Random thoughts from oldmcgyver

​This is in answer to ConnieB’s question “Which decade did I enjoy the most”?      That is a hard question to answer.  Short answer, all of them, they were wonderful times to be alive. I was born in June, 1939 in our house on a farm owned by Mr Tucker located on old route 127 South of St John’s. Dad was working his farm on shares. Two shares for dad doing the work and one share to Mr Tucker, the farm owner. I remember that dad said he liked it there and Mr Tucker was a good fair man to work for and with. I was born in June 1939 and Dad and Mom were preparing to move that summer to a farm that they purchased on Nims Rd at the intersection with Meridian Rd. I could say I helped dad and mom move that summer but I was probably more of a hindrance. Dad told me that after he got everything moved he walked to the back of the farm to look every thing over and thought “what have I done?  Before he moved he came down and planted oats and corn to have feed for the horses a...

​Why I Believe in Jesus Christ When I was young, I don’t think I could have told you that I believed in Jesus Christ. I was raised by good and loving parents who taught me right from wrong. My mom would talk about Jesus, but family discussions about church and God were not frequent in our home. My dad never went to church and my mom was a Christmas and Easter church goer. But I know they believed in Christ and every summer they would put me in Vacation Bible School. I would learn songs and have lessons focused on Jesus. And even though I didn’t know it at the time, I believe my young testimony of Christ started from that experience every summer.  As an adult, Rich and I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints as a young married couple. And my testimony of Christ blossomed from there. So now, I feel like I really can answer the question I was asked to speak about: Why do I believe in Jesus Christ? I could share reasons for my testimony for a very long time, but I don’t...

🌾 We Are the Generation That Isn’t Coming Back We didn’t have much. No smartphones to keep us busy. No internet to scroll through late at night. No endless toys lined up in our bedrooms. But somehow, we had everything. We had front porches where neighbors sat and talked until the stars came out. We had bikes that carried us across town until the streetlights reminded us it was time to go home. We had dinners where every seat was filled and no one reached for a phone—because there wasn’t one. We had parents who worked hard with their hands, who didn’t always say “I love you” out loud, but proved it in every meal, every repaired shoe, every light left on so we wouldn’t walk into a dark house. We are the generation of shared blankets, borrowed sugar, and front doors that were never locked. The generation of handwritten letters, of saving every penny, of fixing instead of throwing away. We didn’t measure happiness in things. We measured it in moments. And now, as we grow o...

Dino Potestio’s daughter Gege sent me a text to notify us that Dino passed away in June  His wife Mary a very good friend of Patti’s had passed away about two or so years ago.  Gege ask us for memories  so we put this together. Dino and Rich. (A short story - true life)     Dino and I met in San Francisco at the Army Base called The Presidio. I was back from a one year tour in Korea.       We became friends because of a shared back ground. Both farmers me from Michigan and Dino from Colorado - instant friends.  My family was dry land farmers and Dino’s family were irrigation farmers. We had enough in common that we clicked.  We shared a barracks room with 10 other guys and spent most of our free time together.         Patti and Mary met each other in high school in Mesa AZ. Patti was shy and Marry was very outgoing and they had some classes together in high school. Mary was very friendly she had many friends...

​    God is still writing your story, quit trying to steal the pen. trust the Author!      You can be a mirror to reflect Gods love for others.       Don’t complicate the gospel. We humans tend to create bylaws and sub-topics etc and suddenly we are so burdened with expectations that we can’t accomplish anything.       Don’t forget that maybe you are the lighthouse in someone else’s storm.      Obedience brings forth blessings, but exact obedience brings forth miracles.       When you can’t have what you choose, you just choose what you have.        Jesus told the story of the prodigal son to make a point:  Never mind what you’ve done, just come home.       More Nephi and less wifi

​     I was about ten when dad bought his first combine, it was a used one and I will delve into that in a minute or ten.      Prior to that (as far back as I can remember one of our neighbors, had what was known as a threshing machine). Back to that in a minute or five.      Dad had a machine called a binder, it was pulled by two horses and it would cut the grain close to the ground (oats in July and wheat in August).  It would cut the grain and bundle it and tie it with binder twine. When it had four bundles dad would kick a lever and drop the bundles to the ground. My brothers and I would go to each group and stand three bundles upright and lay the forth bundle across the top to protect from rain or dew.      Dad would make an appointment with the neighbor to bring his threshing machine and four or five neighbors would come to help with wagons and horses.  They would go to the field and load the bundles of grain to thei...