Holy Moly, Bill Maher!

Welcome and thank you for being here!

Happy Sunday, everyone!

It’s been an exciting weekend! I went to bed on Friday night looking forward to my latest piece for the Free Press dropping the next morning.  But that event was about to be overshadowed.

I was reaching to turn out the light when a close friend texted me:

She sent me a photo of her screen and went on to say that Bill Maher was talking about an essay I wrote that ran in the Free Press a few weeks ago, “Whatever Happens, Love Thy Neighbor”.

Wait. WHAT? I was utterly stunned! Bill Maher not only displayed a shot of the essay, he retold elements of it, quoted it, and said my name.

Bill Maher talked about my essay.

And Andrew Sullivan (one of the guests) heard him. I’m still shocked.

As I watched the clip I thought it was interesting that Bill chose to highlight the essay at all. After months or even years of often disparaging bits about Trump voters, he’s walking it back a bit and embracing the view I argue in the essay, that we can’t hate each other because of our political views. Hey, I used to do it, too. But it’s gone too far. We can’t hate half the country, no matter what side you’re on.

This event resulted in a renewed surge of views for the piece and a surge of new followers. To all of you who are newly arrived, welcome and thank you for subscribing!

A special thanks to paid subscribers old and new. Running a farm is like having a big burn pile on our property where we set money on fire. Then we have to tend the fire.  Your support as I tend this burn is deeply appreciated!

In return for your attention, I offer my observations and experiences as an ex-urbanite living a rural life. I’m interested in the shifts in my views as I get further and further down the road from city life. These shifts affect how I see not only on politics but also death, relationships, parenting, education and more. As a born-and-bred Progressive, moving to a red rural area has been like discovering that I breathe oxygen. I had not understood how thoroughly my world view was tied to being a coastal cosmopolitan type.

More than half of the world’s human population live in urban areas. This is up from one-third in the 1950’s, and is estimated will rise to two-thirds by 2050. We gain massive advantages from an urban life and mindset, of course. But we lose things, too. And there are consequences. I’m interested in those losses and consequences.

I also work in adult education–I teach reading to adults, and I’ll be talking about that here, as well.  

And I’ll sometimes just gush about my dogs and various horses.

If you want to hear more about the thoughts expressed in the Love Thy Neighbor essay, here’s a conversation I had with Tara Henley, on her podcast Lean In.

And if you haven’t seen the clip it’s here.

Thank you all!

Larissa

PS Lots of farmers both past and present showing up to share their experiences. If you have a farm, want to have a farm, used to have a farm, or just like being outside of the city, please share in the comments. I love all your stories!