Good Reading

The Dargis sisters featured in March 2011
issue of The Furrow

I just finished reading the cover story from this month's issue of The Furrow, an agricultural magazine published by John Deere. It's about a family of five young women who have taken over the family farm after losing their parents in a plane accident in 2007. These girls were orphaned by the ages of 15 to 22, and managed to keep their family's Canadian farm intact. Their family farmed 7,000 acres and had 4,000 cattle when their parents passed away. The daughters continue to farm 4,000 acres and keep a large cow herd. Holy moly! That's impressive. And they're doing it all despite many folks' initial doubts about their abilities to run a farm, let alone a quite large farm. Very inspiring.

So, as I paged through the rest of the issue, I stumbled upon more inspiration in the Fun & Philosophy pages. Fun quotes, cute stories, a cartoon about beavers. What's not to love? A few highlights that are worth sharing, if nothing more than to remind myself of these quotes later.

• Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing -- Theodore Roosevelt
• Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. -- Francis de Sales
• Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom -- Marcel Proust
• Procrastination is like a credit card: It's lots of fun until you get the bill.
• Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
• Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
• Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.