Happy Cows; Happy Chickens

This will create a lively discussion.   I believe in good dialogue, a civil discussion of ideas.  It is extremely important, that values be discussed across production agriculture, that realities be brought to light, that politics be buried when we try to work through difficult food policy issues, while we educate our consumers and try to survive on the family farm.  I never criticize my neighbors decisions concerning how they run their farm, they are doing their best for their families and their own survival.  Although my husband and I are organic grain farmers we believe that every family who lives in rural communities has similar values  as we do, especially when it comes to land, the stewardship of the land, feeding the multitude, and raising a family on the family farm.

While Alan and I were traveling to Rome we were fed, at two different times sandwiches which promoted.............well see for yourself.

"Happy Cows!"

"Chickens have a nice day, EVERY SINGLE DAY."  They have a camera to prove it!

They have a working relationship with the Dutch Society for the protection of animals.

Happy cows are free ranging cows which make the best milk.

 The packaging was creative and the message was clearly written for the European consumer.  However, I think, it wise to remember we in the United States are not just selling a product to be consumed here,  but we are in fact selling to our consumers the necessity for family farms.  Food policies are difficult to understand because they are so complex.  Every nation has their process, ours always includes some Executive, Legislative, and Judicial component that deals with the farm bill (a very small portion of the entire food policy package), agricultural concerns, nutritional assistance, food safety, food labeling; dietary guidance and international politics.   I think I'll try at some point in the future to dive into these issues of food policies.  

We use approximately 17% of our total budget on food and nationally a large percentage of that amount is used to eat out.  Obviously eating out has continued to increase over the years.  This is another topic needing to be discussed when we look at a reliable, safe, and affordable food policy.  Everyone who eats votes on what type of food policy is put into place.  What kind of food, where we eat, how often, where it's from all help decided the food policy of the United States. 

The consumers in Europe think differently about what they are consuming then we do in the United States.  Therefore the marketing of the sandwich addressed the consumers concerns there.  The move to healthy food, food safety, and the romance of rural living is gaining ground also in the United States and I think it wise we think about how to best market what we produce and how to educate the consumer about our realities, and at the same time meet the needs the consumers requests.  It is important that our voices becomes powerful, not compartmentalized.  We need to make deliberate decisions on how to best go forward for the sake of our children and children around the world.  

Spring Arrival, Easter's Presents

It's finally here!  Time for celebration, wonder, and to be honest some frustration.  Spring comes with  the birds singing, the buds just barely swelling, the grass fighting to get past the dead remains of winter, and mud brought into the house by two dogs, one cat, and three grown men.  Although frustrating, I accept the mud in my home because boots are difficult to take off for a short visit into the house, and I hate trying to wash dogs feet every time they venture out.  I love Spring for the beginning of life and for the songs of the birds that wake me each morning.  Alan said the other day, "Time for you to walk the farm again!"   I walk, pray, bless, and take photos of the farm each year during the course of the Spring and Summer months.  Today although it briefly snowed, I had to get out for a few shots anyway and it didn't stop seeding either because we are organic and must plant peas for fertilizer early.  This will be the earliest we have gotten them in.  They are also a good cash crop if we can get them to harvest.

Kody with a truck full of peas!

Planting is a matter of faith.  Franking, it stretches me every year.  I did better, in this matter, when I was younger, and I am not sure why.  Older age brings with it more family members to care about, less energy, and more memories of reality I guess.

I did take a short walk this morning with my camera, because the clouds were inviting me.  I take way to many pictures of clouds!  I have to get out earlier because it takes me 30 minutes to drive to work each day, except when I take my camera and deliberately look for things to take pictures of, then I am often late.  I was late this morning.

It is good to celebrate Good Friday with life coming out of death.  Shortly everything will be bright green, and we'll forget about winter and that there is life after death.  That good can come from bad and that song can come from tears. All because of Easter, and the Risen God.  The problem is we don't celebrate Easter everyday,  I need to wake up with praise on my lips, joy in my thoughts, and a plan to celebrate life each day!  We don't celebrate enough.  The littlest things can be celebrated.  Like a closeup of snow. 


Ok I added the close-up picture because I love it!  It's more of what I like to take pictures of.  I'm a little bit of a freak about textures, colors, oddities!  Farming with so much nature around me at all times, allows me to look closely at the gifts around me and to be honest, that close look always allows me to have a sense of wonder and allows my heart to celebrate.

