Camp Ruskamp

Our farm becomes "Camp Ruskamp" each summer when nieces and nephews come to visit.  This camp experience gives our extended family members a chance to learn about farm life and have camp style experiences.  We recently hosted our nieces and nephew Tabitha, Maria and Elijah. Our granddaughters, Ella and Harper, joined us for added fun on one of the afternoons.

Climbing hay bales-our hay is preserved in large, round bales rather than the
small, square bales our children climbed on when they were young.

Maria and Elijah surprised me when they told me they had never been beyond our house and fish pond.  We toured the feedlot via the Ranger to see how the cattle live.  A load of Synergy (modified wet distiller's grain) arrived as we drove around so we watched the product unload via a belt inside the trailer.  The tour continued to the barn where we assess cattle that might need treating and the kids met Tonja, the barn cat.   The kids learned how the cattle move through the low stress handling system as seen in this interview. We made plans to watch the movie "Temple Grandin" that evening with some of Steve's homemade popcorn.

Here are some of the other farm/camp activities the kids participated in:

Fishing-notice Elijah's fish in the bottom right corner.

Trampoline Jumping-our granddaughters made an afternoon visit.

Tractor rides-Maria rode along with Steve to box scrape pens.

Crop checks-Steve checks the corn as the kids enjoy
the stream running through the field.

Elijah loves to put puzzles together and found a dolphin
puzzle to work on with Steve.

 One of the reasons our nieces and nephew were with us was their parents were enjoying some time away for their 25th wedding anniversary.  The kids and I decided it would be fun to make a gift for their parents.  We decided to make a flag using wooden pallets.  My thought process led us to get four flags going using an assembly line process.   Tabitha stayed on task while the younger two fought over sweeping the shop.  This was a win/win project since Steve had his shop swept while we worked on the flags.  I hope their parents are pleased with this special gift!

The kids put on the final touches of paint and remove the tape!

Do you or your children have access to a farm to enjoy some of the experiences my extended family members have?  If not, I would encourage you to find a way to connect your kids to those of us growing your food.  If you have questions about how food is grown I would encourage you to talk to a farmer or rancher and using websites like CommonGround or FactsAboutBeef 

What is a farm/camp experience without animals to love on?  We aim to please and had three little kittens for these three kids to love on while they were there.  Yes, we will be looking for good homes for these kittens in the next month or so!

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature."  Anne Frank

Possibilities

Happy New Year!  Yes, even though the holiday celebrations are over I am still wishing each of you happiness throughout this New Year.

 I have always loved the beginning of a new year.  We are almost forced to reflect on where we’ve been and where we are going.  The crossing over from one year into another can give us the chance to think about possibilities. 

Each new day is full of possibilities.  One of the challenges in agriculture is
working with Mother Nature to do the best we can to care for the cattle.

Possibilities are hopes and dreams mixed with the reality of what will most likely happen in the future.  One of my favorite holiday movies revolves around a possibilities journal by a woman named Georgia. In the movie “The Last Holiday”  Georgia is diagnosed with three weeks to live.  She uses those three weeks to live out some of the possibilities she had been dreaming about.  I won’t spoil the ending if you’ve never seen the movie.  I will share that while the luxury hotel and fancy closes were nice they were not a substitute for family and friends.   I’ve never made a possibility book but I’ve been thinking about what I would put it in for 2015.  Here are just a few of my possibilities:

Family--We are going to add two grandchildren this year, possibly boys or girls or one of each.  We are possibly going to see Jeff in San Bartolo, Peru and Scott in Santa Barbara.  We will possibly meet Simone’s family while in CA.    I will possibly fill out my last FAFSA in 15 years as Kim journeys from her junior to senior year in college.

 

Ella is pointing to the cattle and telling
Steve what she sees.  Steve has been
helping her ID cattle by color markings.

Fitness--I will possibly lose a few pounds I gained over the holidays and maintain an exercise routine.  Yes, working on a farm helps but walking on the treadmill and cutting out the sugar do a lot to keep my energy level up.  I have used the “oh, the dryer must have shrunk my jeans” excuse before because I just didn’t want to admit what was really happening!

