Farmer BIll & I were married in October 1982. We met in March 1977 on a Greyhound bus out of Minneapolis. Farmer Bill likes to say that he was running away from his marriage and I was running away from my family. Mostly true in both cases.
The 5+ years before we married were a series of ups and downs. The 28+ years of marriage have also been a series of ups and downs -- but there must have been enough ups to make the downs bearable because here we are, still together. We have 2 grown children and 2 children-in-law.
In his previous work life Farmer Bill was an elementary school teacher. But he's always dabbled with farming to one extent or another. Straight River Farm is his 3rd farm. The 1st farm was in northern Minnesota -- 20 miles outside the arctic circle -- in the 1970s 'Back to the Land Movement' and it put the final nail in the coffin of his first marriage. The 2nd farm was outside Osceola, Wisconsin in the 1980s. That farm fell prey to the bad economy, high interest rates, and Farmer Bill's tendency to believe the best of everyone. This 3rd farm is pretty darn successful, as farms go. But boy howdy it's a lot of work and a lot of investment. I'm a Librarian by training and nature -- not a risk taker. Farmer Bill is the risk taker, the planner, the dreamer. I'm here to put some restraints on him so he doesn't go completely wild... So far I've been marginally successful, although there are several hundred tomato seedlings under grow lights in my back bedroom...
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