Terry Woster

3 weeks ago | mitchellrepublic.com | Terry Woster

I don’t understood people who can stand in front of an audience and play or sing a solo without falling apart. There are such people, self-assured and in control of mind and body. Put me in front of a crowd of people and ask me to sing or play, and I shake like I’m standing in the epicenter of an earthquake. Public performances terrify me. Although I have learned a minimal level of control over the years, my legs still shake and my voice still quivers.

3 weeks ago | mitchellrepublic.com | Terry Woster

As I waited at a four-way stop the other day, two 20-somethings walked by. They carried the biggest water bottles I have ever seen. Water bottles aren’t uncommon. You see them everywhere these days. These, though, were much larger than most. They were massive. Many of today’s water bottles have a twist-off lid, handy for taking a swig of water during or after a workout.

1 month ago | mitchellrepublic.com | Terry Woster

I didn’t realize it at the time, but growing up the second son on a family farm was a low-stress life. I came of age in the 1950s and early 1960s on a modest-sized farm just west of the Missouri River. We raised cattle and a few chickens, and we grew a variety of small grains and row crops. People seldom spoke of stress in those days. The concept existed, of course. You can’t operate a business that depends for its success on weather, markets and somebody else’s farm policy.

1 month ago | agupdate.com | Terry Woster

When I was in high school, I helped build two steel grain bins, one along the lane to our place, the other near the entrance to my uncle’s lane. By today’s standards, the bins we built were puny. At the time, I thought they were massive. I knew nothing of building a steel bin, but I learned. The structures stood up to the elements for years – not forever, but well after Dad died and we sold the farm. I remember pouring concrete in a sweeping circle for the base of the bin. It was hard work.

1 month ago | mitchellrepublic.com | Terry Woster

People talk much of patriotism. Former President James A. Garfield had his own concept of what the word might mean. Garfield served only half a year in office before being assassinated in September of 1881. During those few short months, he apparently gave some thought to patriotism. On this Memorial Day weekend, as we remember and honor those who lost their lives in military service to the United States, it is worth remembering words attributed to Garfield.