Farming--Steve has some possibilities in mind about putting some buildings up over some of our cattle pens.  We will possibly have the employees we need so that Steve and I can spend more time fulfilling other possibilities.   

Friends:  It is possible we will meet up with friends throughout the year for dining, dancing, or just hanging out together.  It is possible I will continue to build friendships with consumers as I advocate about what we do on our farm.  It is possible I will reach out to comfort a friend who is going through a difficult time or have the need to be comforted by a friend. 

Mom and Dad are smiling even though dad suffers with hip
pain and the disease of Alzheimer's.  We know time is an enemy
but in the meantime mom is doing a great job taking care of him.

 

Realizing that possibilities are all about change can be exciting and scary.  I have heard it said that in the bible the phrase “Be not afraid” is written in some form 365 times.  Every day this year we are called to be courageous.  I don’t know what possibilities this year will bring to you and I.  I know that there will be times when the cross is not be easy to embrace.  When they come perhaps this verse put to song by Matthew West will help:   

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”   Phillipians 4:13

God Bless You!

100 Years-The People

     It is quite a blessing to be part of a family that has taken care of the same farm for 100 years.  Steve’s great-grandfather, Lorenz Ruskamp, purchased land that included a house on February 27, 1914.  Lorenz and his wife, Elizabeth Kampschneider had five boys including Steve’s grandfather, Joseph.  Lorenz farmed northwest of Dodge where his son Lorenz Jr. has continued to pass the farm down through another branch of the Ruskamp tree.

Standing Left to Right:  Henry, Joseph, Frank, John and
Lorenz Jr.  Sitting are Lorenz Sr. and Elizabeth.  History
tells us that the boys died in the order they are standing in.

     When Joseph and Anna (GrosseRhode) Ruskamp moved to this farm in 1914 they had been married about 2 ½ years.  Maybe the farm was a wedding gift.  Joseph and Anna lived on the farm for 46 years raising thirteen children in a house with only one bathroom.  The four girls joined the Religious Order of the School Sisters of Saint Francis.  One of the boys became a Capuchin priest doing missionary work in Nicaragua.  Steve's dad, Francis, was the second youngest.  Francis and Ray are the only members of their family still living.

Front row left to right:  Roman, Jermain, Anna, Joseph, Anthony, Francis.
Middle row: Sr. Veronica, Sr. Elizabeth, Fr. Florian, Sr. Catherine and
Sr. Corrine.  Back row:  Adolph, Ray, Lawrence and William.

     According to the "Ruskamp Family History Book" Joe was one of the first farmers to have a tractor with steel wheels and the house was one of the first in the area to have electricity.  Steve and I saw some of that old wiring in the stairway going to the basement.  Joe was also an inventor and had patents on several items for water tanks and water tank valves.  

Joseph and Anna wed on October 18, 1911

     Joe and Anna died less than a year apart in 1958 and 1959.  Two of the boys, Roman and Lawrence, worked with their dad and continued farming the ground until Lawrence died in 1980.  Roman then married later in 1980 leaving the farm place empty.  That’s where Steve and I entered the picture.

     Steve and I were looking around the Snyder and Dodge area for a place to live when Roman asked Steve about living on this farm.  We took a look at the farm which had some great barns and a couple of cattle pens with wooden fence line bunks.  The house was in need of some serious repair but we knew that it would make a great home.

Emily is sitting in a swing in the front of the house.  We finished caulking and
painting the house in 1988.  We made shutters to accent the windows that
needed plastic inside and out during the winter!  The house faced east.

It wasn’t long after we were married in 1981 that we talked to Roman about buying the farm.  We started with the 40 acres the house and buildings were on.   We brought five babies home in the same house that Joseph and Anna raised their children in.  The house had many structural problems so we started construction on a new house in 1996 to the west of the old house.

Our family in 1996.  In the first row are Jeff and Kim. In the
middle row are Emily and Scott with Joan, Ginger and
Steve in the back row.

      We do not know if there will be another generation of Ruskamp's on our farm.  We do know that we will continue to care for it in a way that would make those who came before us proud.

