- lets go fly a kite

- a family ride

One of the many beauties of educating our children at home:

For PE (physical education) we don’t send them out to an asphalt lot to play dodge-ball; instead our whole family heads to the local mountain bike park. In this case we went to Wapahani Trail which is only about 5 miles from our home. The park is maintained by the city of Bloomington and has a total of 9 miles of trail. Most of these trails are a little too much for a family ride, but there is a 0.6 mile loop around the lake/pond that is fairly mellow. The children thoroughly enjoyed their time of exercise although I am hoping we can get them to the point where they can ride more than 6 laps.

- home on the range

I have always said that it is a good thing any time I get paid to be around weapons or explosions.  A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of being the Range Safety Officer and Marksmanship Instructor for DET2, ELMACO while they were conducting their annual rifle qualifications at Camp Atterbury.  Good Stuff.

- hunting

I met a buddy and went turkey hunting for a couple hours this evening at another's buddy's farm.  We saw a couple hens, but no toms to shoot.  Oh well, a bad day hunting is better than a good day working.

- i gave in, big time

Well, as the title states; I gave in...  The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fidelis (Latin for Always Faithful) one of our "unofficial" mottos is Semper Gumby (always remain flexible and open to change).

Despite my consistent protests against them, I decided to go ahead and create a Twitter account and a Facebook page (you do need to have your own Titter/Facebook accounts).  Sometimes I tweet/post a few times each day about the simple things that I am doing around the farm and sometimes I won't post anything for several days.  Much like the blog, I hope that these additions will allow our family and friends to feel more connected and have a better idea of what we are doing.  Oh yeah, I also hope it will bring in a few customers and keep us connected with our existing customers.

What can I say?  I am a stubborn man, but I am not afraid to make changes when necessary.  I also have to admit that I am having a little fun with the new pages, I look forward to hearing from some of you via Twitter or FB.

- mowing the lawn

Last week, my son was tasked with mowing our lawn for the first time this season.  The grass growth pretty much shuts around October and starts up again around April.  He was glad for the break over the winter, but was also eager to get back to work.

When we moved to Indiana my son was given the responsibility of mowing and has thoroughly enjoyed it.  I also have to admit that I thoroughly enjoy watching him, the sense of pride he emanates is a reward in itself.

- grass or grass?

For those of you who happen to be lacking in street knowledge (not a bad thing), the first bag is full of Cannabis, Marijuana, Mary Jane, Mota, Grass etc… and it is not the tame low percentage THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) that Clinton smoked when he was younger; it is the modern version that is much more powerful, addictive, and destructive.

But I digress.  The only bags of grass I dealt with when I was “the man” were the ones I got off of the knucklehead parolees I stopped.  I never imagined I would be packing my own baggies of grass someday.  The only difference is that I packed my baggies full of the various grasses from my pastures.

I took numerous samples from our property and cut them into 2-3 inch pieces then mixed them up and stuffed them into a quart size bag.  After sitting in my freezer for a couple days, I mailed them off to Dairy One laboratory for a detailed analysis.  In the next few days, I should know the exact mineral, protein, etc… of our forage.

As previously stated, I never even thought I would own goats – let alone be testing my grass to ensure my goats stay healthy.  I love how my life has changed and am constantly excited about our new experiences.

- welfare cars from GM?

"It's a beautiful car," the 38-year-old Detroit resident said. "I love it. When I get a job, I might get one."

That quote sort of sums it up doesn’t it?  I am just disgusted, but not at all surprised that this “church” is encouraging its congregants to become strapped with a huge unneeded car loan.  Rather than following the very clear biblical principals about not being indentured to a debtor, the wise “men of God” are promoting the idea of people (who don’t even have jobs) buying over-priced new cars.  These knuckleheads actually brought lenders into the church building to make it easier for the people to apply for loans!!!

I am also trying to figure out why this GM dealer would waste their time letting unabashedly un-employed people drive them around… Is it because GM is now owned by the federal government?  Maybe that will be the next big push – “everybody has the right to own a new car” or “it simply isn’t fair that some Americans have the money to own a new car and others don’t”.

