The annual Mennonite/Amish quilt show

I’m behind in writing about something Mark and I did last weekend.  One of the local Mennonite churches had their annual Mennonite and Amish quilt show.  Mark took his camera and we spent an hour in there ooo-ing and ahh-ing.  It has taken me a few days to edit the pictures, but here they are: Continue reading

Special night

Tonight I witnessed something that hasn’t happened since 1982 and won’t happen again until 2033.  I think it’s being called a super blood moon eclipse.  It’s the fourth in a lunar tetrad which means that six months ago and six months before and six months before that we had lunar eclipses.  In the 21st century there will be eight lunar tetrads.  The last time earth got to see that many lunar tetrads was in the ninth century.  It is a super moon, meaning that because it is closest to the earth this month, it looks extra big.  It is a blood moon, meaning it was a total lunar eclipse, which is what gives it a reddish color.  And it’s also a harvest moon because it is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox.  What a night! Continue reading

Persecuted Christians

Mark says I bury my head in the sand when it comes to the news, and he’s probably right.  I quit watching the news and reading newspapers a long time ago because the news just brought me down.  I can be a lot more optimistic when I just keep track of what’s going on around me.  However, there are certain news stories that get through my defenses and I find them very distressing;  I don’t know how to deal with them. Continue reading

Guest blog: John Glionna

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while may remember how upset I was about a year ago when a reporter from Harpers classified Workampers as senior citizens who have to work to survive and get taken advantage of by their employers.  Another reporter compared Workampers to the Joad family from Grapes of Wrath or to Woody Guthrie.  A rash of reporters began contacting Workamper News asking for people to interview so I offered to be one of those people.  Several months ago I was contacted by John Glionna of the LA Times who, at the time, was looking for a modern migrant worker-type story and I told him if he wanted to interview me he had to tell the story like it is.  He agreed to interview Mark and I and two other Workampers and do our stories justice, so this weekend he and a photographer from the LA Times, Francine Orr, are here following us around and asking us all sorts of questions about our lifestyle.  I believe he’ll write a good story. I’ve asked him to do a guest blog: telling a little about himself, explaining his story idea and what he’s hoping to get out of this.  I’ll let you know when his story is published so that you can find a copy of the LA Times and read it if you so desire. And now, without further ado, here’s John… Continue reading