Here is my fellow columnist's take on what happened. I thank him for doing such a fine job of saying what has been on minds here at Northview Farm. He is very eloquent.
I can honestly say I am okay with losing my job. I will miss the paycheck. It wasn't big, but it paid about one small bill a month.
However, I was writing books when it was offered to me...none of them published, alas....and maybe I will go back to that. Or maybe I will just blog here and share the photos I have so much fun taking. And it was hard to come up with a topic every single week for so very long.
That being said, I now realize that whenever I read anything I am watching for material I can use. Did the president speak to Farm Bureau? Yeah. I will read up on that. What are the animal rights people up to lately? Nothing good. People need to know. Who is hosting Sundae on the Farm? Will there even be one with the farm economy what it is? And if so what stories can I tell about their farm and family?
And so on. It's hard to stop doing that, but sometimes it's a relief too. There are a lot of email newsletters that I don't have to read any more if I don't want to. I used to put at least four or five hours into each column, and sometimes much more when some topic required deep research.
It would have been 22 years in March.
No one bothered to tell me or the other writer that we were no longer needed. I actually wrote and submitted a column last Friday. It wasn't published so I was able to assume that I wasn't quite going to make that 22-year mark.
All in all it's been fun. I have met a lot of nice people and worked with some wonderful editors who pretty much gave me free rein.....and believe me I used every inch of it.
If you have been a reader, thanks. If you are one one of those editors, thank you as well. You sure came up with some great headlines over the years.
The best part of all those years, besides the cool people, was how much I learned. It is amazing how much information is out there if you are willing to dig. I read newspapers from all over the world, Great Britain, South Africa, China, Japan, and often Russia. My advice for folks looking for trends is watch Europe. So much political shenanigans and animal rights madness starts there and then migrates here like a mess of demented lemmings.
I think I will keep on studying the wonderful world of agriculture. It is too important to ignore.
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5 comments:
Darn! I've enjoyed your column over the last few years. Gosh, 22 years! That is a huge feat and one to be very proud of. Daniel Weaver really said it all and well. I hope what he wrote is read and listened too. Anyway, Thank you for your time and your column I've enjoyed it!
Linda
Your way with words will be missed; you are an stylish writer. They made a big mistake. But if you are relieved to not have to spend so much time researching and struggling to come up with topics week after week, then I am happy for you. More time for more amazing birding and photography!
Kris H.
Linda, I have enjoyed sending them to you and sometimes hearing your thoughts. Glad you enjoyed them and thanks
Kris, thank you so much for your kind words. Hope you are well! Seems like ages since we have talked.
I think it would be an awesome idea and educational to all for you to continue sharing what you find in your blog. I would be interested in knowing some of the newsletters you subscribed to for information if possible. Specifically, the European ones. Thanks!!
Hutson Family, thanks for an excellent idea. I will share some links, although most of the information I gleaned from outside the US was from searches on Google, and when that let me down, Duckduckgo, which is less biased.
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