•••••SEPTEMBER 21, 2022••••• Ottumwa Publishing Postal Customer 641-208-5505 ottumwapost.com
“I’ll be fine,” I told her, then gave her a rub on the head. “Let’s go inside and get breakfast.”
idea. “Look, I’ve ridden longer distances in much colder temperatures than this,” I assured her.
I finally got the zipper closed on my right leg, then fastened the snaps by my ankle. Next, I
PellaHealth.org/RequestAnAppointment
PAGE 2 SAVE OTTUMWA POST SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
Brittney attended Allen College in Waterloo, IA earning her Masters of Science in Nursing and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with an emphasis in rural and under-served
(Just the Other Day cont’d on pg 3)
Eggs Benedict
“I know. It’s a bit cold now, but when the sun rises; it will be a nice day.” Nova was not con vinced this was a good
Welcome!
Pella Regional Medical Clinic she has worked for 14 years as a registered nurse in settings including a hospital Medical/Surgical Unit, Emergency Department and Inpatient Hospice.
Priorpopulations.tojoining
To schedule an appointment with Brittney Jansen, ARNP, NP-C visit
“But weren’t you in your twenties then,” she tried to reason. I gave her a scathing look.
The air felt cold when I stepped outside in the early morning; it was forty-nine degrees. A chill ran up my back as I walked the dog in my pajama pants and a short sleeve T-shirt. I noticed the tarp cover ing my motorcycle in the driveway had blown off overnight. Hence, Nova Mae and I replaced it. Before returning to the house, I turned around, removing the tarp again. “Why’d you take it back off, Dad,” my dog asked.
“I have to leave soon for a dentist appointment in Duluth. I’m going to ride my bike into town,” I told her. The dog looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
Brittney Jansen, ARNP, NP-C
I fed the dog, then poured a bowl of Cheerios for myself. I had already brushed and flossed my teeth. I didn’t want to mess them up before the dentist appointment, so I poured the Cheerios back into the box. “I’ll go get breakfast after the appointment.” I got Novadressed.met me at the front door as I put on my riding gear. I was strug gling with the zipper on my chaps. “Are you sure this is a good idea,” she asked again.
Brittney Jansen, ARNP, NP-C is welcoming new patients at Pella Regional Medical Clinic in Ottumwa.
“I’m sure,” I replied. “When I was younger, I didn’t even have chaps.”
to the bathroom.” I un fastened the belt on my chaps and lowered them just enough to reach into my pocket for the keys. I had to reconnect the buckle by feeling be cause I could not see my waist below my jacket with my helmet on.
County has over 500 active warrants. War rant Wednesday’s are designed to help law enforce ment locate wanted persons, with the public’s help. Do NOT attempt to apprehend these individuals. Instead, call the Ottumwa Police Department at (641) 683-0661 or Wapello County Sheriff’s Depart ment at (641) 684-4350 if you have any information on their whereabouts. Your tips can be made anonymously.Warrant Wednesday Name: Charles Ray Allen DOB: 07/21/1969 Warrant Issued: 08/31/2022 Warrant Details: Failure to AppearOriginal Charges: Driving While Barred & OWI 1st Name: Marcus Malaki Campbell DOB: 06/30/2002 Warrant Issued: 09/16/2022 Warrant Details: Operate Motor Vehicle Without Owner’s Consent Name: Timothy Austin Little DOB: 11/09/1993 Warrant Issued: 09/02/2022 Warrant Details: Violation of ProbationOriginal Charge: Possession of a Controlled Substance Name: Samantha Rose Iseton DOB: 08/10/1995 Warrant Issued: 09/14/2022 Warrant Details: Failure to AppearOriginal Charge: Theft 3rd Degree (Just the Other Day cont’d from pg 2) (Just the Other Day cont’d on pg 6)
Withthem.)my
SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 SAVE OTTUMWA POST •OTTUMWAPOST.COM PAGE 3
I felt like the little kid whose mom just got him all bundled up in a snow suit to go sledding, then announced, “I have to go
Wapello
secured,
tight
started working on the other leg. Cautiously, I confided in my trusty ca nine, “I’m going to have to lose some weight or get different chaps. Good Lord!” (The chaps were too when I bought chaps I pulled on my leather mo torcycle jacket. I zipped the zippers, snapped the snaps, and buckled the buckles. Finally, I put on my helmet and was ready to go. “Darn it,” I blurted out. Nova looked at me, wondering what the matter was. “The keys to the bike are in my front pocket.”
I was fully dressed again, with the keys in my hand. I tried to bend over to give Nova a rub on the head. But now I felt like Ralphie’s little brother in the Christmas story. I could barely move my arms and worried that if I tried to bend down, I might fall over. If that happened, there was a real possibility of being unable to get back up. I lifted the face shield on my helmet, “I’ll see you later this afternoon, Nova Mae. Be good.”