Steve and I take a walk with our granddaughter, Ella, who loves to see the cattle.

Eternal Rest

Emily, Kim, Steve and I surround
Sr. Catherine at the convent in
Campbellsport, WI in May 2009.

Every person has an amazing story and unfortunately we don't always learn how special until we go to his/her funeral.  I would like to share with you the commentary that was read at the recent funeral of Steve's aunt, Sister Catherine Ruskamp.   We live on the farm our dear Sr. Catherine grew up on and lived in the same house she grew up in until our youngest was three.  She shared many stories with us about growing up here on her annual summer visits.  I hope you enjoy this peek into her life.

Sister Catherine Ruskamp
July 6,1919 - June 29, 2013
Commentary
Catherine was born on July, 6,1919, one of thirteen children of Joseph and Anna Gross-Rhode who lived on a farm between Dodge and Howells, NE. The family faithfully attended Sacred Heart Church and School in nearby Olean where the School Sisters taught. Their mother had wanted to be a nun, but was told by one of the sisters that it would be better if she married and then added, "I have a feeling that you will have daughters who will one day become sisters."

That seemed prophetic, so Anna married, and after having four boys, she prayed for a girl - and Catherine was the first. Her Mom dedicated her and those that followed to the Blessed Mother and prayed that they'd be given a religious vocation if that was God's will. The girls did not know that until much later. When Catherine was six months old, her one year old brother, Joseph, had serious blood poisoning in his leg; the doctor wanted to amputate. Again, Mom prayed and offered him to God as a missionary if he'd be cured. Little Joseph recovered and became a Capuchin missionary in Nicaragua for 51 years. Both parents had a deep life of faith and trust in God, and the children were caught up in it.

When Catherine was nine years old she took charge of her youngest brother who was mentally
challenged, but very affectionate and dearly loved. When unattended he'd wander off to play or sleep in unlikely places: the sow's pen, the tall cornfields, the back of the pick-up truck, the machine shed. The whole family would conduct a "search party". It was a sad day when, at the age of 22, he was the first of the family to die.

At the end of their school year in 1933 Catherine and Joseph approached their mother together and told her they wanted to enter religious life. They asked that "Ma tell Pa". Though Mom remembered her earlier prayer, it was a big sacrifice for both parents to make, especially when, in the space of four years, five children left home after eighth grade to prepare for religious life.

So it was that Catherine left home on August 26, 1933 to be an aspirant.

Catherine hoped to be a missionary someday like her brother. Father Florian - but not yet. After
reception in 1936, by then known as Sr. Alvina, she told Mother Corona she wanted to be a teacher. She completed her Bachelor's degree at Alverno College, and later went on to receive a Master's in Education at Fordham U. in N.Y. Her first teaching assignment was in the rural town of Pesotum, IL from which she says she "held vivid memories for a long time". Next she was sent east to Staten Island, NY, then back to the midwest to St. Alphonsus in Milwaukee, and finally west to Ralston, Nebraska, Denver, Colorado, and Earling, Iowa. Sometimes she was principal too. As the times and needs changed she asked to try other ministries. So she went to Detroit to do Parish Social Work for a year. Afterwards she taught and coordinated Religious Ed programs for seven years at the mainly Hispanic school of St. Therese in Aurora, IL. That was followed by a return to Colorado Springs and Omaha.

Catherine's desire to work in Latin America was fulfilled in the 70's when she was invited to participate in the Latin American Mission Program (LAMP). For five summers she and a sister companion accompanied students from Boylan H.S. in Rockford, IL to Mexico. There they catechized children for the sacraments in the poor villages. From 1989 to 1991 Catherine stayed in Guatemala doing missionary work. Upon returning to the States, she taught Spanish language classes in the LaFarge Lifelong Learning program.

Sr. Catherine had a very big smile, soft
voice and gentle laugh.  Her love was
genuine and humble.  She once said
she couldn't wait to die because 
heaven was going to be great!

