Adventure, Agricultural Communication, Home, Photography

Of Curious Calves and Communications

2018 calves — Curious calves creep close to sniff at my Carhartt coveralls.

I can feel Spring itching to enter Indiana. We thought the Big Snow we had on the last Saturday of March was Winter’s last big showing, a last hurrah before consistent warmer temperatures and flowers finally reach us. But then it snowed on Easter. I enjoyed The Big Snow, crunching through it, watching new calves gallop around their mothers, tails held high, silhouettes in the coming dusk and falling flakes. The cold weather and snow, especially The Big Snow’s cold and dense and quiet six-inch fall, have helped me readjust to the Northern Hemisphere and, for the first time in three years, experiencing all four seasons in one year.

The spring has brought new opportunities, as well.

I’ve embarked on a new career. I am a farmer and a writer. I don’t consider one occupation more important than the other, as one exists at the same plane as the other for me. There is no writing without farming; there is no farming without writing. Take away one, and you might as well take away both and toss me into a car mechanic’s shop and ask me to fix the worn-out brake pad on a Hummer. Continue reading “Of Curious Calves and Communications”

Adventure, Agricultural Communication, Farm, Home, Transitions

The Roots of a New Start

My most vivid memory from kindergarten is when the entire grade gathered in one classroom to hear a local dairy producer talk about her family’s farm. Then we all went outside to pet a beautiful Guernsey heifer calf. (I think we ate ice cream later, too.)

The best day in first grade was the last day of school when we visited several classrooms for various activities. My favorite was the science station, where the teacher stood in front of the class with various objects, and we were to predict whether that object would float or sink. We recorded our predictions, and then she lowered the item into a glass bowl of water.

My second grade teacher was from Louisiana. In math, she taught us to remember how to write “greater than” and “less than” signs by thinking about them as alligators that would eat the bigger number. This picture fascinated me.

In third grade, my mind changed every day regarding a future career. I would say to my friend one day, “I’m going to be a writer!” The next day, I would say, “I’m going to be a vet!” Then the day after that, I’d say, “I’m going to be a writer!” Continue reading “The Roots of a New Start”

Agricultural Communication, Farm, Photography

A Plug for AgStockPhotos

Some exciting news: I am officially a contributor for AgStockPhotos! Stock photo websites have been places to which I’ve been encouraged to contribute in the past, but the behemoth sites didn’t seem like a place where my photos would be found easily.

Then along comes AgStockPhotos. There are over 1,000 photos of livestock, crops, equipment, barns, and more on the site.

A couple of my first photos (the dog and the hay bale) contributed ended up on the homepage for a little while: Continue reading “A Plug for AgStockPhotos”