Happy Easter

Pomeii Revisited--Carpe Diem "Seize the Day"

     I couldn't help but compare.  It was raining the two hours we toured Pompeii, with an English speaking guide,  and most of the cobblestone footing was original, from 2,000 years ago, making it difficult to walk.  I could easily imagine what it was like to live there.  Pompeii was a beautiful city.  The whitewashed plaster covered every wall outside the home and every room inside the home had colored plaster, all over the city, most of it no longer exists but enough so you could imagine walking the streets, or coming into Naples Bay aboard a ship and looking up to the powerfully rich city on the hill.   The homes would have been beautiful it would felt like royalty living there.  Art work covered the walls.  Wonderful color.  Delicate floor tiles.  Carved marble.  Indoor plumbing.   Thousands of people constantly celebrating, for Pompeii was a large city with a population of 20,000 with numerous activities to participate in.  It was a designation city with shops, concerts, fast food restaurants, bars, art shows, coliseums, gladiator battles, and plays.   There was beautiful bath houses with large steam rooms.  They lived their lives fulfilling their every desire.  They had lively discussion in the town square with politicians running for office.  We know that because there was political graffiti painted on the outside walls of people's homes. 

Original cobblestone road

An example of the color plastered rooms inside a home.

This is a mural of a successful hunting trip.  It could have been to honor one of the Gods

There was numerous prostitution parlors, with painted positions on the walls so you could pay for what you wanted.  Gay prostitution was represented in the paintings by males being colored a little darker then the women, so you could point to your choice and amount you wanted to pay.  If you wanted, you could paint or place a sculpture of a penis outside your own home to indicate your profession.  I saw penises on walls and on the walks that pointed to the establishment offering such services.  They worship a fertility God, Priaspus, whose penis was as long as an arm.   So back then nudity implied strength and desire I think!  We don't necessarily worship penises, but we sure place enormous values on body image.  Beautiful people are always considered to have more going for them.  Lets admit it, what we think of our ourselves is greatly discredited because we aren't one of the beautiful people.  We worship the physical body too!                                                                                     

Sculpture of  Penis

A Male and Female

We actually worship affluence just like they did.  We get depressed because we can't buy, buy, buy.  We compare our clothes, our homes, and our cars to that of others.  Few of us would rather live simply.  We want the beautiful life like the residents of Pomeii had.  They lived it up fully not knowing it would be over in hours.

Temple of Hercules

Temple of Asclepius, God of Medicine, 200 BC

There were numerous God's worshiped-- Isis, Applo, Venus, Ceres, Diana, Juno, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury Minerva, and Neptune.  We know because there were temples in the court yards and paintings of the God's in people's homes.  Christianity had not reached this city before its destruction in 79AD.   Pompeii was engulfed with poisonous gas and covered with 20 feet of ash.  However God was still God 2,000 years ago!  I can feel His heart.  Many people died on the roads as they tried to escape.  In the city alone 2,000 people died.  It was obvious that the suddenness of the eruption wasn't planned or even understood.  Meals were left on tables and bread in ovens. 

We live our lives from day to day, week to week, the sameness overcomes.  We continue to live our lives like we have thousands of days.  Life is not guaranteed.  We need to live like it is our last days.  My brother who died from cancer once told me his cancer was a gift, because he said and acted on those things that were really important.  I live everyday without telling people how much I respect them, how much I appreciate their talents, their work ethic, their leadership, their laughter, their joy, their faith.  We let the littlest things control our attitudes, creep into our goals and dreams.  When you plan your day, deliberately act on those things that are important! Carpe Diem "Seize the Day"

Man--any man, All Men

Pomeii's large square and Apollo's Temple with Mount Vesuvius

Pottery Merchant and his various goods for sell.

Ceilings of Our Own Creation

     I have given it much thought these days about the ceilings I have placed in my life.  Actually while I was in Rome and Pompeii the ceilings just blew me away.  I did spend some time researching the ceilings of Rome, only discover very little on why they felt compelled to create such masterpieces at every single church I went into.  Now that I am at home I'm going to try and create some kind of impact on my own ceilings--just for fun.
 

 I've often wondered how long I could have contemplated the ceilings there, yes even laying down to make it easier.  I didn't see anyone laying on the floor however.  And the churches and buildings were so beautiful that ceiling staring was left to abbreviated periods of time.

     Lately I have thought about the ceilings I have put into place in my life.  Israelmore Ayivor stated, "There are no more ceilings over my dreams...They have no limits, they are limitless!  They are extra large."  Really?  My dreams are limited, because I prioritize people over any personal dreams, but having said that I still have left my dreams undone, put aside, or ignored emotionally.   I have actually put effort into making sure my regrets, of dreams unfulfilled, were dulled so they didn't bother me anymore or even forgotten totally.   I'm not asking for hugs from women who identify with what I have done, regretting their own choices, just because I've spoken into words their own feelings.   I am a dreamer, a optimistic dreamer, and I am often told I needed to be more realistic.   And so I have become more realistic and my ceilings are popcorn ceilings, low and white with no character, no imagination, no inspiration.  I have prioritized my life and have lived my life loving others.  I have no regrets about how I have lived, other then to say it is time to create loftier ceilings!

