Silence is golden! When the plant shut down this morning at seven (for maintenance) things got so quiet you could hear a pin drop at one-hundred paces! Every little movement, every breath (by the hound boys and hound girls) seemed to be amplified! It is almost spooky! But nice! I find myself looking anxiously to next weekend and three glorious days of down time!

We are on top of fifty thousand. By mid week we will surpass 2003 and a week after that we will be approaching the all time record. Once we break that threshold it will be a brave new world. Every bale that exits the plant will be a temporary record holder. We are beginning to lose a little cotton. We (along with most other plants) are so far behind that farmers are beginning to shop around, not for a better price for the service but a more favorable time frame. Many of these guys are finding they need to be flexible in selling their crop across the end of '04 and the beginning of '05 in order to avoid a tax problem. To market their crop it needs to be ginned! Many of these farmers are regretting they did not get an early start.

Silence is golden, but your eyes still sing .......... . Man, now that song is in my head! Reminds me of a junior high dance, an attractive young lady in a red Christmas dress with white fur around the cuffs that tickled as we danced! Silence is Golden was played every other song! Hah! Oh, to be young again!

FATHER, thank YOU for the quiet peaceful morning. Help me to use it wisely. Help us as we try to get our work done and go to town for supplies and R & R, I ask for safe passage. FATHER there are many that need YOUR healing, Hag and his blood disorder, Lillie as she begins her chemo, Rene' as she continues her cancer treatment (for the third time), Carol as they treat her cancer. Michelle as doctors try to treat her siezures. Aimee as she continues to be made whole (thank YOU FATHER!). Rusty and Kim's unborn baby as doctors have diagnosed the baby as having an open spine. For Kristy's (my co-workers) sister-in-law, she is twenty-nine weeks pregnant and just last week was diagnosed with cancer. For Maria, Mario's (one of my truckers) wife who had open heart surgery last week and has slipped into a coma and has not waked up. FATHER bless these people and their families, be with the nurses and doctors as they treat them. I pray for spiritual healing, for me, for R2D2, for all those lost and stumbling. I pray for our spiritual family. I pray for YOUR strength, YOUR wisdom, YOUR guidance, I ask YOUR blessing of mercy and grace! Color my world as YOU intend!