Mismanaged Soviet farmland reminds of what my mother is saying all the time about our farmland. We don’t farm it ourselves but our hired farmers are free to leave or get busy enough farming multiple farms that we have to pay someone else who is less busy instead, in contrast to Montpellier. We have been fortunate enough to pay a farmer who advises us on putting money into irrigation pipes to maintain the quality of the land which is the largest undivided piece of farmland in the county with a small lake my great grandfather dug himself. Farmers have a different sort of knowledge from city folk and the best ones are knowledgeable about the environment and agricultural science to be good stewards of the land.
Also you said
“Virtue is in short supply these days among all Americans, so I’m wary about saluting any single profession with too snap. “
Thank you for being a virtuous comedic ambassador for America and making us proud as you motor about the French countryside, refraining from setting fire to storybook characters, joining revolutionaries, and flippantly murdering people like in Jean Luc Godard’s Weekend.
I believe the French farmers are very subsidized, as they should be. They keep their nation running & thriving. In France you can purchase cleaned rabbits in food stores, bring them home & make delicious stew. A friend hosted me for 2 weeks in France & I'll never forget the windows being wide open every night, & no bugs to bother us in the countryside, by a river-she owned a mill house. Then we went to her home near the shore. Another wonderful experience. Her husband - a retired professor from one of the Paris colleges. It was the best trip of my life. He was the chef. We observed & ate like queens.
When I went to Domremy, Joan of Arc's birthplace, I was stunned by how many shades of green there were. It was mid-May, and that may be less so for you now. But I still remember those greens almost as well as the tiny Darc house.
My village is more than 85% farmland and you get a true appreciation what hard work it is once you live rurally. I have a neighbor who works his land at night because he has another job during the day. I don't know when/if he ever sleeps. Admittedly, as someone has mostly lived in NYC, I had no appreciation for how hard farmers work. Jefferson's quote here is spot on. [You will likely see more Americana as you get closer to Montpellier and if you go to Nîmes. They even have a few American style diners in those areas.]
I definitely don't mean to disparage anybody's hard work; I am only cautious about valorizing anybody too much these days. Do you mind sharing the name of your village?
Farming is hard work. My dad was born into a family mired in sharecropping during the depression. There was little to no fond reminiscing about growing up as a sharecropper's kid from my dad, who got his ass into the Air Force, college and law school in quick order.
I salute the farmers. Talk to some farmers and ranchers sometime in your travels. If you think your profession has its ups and downs, go be a farmer.
I love the hair in the last picture. That is, what we bald dudes in Texas would call "Rick Perry Hair". Former Governor Perry has an excellent coif. I miss him greatly as the Governor of Texas. The MODERATE Governor of Texas.
We in America might have been blessed with good soil, but years of monoculture corn grown with synthetic fertilizers and sprayed with glyphosate are taking a toll on the soil as well as the environment!
Mismanaged Soviet farmland reminds of what my mother is saying all the time about our farmland. We don’t farm it ourselves but our hired farmers are free to leave or get busy enough farming multiple farms that we have to pay someone else who is less busy instead, in contrast to Montpellier. We have been fortunate enough to pay a farmer who advises us on putting money into irrigation pipes to maintain the quality of the land which is the largest undivided piece of farmland in the county with a small lake my great grandfather dug himself. Farmers have a different sort of knowledge from city folk and the best ones are knowledgeable about the environment and agricultural science to be good stewards of the land.
Also you said
“Virtue is in short supply these days among all Americans, so I’m wary about saluting any single profession with too snap. “
Thank you for being a virtuous comedic ambassador for America and making us proud as you motor about the French countryside, refraining from setting fire to storybook characters, joining revolutionaries, and flippantly murdering people like in Jean Luc Godard’s Weekend.
I believe the French farmers are very subsidized, as they should be. They keep their nation running & thriving. In France you can purchase cleaned rabbits in food stores, bring them home & make delicious stew. A friend hosted me for 2 weeks in France & I'll never forget the windows being wide open every night, & no bugs to bother us in the countryside, by a river-she owned a mill house. Then we went to her home near the shore. Another wonderful experience. Her husband - a retired professor from one of the Paris colleges. It was the best trip of my life. He was the chef. We observed & ate like queens.
Does anyone else hear Michael’s voice in their head reading his insightful and giggle producing essays?
When I went to Domremy, Joan of Arc's birthplace, I was stunned by how many shades of green there were. It was mid-May, and that may be less so for you now. But I still remember those greens almost as well as the tiny Darc house.
I hope everyone else appreciates the quality of MIB’s text above the Subscribe buttons as much as I do
My village is more than 85% farmland and you get a true appreciation what hard work it is once you live rurally. I have a neighbor who works his land at night because he has another job during the day. I don't know when/if he ever sleeps. Admittedly, as someone has mostly lived in NYC, I had no appreciation for how hard farmers work. Jefferson's quote here is spot on. [You will likely see more Americana as you get closer to Montpellier and if you go to Nîmes. They even have a few American style diners in those areas.]
I definitely don't mean to disparage anybody's hard work; I am only cautious about valorizing anybody too much these days. Do you mind sharing the name of your village?
It is adjacent to Saint-Marcet, post code 31800.
Who needs farmland when you can grow hair like that?
Farming is hard work. My dad was born into a family mired in sharecropping during the depression. There was little to no fond reminiscing about growing up as a sharecropper's kid from my dad, who got his ass into the Air Force, college and law school in quick order.
I salute the farmers. Talk to some farmers and ranchers sometime in your travels. If you think your profession has its ups and downs, go be a farmer.
I love the hair in the last picture. That is, what we bald dudes in Texas would call "Rick Perry Hair". Former Governor Perry has an excellent coif. I miss him greatly as the Governor of Texas. The MODERATE Governor of Texas.
We in America might have been blessed with good soil, but years of monoculture corn grown with synthetic fertilizers and sprayed with glyphosate are taking a toll on the soil as well as the environment!
What's Johny Bluejeans got to do with any of this? Was he a farmer as a boy in... where? Czechoslavakia? Before he took up blue jeans?
Statesman 💛