THE AMERICAN FARMER..................

I drove to work the back way today. I guess I better explain that term for you city folks. Around here the back way means off the main roads, through the country, on the country roads.

It was just beautiful. In this part of Texas a person can see for miles and miles and miles, until the horizon meets the earth. What I saw was field after field of cotton, maize and an occasional pasture with cattle grazing or tank with steam raising off the surface. It is just beautiful and it all represents the hard work and sweat of the American farmer.

My destination each morning is Roby, Texas. Home of the "Roby Millionaires" (lottery winners), the American farmer, and the Roby Rural Health Clinic. I know I am getting close when I start to pass tractors and combines instead of cars.

I've been back in Texas, from Alaska for almost 3 months. I started working at the Roby Clinic the first of July and I really love my job. I feel honored to provide health care for these proud, hard working families. When I took the assignment in Alaska I thought I would be contributing by providing care to the Native population but what I found was a huge well oiled, well financed machine. The money in the Native Alaska Coporations is significant and they have wisely invested in health care. I loved caring for the elders and found them to be very much like my farmers-a proud but quiet and courteous people. However, my experience with the middle age and younger Natives was not the same. Many, not all but enough to accurately generalize, had a chip on their shoulder and felt they were "owed my education and health care by you white people who took my land." Now this is a strange statement from a person whose land has never been occupied and who are still living in their ancestorial villages and collecting up to $56,000 a year (without working) from their Native Corportion. I have worked in health care since I was 16 and have never been cussed or verbally abused until I worked at the Alaska Native Medical Center PCC. I was treated with a great deal of disrespect by even my teenaged patients. This was not just my experience, the other travelers and full time providers complained constantly about the abusive way in which we were treated and the refusal of the organization to intervene or allow us to address the issue.

But, enough of that. I am mentioning this just to point out the vast difference in my experience here in Roby. First of all, I am filling a need here that far surpasses the need in Alaska, at least in Anchorage. There is a shortage of providers and a a shortage of money out here in the rural areas. At Roby we have three grants that allows us to provide care free or at reduced cost to the patient. For the most part our patients are very grateful for the opportunity to recieve health care that they would not be able to afford without these services. Now this isn't to say we don't have our bad apples, we do...everyone does...but it's the rare bad apple rather than an apple cart going to rot.

Let me tell you about my patients-this is a composite and does not discribe specifically any one person so as to protect privacy:

There is the 20 year old that comes in for his wellness exam wearing combat boots and covered with tats answering "yes, mam" and "no, mam" , a big smile that never leaves his face and wishing everyone a good day on the way out. He may look like a "bad ass" but he leaves me with a smile on my face and feeling a little more chipper than when he arrived.

There is the middle age farmer, weathered and at risk for skin cancer, who comes in at the urging of family because the stress has finally worn him down. The drought has almost driven him out of business, now we have lots of rain and a bumper crop- a bumper crop which may mean lower prices because of the abundance of cotton. He leaves making me feel a little angry at a system that doesn't pay a man for his hard work and sweat and is slowly making the family farm a thing of the past because they can't compete with big business farming.

Then comes the teenage girl wearing her FFA jacket who is having trouble with her allergies since she's back in ag class and mucking out the pig barn. Again it's "yes mam" and "no mam"....I can't imagine her calling me a
f-ing bitch like the 17 year old in Anchorage that I dreaded seeing every time her name was on my schedule. She leaves making me feel a lot better about leaving our world in the hands of today's young people.

There's the illegal farm worker who is living on $10 a week so he can send the rest of his money back to Mexico where he is supporting an extended family of wife, children and parents. He is proudly working at a job many people in the US would consider "menial" and making a salary we would consider well below the poverty level. However, he is proud to have a job and is almost rich in his home country. And, whatever your politics, he is providing labor to the family farmer who could not afford more costly labor. He comes to the clinic when everything he knows to do has failed-for the most part, you know he really needs health care if he walks in the door.

I consider myself honored to be providing care for these folks-yet, they treat me like I am something special. Little do they know-they are the ones that make this country what it is!

I guess I had to travel thousands of miles to realize where I belong! To see the beauty in the West Texas landscape and in Her people...yep, I'm glad to be home!

Zane is growing up! And changing so much! This is a picture of him in his tummy tubby-he's almost 2 months old (will be on Sept 19)!