While I don’t know all of the details, I feel pretty safe saying that the poor people of Detroit need to be taught to become self sufficient and self sustaining, not that it is ok to accumulate a bunch of debt – especially when you’re only income is welfare from the government.  I guess I shouldn’t be so shocked when our citizens want to live in a manner that is similar to the government itself.  “Just get it now and figure out how to pay for it later”.

Every time I read the news, I have to do a reality check because it seems like I am living in the Twilight Zone.

GM, church team up to convert sales

- don't tread on us

According to a new poll, 4 out of 5 Americans do not trust big government… It should not matter if you are on the political left or right, none of us should place our faith in people who have made a career out of politics and do not live in the same reality that the rest of us do.

Ronald Reagan said it best,  "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

My wife sent me this article and I could not help but shed a tear when I read it.  All that I can say is that I am proud to wear the same uniform as this young man.

After all he's been through, the only real regret Marine Cpl. Matthew Bradford says he has now is not being able to return to combat duty in Iraq.

But Wednesday, Bradford, 23, made Marine Corps history, becoming the first blind double amputee to re-enlist. In keeping with service tradition, Bradford was honorably discharged and allowed to say a few words as a civilian before re-enlisting.

“Sign me up, sir!” he told Lt. Col. David Barnes, who administered the oath of enlistment, extending Bradford's military career by another four years.  The outdoor re-enlistment ceremony was held a few hundred feet from the Center for the Intrepid, dedicated just 11 days after Bradford was seriously wounded in Iraq.

It was at the cutting-edge rehabilitation center, funded with $50 million in private contributions, that he began his arduous and painful journey in June 2007 to learn to walk again with prosthetic limbs.  He'll soon leave Fort Sam Houston to work with other wounded Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C. At the Intrepid Center, he had memorized the number of steps it took to get wherever he was going in the third-floor physical therapy department. The center became his “comfort zone,” said his mother, Debbie Bradford.

“He's got to grow past it,” she said. “He knows he can always come back.”  So with a brief ceremony, delayed by about 20 minutes after the post was on lockdown for a visit by Vice President Joe Biden, Bradford's new phase of duty began. He said he wants to stay in the Marines “for as long as I can.”

Bradford, who grew up in Winchester, Ky., and Dinwiddie, Va., had made up his mind that he was going to deploy as many times as the Marines wanted him to when he was hurt a few months into his first tour of Iraq.  A rifleman, he was on patrol in Al Anbar province and trying to help clear an area of roadside bombs when one of them exploded right under him the afternoon of Jan. 18, 2007.

Bradford lost his eyesight, and he had a fractured right hand and fragmentation wounds to the lower abdominal area. But what he said he hated the most was losing his legs. He required amputations below the knee on the right leg and above the knee on the left.  His physical therapist, Matt Parker, said Bradford put his complete trust in his rehabilitation team, at a time when the Intrepid Center was “extremely busy” with a first wave of severely wounded troops.

One of the first tasks was to use exercises to strengthen his trunk area.  “Every day, he would show up faithfully at 1 o'clock, despite having a full belly after lunch,” Parker said. “He's done things most able-bodied people can't do.”  During President George W. Bush's visit at the Intrepid Center in November 2007, Bradford caught the president's attention while climbing the center's 35-foot artificial rock wall.  “Good man, isn't he?” Bush said, according to news reports.

Since then, Bradford has inspired others by riding his hand cycle, with directions called out to him, in the Marine Corps Marathon. Last year, he hiked 10 miles of desert terrain in the grueling Bataan Memorial Death March in White Sands, N.M.  Bradford credited his years of playing football and basketball as a youth, and the never-give-up attitude of the Marine Corps, with preparing him for his recovery. He's learned to read Braille and works on a computer with the aid of special software. Friday, he received a promotion to corporal, based on leadership.

The prayers and support of strangers and friendships he's made also have helped, his mother said. “He just doesn't like the word ‘No,'” she said. “He's lost a lot, but he's gained a lot.”  She said she was proud to see her son take his oath of service in 2005, despite her worries about his safety. Seeing him take the oath again Wednesday, after his long ordeal, was even more wrenching, she said.  Bradford said he wants to focus his energy on others, now that he's come so far in his own recovery.

