Does anybody think the current cheap, crass, commercial Bowl Championship Series is better than what it replaced? The FedEx Bowl, the Allstate Bowl, the Tostitos Bowl, the Rose Bowl. Is that somehow better than the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Cotton Bowl? Those bowls generated interest, excitement, controversy , and honored tradition. I remember watching football until I was numb on New Year’s Day 1974. But do I care that USC is ahead of Michigan, 0.951 to 0.917 in the current BCS standings? !@#$% no!

It used to at least maintain a myth of the student-athlete and gridiron glory for the alma mater. Now it is what is, a way to sell taco chips. Enjoy. I’ll be eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day, and not watching football.

We brought the harvest home on Friday. 600 acres of beans and 250 acres of corn in the bin, and 125 acres of wheat in the ground for next year.

Zumbrun Farms has been in the same place since 1916 when my great-grandfather purchased the 140 acres we call the ‘home farm’.

I’d been out of the farming business since 1982 when I left to try something different and ended up writing software for 25 years. But I returned to the farm this fall. My younger brother Dave had been running the farm since my father retired. Dave died unexpectedly and suddenly this summer, the result of a blood clot from a torn muscle of all things. One of the most robust people I’ve ever known, felled by a torn muscle. It makes no sense and 4 months later we’re stll in shock.

My sister-in-law talked of renting the farms. Grain prices are strong, and the competition for land is heavy around here. She could’ve rented it all out and been financially comfortable just cashing the rental checks. Or she could’ve sold the farms and been wealthy. But she didn’t like the idea of turning the farm over to someone outside the family, so she and I talked it over and decided she and I would do the farming.

So yesterday, racing yet another episode of bad weather in one of the wettest falls anyone can remember, we brought the harvest home.

Written in memory of my brother Dave, a farmer.

We went to Wine Time today in Jefferson Pointe for a wine tasting. They had the wine tasting set up outside (it’s 40 degrees, gray and rainy in the heartland today, the poor people staffing it…)

They had a nice selection to taste, I particularly liked the Valpolicella and Pinot Noir. They had clam chowder from Joseph Decuis and duck from Maple Leaf Farms for tasting too.

It was well attended while we were there, and it is just so good to see Jeff Armstrong and Wine Time succeeding.

Tomorrow is our anniverary and we always buy a bottle of wine to lay down to have in a future year and remember the times we’ve enjoyed together. Jeff recommended a Rioja to us, it’s now in the cellar, to see the light again in about 2012, when we’ll open it and remember all that happened 2006 and the wine tasting at Wine Time on a gray November day.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Churubusco lately, and I’ve had the opportunity to visit the Mountaintop several times in the last few weeks. The Mountaintop is a coffee shop, not unlike Higher Grounds or (get behind me Satan!) Starbucks.

But for downtown Churubusco it’s something special. The coffee is quite good and the baked goods are very good (is ‘very’ better than ‘quite’? I’ll let you decide.) The baristas are friendly and efficient. Can’t overemphasize the importance of efficiency when you’re needing that caffeine jolt to rejoin the human race.

Wednesday’s are half price latte days, and their tall latte with an extra shot is as good as anything you’ll get anywhere. Pair it with a chocolate chip nut cookie and you’ll emerge a better person.

My only issue with the Mountaintop is their lack of exterior lights/signage. Being an early riser I’m unsure when I pull up whether they’re open or not.

(Posted from the view from the Mountaintop here in 2008)

They’re added some bright signage, so as you’re approaching on 33 from the north you know they’re open and you can swing in for a delightful treat in the heart of downtown Churubusco!  Oh, but they’ve discontinued half price Wednesday’s, so don’t drive to ‘Busco to save a buck and a half on Wednesdays.