A Poet, A Photographer, and a Farmer

The exciting thing about writing for Squidoo Lens Reviews is finding a gem in the midst of 1 million plus lenses. Not only ones I found, but also the discoveries of my fellow writers. This week, for my final review, I found just such a lens.

I discovered Graple's work while looking for fiction author lenses to bless and quickly became a fan. In this article, "This Farmer's Hands: Poetry & Photography from Down on the Farm." Graple is the photographer, her husband is the poet, and the farmer is named Jonas. Each are artists in their own way and they come together to tell the story of organic cattle farming and its related issues.

This page touches on so many topics that are important to me and many others - healthy food, animal welfare, sustainability, our climate, farmers' rights, etc.

My husband and I enjoy eating meat, but due to the issues mentioned above, we have chosen to go meatless at least one day a week. And, the meat we do buy (for the most part) is local and organic. I meet farmers like Jonas all the time, who are artists of the land. Knowing where my meat comes from and how the animals are raised is comforting to me.

Graple's project involved getting permission to follow Jonas around and photograph his hands while at work. Her husband then wrote poetry to go with the photographs. The results are simply beautiful and paint a picture of this farmer's life far beyond words and information.

Her article tells a story of hard work, of connection to the land, and of relationships. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

On another note, I want to thank MiMi aka GrowWear for the opportunity to write for Squidoo Lens Reviews. She is one of a kind and has done the Squidoo community a great service through this site. I wish her all the best in her Squidoo journey.

You can find my take on the goings on at Squidoo at my blog, Squidtastic: Celebrating Life on and off Squidoo.

Image Credit: The Farmer's Hands by Graple

Written by Kimmanleyort