Editorial / Opinions

The fashion industry is one of the biggest in the United States. In the way of fibers and textiles, believe it or not, the fashion industry has some true relation to, dare I say it, the agriculture industry. The fashion industry provides jobs for some 4.7 million persons. If you count those who spin, weave, dye, grow cotton or wool or work in the petroleum-based textile firms, to say nothing of transportation and retail.

When I graduated from high school I was 5’9” and weighed 140 lbs. —soaking wet. Four years later, when I got out of college, I had shot upward to 6’1” and ballooned outward to a whopping 175 lbs. I figured I was finished growing and settled into pants and shirt sizes that I could remember for the rest of my life. Over the years, I have had to readjust occasionally, but not without a fight.

I offer a few thankful thoughts to ponder as we approach the beginning of the holiday season.

Parker's Court History:
Part Three

Born in 1912, my father was a young man during the Great Depression. Having only gone to school a few months and, in his words, “not much caring for it,” he had already farmed for several years when the financial and marketing crisis settled in on all of America. Looking back, I can only assume that this devastating era of our country’s past shaped both him and my mother into how they lived their lives.

I offer a few thankful thoughts to ponder as we approach the beginning of the holiday season.

The election of the year 2008 is over, thank God. The next president of the United States of America is a former Chicago lawyer and member of the U.S. Congress named Obama.

Born in 1912, my father was a young man during the Great Depression. Having only gone to school a few months and, in his words, “not much caring for it,” he had already farmed for several years when the financial and marketing crisis settled in on all of America.  Looking back, I can only assume that this devastating era of our country’s past shaped both him and my mother into how they lived their lives.

In the past few years, it seems I've only gone back to the farm for large projects like hay hauling, fencing and most recently, barn building. Dad has put up a quonset-style barn, and for our small family farm, this project meant all hands on deck. Eighty feet at a little over two feet at a time is quite the effort! The day I joined in, I was on the ground crew, breaking the slag off the welds my brother and dad had completed, and then polishing them ‘til they shined. I had on goggles, sparks were flying everywhere, but I was soaking up the stress-relief that comes with some good, hard manual labor.

Parker's Court History:
Part Two