I wonder if they have fireflies in Ireland. Supper’s long finished, and I’ve slipped out to the screen porch to catch a glimpse of the display. From the kitchen sink Bob bemoans that the Kyrgyz exchange students who flew back home two days’ prior missed the show. Erin Lavigne is missing it, too. Erin’s […]
An Inconvenient Soup
He taps his credit card on the counter as he scans over the charges on the screen I’ve presented him. He gives a little nod at each price. Then I see him look down at the pint of split pea soup in his hand and furrow his brow before looking back at the screen. The […]
Endless Growth
If you’re not growing, you’re dying. This aphorism has annoyed me since I heard it in my first farm business management class twenty-two years ago at Cornell. I heard it repeatedly in my entrepreneurship and human resource management classes, and again in the farm transition and business planning classes I took before we opened the […]
Enterprising Missionaries, Introverted Farmers
We saw the Book of Mormon at Proctors Theater in Schenectady this past weekend. It brought back lots of memories, and I just had to re-run this post in tribute…. When a couple of Mormon missionaries were going door to door, they didn’t expect to confront an angry famer with a shovel. But when they […]
Market Family
Never be late. It’s dangerous and costly. Don’t drive fast on the way down. There are speed traps on Route 30. Learn how to grill steaks, pork chops and lamb chops in three steps. Memorize this process. I’ve got 18 items on the list so far. When I step away from the computer, Bob takes […]
Poison
“He went through my bag,” Vivian tells me. “Right there. In the store.” She’s perched at the cafe counter. She’s just coming up from the city, and she’s pulled in to the cafe before she even goes to her house. Bob makes her a burger while we sip tea. This is the first day […]
Farmer Scrooge
I’m out with the broilers in the second field back, watching Bob as he drives the tractor from the barnyard. This is the last batch of chickens for the season. Late afternoon sun bounces off the roof as he navigates through the pastures, his big brown eyes focused on keeping the crates in the […]
Property Marker
“The chamber pot marks the corner of your land.” In 1979, every farmer in West Fulton over the age of 60 knew about the distinct marker that defined the boundary of our property. I’ve no idea how long that rusty pot hung from a branch, or who hung it there, but it seemed a more […]
My Indian Virtual Assistant
“I need an Indian virtual assistant.” “Not American?” Bob has just returned from cleaning the vacation rental after our guests checked out. He cracks a beer and flops down on the glider beside me, waiting to see where I’m going with this. “We’re supposed to seek a more favorable exchange rate.” Two summers ago […]
Mellow.
“I gotta go, ‘cuz Mellow’s getting anxious.” Mellow, a charcoal Bichon Frise, pulls at the end of his leash and attempts to reach Bob and me with his forepaws as we walk up a strip of crumbled sidewalk in the city of Schenectady’s Stockade district. His owner, talking to another fellow on a stoop, […]
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