There is no doubt that 2020 has been rough. \u00a0Bend over and assume the position. \u00a0And no lube. \u00a0Yet, we still have a 1\/4 of the year left. \u00a0Duke’s 2020 has been worse than most. \u00a0Yet, he is still plugging away. \u00a0One of these days, I will write his full version of 2020. \u00a0This kid has been known to piss me smooth off, yet his resilience is proving to be at an all-time level.<\/p>\n
Over the course of 20+ years of teaching ag, I have had some bad-ass students. \u00a0Long, long list. \u00a0I’m not going to name names but dang, I have had a pile of good ones that made me look like I knew what I was doing. \u00a0We are currently loaded at Shattuck. \u00a0However, as I sit and reminisce, \u00a0there has been so many good ones. \u00a0Fortunately, Tammy and I are still friends with all of them.<\/p>\n
Yet, some truly were\/are great. \u00a0Several years ago, a group of former students asked me to name my best student of all-time. \u00a0This group of “kids” had state winning speaking titles, grand champion animals, national qualifying CDE teams, state officers, proficiencies, etc, etc, etc. \u00a0Loaded resumes. \u00a0My mind was stirring when I was asked this question\u2026\u2026oh, snap! \u00a0 Luckily, I found my wits and answered\u2026.”I would have to say Kela Kelln was the best one.” \u00a0This group of great ones, nodded, looked me in the eye and said, “Kelln, that is the only right answer.”<\/p>\n
Now, I can’t argue with that answer. \u00a0But\u2026.I saw a book face post that just made 2020 REAL to me! \u00a0 Kaylee Holt and Duke Kelln are getting their American FFA Degrees this year. \u00a0Yet, National FFA Convention is a virtual deal. \u00a0Without a doubt, Kaylee and Duke are my favorite co-pilots. \u00a0Kaylee always commanded the passenger seat and was in charge of the tunes. \u00a0And that chick always played bad-ass 70’s & 80’s stuff. \u00a0Def Leppard to John Denver. \u00a0I can argue that Duke has rode shotgun on more wicked animal gathering trips than any other kid.<\/p>\n
I would have liked to make that drive to Indy. \u00a0Go to St. Elmo’s\u2026with the grandparents\u2026..and the grandparent’s paying for the meal. \u00a0(That part wouldn’t happen but I like to let them think that it would.)<\/p>\n
My favorite dining experience of all-time was at St. Elmo’s. \u00a0I was no longer teaching at Fairview. \u00a0However, Fairview had numerous proficiency finalists and a couple of CDE teams competing. \u00a0The Rhodes and Bedwell families were chaperones. \u00a0Tammy and Mindi Clark were in charge of getting kids to and from interviews and competitions. \u00a0Fred Slater and I were judging national interviews. \u00a0The kids did not know that we would be there. \u00a0Kela was mad at me that I would not be there before she went in to her interview. \u00a0(she would be wrong)<\/p>\n
Fred & I made dinner reservations months in advance. \u00a0Only Jim Rhodes, Tammy and Mindi knew the plans. \u00a0That evening, the Fairview group (which was a large group) met at the reservation’s table of St. Elmo’s. \u00a0Fred and I slipped in with the group. \u00a0I was a little bit pissed when they didn’t seat us in the fancy, white table cloth section. \u00a0Then, they took the group through another section, then down the stairs. \u00a0I’m REAL pissy at this point! These are good looking, well mannered kids that deserve attention. \u00a0Then they took the group through the basement seating. \u00a0WTF?!?!?!?? \u00a0RUSM?!? \u00a0I’m ready to throat punch somebody at this point.<\/p>\n
Now, just as I am ready to unleash a Kelln tirade, they open a door at the other side of the basement. \u00a0The kids are led into the cellar\u2026wait, the wine cellar? \u00a0RUSM? \u00a0 And then led through the wine cellar into a private dining room. \u00a0Three waiters that did nothing but take care of Fairview kids. \u00a0Holy crap!!! \u00a0 This is unreal. \u00a0The food was off the hook good. \u00a0The service was like in the movies. \u00a0WICKED!! \u00a0 As we finished eating, they gave us a tour of the wine cellar. \u00a0Like it was yesterday, I still remember Justin Bedwell holding a $4,200 bottle of wine.<\/p>\n
Today, tonight, right now\u2026.if given a chance to go back, I would tell Justin to crack that cork on that bottle. \u00a0Trust me. \u00a0If that kid had permission, he would do it. \u00a0I would deal with the consequences. \u00a0And by the time Jim, Joy, Tammy, Mindi, Jeff, Diane, Fred and myself had a glass\u2026there would be just enough for Kela and Justin to taste a $4,200 bottle of wine. \u00a0Nobody would be drunk and wow\u2026.this story would taste oh so good! \u00a0Maybe not. \u00a0I truly don’t know.<\/p>\n
Fred & I agreed to split the check. \u00a0It was stupid high. \u00a0Probably the best money that I ever spent. \u00a0As I sit here and think about what I could have done with that amount of $s\u2026\u2026\u2026.I already told ya. \u00a0 Crack that seal, pop that cork, don’t look back.<\/p>\n
2020 \u00a0has GOT to get better! \u00a0Here’s what I foresee, as I drink another glass of cranberry juice on the rocks\u2026..for October of 2020. \u00a0Bob May swings through Fargo, America. Loads us up and hauls Kaylee, Duke \u00a0& the crew to Indianapolis. \u00a0Doug Heshelman meets us at St. Elmo’s. \u00a0Uncle Doug pays for the meal. Ron Simonson slides over to make sure that cranberry juice is not the only thing on the menu. \u00a0Kratzer is late because he is on Milligan’s personal plane (BK, Frazier and Milligan are flying cuz 2020 has not been unkind to the online sale guru) \u00a0 Hayden is the pilot.<\/p>\n
I’m done. \u00a0Have a good one. And a better tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is no doubt that 2020 has been rough. \u00a0Bend over and assume the position. \u00a0And no lube. \u00a0Yet, we still have a 1\/4 of the year left. \u00a0Duke’s 2020 has been worse than most. \u00a0Yet, he is still plugging away. \u00a0One of these days, I will write his full […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3812"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3812"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3817,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3812\/revisions\/3817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}