PAGE 4 SAVE OTTUMWA POST SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
Bucks prefer to rub their antlers on trees that have been pur chased and planted rather than the native trees that cost noth ing. Though I planted northern pecans, which are supposed to be winter hardy, one especially cold winter killed many of the trees. I have yet to see a deer browse
At the same time, I picked up a bucket of walnuts that had fallen off a tree in our yard. When the soil was moist in the fall, I walked random ly about the pasture, dropping walnuts, and driving them into the ground with a quick smack from a hammer. I thought a few of them might grow. Knowing there is not much of a mar ket for walnuts, I was planting them mostly for food for deer and
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were driving through the pecan forest, which is now down to seven trees. For the first time ever, we saw nuts growing
towering trees at ran dom places all over the farm. They all seem to be produc ing walnuts as though they are a cash crop. Though there is little market for walnuts, wildlife will enjoy them and in another twenty or thirty years, I can harvest the lum ber.
turkeys.As the years rolled by, I watched my nut forest grow.
As for the pe can venture, I would call it pretty much a failure. I think I will be lucky to live long enough to see any of the trees realize full production, if the trees themselves live that long. I do not think becoming a pe can farmer in my old age is a realistic goal at this point.
On the first year, more than half of the pecans lived and started to grow. I think every walnut I hammered into the ground sprouted, took root, and flour ished. As the pecan trees grew a little larger, deer would stop by and eat the top leaves and the bucks would rub their antlers on them. If the bark is rubbed off a tree all the way around, it will kill it.
Pecan Farming
Twenty-nine years ago, I decided to plant a bunch of pecan trees. They would not only pro vide cover and food for wildlife, but they might also grow a cash crop in my old age. I bought two hundred, one-foot-tall bare root trees and set about making my pecan forest. With great care, the little trees were carefully planted in rows in an area protected from livestock. I was told, it would take three to five years before they would start producing nuts.
on a walnut tree or rub its antlers on one to the point of destroying it. An oc casional drought year has further dimin ished our numbers of trees planted on the more marginal soil.
on one of the big ger pecan trees. We counted five nuts. Yesterday, checking on their progress, we found that we are down to three pecan nuts among our seven surviving pecan trees. I have since learned, almost everything likes to eat pecans, either before or after they dry and fall from the tree. Wood ducks, raccoons, deer, tur key, and squirrels are just some of the ani mals that will go out of their way to eat my pecans. I will feel for tunate if my wife and I have one nut left to split by the end of the season.The walnut trees though, have been doing remark ably well. There are
SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 SAVE OTTUMWA POST •OTTUMWAPOST.COM PAGE 5
The motor fired right up. The bike’s sound, the exhaust, and steam from the tail pipes, took me right back to my junior year of high school in my parent’s driveway; on a chilly fall morning, head ing for school. I felt very warm again. It’s funny how sounds and smells can be such a powerful memory trigger. I put the kickstand up, pulled the clutch, and shifted the bike into first gear. I rode out of the driveway giv ing Nova Mae two toots on the horn.
Another twenty miles down the road, my body and legs were warm, and my left hand was doing okay, but my right hand was cold on the throttle. When I got to the den tist’s office, it was really Icold.took
“I like Eggs Benedict,” she replied.
off my helmet and chaps in the parking lot, leaving them on the bike; I wore my jacket inside. After checking in at the desk, I sat on my cold hands in a chair. I had to unzip my coat a little more as I was getting too warm. Just then, a bulb lit up over my head. “My chest is warm.” I crossed my arms, tucking my hands deep inside my coat and under my arms. “Ah, that’s nice.”
Erinwith?”smiled, “Eggs Benedict is served over English Muffins. Unfor tunately, it doesn’t come with toast.”
“Mywondered.bodywas
I was considering chang ing my order to two pancakes on the side. Just then, four-inch Nova Mae reappeared. “Big ger chaps, Dad,” she “Gotaunted.toyour kennel,” I “Pardonmuttered.me,” Erin said.
“Probably not.” I paused, then confessed. “It’s the name, Benedict. I think of Benedict Arnold ev ery time I see them on a menu. The color of the hollandaise sauce reminds me of what a yellow-bellied turncoat he turned out to be. Now that I’ve tried them, I feel like a traitor who’s betrayed my beloved big breakfast of eggs, meat, toast, and pancakes.” We shared a good laugh about that. I finally admit ted, “They were okay, but there are entrees I like better that I would order instead.” We said our farewells, and I was on my Passingway.
“Oh, I didn’t know that. I’ve never had them,” I said. “Let’s skip the toast. Instead, I’ll have one pancake on the side.” Erin repeated my order, then asked if that would be all.
