At 6:45 this morning, I was a mouse hunter, albeit a slow one – I used to be formidable with a shoe for a club and adept at turning over furniture with one hand, but apparently I’m now just slightly slower than diesel in sub-zero weather.

If you’ve Googled “productivity” lately, you’ll find articles on 10 habits you should break to be more productive, 11 ways to make this your most productive year, the physics of productivity, maximizing focus to master priorities, eight things you should do before 8 a.m.

Farming isn’t easy; I don’t have to tell you that. It will rain on your hay, your cows will get out, the market won’t always play nice and that quarter-of-a-million dollar tractor won’t always run like it’s supposed to – if at all.

By the time you read this, “we the people” will have elected (and not happily, I might add) one more U.S. president. Some say voting is the ultimate exercise in democracy. However, it’s also been said, “You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.” Volunteers are builders.

The unsavory truth is that the 21st century may be marked in history as the advertising age. Marketing has not always been unsavory, and it’s certainly not new. Christopher Columbus (Italian by birth) got Spain to finance his sailing explorations, and even though he missed his target destination, he has a national holiday designation and is mentioned in every history book.

Nobody likes the end of a close basketball game because it’s nothing but a foul-fest; coaches routinely instruct players to foul the worst free-throw shooter on the opposite team. It’s so painful to watch.

I’ve started this editorial four times. The problem is: I keep changing positions. Are farm simulations useful or detrimental?

The Kentucky Derby is the most exciting two minutes in sports, bar none. Last year, roughly $194 million was wagered on the race. While the derby will be concluded by the time you read this, alfalfa seed companies and growers are just now coming to the starting gate of a new enterprise.

Remember the days when humor didn’t include four-letter words or bodily functions? Those were the good old days. Red Skelton was a favorite comedian of the times. His humor was clean, lighthearted and not offensive. Here are some of his tongue-in-cheek quips for the perfect marriage:

Let me throw out some random numbers. The number 33. It represents the percentage increase of smartphone users since 2011. The number 68. It represents the percentage of adults in the U.S. who have a smartphone.