So for the promised answer to Keith's question. At my wife's reunion(I am still working on that actual post, maybe tomorrow) I met one of her classmates. I respect and Envy him. He had a pretty decent academic scholarship to some school where he thought he wanted to go. After about two years he realized what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He farms. A small family farm. He married the girl down the street and has a baby about the age of my youngest. He works hard part of the year and has a part time job. He doesn't live in the boonies. He is only fifteen minutes further out of town than I am. In fact where he lives he can get a two way cablemodem, and where I live only a sorryass one way is available.

The point of all this is that he does something he loves doing, is not stranded in the middle of nowhere, and gets to spend most days with his wife and kid.

I can farm. I can even do it organically, with saved seeds. I did it growing up. On a smaller scale but still I did it. I even have experimented with traditional Iroquois agriculture.(which by the way doesn't work as well as the history books would have you believe.) I can hold down a part time job. done that for years. Why don't I just do it now?

Oh yeah, I've got a wife and kids. Sometimes they get sick. Health care is expensive. So is insurance. Insurance industry, managed care, governamental crap. Fuckers. Maybe I'll move to Ontario.

If you're interested Keith I, can recommend a good book. I read it a few years ago and am going to dig it up again when I get back home. It's by Gene Logdson, and called the Contrary Farmer.