after a shoulder swelling day of luggin around a 5 gallon spray pack in hopes of "taking care" of our little cut worm problem, i had the wonderful pleasure of sharing some talk with howard, or papa as he likes to call himself. papa owns the second parcel of land we're farming on. papa's 92 and a man like they used to be. his clear blue eyes remind me of my grandma bev and when he started talking about the good old days and how four dollars seemed like hundreds-a living wage for a man working a real job like farming-i knew it was all true. how four dollars was enough for every man and his family to live life well. a home, food for your children, a new car, a nice dress for your wife, dancing on the weekends, the essentials really. how politics have ruined autonomy. when packin pistols and fist fightin were how business was taken care of. and how all the generations would hang out together-take care of eachother and teach one another. the good old days indeed. it's sad how much things have changed, we all agreed. he told us he didn't have too much longer to live but that he was worried about the little ones and about us. i'm a little worried too, when all the wonderful elders like papa and my grandma are gone, who's going to be left to tell us the truth?