A farmer died in the area a couple of days ago doing what he had (skidmore)

[CC27]

Skidmore Donating Member (1000+ posts)  Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list    Wed Mar-30-11 07:21 AM
Original message
A farmer died in the area a couple of days ago doing what he had
   
Edited on Wed Mar-30-11 07:24 AM by Skidmore
done every spring of his life as a farmer--burning brush. The fire got away from him and he was caught up in it. He was 82 years old, a quiet, hardworking man who was well loved in his community. He was not a corporate farmer but one of that dying breed of family farmers, raising crops and engaging in animal husbandry to support his family. He had a second job as a plumber with a local business to supplement his income, as do most small farm owners.

I tell you about him to honor the man and his way of life. We have many like him here in this state. You see them in their overalls and plaid flannel shirts and work boots, always with a hat to shield the eyes from the sun. Tanned, leathery skin with calloused hands and faces creased with deep wrinkles. Men of few words beyond a "howdy" and questions about the welfare of family members and friends. You see them at the local cafe in the early morning around a table talking shop over breakfast before heading out for the day's labors. You follow them at snail pace on the roadways as they drive their tractors to the fields. A forgotten breed. Born before or during the Great Depression. Forgotten elders of the agricultural belt, until they are caught up in the fire.

I am thinking this a nadine google job or a 

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x772130

[dutch508]

Damn the Bush Crime Family!

[zeitgeist]

engaging in animal husbandry  

Until they caught him at it.

I'll be here all week folks.  Don't forget to tip your wait staff.

[Wineslob]

What, no link to the story? It must be true.   




NO 

[Rebel]

An 82 year old died while working out in the field? Damn! That's uncommon as hell! The world is coming to an end. People are dropping like flies. What do you think caused it? Global warming? BFEE doing weather experiments? Maybe the lighter he used was made by Haliburton?

[Karin]

What was skidmore's point in posting this?  To show off her talented use of cliches?  Just in my local paper today, we have an interesting headline:

Butterville Farms Co-Owner Arrested After Worker's Death

which sounds like part of a good short story or something. 

[GOBUCKS]

Forgotten elders of the agricultural belt, until they are caught up in the fire.

I think the point DUmmy skidmore is trying to make is that if we had a strong, progressive death tax, this sort of thing would never happen, because no one could inherit a farm. Alerted.

[franksolich]

I think the point DUmmy skidmore is trying to make is that if we had a strong, progressive death tax, this sort of thing would never happen, because no one could inherit a farm. Alerted.

Actually, it's odd, the way the primitives pine for the good old days of the small family farm.

Actually, we can have the small family farm back, just as it was in the good old days.

But to do so, we'd have to have a system and level of taxation that existed during the Golden Era of the small family farm.

Lower and fairer taxes, of course, would inevitably mean less governmental spending on social services and for fleets of gravy trains and barrels of pork, and as we all know, the primitives wouldn't go for that.

[Freeper]

Actually, it's odd, the way the primitives pine for the good old days of the small family farm.

Actually, we can have the small family farm back, just as it was in the good old days.

But to do so, we'd have to have a system and level of taxation that existed during the Golden Era of the small family farm.

Lower and fairer taxes, of course, would inevitably mean less governmental spending on social services and for fleets of gravy trains and barrels of pork, and as we all know, the primitives wouldn't go for that.

I found it odd too, romanticizing the old farm life, considering that life consists of tasks that are beneath the dignity of the DUmmies aka work.
Not to mention the low pay, no single payer healthcare, no oversight by the EPA, burning of fossil fuels, and not paying farmhands more than minimum wage. Even worse a lot of them went to church on Sundays.