Uncategorized 1376
FPR Conference Program
Tickets are going fast. If you want to attend, register soon. It's going to be a great event and we hope to see you there. Making a Home Fit for…
Localist Roundup: Small Things
This article tells more about the micro-house trend. Meanwhile, this article gives some economic analysis on the importance of smallness. Lastly, this piece reminds of the importance of local politics…
Melancholy Late August Turns Melancholier
Our archrival of 75 years, Jamestown, leaves the New York-Penn League.
Last Chance to Plant
"Do remember that each kind of work has its season..." Hesiod, Works and Days A simple, mundane truth about the end of August. The mid-Atlantic growing season is moving toward…
Hearing the Shenandoah
“Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you…” American Folk Song, traditional What is it about hearing a river? This past spring I stood next to the flooding Mississippi in St.…
Localist Roundup: The Terrifying Skyscraper Farm
This article criticizes localism and seasonal eating. Meanwhile, this piece argues in favor of public libraries even in an era of digital books. Finally, this imposing proposed structure might take…
Nothing Incomplete, Nothing in Vain
“Now nature makes nothing incomplete, and nothing in vain…” Aristotle, Politics Sometimes we might wonder about Aristotle. Was he observing the same world we are? One thing is clear: Aristotle…
Localist Roundup: Seasonal Eating
This article suggests that Comcast's infamy comes from the fact that the cable-provider has grown too big to function. Meanwhile, this piece questions the importance of eating seasonally. It also calls…
FPR Conference in Louisville: Tickets are Going Fast!
The fourth annual Front Porch Republic conference will be in Louisivlle on September 27. We will examine ways to promote a more comprehensive localist vision that both learns from and…
Localist Roundup: Digital Babies
This article explains how parking policies price families out of cities. Meanwhile, this piece worries that baby apps may detract from parenting. Finally, this piece may interest those who like…
Throwing Nothing Away
“Nature like a good householder throws away nothing of which anything useful can be made.” Aristotle, On the Generation of Animals It is delightful to think that nature already does…
Localist Roundup: Wendell Berry Interview
Apparently, it's Wendell Berry's 80th birthday today. In honor of that, here is an interview with him. Meanwhile, TIME speculates on Pope Francis's possible visit to the States. In other…
Happy Birthday, Mr. Berry
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Today, Wendell Berry turns 80. There is much which could and perhaps should be said in honor of him on the occasion of his birthday,…
Rising at Night
“…and when anything needs doing it ought not to be left undone, whether it be day or night. There are occasions when a householder should rise while it is still…
Localist Roundup: Little Free Libraries
This piece argues that the state of religion in the U.S. can be partially explained through the decline in traditional Catholic weddings. Meanwhile, this article describes efforts to support local textiles…
The Good Man Must Himself Be a True Poem
The M.F.A. program in Creative Writing at the University of Notre Dame has just published an interview with me as part of its alumni series. There, I get to reflect…
Localist Roundup: The Best Solutions Are Local
This piece laments the loss of quiet in a technological age. Meanwhile, this article describes some approaches European cities are taking to encourage revival. In political news, Representative Paul Ryan has a…
Something’s Fishy–But Not Very–At Dinnertime
Ingham County, MI As darkness falls upon what a friend of mine charitably calls “Jack-Ass Acres,” and as the promise of rain comes with the moving clouds at the end…
Care for a Wife’s Health
“Seeing, then, that such care is lavished on the body’s food, surely every care should be taken on behalf of our own children’s mother and nurse, in whom is implanted…
Localist Roundup: Mild Electrical Shocks
This USDA press release outlines recent efforts to offer more support to the local food movement. Meanwhile, this piece explains the importance of restaurants for cities. Lastly, this article reports that, apparently,…
A Quaker for Peace
From The American Conservative, my remembrance of Robert D. Stuart Jr., whose family knew oatmeal.
Localist Roundup: Coping With Loneliness
According to this piece, millennials have some interesting tensions in their political views. Meanwhile, this article bemoans the way that parking has taken over cities. This article describes an epidemic…
What Will Make Me Grateful?
“The greatest benefits will not bind the ungrateful.” Aesop’s Fables The farmer, finding a frozen snake, pitied him and placed him in his bosom to thaw. The revived snake, unmoved…
Things Grow Better With Coke
The humble squash bug is truly a remarkable creature. The neonicotinoid pesticides that play such havoc with the fragile bees and birds have no effect whatsoever on the resilient squash…