West Texas sunset!
I have been fortunate to live in Alaska, visit New Zealand and the rain forests of Central America, but I don't believe there is anything as beautiful as a West Texas sunset!!
This evening I took the back way (ie, through the country) from my sister's house to my house. It was between 7:30 and 8:00-just in time for one of Mother Nature's spectacular shows! I couldn't take my eyes off the sky (resulting in a near miss with a bull calf in the road!). Even though I've lived in West Texas my entire life, I still found my heart pounding in awe!
For those of you who don't know what I am talking about I am going to try to describe our sunsets-Texans will realize how futile the attempt is and recognize at once that I didn't do it justice at all.
As I turn onto the back road heading west I look across the miles of flat cotton fields to the mountains (ok, hills to most people). The huge sun hanging above the mountains and fields outlines the rows and rows and rows of windmills slowly turning in the breeze. The sun is just a huge, giant pinkish-orange ball. As it begins to set the western sky turns pink and turquoise. Then as the sun sinks out of sight the few clouds above it glow a silvery color and the mountains become a one dimensional purple drawing on the horizon topped by the barely visible silver outline of the windmills. The entire western sky is now a swirl of pinks, blues and oranges in various intensity from the remaining golden orange where the sun disappeared.
There is no way to describe the colors other then to say they have life...to say they glow or to say they shine just does not do justice. I can only say they are alive!
Maybe some day I will post a picture but I have never seen a photo by anyone-famous or not-that approaches the actual glory of a West Texas sunset!

I think my son, Brandon, is a wonderful writer. I try not to be a nagging mother but if there is anything I would love to nag him about it is writing. He is articulate, humorous, and informative at the least. Here is a piece he published in a on-line newsletter for stay at home fathers. I point it out not just to brag about how talented my son is...but isn't he wonderfully talented?...but to help bring to consciousness the old, outdated stereotypes we still have about fathering. As a woman who parented alone, I really didn't give much thought to a father's role in the family. I had a great dad but it's different looking at things from the child's point of view. However, I just spent 2 weeks with Brandon, Mindy and my new grandson, Zane. It was sure a new experience. Brandon is so involved in a active, day to day, minute to minute way-not just a sometime baby sitter or a consultant on the big decisions. I am proud of him and Mindy and of the way they are parenting my little Zane grand baby. Check out DIY Father for Brandon's thoughts on the media's treatment of stay at home dads.

Home again!

Here I am, returned to reality! What a let down! Not that I don't like my life here but I sure miss my grandbaby and kids and the beauty of New Zealand...not to mention the cool weather!

I took tons of pictures. Warning: you might want to view the pictures and just look at the ones you want to rather than running the slide show-unless you have tons of time and want to see lots of pictures of my beautiful grandson! There are pictures of the trip to the beach and the trip to the botanical gardens as well as a walk I took around Brandon and Mindy's neighborhood. Then there are lots and lots of pictures of Zane!

Friday we went to the botanical gardens....it was just beautiful. Here is a picture of the magnolia area. I have tons of pictures of the plants and birds and even more tons of the grandbaby! I'll post when I get home. I took this picture of Brandon and Mindy which I think is one of my favorite. Don't they look like happy young parents!

Of course, Zane was cute and wonderful as always. He slept the entire time we were at the gardens.

Visiting Zane.....here I am in New Zealand and it seems the only sight I care to see is one little Kiwi!
Zane is so cute. He is smiling and cooing and I just can't get enough of him!
I've been present for his last midwife visit, his first Plunkett nurse visit, and his visit to the cranial osteopath...all very interesting. Some people pay money to go to another country to check out their health care system!
I find the most interesting difference is that the person is the keeper of their own medical records. So the kids have a book that is their medical record. Whatever provider sees Zane, for example, writes in his book. There is a carbon and they take the carbon leaving the book and the original note in the medical record with the "patient." I love the concept but I am afraid I would be in trouble for having lost mine!

This is Zane being bathed in his Tummy Tubby. He loves it. I think he feels very safe in this tubby. He smiles and splashes. The manufacturer says you can bath baby in this until they are 18 months old....we figure about six months. The web sites all show babies up to six months-there are no pictures of 18 month old babies. I think that is because they would all be crawling out or jumping up and down. Although it is very stable. There is a rubber ring on the bottom that stabilizes it. Granna was a little nervous at first but Mum and Dad did such a good job that Granna and Zane both settled down and enjoyed the bath time.














Zane with Mum and Daddy. Such good parents...he is just thriving under their love and care! Granna is so lucky to be in New Zealand visiting!

Visit to the beach on the west side of the island....
On Sunday we went to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day and the beach was just breath taking. I took lots of pictures which I will publish when I get home, however I have included a couple here to give you and idea of how beautiful it is!