No News / Not Sinking

No news on the maybe-deployment front. Argh. My husband has a drill this weekend and might find out more then. Meanwhile we're both as nervous as two cats in a rocking-chair store.

So how about this headline?

McCain pulling out of Michigan

I can't wrap my head around that one. What exactly does that mean?

I knew it was bad here, what with hundreds of thousands of jobs leaving the state, 8.9% unemployment, and a rank of either 3rd, 5th, or 7th highest mortgage foreclosures in the US, depending on who you consult.

Is Michigan sinking? How bad are things when politicians start leaving the state?

Last time around, I got really tired of hearing about red states and blue states, so it was kind of a relief to see this Patchwork Nation map. I live on the border of "Tractor Country" and "Emptying Nests", in a big patch of smallish family farms.

I wasn't really aware, until I started poking around, that having all these little farms around was unusual. We have some farmers who plant acres of corn and soybeans, but we also have apples of all varieties, peaches, sweet and sour cherries, blueberries (lots of blueberries!) and small fruits that don't ship very well like fresh red raspberries. It makes for really good eating, and excellent cider.

And that's only the fruit. I also drive by fields of pickling cucumbers, probably headed for Freestone Pickle. I drive by the pickling vats on my way to work.

I pass a pasture with either bison or beefalo grazing in it, and I keep trying to remember to bring my camera and get a picture.

It's sort of like living in the French countryside, as far as the variety of fresh local foods goes. A couple of representative links:

Lakeshore Harvest Country
Southwestern Michigan Farms & Markets
Michigan Lakeshore Wine Trail

We have chocolatiers, dairy bars, brewpubs, and sheep farms.

Among the reasons I'll never be a politician - I'm not leaving!