      I have so many ideas that need action steps, the problem is how to prioritize them, organize these action steps, create accountability for myself.  How to work the process so I take steps to complete at least one goal in creativity.  Writing this blog is that one step.  OK, so not many people read this blog, which doesn't matter at all, because it brings me pleasure, creates a feeling of finally stepping towards some creative process. 
      I read this quote from Holly Robinson, "Still, I wonder if more women artists, musicians and writers aren't household names because we don't have enough faith in our own pursuits to give ourselves the time we desperately need to be transformed by a creative vision.  Maybe that glass ceiling isn't really made of glass at all, but of sticky little fingers, dishes piled in the sink, and mortgages that demand two incomes."   I know for so many women, including myself, that we prioritize family, farm, and work above any further development of ourselves, but I hope to challenge anyone reading this to take the smallest steps for creative ceilings in your own lives.  The ceiling below is 2,000 years old.  Even then the people of Pompeii knew that some creative process was important and needed in their lives. 

Pompeii bath house.  Even 2,000 years ago they deliberately created beautiful ceilings!

This is the Pantheon.  The height and the sunbeam create a sense of real power.  The signs in the ancient building say to be quiet because it is a holy place.  

The Pantheon is a ancient building that still stands----powerfully!  It's ceiling isn't painted, but the design is known throughout the world as a wonder of creativity!  Real power comes from knowing who we were created to be, listening to the small still voice as He calls us to become the person he wants us to be.  I believe that we were created in His image and because He is a creative God we aren't complete unless we are creative.  Creativity takes many forms, cooking a incredible meal, green green lawns with defined beauty, understanding and talking to animals, or dappling in the arts!  I write this to spur myself on and hoping that others will take the time to discover who they are, to plan their lives so they can always recognize themselves in the mirror, and when they look up at the ceilings of their own creation they'll be inspired to be true to themselves.  Live life deliberately!

Lives lived deliberately still impact

     This was my second trip to Rome, the first was so inspiring!  The first time I saw the churches, viewed ancient history, the magnificent art, and the physical proof of all I had seen in books, I was in awe.  This time I felt empowered.  Empowered because I was ready to make my own personal changes.  The stories of the Catholic saints and spiritual leaders of history--viewing their history, reading their own words, seeing pictures of their faces at their resting places and reading about their lives at museums, I found myself challenged, not only because I want to change, but because their lives prove that living deliberately is infectious.

     When I was waiting for Pope Francis to give Mass, I spent time watching the people who were waiting.  It was pouring down rain with the wind blowing.  I must tell you it was so cold, but I was warmed by the smiling faces of so many who wanted nothing more then to hear from God.  Old and young nuns, old and young priests, women, children, grown men all smiling and excited to be there.  I was there with 10 others representing the United States Farmers Union family farms.  My husband had spent four days discussing with powerful spiritual leaders about Faith, Food, and the Environment.  We were there to create a dialogue for family farmers, but in that moment I was there for a far more personal reason.  I had just spent four days doing tourist things and was left with the intense feeling that I was about to embark on the next phase of my life.  It is time I threw away fear and insecurities and just worked through the ideas!  Ideas that keep coming to me at a maddening pace!

 

A Friar from North Dakota.

      I visited the Church of the Bones, a Capuchin crypt, at the Santa della Concezione die Cappuccini, and although I was not allowed to take pictures, I would recommend that everyone research and find pictures of this church.  The 3,700 priests who belonged to this order and whom after they had died and had been buried for five years, had their bones removed and placed in one of several tiny art chapels.  One chapel was made up mostly of leg bones, an other hips, one was made from the skulls of the priest.  The message very clear; life is short live it for God!
     I was once again reminded of the heart of people, their needs, their hopes and desires, and how much we are alike and yet uniquely different.  I am a forgiven sinner no less in need of a savior then they.  I am blessed beyond words for I have so much more then is necessary.  I was reminded of that fact over and over not only from the words of spiritual giants I was reading about, but from people begging from the street, unwanted by the norm.  I leave you with this promise; to write more of the power of my visit to Rome and Pompeii.   I also want to give you two photographic imagines that I took  on this trip that still haunt me.  One of a little girl who was sent by her mother to beg on the train I was traveling on and the second of two gay men, at mass, humbly bowing in prayer!

Jake's Legacy, Mine?

