd like to have a more positive attitude about everything and everybody. It's pretty easy to get depressed and down when a lot of what we read, hear or see is negative. Joel Osteen commented in one of his messages that we don't need that negativity in our lives. I agree. One of my "want to dos" is to weed out those who are continually down, gripe or discouraging, whether it be people, news programs or Facebook stuff. A daily dose of the Bible will help, as well as a Sunday dose of church.

I'd like to lose weight, but that's easier said than done. My plans are to eat more veggies and less prepackaged foods from the store. I also would like to encourage families to start gardening and growing some veggies. It's neat when a new gardener is excited about goodies from his own garden.

Don't forget your friends. It doesn't take long to give them a call or drop by to visit. It might be the time to make friends of a four-legged variety, such as a cat or dog. Drop by the shelter and check out what they have for adoption. It might be one of the best decisions you make this new year.

Have a great year.