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Show N 5 WS ence Obtaining in There and Back Again Shirlene R. Ottesen Here on our farm, the fields are a consistent witness of the steady passage of time. Grain fields that were green only a few weeks ago are now a light yellow color and will soon turn to a deep gold. The second crop of hay is ready to be cut again and the corn keeps stretching upward. Precious irrigation water flows down the many ditches throughout the area giving life whereas, if it were not so, everything would be lifeless and brown. The . surrounding mountains are now barren of any snow. Oh, I suppose there is probably some on the back of Mt. Timpanogos, but not where we can see it from the valley. I liked that little cold spell we had a . few weeks ago when we got snow about half way down on the mountains. Well, today is Independence Day. Happy birthday, America! July 4, 1776 is such a significant date in the history of this nation. Because it happened over 200 years ago, I wonder if we truly appreciate what these early settlers did for us. Of course, America had been discovered much earlier by Columbus and then the pilgrims landed in Massachusetts in 1620.1 can't : Spanish Fork Covering what waiters most remember my history lessons of all the happenings between 1620 and 1776 except there were many explorers coming from other countries trying to • acquire land for their country. It must have been an exciting time to find a new, sparsely inhabited land mass and be the first ones to find out what was here. I'm not very adventurous, so quite frankly, I'm glad I wasn't here at that time. I'm grateful that I came when I did. I am amazed that some of the residents of this wonderful nation do not know what Independence Day represents. Have you watched some of the late night talk shows when ask, "From which country did our nation win it's independence?" And they give the most ridiculous answers. Friction between the American colonies and Britain had been building for more than 10 years before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The colonies had asked Britain to let them have a larger role in making decisions that affected them, especially in the area of taxation. When that request was denied, angry colonists boarded British ships in the Boston Harbor in 1773 and dumped their cargoes of tea overboard. It became known as the infamous Boston Tea Party. Then Parliament passed a series of laws to punish Massachusetts. It was : then that the colonists united against what they called, "Intolerable Acts." The first Continental Congress convened in 1774 and it was a lengthy and troublesome process that the delegates went through before agreements were reached and the final draft was completed. There were 56 members of the Continental Congress that signed this important document. I'm sure that you've heard these familiar words before, but here are the words to The Preamble: "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume the' powers of the earth, the' separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the. opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Such powerful words have blessed the people of this country since that time. Is our country perfect? WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2007 • A3 Freeze: From COOKING • A2 Namon Bills/SF News PLEDGE: Our flag waves valiantly in the breeze. Absolutely not, but it's the best there is. This country, or any country, will only be as good as it's populace. May we take our citizenship seriously and may our hearts be filled with gratitude for the privilege of calling it "home." • Instead of a parting thought this week, I want to share a good joke with you. This was in one of the farm magazines that we get. You cowboys out there will like this one. A cowboy walked into the tack shop. "How much for a pair of spurs?" he asked the sales clerk. "Forty dollars." The cowboy looked in his wallet, thought for a moment, then pulled out a twenty. "I'll take one spur." "What'll you do with just one?" the clerk asked. The cowboy replied, "I rigger if I can get one side of the horse movin\ the other side'll go too." before, take the meat and tortillas out of the freezer and put them in the fridge to thaw. When everybody comes home for dinner, all you have to do is dice up a tomato, throw the meat into the microwave and set the table with your favorite condiments and presto! dinner is ready. And it tastes good. Think about what your family likes and see what can be prepared ahead of time. Soups and chili freeze well too. There are two ways to go about getting meals prepared ahead of time. One way is to make double or triple the amount of whatever you are making for dinner at the time and just freeze the other , portions for another day when you really, really don't want to cook. The other way is to take a Saturday afternoon, a list of what you want to eat all week long and then just get cookin'. There are actually many people who do this and if you think about it, it's just plain smart. You can either cook for only three to four hours on a Saturday versus a half an hour or an hour every night. You also only have to clean up one cooking mess on Saturday, or you will end up cleaning a cooking mess every night. And if you think about it, you use a lot of the same pans and utensils and cook a lot of the same stuff for every meal. For an example, if you are going to have sloppy joes one night, tacos the next and spaghetti after that, then you can cook three pounds of hamburger all at once. One pan, one clean up, same amount of time and it is quick and easy. . One last thought. I know that you have seen those premade diet meals that you can receive in the mail for a week, or month, at a time. The diet program works because you don't have to cook (snack), they are controlled portions and you don't have to worry about cleaning up (eating the leftovers). If you want to lose weight, it is certainly cheaper to make your own pre-prepared meals than to spend $300 a month for each per person. Just a thought. Your source for public opinion: The Spanish Fork News Covering what matters most RED ROCK THANKS FOR yOUR VOTE. WE ENJOY SERVING YOUR FAMILIES. ADAM N LEE DDS MS ORTHODONTIST jC-'tvV-^o-^W^'- - •-"-3 |