America

One of the main reasons my wife Liz and I have a solid growing loving relationship is that we both have roots "back home on the farm". We just returned from a 10 day vacation which featured a family reunion with Liz's family "back home" near Troy, NY and my 50th high school reunion "back home" near Syracuse, NY. We always look forward to her bi-annual family reunions. As always we visit her uncles and cousins on their farms. Yet as we leave we are saddened to see the decline of the two old family farms. Gone are the milking cows, only beef cattle remain. While 2 of Liz's nieces expressed interest in keeping the farms going, neither are able. It's rough life, full of long hard hours, great uncertainites; not only the weather, which can wipe out a crop that took weeks to nuture, in a few hail storm minutes but the price of crops sold and the price of support items like crop seed, livestock feed and fuel for the machinery.

When I first started attending St. Thomas Episcopal Church, one of the first persons to befriend me was an 84 year old lady. We found we had a great love of books and one day she handed me a book to read. It was titled Granny D: Walking Across America in My 90th Year, by Doris Hadock and Dennis Burke. Granny D chronicles Doris Hadock, who walked across the U.S. in 2000 at the age of 90 to highlight the need of campaign finance reform. I was instantly enchanted by Hadock, and admired her life of activism and her love of our country. My friend loved Hadock’s motto in life: you’re never too old to raise a little hell.

I hope you all don't mind. I came into Crossleft to listen to Progressive ideas, but I'm also an artist. I'm a big fan of the great political cartoonists and lately I've been putting more of my politics into my art. I also do illustrations for my church bulletin. Hope you enjoy my art.