“We weren’t really alone, of course. Each square mile of farmland, bordered on all sides by those perfectly straight Iowa roads, was called a section. In those days, most sections held four family-owned farms….there were 17 children in our section, so we had our own baseball game. Even if only four kids showed up, we […]
Today’s problems cannot be solved if we still think the way we thought when we created them.”
– Albert Einstein
All my life, my friends and family have known each inaugural year they must figure on leaving me alone Jan. 20. If the press will bring it to me, I will absorb it. I have been […]
“At the heart of the meadow, the old watering hole froze over quite nicely. We used the horse-drawn sleigh to get there and before long, there we were, ice skating like old timers who skated every day. The chill was held at bay by our laughter and glee. There was no place else we would […]
“One of my obsessive pursuits here at Bedlam Farm is observing the animals, watching the way the residents here change in relation to one another. The farm is a whole, a collection of its parts, and everything affects everything else. I no longer see this place in terms of sheep or dogs, donkeys, chickens, groundhogs […]
“When the strong storm winds blow, look to your elders. When pain and worry persist, it is good to have elderly friends. They have seen, and survived, the worst of times.”
– James Waite, 1929
All of my life, I have found comfort in the company of the oldest generation. When my three older sisters […]
I have always loved the holidays, enjoying the merriment of the magical, treasuring the family togetherness as we drift through the tail end of a year and prepare to welcome the new.
Not this year
But this year, for some reason, I have decided to say “Bah Humbug” to new year’s resolutions.
It feels too much like […]
“The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.”
As the years have rolled by, Christmas has taken on many different faces.
Memories of Christmas Eve with my paternal grandfather and my dad’s sister are still so dear to my sisters and me. The lights on […]
We’ve all heard the saying, “Life is what happens while we’re busy making plans.” Well, I am in the midst of living that truth at the moment.
Friday evening I went over the dozens of things needing to be accomplished over the weekend. As I crawled in to bed, my mind kept darting about, trying […]
“I will be an American farmer. American agriculture is one of the few things that still makes me proud of this country. It has not been trivialized or forsaken. It has been assaulted, slightly corrupted surely, but it nonetheless remains unparalleled throughout the world.”
– From The Road to My Farm
by Nora Janssen Seton
We […]
“Old Major completed his herding of the milk cows and somehow came to realize that he had two full hours until he was needed to drive the cattle back to the far pasture. Those two hours became the dog’s social time — we later learned that he visited a neighbor, stopped by the village bakery, […]
