Happy April! Spring flowers bring May showers –at least that’s what we’re hoping for. It also brings our Annual Wine Tasting and Scholarship Event to the forefront of our “to do” list, so if you haven’t purchased your ticket –please do! This year –we are excited to host Baxter Black, Cowboy Comedian and Poet and I’ve dedicated this section of the paper to a comedic example of his talents. Enjoy!
THE CALIFORNIA FARMER
by Baxter Black, DVM
The California Farmer is possessed of a mystique
The rest of us sodbusters hold in awe and find unique
The abundance of their harvest, its variety and means
Is impressive to a farmer who grows corn and soybeans.
Now, it’s not that we’re not farmers in New York or Minnesota
But there ain’t a sprig of artichoke in all of North Dakota!
Pistachios in Kansas and kiwis in Montana
Are scarcer than a fig tree in the state of Alabama.
And where did they get kumquats? Is broccoli Japanese?
And why do all their Holstein cows speak Dutch and Portuguese?
The California farmer has evolved since he began.
The land of milk and honey drew a simple kind of man.
They arrived with expectations in their worn out cars and boots,
They’re amazed at their good fortune, they remember humble roots
‘Cause they think that they’re still dreamin’, not sure it’s gonna last
Like a starvin’ cow that overnight is belly deep in grass.
So, in spite of their production and hi tech economics,
They’re just like us, they mostly read the market and the comics.
Yup, the California farmer, when you turn up all the lights
Ain’t nothin’ but an Okie with a loan and water rights!
Anja K. Raudabaugh
Executive Director
