ACTivist: That’s the European capitals in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It’s like you guys think I was hauling an M-1 through the streets of bombed out Berlin. Try substituting Saigon or Danang or Chu Lai or Cua Viet or Vung Tau, without the M-1. We are on the same page about comparative enjoyment, however. Loved Rome and London and Prague and Stockholm and Paris and and Berlin and all the other places. But, when you needed to lay it down temporarily and refresh the spirits, there was nothing like the English Lake District or a quiet, old hotel on the shores of Lake Como.

Lovisa — You have outed yourself, my dear. We do have something in common through memories. How about those two-seaters in the dead of winter at Grandpa’s place? That is one bit of nostalgia I can certainly do without. Glad to see you’re a bread maker. I’m the son of one and married to another. Now, that’s a skill we should all hope never to lose.

The cows needed milking twice a day no matter what. The dung had to be shoveled out no matter what. There had to be feed for them through the winter. My mother had to wash the chimneys for the oil lamps every week and we got a bath every Saturday in a wooden tub; water heated on the wood stove. Outhouse in winter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can get as nostalgic as you like about living out in the country, but I like my daily newspaper being delivered before 6 am and being able to get to the store in a few minutes. (What if I forgot to buy yeast for my afternoon of making bread?)

Grandkids – my 5,7 and 9 year olds live in Southeast Asia. Of course I wish I could see them every year, but that’s not possible.

Anyway, I sincerely hope that ACTivist will find happiness without limits in Heaven County, wherever that is.

It is a hike but rooms are available for visitation purposes (no squatting-you will have to leave sometime) and hunting is available although there is a 10% owner payment in game killed (I promise I won’t always take the tenderloin!).

You say “trudging through the capitals of Europe” as if it were the second war timeframe. You can’t be THAT old! I enjoyed Europe but found that the people that lived in the rural areas (country) were the ones that really gave you the understanding of their country-they had their finger on the pulse of the nation so to speak.

I found from my parents and how my kids are that I can’t continue to live my life for them and they understand this. I will miss the grandbabies but our children understand that we need our lives too. It makes visitation so much more special. And now we have something to offer that they are not accustom to. Who knows. Maybe sometime in the future I will be slicing a piece of our acreage pie for their use. That is what the land is for.

Cows mooing, train whistles off in the distance, the rustle of the breeze in the trees and birds singing is exactly what my wife and I have worked our lives for. We are country and need to be back where we belong. Sorry for stirring past memories (unless they will suffice and satisfy your needs) but know this; family and friends are always welcome at our spread and we are building accordingly. Keep that in mind.

Just keep reading the series and it will answer all those remarks. Computer? Although I worked and work in the “techno” age, I don’t let it own me or drive my life. I still use the mail (preferred), walk or drive to talk with people and listen to the news on the radio. OH, and I can still do math with paper and pencil or abacus!

What time?

Dear DC-Area Blogger,

I’d like to tell you about a new, grass-roots group called Bloggers for Good (BFG).

As a blogger, you know how supportive and positive the blog community can be. The idea behind BFG is to harness to power of the blogosphere to benefit our local community.

We call ourselves Bloggers for Good because we are blog powered! We organize events and use our blogs to spread the word. At the meetups we’ll socialize with each other and the bloggers we admire, network a little, and do some good along the way.

The first BFG event will take place on February 19, 2009 at O’Faolain’s Irish Restaurant in Sterling, VA (near Regal Theaters). Proceeds will benefit the Loudoun Interfaith Relief food pantry. There is no cover charge; we’ll raise money as a percentage of restaurant sales, a raffle, and direct donations.

February’s meetup will feature well-known local bloggers, including Erica Garman of the Washington Post’s Loudoun Extra blog Living in LoCo, author/blogger Tammi Marcoullier of the blog InsideOut, and Dan Sousa of LoudounPrepSports.com and his blog Ramblin’ Man.

Here’s how to get involved:

Publicize the event
• Create buzz: inform your readers by writing posts to promote the O’Faolain’s event on February 19.
• Post the BFG graphic/badge on your site (attached, or pull it from BloggersforGood.org.
• Send me a mail at Erin@BloggersforGood.org to get on the BFG blogroll and planned attendee list.
• Spread the word via email, Facebook, MySpace, actually speaking to someone, etc.

Attend the event

• Come to the event, and bring your friends, fans, coworkers, and family. The more, the merrier: we’ll have more fun and we’ll raise more for money for Loudoun Interfaith Relief.
• Meet the bloggers you’ve enjoyed reading online.
• If you like, bring a can of food.

For more information, check out the BFG website at BloggersforGood.org. Feel free to email me with any questions.

Thanks in advance for using your powers for good!

Erin Himstedt Rice
Erin@BloggersforGood.org
BloggersforGood.org
SuburbanFizz.com

After spending many years in the huge and often tragic urban centers of Africa and trudging through the capitals of Europe, I came home and resettled purposely in a small and unobtrusive house, in a calm and peaceful place where I could breathe clean air and stand on a hill and see nothing but trees all the way to the mountains.

It seems like time has flown faster than anyone could imagine. If what I so treasured is not already gone, it is disappearing fast in that same floodtide. Where once you could hear the cows in the meadows, most of our children now only know what a cow looks like from television or from a visit to a preserved agricultural site. The trees disappear as fast as a developer’s dozers can cut them down; and, where once the wild critters had a safe place to roam, they now frantically seek out the few places the dozers have yet to reach.

You have my congratulations for picking up and finding a new place as you describe. I have been sorely tempted to do the same, especially when driving down the Shenandoah Valley on a bright and crisp spring morning. Can’t do it, though. Too much family close at hand now, with too many things I do not wish to miss. So, I remain, doing what I can to keep what’s left of this place on an even keel and trying to reverse some of that ill tide, supporting those who do not want the tide to envelop them further west.

Damn, I miss what once was. Not long ago, on the outskirts of a small town in the High Plains, while visiting my late father-in-law, I went outside for walk. For some strange reason, even though we were in a new housing development for seniors, I heard the lowing of cattle. When I came back, I mentioned this to him and kidded him about not having really moved to town as he said he was. He cocked his eye at me as if to say: “Son, you’ve been away from real life too long.” He would have absolutely hated to live where I do.

As the radio preacher says: Not a sermon. Just a thought”

No envy here. Mired in what used to be, it seems. Will you be able to use your computer while the livestock is mooing (livestock of your choosing)?

“Live-and-let-live attitude”. – Any Latinos around?