Category Archives: Columns

When dust was flying

June 5, 2021Columns, Farming, Susansusanmanzke

This column tells about 1989, a year when the rains failed to come.

Farmers continued to plant even though it was very dry. I tell how it felt riding through a dusty field as I worked the ground.

Perfect farm years are hard to find. Farmers continue to work rain or no rain. You never know when things will improve and rain will arrive.

In 1989, Bob and I ate a lot of dust but continued to work. It’s what we had to do to keep the farm.

It’s all about prayers

May 30, 2021Columns, Family, Farmingsusanmanzke

I was praying a lot in 1989. My dad was diagnosed with cancer and farming was the pits.

In that time, I wondered how many prayers we were allotted. This column recounts my thinking at that time.

Praying to win the lottery seems like a waste of time for a person praying and for God.

This weekend we commemorate those who have fallen in service to our country. Memorial Day weekend is a good time for prayers.

Naming our first two children

May 28, 2021Columns, Familysusanmanzke

In this column from 1989 I tell about naming Rob and Rebecca.

Rachel pops in with a question which leads to an answer that might make you giggle.

FYI: When we named Russell I thought he’d have the nickname Rusty, but no red hair for him–red hair skipped a generation as Russell’s son has the hair I wished for his daddy–Russell’s middle name is Charles which comes from my Dad is also Bob’s grandfather’s name.

Not to leave out our fourth child: Rachel Jo, the baby of the family, was named after my Grandma Jo.

A short flower garden video

May 23, 2021Columnssusanmanzke

These poppies won’t be around long. The first ones to blossom are already dropping their petals.

Today you can see them.

By next week most will be gone, leaving a confetti of orange.

Close at hand is this lovely iris.

I wish it would stay all summer, but it won’t be long before this iris will be a memory…and a photo.

Bob’s story

May 22, 2021Bob, Columns, Farmingsusanmanzke

My late husband had all kinds of things happen to him while farming, afterward he would recount them to me.

Some stories were about machinery breakdowns. This one concerned wild weather.

No matter what happened, Bob laughed. Even this time, when he almost bought-the-farm.

I continue to live on the farm. Though others work the ground, Bob’s heart and soul is still here on Sunnybook Farm.

Susan Manzke

Writer, Speaker, All-Around Good Person