the countryside is deserted

small farms in this country have been slowly dying off for decades now...hence john "cougar" mellencamp. even if it were inevitable it is a sad occurance...losing something so much a part of the history of this nation.

my father grew up on a midwestern farm near the mississippi river (does it get much more middle america?) every summer we would drive out to the old farm and my father and his mother would begin to tell stories of farmlife decades earlier...their faces would light up when they remembered simpler times. often i would become jealous...although that was quickly replaced by the realization that i am not much of a "simpler times" kind of guy.

as odd as it may seem, surrounded by such impossibly beautiful vistas as new mexico can bring on any 3 hour drive, i miss the weekend commute down to champaign from chicago. an hour or so of city traffic suddenly giving way to corn and bean fields as far as the eye could see. there was something incredibly peaceful and serene about driving past countless family farms...a calm i could use these days.

so if you can afford it (which most of us can't) get your produce from the local farmer's market...help us hold on to these national treasures for just a few more years.

just another false alarm...