“On the farm, I’d come to see that my animals managed to avoid, almost entirely by instinct, the dramas that humans create for themselves. I envied them.”
– Jon Katz, Izzy & Lenore
I once heard the comment that animals don’t have nearly the troubles that humans have, mostly because they cannot talk. Wow. Truer words […]

“Wes Jackson is fond of saying that if your life’s work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you’re not thinking big enough. And no one is thinking bigger about sustainable agriculture than Wes Jackson.”
– from People We’re Pleased To Know
Chipotle Mexican Grill

Recently, I stopped for lunch and a soft drink while out running […]

“My father asserted there was no better place to bring up a family than in a rural environment. There’s something about getting up at 5 a.m., feeding the stock and chickens, and milking a couple of cows before breakfast that gives you a lifelong respect for the price of butter and eggs.” — Bill Vaughan […]

“Dad hitched up the horses and told me the farm was my responsibility now. He was going in search of work, for a week, a month, maybe a year. I felt the weight of it all the way to my bones. I had a man’s job. As Pa drove away, my mother cried. I did […]

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
— Anais Nin

I met Pippi Longstocking on the first day of school when I was 7 years old, and meeting her changed me forever. I had read […]

“The summer skies are darkly blue
The days are still and bright
And evening trails her robes of gold
Through the dim halls of night.”
— Sarah Helen Whitman, 1803-1878

What a beautiful summer! I would wish for this to last all the way to Christmas and beyond if I thought I could get my way for just one […]

“Never pass up a good opportunity to shut up.”
— Will Rogers

Tomes of writing have been published on opinions, philosophies, old-fashioned ways of accomplishing all sorts of things, as well as “New Age” thinking on how to manipulate others to see things your way.

Not enough is said these days about following good, old simple advice that […]

“It excites me that no matter how much machinery replaces the horse, the work it can do is still measured in horsepower…even in this space age. And although a riding horse often weighs half a ton, and a big drafter a full ton, either can be led about by a piece of string if he […]

“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”
–Sir Winston Churchill

I never would have believed that there is such thing as a perfect pony, but I have witnessed it long enough now to know this is not a fluke. This is the real deal. And […]

“Fireworks bring us together to celebrate all that we have, our many gifts as a free nation.”
– Pearl Tinus, 1955
No matter how old we grow to be, bring out an amazing fireworks display and each of us lights up like a child in the depths of summer vacation.
Last night, we were once […]