In 1997 she was invited to come to Campbellsport to teach Spanish classes. She did not only that, but organized Bible classes and a weekly sing-a-long. She would also feed the disabled sisters, care for plants and flowers, and helped with other outdoor work. It relaxed her to work with nature and to sing. She wrote in her autobiography:
" I believe that the contemplation of God's gifts in nature draws a person closer to God. I firmly believe that the more love and joy one gives to others, the more love and joy we receive from
others."

Catherine, you have given that love and joy to us in this place and to all the many people of the two cultures whom you have served in your rich life of ministry. May God now bless you with eternal PEACE, LOVE AND JOY in your final resting place, and keep sharing with us who remain as we cherish our memories of you.
Adapted from Sr. Catherine's Autobiography by Sr. Barbara Jean Potthast

It's A Dog's Life

This Affenpinscher picture most resembles a slide in
college we used to learn dog breeds.  My friends said
the dog resembled my hair in the morning so we used
that hint to identify the slide!

The recent news that Banana Joe, an Affenpinscher, won the 2013  Westminster Kennel Club  Dog Show led me to thinking about dogs and the relationships we have with them. 

I have owned many dogs in my life.  When I was a child I would pester my parents until they would hopefully cave and let me have a puppy.  I didn’t know then that my job was to be the pack leader, not a buddy.  A few years ago I started watching Cesar Milan and realized there was much more to owning a dog than just feeding and petting them.

Over the past 31 years we have had several dogs.  I learned early on that living by a highway led to higher death loss for pets.  My first dog on the farm was found by me shortly after getting hit on the highway.  She had been missing for a few days. On my way to work at a vet clinic after four days of searching for her I saw something lying on the side of the road.  It was raining and the shoulder was muddy but something told me to pull over.  Sure enough it was my dog.  She was still alive so I picked her up, put her in my car and sped to town.  I called the vets as soon as I arrived and told them there was an emergency and to get to the clinic asap.  As I waited for the vet I just stroked the hair of my dog and cried because I knew her struggle to breathe was not a good sign.  When the vet arrived he confirmed it didn’t look good and within a few minutes she was gone.  That was the first of a few dogs that would meet their demise from the highway.  Although it was hard for me to lose a dog, it was much harder to watch the kids lose a pet.

After a few years without a dog our youngest child, Kim, started asking for one.  I said the only way we could have a dog was if it could live in the house to which Kim heartily agreed.  Now we had to work on Steve.  The four older children had lived by the “no dogs in the house” rule.  Would Steve cave for the youngest child?  Kim and I started doing our research to find the best house dog.

Kim and Zoe taking a nap.

We knew someone that had a Bichon Frise so we read more about the breed and learned that they don’t shed and they make great house pets.  That became our breed of choice so Kim went to work to win Steve over.   First, Kim put up signs all over the house of Bichon puppies.  My favorite picture was on our bathroom mirror where she put a Bichon with dots leading to a dream cloud of our family.  It took about a month and Steve gave us the go ahead to start looking for a Bichon puppy.

 

When we brought Zoe home she was to be Kim’s dog.  It didn’t take long to realize that this little pup was going to spend more time with me than anyone else.  I took her to the feedlot office with me during the day, which allowed her to go on walks and trips to town in the pickup.  Zoe quickly claimed a chair by a big window that allows her to see everyone who comes and goes at the feedlot.  If anyone sits in “her” chair she will sit and stare at them  as if that might make them want to move!

Zoe and I walking along Pen 6.

Many people ask me how we keep her so white on a farm.  Zoe has had her share of  baths because she is a wanna-be cattle dog.   She knows that the cattle won’t bother her as long as there is a wire fence between them.  When I walk pens in the morning she likes to walk along the bunk line and keep track of me.   

 

One of Zoe's favorite things to do is to pop her head up
to see where I am in the pen of cattle.

I am still working on my pack leader skills.  I don’t know why but I seem to have the most difficulty in mastering that skill.  Everyone else seems to be able to ignore her little pleas for food from the table or her nuzzles for little puffs of popcorn.  I do know that I enjoy her as a companion animal.  She is not my child nor is she an animal I am raising to eat.  My emotions might lead me to treat her like a child but my head reminds me that God gave us pets to get a glimpse of the unconditional love He has for us.