I love SUMMER sunshine. I LOVE when it’s LIGHT in the evenings when I leave Antiques Iowa at the close of our day.
This week summer is back…the heat is on & we’ll enjoy our hot, humid Iowa days. I was thinking about how fast this summer is going! That brought back a lot of memories.
Did you ever have to get up before the crack of dawn to help milk cows…or to go walk beans before it got too HOT. I did.
When I was really little, my brothers & I played in the dirt at the end of the soybean rows, as my parents “walked” the beans (cutting or pulling out the weeds). When I was just a little bit older, I got paid 10 cents/hours to walk beans. I was I easy to please!
I was thinking about all the summertime memories of growing up on a small farm. Do you remember laying out in the sun with baby oil…to get a faster, better tan & getting totally burned?
Do you remember putting lemon juice in your hair…what a sticky mess…to get blonde highlights the cheap way.
What are your memories of growing up…. on a farm or in a small rural town like Story City? Have you waded in a “crick” yet this summer? I have… & a drainage ditch full of floating worms with my 3-year-old grandson.
Just yesterday, at Antiques Iowa, we all talked about who had a hammock …& who didn’t.
See the light in others, and treat them as if that is all you see. ~Dr. Wayne Dryer 
I walked through Antiques Iowa a couple of days ago & realized that we have LOTS of lamps, lanterns, light fixtures…lots of things that give LIGHT. So, I took a few pictures – just a few because we have hundreds of LIGHT sources!
Thinking outside the box about what brings light to my life, I have 130 wonderful Dealers here at my mall & most of them contribute their own LIGHT to Antiques Iowa.
There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~Edith Wharton.
I try to be both. 
When first-time dealers join us, I need to be the candle to help them find their way. It is true that, “If you have a great stuff at reasonable prices, Antiques Iowa has a great location & it will sell.” But sometimes these newbies start out with poor product or elevated prices. We call that emotional attachment. Then I have to illuminate & to teach…try to teach.
Many times though I am just the mirror that reflects our better Dealers.
Really great stuff comes in every day…every week! The great stuff NEVER stays long. And we are open everyday, 10am – 7pm. So that you can come & enjoy our light!
We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.~Ben Sweetland
Absolutely! Yes, yes….yes. Helping each other…giving some of our own light or helping someone find theirs is what we are put on this earth to do.
Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark. ~Rabindranath Tagore
I remember one night…really late…I was driving home from the Boone County fair & missed the E18 stop sign & my right turn towards home. I must have slept through it. Ended up in Stanhope… had to turn around & wake up!
And, I remember one night while I was in college…driving my car home on empty. I ran out of gas on E18…no street lights…no light to guide the way…walking along in the dark & I saw the headlights of two guys out at 2am coon hunting. They turned around & took me home…another 6 miles (a long walk in the dark).
I had on my Happy Chef uniform! I’ll never forget that night. Both times, God was watching over me. He was my light in the darkness.
Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. ~Norman B. Rice
How did I get from “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy” to being the light for others? I don’t know. But I’m hoping that you enjoyed a few of my stories & know that if you are looking for a lamp we have many here at Antiques Iowa.
I hope that you thought about being grateful for the people who bring light into your life AND also realized how short this 2014 summer really is so that YOU will make some time to ENJOY it.
We always LOVE seeing you here at Antiques Iowa & love that you share your light with us. I know it is corny to say that you light up my life…but this is Iowa & who knows on what day….a smile, a hello might just be that! Namaste’ Kim
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