Goodbye Jake! Jake lived with us for 14 years.  His entire world was just loving on family.  As a Boxer he was a very large lap dog!   If he could he would have lived in my lap.  His place was on the couch right next to my chair!  His sole purpose was to do whatever made is family happy.  On walks he would always be close by, watching making sure I didn't get to far ahead or behind him.  When I walked into a room his whole body would shake with excitement.  Even my frustration with him always being underfoot never really persuaded him to leave the room I was in.  He came immediately when called, seldom did anything he knew he wasn't suppose to--(except he was a horrible puppy.  He chewed up everything in sight!)   I loved that dog, because he loved me!  But, he never had any original thoughts.  No other characteristics except loving his family continually.  

I do believe for most women our sole purpose is to love our families.  We serve them, we sacrifice for them, we give up unnecessary items we want, for them, and in time loose our own identity because of them.  We become our many roles.  We live through our roles, through our husbands, our childrens, even if we have work, that work, in many cases, is to support our love for the family, not because our jobs feeds a deep purpose within us.  I have a wonderful friend, who I believe has the gift of service.  Everyday she cares deeply for those around her.  She looks for ways to help serve not only her family but those whom she believes need her support.  Her sole purpose is to love and serve on her family and others.  She believes God wants her to serve.  And He does, however unlike Jake, she needs to find her uniqueness and allow herself the time to feed her uniqueness.  She needs to approach life deliberately and make room for her own development.  I don't believe that we should ignore our own created being!  It like tell God,  "I don't believe I'm worth the effort to develop myself."  Which is what we are telling him by totally ignoring who we are.  What is our passions?  How do we develop them?  How do we rediscover them?  Even the smallest action will empowers us!

I remember this day, I was visiting the Oregon beach with my brothers and sisters.  No-one else was there I felt humbled yet empowered because I suddenly knew deep down what my place was in the world.  When I first got married and moved to the farm, my father-in-law didn't believe women should be apart of working it, or for that matter, in on the decision making.  There really was nothing wrong with that belief, he had been taught that and it was his generation that believed women worked in the house,  take care of the children, and make meals.  I didn't really mind.   I loved being a wife and mother.  Spending the day with my children was the highlight of my life.  But I now realize I have other gifts too, and I can change the world with one deliberate act at a time.  

Put Your Bloomers On

     Thanks to a long distance friend, Brenda Velde, I purchased a pair of bloomers!  They were perfect!  I love being a rural women, celebrating my rural roots and acknowledging the power of women in rural communities.  I was able to wear my bloomers and express to a group of women recently at a Montana Farmers Union Women's Conference the importance of each of us recognizing our value.  Bloomers were first called for by a health periodical, the Water-Cure Journal, in 1849, because they wanted women to start wearing something that would not alter the wearer's organs as they were being pushed out of their normal placement.  The style of dress at the time was long heavy skirts that dragged two inches too long on the ground, made up of horse hair worked into the hem of the skirt, with a whale bone corset.  Bloomers came to the public in 1851 when a Amelia Bloomer, a temperance journalist started wearing them.  They were radical and scandalous, because they were believed to usurped male authority.  I Believe that all life, male and female, is valuable, and if wearing bloomers makes you feel valuable by all means put your bloomers on!

      Our farm is 102 years old, homesteaded originally by Ralph and Mary Weller and Leonard and Alvina Rutledge.  Through the years the family as added a few other 160 acres homesteads from families long gone.  There is one family that haunts me.  I do identify with her because I can touch what she touched.  I wonder what brought her joy, peace and wonder!   Their place is still visible if you want to see it.  The home's basement, the old farm equipment left on the prairie, the rock lined well still solid, and the rock piles!  The rock piles untouched for 100 years remain; proof of her existence.  An old neighbor of mine, who has since passed away, told me he remembered her because she would come over to his place when he was a boy.  His mother would take her in, because she had been "beaten to a bloody pulp"  by her husband.  She would stay at his home until she was healed and then she would return to her husband--this happened over and over.   The rock piles where hers.  Most of the rocks fit into the palm of my hand, small, yet I still know they were removed from the field by her hands.  

This one I picked up and it sits in my living room where it serves as a reminder to honor myself as well as His creation.

Alan picking up one of the small rock at one of the rock piles

The rock lined well.  It is incredible beautiful!

A plow is abandoned on the Montana praire next to the dug out basement of her home.   

   She probably felt she had no alternative.  Did she pick rocks because her husband made her?  Or did she pick rocks for peaceful solitude?  I think of her because I believe that life is meant to be lived deliberately.  If we just let life take us from one day to the next, never discovering who God intended us to be, if all we do is mirror the same activitiy day and after day, if we live from one weekend to the next never growing, never developing into the women we are intended to be we might as well pick rocks day after day.

     It's time for all agriculture women to put their bloomers on.  We have so much to contribute.