Folks, I am devoting this week’s Tuesday Post to letting everyone know about a very special event that’s happening in my neck of the woods this coming weekend. It is part of a grassroots movement amongst neighbors to let the world know what our hamlet is all about. The West Fulton Puppet Festival is free and open to the […]
The Math Problem
We couldn’t see a way forward to keep the family farm profitable, afford the labor, and work through our transition. We found the answer in the mail. When’s somebody ever gonna buy that place? I shake my head as we head home past the post office building that sits in the center of our little hamlet of […]
Duct Tape
How I got duct tape in my hair. And why I’m leaving it there. Shannon Hayes It is two o’clock Saturday morning. Yes, I should be sleeping. The kids are sleeping down at the farm with Grammie and Pop Pop. Bob and I need to leave for our farmers’ market at 6:30. But I’m sitting in […]
Farm in transition? It’s a job for the Super Friends
What does it take to move a family farm between the generations? Heroes. Bob and I have just finished unloading from the market when Kate, our summer intern, clomps by in her barn boots carrying a dead chicken. Dad is just coming in from the back fields in the Mule and she walks […]
Brain Science for Eight-Year-Olds
I couldn’t teach my kid to read. So I taught her about neuroplasticity. I prop a special slanted desk on the porch table at the farm as Ula puffs air out of her cheeks in annoyance. It is a beautiful day. She wants to spend it with the chickens. But I am there, armed with […]
Eulogy for a Dog
As a farm kid, Ula is accustomed to the cycle of life and death. But she wasn’t accustomed to my sadness. “Somebody just died.” Ula begins. “Somebody was just born,” I answer, smiling. “Somebody is crying,” she responds. “Somebody is laughing.” “Somebody is scared.” “Somebody is eating ice cream.” “Somebody’s happy.” “Somebody’s sad.” […]
My Mothers’ Day Gift
She swore at me. I ignored her. It was just a typical Mothers’ Day. Until I thought I could lose her. The heroine had decided to go down into the basement. Alone. It was a trap. I knew she was making a mistake. But she was the last hope — the only one who could prevent […]
The Big Fat Smackdown
I thought if we did everything right, we wouldn’t face the same troubles as everyone else. I’m so thankful I was wrong. I am standing in line in front of an inflatable bounce house next to a DJ’s screaming speakers at a fundraising event on the SUNY Albany campus. I am a place holder for Saoirse, […]
Can we truly honor the earth on Earth Day?
As a radical homemaker, I want to live within the bounds of our ecosystem. But to do so, I’ve had to defy impossible odds, break the law, and quite possibly deny my children something that has been considered a fundamental entitlement in this country. This blog post is drawn from a talk I delivered in […]
Why is everybody looking for a handout?
I got angry when my sister observed that “everybody is looking for a handout”…until I realized how many times I’d said it myself. “Would you prefer to ride a dragon, or a winged tiger?” Ula is skipping between Saoirse and me as we head up the road for a morning walk. “I have this one […]
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