Okay, all good things take time. But this one’s a doozey. My house/business burned down in 1996. With the help of some neighbors and volunteers (and our teenage children, who threatened to divorce us based on violation of child labor laws), we started to rebuild.
But the “house” in my head was really a commercial enterprise and BIG. Do you know anyone who builds a 12,000—square-foot commercial facility on cash flow? We’ve all heard of repossessed farms, so I went with …
Haven’t you always admired people who “jump into work head first”? Are you one of those people who strain “in the mud and muck to move things forward”? (For sure, there’s plenty of mud and muck to go around, and I’m not talking mud and muck.)
And if we’re not going to dive right in and strive for meaningful work, what Marge Piercy calls, “work that is real,” why bother?
Sometimes our grandgirls have not just one grandma at the farm, but two. Son-in-law Lucas, who works here, invited his parents, brother, and sister-in-law to join us for the weekend.
Of course, Gigi (grandmamma name for Patty), showed up in proper attire.
You’ve seen ‘em—the “gone fishin’” bumper stickers:
><x> hooked for life;
><x> good things come to those who bait;
><x> salmon—the other pink meat;
><x> hook ‘em and cook ‘em;
><x> be back dark thirty;
><x> my other wife is the fishin’ life. (I made this last one up myself.)
Wherever fish are bountiful and bitin’, bumper-sticker philosophers keep themselves busy reeling us in.
Sanjit “Bunker” Roy founded Barefoot College, a global non-profit based in India, to uplift poor, rural areas. His mission: teaching illiterate and uneducated women how to install and maintain solar power in their villages.
Solar engineers said it couldn’t be done—not by uneducated people, and especially not by (yes, barefoot) grandmothers who can’t read or even speak the same language as one another.
I’ve always suspected that a good cupcake could save the world. But it’s nice to finally have confirmation.
I admit it. At first, it struck me as weird too. But then I realized how going to the chicken coop to “steal” eggs seems somehow perfectly pastoral, right? And normal.
We reach under their soft feathery tummies, grab their eggs (especially if there isn’t a rooster around), and never feel a bit of guilt. After all, isn’t that what chickens are for?
Side story. (Okay, I drift at times….) We invited a schoolbus load of kindergartners, accompanied by several parents, to the farm this past spring. I walked out holding my pet chicken and …
Okay, this is off topic. But because it involves the glamorous Willie and the use of proper grammar, I’m going to call it:
GLAMMAR Lesson # 1:
I Only Have Eyes for Willie
(Technically this could be a Great Find or a Giveaway. I‘m sure you’ll let me know if it’s of value to you. It’s technically just for me. Only me? You decide. Smiley face.)
Ready? Here goes.
I only want to talk to my Willie … if only I could figure out what that means!
Have you ever noticed how the word “only” likes to wander where it shouldn’t?
(“Even,” “still,” and “just,” have this problem, too.)
But wanderlust notwithstanding, each “only” is like a chicken run amok in the lettuce bed—you have just GOT to reign that bugger in! Here, I’ll show you:
MaryJane only wanted to talk to her Willie. (Yeah, I JUST wanted to talk to him!)
MaryJane wanted only to talk to her Willie. (And I wanted nothing else!)
MaryJane wanted to talk only to her Willie. (Everyone else should march a great distance through a rural area.)
MaryJane wanted to talk to her only Willie. (I’ve only got one Willie. And I wanted to talk to him.)
MaryJane wanted to talk to her Willie only. (Only … what? He was busy singing? He was buried at the bottom of my purse and his screams were muffled by the vintage wallpaper squares I’d just scored?)
While each sentence is technically correct, those delicate variations really change the meaning. And we can’t afford to be unclear where Willie’s concerned.
My advice? We need to reread sentences with “only” and make sure it refers to the right word or phrase. If we’re really not sure, we can always take the easy way out: eliminate “only” altogether. Most times, we’ll still get our point across. Like so:
MaryJane wanted to talk to her Willie. (Still works! Am I helpful or what? Don’t answer that.)
But as for catching wayward chickens in the lettuce bed … that’s up to you and only you.
Ever messed up “only” with hilarious results?
“Get out” is what I WON‘T be saying to my 104 pound, hair-shedding Great Pyrenees dog, one of two white (and often muddy) farm dogs that are supposed to be my OUTSIDE doggie-poohs. (I do love these girls. Pyrenees are sooooooooo gentle and stoical and kind and well-behaved.)
Well, one of my Pyrs (peers) pulled off an INSIDE job when she broke her foot. And because she’ll be in a cast for six weeks, I let the pampering begin.
Katie Terry is a Utah County woman who exemplifies gratitude. She already had two special-needs kids when she was paralyzed from the waist down in an auto accident. Yet in an effort to live the best life she can, she’s been running races with a hand-cycle. In fact, she took part in the Boston Marathon.
She is, literally, inspiration on wheels.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
