Thursday, November 3, 2011

Polar Obsession

I get lost in books, it happens almost every time I pick up a book. I read mostly Non-Fiction or Historical Fiction and dabble in standard Fiction as they get recommended. My last obsession was with the Phillipa Gregory books, starting with The Other Boleyn, which later became a movie. I read every book she has written and I bought a few other books by other authors in that Genre. Needless to say, there were many nights when my husband came home to me drinking wine, reading my books by a roaring fire. I love to set the mood for the genre.



My current selections: Endurance: Shackeltons Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. The adventures of Ernest Shackelton has opened my eyes to the Antarctic climate, wildlife and the human ability to adapt and survive in such a hostile climate. I bought the book after my dad, sister and I visited the Polar Obsession exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. We went because it was raining and I feel the urgent desire to surround my daughter (who is 1) in everything educational, plus I love museums. The hauting story of the Endurance Crew brings to mind a brilliant blue background, with the whitest snow and a reminder of being in infinite space. Its scary to me to imagine being without a lifeline and I cant imagine how the crew could trust their leader so much. It has been a long time since I have engrossed myself in the story line of a book but I am now Obsessed with the Antarctic and unknown to me this topic has rooted itself in my psyche for at least the next few months. As Ohio is headed into the Winter months, the snow, cold and downright loneliness of Winter will be a great backdrop for my latest obsession, Polar Expeditions.




Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Child Labor Laws

I ran across an article in Drovers today, about changes to child labor laws in America. I almost overlooked it because the issue of child labor doesn’t affect agriculture. Mind you I know of adults and Children who have been killed while on the farm and education is needed to make farms a safe place to be but some of the best memories I have or learning experiences as we call them are while I was working on the farm.




I remember failing an algebra test in (I believe) 5th grade and having a hard time remembering the multiplication table of 9. My dad tried and tried to teach me that table but I couldn’t get it. I could see he was at his wits end because he and my sister are great at math and I preferred hanging out in the barn. On Saturday morning 7am we headed to the barn to start chores. After feeding the goats, horses and chickens I thought I was free to catch the rest of the Saturday morning cartoons. We did only have 5 channels in the boonies and cartoons came on 1 day a week. Yes, kids this was a BIG deal. But, the tractor fired up and the manure spreader was backing into the barn and I know I still have that stuck-on-stupid look on my face like “why is Dad going to clean out the barn today, by hand, in time for Cartoons, by himself.” The pitchfork was handed to me, Dad took his and with every sweep of manure he asked me what 9 x 1 was, then 9 x 2, etc. If I got the whole sequence correct, I could go inside to the cartoons. We were both pitching by now and I was trying my hardest to get the whole sequence correct and you know what....after time I finally did. Cartoon and cereal awaited and the rest is history. Dad also got quite a few clean stalls; I am really bad at Math! But looking back I can see many times where hard work, determination and a little manure put me in my place. It taught me character or math but if the governments wants to talk to me about child labor in agriculture I recommend they pick up the manure fork because I have a barn to clean.



The article is below, as well as a place to comment so your voice is heard. I know I will be commenting on the article because I want to have my nieces in the barn helping and learning about life because there is a lot that can be learned from barn time.



The article can be found below:
http://www.cattletradercenter.com/news/industry-headlines/Commentary-Changes-in-child-labor-laws-affecting-farm-kids-132994943.html