Archive for February 2012
The Top 3 Reasons Why Bloggers Love Lists
Bloggers love lists.
If you doubt that statement, take a look around WordPress and see the abundance of lists regarding any variety of topics. A quick search on this site alone will bring about some 8.1 million hits.
Bloggers love lists, and here are the top 3 reasons why I think this is.
- No Preparation: Penning a list takes all the stress out of actually having to structure one’s writing. All that a writer must do is put a little number at the beginning of each paragraph, and then blab on and on about that point. Once they are tired of writing about one particular aspect of their topic, they simply put a period down at the end of their next sentence, and restart with a new number. How’s that for a segue?
- They’re Fast: Once you have quickly chosen your points and have a basic idea of what you want to convey, all that remains is the smashing of the keys. And that is, as a lot of writers know, the easy part (so they tell me). No need to worry about silly things like tempo or intro-body-conclusion. Just hit those keys.
- Reader Friendly: With a fresh, new, numbered paragraph every few lines, readers will (I assume) be quite happy to wade through just a bit more of the writer’s drivel in order to give the piece an opportunity at redeeming itself (hold on, this will get better, I promise). Lists (except maybe extreme examples) are immune to the dreaded “oceans of text” problem one must always strive to avoid.
I think that these three reasons fairly illustrate why lists are so popular with bloggers, and why we will be wading through them into eternity.
Country Life
This is just one moment that we get to experience daily, which makes us certain that country living is for us. Kristin Neufeld Photography.
I grew up on a family dairy farm. My wife grew up on a grain farm, which is sort of like a real farm except they only work for 6 weeks out of the year. (I am kidding, Grams and Pops!)
Having both come from rural backgrounds, it was always a goal of ours to one day return to that way of life. Once we both finished our post secondary educations, got hitched, and started real jobs, we began our search.
Looking for a place to live and sink down deep roots wasn’t all that much fun. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it’s all guys, but going from one sad, old, neglected farmyard to another got very tiresome.
And, even more frustrating, my wife was not in nearly the rush that I was to get out of the city, and so she was a lot more patient (read: picky) about what was suitable for her family. I would fall in love with a place (any place) and begin to plot out my future farming ventures, and she would put the kibosh on it for some miniscule, non-pertinent detail (one house was turned down simply because a swamp had overtaken the front yard and the stinky, tepid water had encroached to within two feet of the step. I mean, come on, we’re not made of money!)
In the end, however, the searching and squabbling and touring was worth it because we were able to buy 50 acres with a very experienced house and the remnants of old corrals and shelters.
You can get a sense of our speed by the way the two boys are leaning into the corner, bobsled-style.
We love our little hobby farm, and will never move back to the city.
However, there are times when I do entertain the thought, if only in moments of weakness.
Like when the septic system quits operating perfectly. Out in the country, each household is pretty much on its own in terms of sewage disposal, so when things go wrong, they go wrong very quickly, and its up to you to fix it. There have been days (at a time!) when we have had no water or sewer; those are long days with two stinky boys eating, crapping, and peeing – let alone everything else.
Power outages are another constant threat and a common annoyance. It just so happens that our farm is at the end of the “neighbourhood” power line, so if anyone along the line is effected, we are as well. Many is the time that we have eaten in the dark, whilst waiting for the lights to come back on. Luckily (knock on wood), we have not yet been without power during the frigid, ungodly winters that we must endure.
The Older has really become a young Gentleman Farmer. Here he is gathering the eggs laid by our hens. Kristin Neufeld Photography.
The farm animals we keep are just one more thing which can add stress to our lives. Every day, including Christmas (for crying out loud), we have to feed and care for the ungrateful buggers loyal companions that bless us with their presence. While not a large work load per se, the fact that we have daily chores does mean that we are somewhat tied to the farm, because someone (Read: ME, always me) has to do the daily farm work.
But there again, the reward of having the animals, the life, all around us is well worth the stress (even though I might not agree while I’m bedding the calves with straw when the mercury reads -40°, which is the same damned temperature whether you say Celsius or Fahrenheit).
If animals never got sick, were able to carry their own pails of grain to the feeder, and never made a run for the open gate that some dummy (me) left open, the joys of having them would be lessened as well. It’s the satisfaction of knowing that the animals rely on us, and that we are taking good care of them, that makes having them so rewarding.
The Old Stare Down. Kristin Neufeld Photography.
And so, once the whole situation has been measured from all angles, it becomes clear to me that country life may not be for everyone, but it is for my family.
We have had our low points, to be sure. Like that poor calf that died, every time the damned horses bolted from the yard, and when our basement flooded. These are long, trying days that make us question our choices.
We have also, though, had our fair share of great moments. Like watching the Older drive around the farm picking up garbage in his battery-powered Gator (a miniature ATV), or robbing the tomato plants of their half-ripe fruit and ending up with sticky-fingers and red smiles. Also, watching the boys play with our dogs, and watching them feed the chickens, cows, and horses.
The Older especially takes the feeding task very seriously (but I assume the Younger will fall into his own role as he gets older), and that makes me pretty proud. He picks grass and holds it up to the fence so that the horses, who are standing in knee deep grass already, will come and pluck it out of his grasp. Also, in the summertime he insists that everyday we pick a basket-full of fresh grass to feed the chickens (This sort of early development of responsibility and work ethic is probably why farm kids are sought after by first employers rather than the tubby video-game-playing kids with carpal tunnel syndrome and zero work ethic).
We do our best to take the bad days in stride. We also try to remember to cherish the good days and appreciate them for what they are. And the really good days, we try to slow those down and make them last just a little longer than the others.
Kristin Neufeld Photography.
Daily Dairy Diary 
