Farm Rescue

It doesn't take much to realize how few family farms are left, and as a result, the network of farms that used to help support each other are fading as well. Though I am no farmer, I was around farming during my adolescence, and I often saw one farmer helping another because of various issues. Maybe you might borrow a tractor while yours was in the shop. Your neighbors fields got wet and he had to plant in a hurry, you would jump in so he could get it done.

That kind of thing becomes more difficult as families turn the farm over to big business. There is hope, however, in that the number of small farms has actually been going up over the years. And there are also organizations like Farm Rescue which assist farmers when they face hardships.

Read the CNN article about Farm Rescue.

NT Wright and Colbert

Several bloggers have this clip posted. It's well worth watching. Thanks Gavin, Allan.

Atonement ends Thursday

Someone named Andrew Miller took this pic, which was up at geezmagazine.org, but the one who truly deserves the credit is either whoever booked the movies or set up the sign.

Bookswim

I've been looking at Bookswim for at least a year now, and finally decided I'd give it a try. Of course it's most often compared to Netflix, and that's a very apt comparison, though Netflix recommendations and categories are far more advanced than Bookswim's.

Bookswim does have an amazingly deep catalog though, and the turn around on getting my books was fast. I have yet to return any, so I'll have to update when I do that. I ordered my books on Saturday, received an email on Monday and received the books on Friday, which isn't bad considering it's shipped USPS Media mail.

I love my local library, and I like visiting bookstores. But Jackson, the closest city with a bookstore, has very little to offer. My local library, and the Jackson library, are very helpful and I use the interlibrary loan program regularly, but there are just some books you're not going to find through ILL, and when you do, you may get them at a point when it's difficult to read them and get them back in on time. Bookswim seems like a good solution for book fiends.

My train wreck.

I feel like I've been through a train wreck.

That pic is of the front of the train that I was trying to take to New Orleans at the end of May. I did get there, but on a bus.

I was traveling with family (and friends who might as well be family) and we still ended up having a good time in the Crescent City. Only one person on the train was seriously injured, but two people on the garbage truck that got in the way of the train were injured, and one of them may still be in the hospital, though I don't know for sure.

So, a vacation and catching up from vacation have slowed my blogging down tremendously. Time to jump back in.