President’s Message

Abstract

It rains on everyone, the just and the unjust.

I donate a lot of time to the

Boy Scouts of America. The BSA worldwide motto is "Be Prepared" and if you were to tell any scout around the globe to "Be Prepared," the answer would be,"We are Prepared." From this has sprung a worldwide fraternal order of associ-

ation and brotherhood and now to include sisterhood, the likes of which have never been seen before.

But still within the confines of this more than 100-yearold legacy-filled organization, there are storms of contention one against another. At times, the winds of envy and strife blow around and every so often bang the window shutters oflegacy. This has brought to mind a story that touches on some points I would like to emphasize.

There once was a farmer who lived in a part of the country that was known for its terrible storms with hard blowing winds. The farmer had a very large operation, including machinery, livestock, fenced pastures and crops of hay fields.

With spring just around the corner, the farmer needed extra hands on the farm, so he went to town to interview for help. He had already hired a couple of workers who boasted of abilities of farm equipment, harvesting knowledge and livestock husbandry. He wanted men who would work hard for a fair day's wage. The last young man he interviewed, when asked about his abilities, simply said,

"I can sleep when the wind blows." This answer was somewhat confusing to the farmer, but he was impressed with this young man, so he hired him to round out his crew.

Several months had passed and harvest was proceeding as usual with nothing extraordinary about the year's farm crew. Horses were foaling, cows were milking, hay was being harvested and repairs were constant.

One late night far into the harvest season, the farmer was awakened by the sound of a very bad storm. As he got up and dressed, he could see from his bedroom window that the wind was tremendous. He thought, "What about the horses, they need to be put into the barn and into their stalls. The cows need to be pushed up to the cover pens. The shutters and doors on all the barns need to be locked down before they blow off. Worst of all, the harvested hay is still lying in the fields and it should have been brought in before the storm because the wind and rain will completely destroy all that is left."

He rushed to the bunk house to awaken his crew to help him get things covered up, securing and salvaging whatever they could from the storm. When he tried to awaken the young man, he was in such a deep sleep he would not wake up. The farmer yelled and shook the young man, but gave up when the other workers were ready to go into the storm and try to rescue his farm.

When they all got outside, to their surprise, they found the cows had been pushed up into the cover pens; the horses had been put into the barn in their stalls and all the doors and shutters on the barns were securely fastened. To their great pleasure and astonishment the remaining portions of the crops had been pushed up and stored in the barns as they should have been.

Then the farmer remembered what the young man had told him during his interview many months ago about his only ability, "I can sleep when the wind blows." It now all made complete sense to the farmer.

Hopefully we, too, can be prepared, sleep when the wind blows and hold up the legacy that has been forged by the American Federation of Aviculture

over these 35-plu, years. Remember, we don't need to wait for the storm to pass; we just need to learn to dance in the rain!

 

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