Nobody likes untangling fishing line from a mess of willow branches or rolling up barbed wire through pasture choked with brush. But not liking it doesn’t change the fact that it has to be done.

Dale Carnegie said, “If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” In college, my freshman dorm room was located on the ground floor. I had a habit of arising early while others slept. One morning, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

Have you ever heard any of these thoughts expressed, or maybe they crossed your own mind?

• “If Dad would just give up some power ….”
• “If Mom would just say what’s on her mind ….”
• “If the kids just had a work ethic ….”
• “If he hadn’t married her, we’d be fine.”

Nebraska is cattle country. Doesn’t matter where you go within its borders; it’s cattle country. Feedlots line the highways, separated only by corn fields and rolling sandhills of prairie grass.

Charlie O’Brien, Association of Equipment Manufacturers senior vice president, recently released statistics for two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive tractors and self-propelled combine sales.

Oftentimes we put the professional experts in this column – those with Ph.D.’s and other title acronyms behind their names. We appreciate them. We depend on them. They present instruction refined through the process of experience and training.