The Last Word Editor’s Note by Ann Clinton aclinton@iasoybeans.com
Chasing Sunsets
O
n Saturday evenings, about an hour before sunset, my husband Scott and I climb into the cab of his truck. Then, almost always dressed in jeans and cowboy boots, we take off driving west. We never have a destination in mind. We go where the mood takes us. County highways, gravel travel, dirt roads … there’s not a path we haven’t explored. We always find something interesting along the way. It’s like a bit of a treasure hunt. “Keep your eyes open for miracles,” I say to Scott. Without fail, he drives me to one. We hardly ever see another vehicle on our drives. We talk about that a lot. During the week, traffic is so much a part of our lives. But when we are in the country, enveloped by solitude, headlights in the distance are a rarity. We talk about how lucky we are … how lucky our kids are … to know this type of peace exists. And that we have access to it. I often say I’d go crazy if I didn’t have an escape route from the city. The pickup is my getaway
vehicle, and Scott is my driver. The other night Scott backed into a field drive on top of a ridge, and we watched as the sun dipped down over the horizon. The sky was on fire. Shades of orange, yellows and reds swirled and danced as the main attraction took its final bow. Garth Brooks on the radio, Scott holding my hand; I
was overwhelmed with gratitude that I got front-row seats to the performance. I spend my life chasing highs like that one. As we say in our family, “That’s livin.” Scott says it’s hard to imagine the magic happens even when we aren’t there to see it. That’s a complex concept to wrap my head
around. Life happens. Sunsets happen. Even when we aren’t there to enjoy it. Therefore, we are trying to soak up all we can when we can. In this issue of the Iowa Soybean Review, we covered indepth concepts related to soybean research. Admittedly, making time and space to consume, understand and ultimately apply the takeaways can be tricky, at best. However, the Iowa Soybean Association’s (ISA) Research Center for Farming Innovation (RCFI) is forward-focused and motivated to answer questions you don’t even know you have yet. In the next few months, you’ll be hearing more about ISA’s research efforts. From webinars, online tools and even a statewide conference, now is a good time to plug into RCFI’s agronomic research and expertise. In the meantime, I encourage you to jump in the pickup and chase the sunset. There are so many exciting discoveries ahead of us. Be well, my friends.
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