He said he hopes to help wounded Marines cope with anger, depression and other demons that can fester if there's not someone around to provide strong peer mentoring.  “I'm paving the road for the rest of them who want to stay in but think they can't,” he said. “I'm ready to get back to work.”  He did note one tinge of sadness — regret about having to say goodbye.  “It's going to be hard to leave my friends,” he said.

Blind Marine re-enlists

By Scott Huddleston - Express-News

- corpse or Corps?

The mainstream media did not really cover it much; certainly not like they would have if “W” had made the gaff, in fact most Americans probably never heard of this little incident in which our president showed what a buffoon he really is.  Now that I think about it, most Americans have been so poorly educated that they would probably make the same mistake that Barry did.  I guess you sort of have to feel sorry for Mr. Soetero, he doesn’t ever really know what he is saying; he just gets up there and reads from his teleprompters.

I know this story has been talked about before, but it obviously hits a nerve with me. Being a Marine, I would like to think my Commander-in-Chief would at least know the name of my military organization, but I guess that is simply to much to ask these days. Additionally, I want to know how a guy can graduate from an Ivy League school without know the difference between a corpse and a corps.

My father just e-mailed me this image… I love it. It should be a bit funny to all (unless you happen to be a Obama-maniac), but if you are a Marine or at least know of R. Lee Ermey it should be even more humorous because you can probably remember/imagine being talked to this way at some point.

- factory or farm eggs?

I recently read a post from the Radical Chicken in which he was commenting on the CAFO “farm” featured in the spring edition if the Hoosier Farmer (the Indiana Farm Bureau’s magazine).  He was speaking about the twisted economics involved with operating a CAFO.

I thought of another aspect to the article:  I just thought it was disingenuous of the IFB to have the title From Farm to Table on the cover.  When most people read that they automatically assume it is a “farm,” when in fact it is much more like a factory.  I liken it to the egg cartons in the store that show a beautiful little image of a traditional barn with chicken roaming around outside; when in fact they are almost always raised in an enormous warehouse.  When looking for some images on the web, I stumbled upon an old blog post from the Cheeseslave who addressed the same issue.

If you have any desire to eat healthier, or if you simply like to feel a little less guilty about the treatment of chickens, then you are most likely willing to spend an extra couple bucks and get the “cage free” eggs with the cute farm image on them.  If you think your cage free eggs are coming from free roaming chickens on a farm you are severely mistaken.  While there may be a few farms (like us) that are raising their chickens this way, the overwhelming majority of them are raised in a confined warehouse.  They are fed nothing but genetically modified corn/soy, they live on a concrete floor, and will never see direct sun-light.  They can be called “free range” or “cage free” because they are free to roam around the warehouse amongst the thousands of other chickens.  Just for the record, we occasionally shop at Trader Joe's - I just want you to know what you are actually getting.

At Liberty Pastures, we are raising our (meat and egg) birds in a manner that you would expect when you hear “free range or cage free.”  They do have access to an all natural chicken feed, but it is a supplement only; they spend the majority of their time roaming around our pasture.  Their primary diet consists of grass, insects, seeds, and even the occasional vole.  [Did you know chickens can hunt?]

If you live in Bloomington, please feel free to contact us for a brief farm tour or with any questions.  If you do not live near us, I highly recommend you find a local farmer who is raising his poultry the way God intended or even keep a few hens of your own.  Either way, if you are truly concerned about your health or if you really want to support the ethical treatment of animals then you need to buy eggs/meat from a farmer who is a real farmer, not a factory manager.

All natural, pasture raised eggs are available at Liberty Pastures on Wednesdays 3-7 and Saturdays 8-12.  You may want to call (812 606-8783) in advance as our supply is limited.

- hamburger havoc

 This got some publicity in the local news, but I cannot help but think that if the circumstances were slightly different it would have made big national headlines.  Could you image if it were a meat loving man who went crazy and was cutting up vegetables and what if, to top it off, he was a "Christian" too?  I can see the CNN title now CHRISTIAN CARNIVORE DECIMATES INNOCENT GREENERY.  But in this situation it will only be talked about by normal people like you and me, because the mainstream media does not want you to know that the real nuts and terrorists are on their side of the spectrum.