Despite all the turmoil the pandemic created in our personal lives, I’m still out here plugging away at the disinterested vines. Being essential workers, me and my crew kept to ourselves, our “pod,” and availed ourselves of testing (and mask wearing and hand washing), which thankfully became easier to get over time. And then came the vaccine! NP Article_Musings II_Vaccines
Reviewing the holiday cards we received this past year, I came upon a few above that captured what 2020 was all about. What a year! In March, we all took a seat on a long, never-ending roller coaster of emotions. And, here we are, back in Spring again, full of hope and promise that we will emerge from the ashes …
I have struggled to find something profound, novel, or reassuring to share with you about the state of the world we are living in today. I want to point out a silver lining that will calm the anxiety that is the constant backdrop to many of our lives. But, you don’t need one more person adding to the barrage of …
I have boys ages 9 and 11 who play a lot of basketball. Recently, they conceded if they don’t make it to the NBA they are willing to consider other career options although, well, it is highly possible they will be drafted. First round, most likely. It is a little early in their lives for a lesson in statistics but …
I would have to say that one of my greatest, let us say, accomplishments (rather than achievements) is giving birth to two babies without pain medication or what are commonly known as “natural“ childbirths. I’m not sure why that determines that a childbirth is “natural”. No woman in the world thinks the delivery of her baby was other than “natural”. …
As you may recall from last winter’s news stories, we received quite a bit of rain last winter. No, it was not a record-setting winter, but above average, around 78 inches through May. We even had a thorough soaking totaling seven inches over four days in the middle of May, quite a bit for so late in the spring. Our …
In case the headlines have you in a funk about the current state of civility in the world, rest assured that being hospitable is not an entirely dead concept, not even in the fractured United States. Years ago I fell in love with the southeastern part of the country in large part due to the warm embrace I received from …
As you turn the page and your eyes alight upon the grape grower’s article, you probably expect musings on the pending harvest; envisioning misty mornings, yellowing leaves, heaping mounds of glistening clusters in quarter ton bins. Instead, I want to share with you what it is like to get my Big Spring Chore out of the way. That chore is …
High Quality — Spring 2018 Newsletter (pdf)
Slow Food for a Fast World — Spring 2018 Newsletter
I just spent four weeks in New York’s Finger Lakes region, right on Cayuga Lake next to Cornell University where my wife Ami was taking summer classes. On July 4th, we sat at a table at Good Life Farms overlooking a variegated expanse of small farms with clusters of trees, corn, vines, flowers, and feed ponds. The view and the …
Does your car tell you the outside temperature? This is not a new technology – I have a 1994 Lexus that can do that – but it is more widespread now, maybe universal. How important is it to know the exact temperature outside? For a farmer, a couple degrees make a big difference as it all adds up over the …