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Show emotion were what allowed you to spread the chemicals, put down the pigs, inoculate the cows, and handle a combine the size of a house. So many of the men and women who channel through his office would have been limbless in a matter of days. Sometimes, late in the afternoon, when the workday has finished on the other side of the world and the phones are silent, he pulls his attention away from the yellow legal pad before him and contemplates the larger issues at stake. He has a powerful mind, one that can nail a problem to the floor, pierce its heart, and formulate a response. Admirals and generals, the President of the United States, has sought his advice on issues of military engagement because they know he will not tolerate ambiguity. Unlike the hue of his furniture, his mind trades in black and white, and in the military, like on the farmland of Nebraska, such divisions are both rewarded and, some would argue, necessary. The urgency with which my dad tore across the country in the Winnie made it seem as if we were hunted. Twenty hours of driving, thirty, fifty even was not uncommon. We would arrive at each new destination exhausted, especially my father, and often, having delivered us to the renovated mining town or the gardens or the geysers, he would remain in the Winnie to sleep while the rest of us toured. Making time mattered. In addition, we broke down almost daily. We spent the first day of our trip at PJ's Wrecker in Williamsburg, Iowa, trying to find new tires for the Winnie. While PJ worked on the back end of the camper, my mom and I ran the dirt roads that skirted the farms. Herds of cows accompanied us as we made our way up and down the gentle hills; they only stopped at the fence line or when it became clear we had no food to offer them. Even though it meant another shower in the Winnie, I was happy to trade the already 198 |