There is no easy way to say this, but this will be my last blog for a while. I’m taking a break but hope to restart the blog.
As a kid, I was the worst speller, which I’m sure was embarrassing for my mother, a school teacher. English was my least favorite subject in school. Most of the books I read in high school had a yellow cover with black stripes that I borrowed from a guy named Cliff. In college I took the minimum number of English/literature/speech classes, taking some of them pass/fail over the summer months just to get them out of the way.
I don’t remember how it happened, but somehow James Henry gave me the opportunity to be one of the contributors for the ‘From the Fields’ segment that Indiana Agri-News printed on the back cover of their paper. Five farmers contributed reports from their region of the state each week through the summer months. It wasn’t easy to give a report when working with a 200-word limit, but I figured it out and really enjoyed writing. After two years, they rotated farmers out and bought new ones in. I think this was around 2010 or so.
In 2012, our family farm was part of the Indiana Farm Management Tour. During that process I met Mike Wilson from Farm Futures. Later, he reached out with an opportunity to blog for the online magazine and I took it. Between the Fencerows was born in the spring of 2013 or 2014. Never did I think it would last this long.
I’ve really enjoyed writing blogs over the years. After a while, it becomes a part you. During the week something will happen, and I’m prompted to take a picture or text myself about a possible topic for the blog. Some mornings as I’m waking up, the outline for the blog begins to form and I can’t get to the keyboard fast enough. Mike has since moved up in the company, and I’ve been working with Pam Caraway the last couple of years. It has been a fun ride!
Over the years, I’ve also been fortunate enough to be interviewed for local news segments, a couple times on Hoosier Ag Today radio segments, and even made it in a national paper once. I hope through all this, I’ve been able to promote agriculture and portray it in a good light. I hope people have been able to enjoy and learn something from my rambles, my sometimes rants, and a little bit of satire and sarcasm. Thank you to all who have “clicked” on my pieces! I am thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had to represent agriculture from a grain farm in northern Indiana.
What’s next?
Going forward, we continue to farm. As noted earlier, I may rejoin the blog next year. In the near term, I’m going to enjoy a little time off from writing. If I don’t end up blogging again, maybe one of the kids or myself will explore other digital formats and we will show up there. I don’t know which photo will be selected to run with this blog, but all of the ones I submitted are of a sunrise. The future remains bright! Hope to be back with you guys soon!!
P.S. Thank goodness for spellcheck! I’m still not a great speller!