“Wait a minute,” I stopped Erin. “Let’s switch that to Eggs Benedict. What kind of toast does that come
“How did you like the Eggs Benedict,” she “Theyasked.were okay,” I an “Willswered.you order them again,” Erin inquired.
Erin came to the table (for the fourth time). “Have you had enough time to decide yet?”
through Two Harbors, going home, my hands started to feel cold again. “I’ve got to get warmer gloves for riding this Novafall.”can hear my mo torcycle coming when I’m still a half mile away from home. She greets me when I walk through the front door. I took off all my riding leathers, then gave hugs and love to my dog. She was excited to see me, but when I rubbed her warm tummy with my icy-cold hands, she jumped up on the couch, curling up next to her “Comemom.back here, Nova,” I “Nosaid.way,” the dog an swered. “Your hands are “You’refreezing!”dissing me for having cold hands? Okay fine, dog. But you’re act ing like my eggs, Bene dict!”
spectacle it would cre ate if I tried to put on my chaps in front of the big lobby windows. So in stead, I ran my next few errands without wearing the chaps. It was still cold outside, so finally, I pulled into a parking lot to put my chaps on. “I’m sure a guy putting on chaps that are too small will not be the oddest thing seen in a Walmart parking lot today.” I had a good laugh about that, then struggled with the zippers until I was inside my warm leather leg gings. People stared as they walked by me.
have to lose weight or buy bigger chaps,” she reminded me. I gave her a glaring look.
“The Triple Egg Dare Ya: Three eggs, three bacon, three sausages, two pancakes, 2 French toast, and hash browns. Man, that breakfast is big enough for two, but I could easily eat all that by myself today!” Just as I was about to decide on the Triple Egg Dare Ya, I started thinking about my tight chaps. Of course, I was already wearing them, so I wouldn’t have to squeeze into them again. But after a meal that big, I might just blow them out.
I looked at the menu. Eggs Benedict. They
I decided to chance giving her a rub, but Nova backed away. She doesn’t really know what to think of me when I’m in full black leather with a full-faced black helmet. I must have looked like a space alien or a swamp creature to her. “Okay, be that way,” I said, lowering my face mask and walking out the front
Walkingdoor.
After about fifteen min utes, the dental hygienist came to get me in the waiting area. My hands were still cold but not nearly as bad as when I arrived. “Did you ride your motorcycle today,” she asked. I told her I did. “Wasn’t it cold,” she
myIAfterweather.”myappointment,stoodoutsidebesidebike,thinkingwhat a
er,” I told her, “But my hands got a little cold. I need to get warmer gloves for riding in this
down the path to the driveway, I could see Nova Mae watching me in the bay window. I waved to her, “You should have taken the loving when you had the chance, kid!” In the driveway, I straddled the motorcycle. Without be ing covered overnight, dew gathered in the stitching on the seat. The moisture quickly soaked into the seat of my jeans. “That’s cold,” I said with a shiver, then put the key in the ignition.
PAGE 6 SAVE OTTUMWA POST SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 (Just the Other Day cont’d from pg 3)
It was noon, and I still hadn’t eaten anything all day. I was hungry and wanted my breakfast. So, I rode across town to the Perkins on Lon don Road. I went inside still wearing my chaps to avoid another struggle.
I said my hands got a little chilly. Then she told me about the bike she bought, a Suzuki 650. “I taught myself to ride it,” she said. We swapped some stories then she said, “I’ll go get your cof fee. Erin will be along to take your order.”
plenty warm inside all the leath
I scanned over the Eggs Benedict again to get to the Hearty Man Combo. Mmm, I was hungry – but what is this over here?
always interest me, but I have never had them and wasn’t going to try them today. So, I skipped right over them. Maybe an Everything Omelet. It’s a Denver omelet with mushrooms and tomatoes. Add some salsa and sour cream, and voilà. We’re talking breakfast! But wait…
“You know, Eggs Bene dict always interest me,” I told the waitress, “But I have never had them, have you?”
I was perfectly warm rid ing down Highway 61 at sixty miles per hour. The sun was shining, and I felt very alive. Twenty miles down the road, my hands started getting a little cold. “I need warmer gloves,” I said to myself. I raised up on my foot pegs and placed my left hand between my legs and the seat to warm my hand. “Only forty-five more miles to the dentist. I’ll be fine.”
I was still skeptical. “I think I’ll have the Triple Egg Dare Ya,” I said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was say ing, yes, that will be all. Thank you.”
Suddenly, a little fourinch-tall Nova Mae was sitting on my right shoul der. “You’re going to
After breakfast, on my way to the front door, I stopped by the waitress station to thank Erin for her excellent service.”
Being honest, I said,
Kelly escorted me to a booth. “Did you ride your motorcycle today,” she asked. I told her I did. “Wasn’t it cold?”