Random Thought #1
The other day, my wife and I were out and about, running some miscellaneous errands, and when lunchtime came, we decided to grab a quick meal at our local Culver's, the fast-food chain. Because my wife isn't a big eater (and maybe because she teaches second grade), she decided to get a kid's meal. "Besides," she reasoned aloud when I questioned whether that was enough for her, "it comes with a free ice cream dessert!" I got the double bacon double cheeseburger deluxe basket--but no ice cream. I'm trying to cut down.
As we sat eating, she laughed while reading the cartoonish message on the bag of her kid's meal.
"What's so funny?" I asked, thinking that perhaps she had read some innane, juvenile-geared riddle.
"So dairy farming is that easy, huh?" she responded, pushing the bag toward me. "Read this. Is that how your grandfather and dad would have described dairy farming?"
I examined the bag and found that the Culver's marketing people were asking their juvenile consumers, "Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a dairy farmer?" They then proceeded to lay out the farmer's day: 4:00 a.m.--Milk the cows. 8:00 a.m.--Feed the cows. 3 p.m.--Milk the cows again. And that was all!
I had to shake my head. I recall my grandfather's rising early to milk and feed the cows, and I remember that he milked them again late in the afternoon, but I also remember that he was busy all the rest of the day, too! Must have been some city dude who knew nothing about farming who wrote that! I can't recall my grandfather's even taking a short vacation or long weekend. Dairy farming is a demanding, ful-time, all-consuming job. If Pappaw had read the words on that bag, I can just imagine his face might have looked like it did when the following photo was taken.
Random Thought #2
On my "Books Read" list, can I count the many times I read my own book manuscripts--editing, revising, proofing, reading galley proofs, etc.? I do include the books I read during my researching for and writing my articles and books, but what about all the times I have to read my own books in the process? Would that be cheating?
Random Thought #3
In this day of instant communication--email, email attachments, texting, etc.--how can the publishing industry move at the same pace that it did when authors had to submit paper manuscripts via snail mail and publishers had to respond to those submissions and send galleys for proofing the same way? I learned this week that my book Evangelism and Expulsion: Missionary Work Among the Cherokees Until Removal, which was originally scheduled for release in the summer of 2021 and then rescheduled for February 2022, has been rescheduled yet again for May 2022. I'm glad I'm not holding my breath--I'd be beyond blue!
Just a little thinking.
Yes, cheating! It's a different process that "just reading." I don't rate mine either, but I've seen others do it. Bummer about "Cherokees," but spring is right around the corner. What are you working on these days???