By Wayne Nisley

Whew! It’s a hot one in our area. We’ve seen temps in the lower 90s the last few days. But then I talked with a guy from Pennsylvania this morning, and he said it hit 100 degrees in the shade! One thing I like about weather like this—when you get home from work, it’s real easy to decide that the house projects can wait while you hold down the recliner with a fan blowing straight at you. On days like that, you only do what needs to be done (like taking multiple showers).

Saturday, my wife and I hopped on our tandem bicycle and headed out for breakfast, then made stops at the grocery store, bank, and a few other errands. It’s always a good time to spend a little time together—just the two of us—without the children. We spent the rest of the day working on projects around the house and barn.

Last Wednesday, we had the privilege of attending the wedding of one of my former students. Serena was in eighth grade the year I tried to hold down the fort at the schoolhouse. It was a good year, and Wednesday reminded me of the long-lasting impact that comes from being a teacher. Moments like that are enjoyable and humbling.

We’re coming up on our one-year anniversary for EquipmentEdge, and I’d like to run another reader survey soon. I’d love your feedback on what you like, what could be better, and any fresh ideas you might have. Keep an eye out for that!

To our lumber reporters: even if your prices haven’t changed, I’d appreciate a quick note to confirm that. Some of you are already doing this—thank you. I track prices for each issue, and if I don’t hear from you, I’m left wondering whether you forgot, opted out, or something else. Eventually, I’ll have enough data to create graphs showing price trends by species, which is why consistency matters. I appreciate your help with this.

Also, you’ll notice I removed a few 6/4 and 8/4 species from the lumber report that hadn’t had any pricing reported. In their place, I added a new pallet pricing section. I assume we’ll list “picked up at the mill” pricing rather than delivered—if that’s not correct, let me know. I’m ready to build that section out with your help, so give me a call if you’ve got info to share.

Lastly, some heavy news from the weekend: President Trump launched a bombing campaign on Iran. Iran remains the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism, and they’ve been edging closer to building a nuclear weapon. According to reports, they refused to negotiate. There’s more on that in the middle section of this issue. Regardless of our personal views, we are called to pray for our leaders—and I’ll admit, I’ve been falling behind on that duty.

Have a great week—and try to stay cool out there.

Until next time.

Wayne Nisley, Editor