tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68045485025864677882024-03-04T22:37:13.330-08:00Jessica S. ReedJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-77000771415905260502018-04-10T08:03:00.003-07:002018-04-10T08:04:47.520-07:00Colorado Review PodcastIn December 2017, the Colorado Review podcast featured my poem "Space Without Objects" along with work from other poets--Adonis, Jackson Holbert, Jess Williard (all from the Fall 2017 issue). Editorial assistant Danny Schonning discussed the poems with podcast editor Meghan Pipe.
I thought it was awesome! Danny read the poem so well, and the discussion was very flattering. The poem is about Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-28228165694386543022017-12-09T09:36:00.001-08:002017-12-18T07:10:31.810-08:00Electrons Are Not Snowflakes
When I was an undergraduate studying
physics, one of the most shocking passages I read was about electrons, in
a textbook. David Griffiths (best physics textbook author
ever), like the great physicist Richard Feynman, had little tolerance for
"philosophy," and yet, also like Feynman, perpetually dished out
philosophical gems. It seemed automatic for both of them, like breathing. Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-44308872847004910192017-12-02T11:29:00.000-08:002017-12-18T07:10:54.701-08:00Quarks and Empty Spaces: Reimagining Lucretius
Sometime in
2008, I first had the brazen idea to “update” a two-thousand-year-old poem. I
ran across a passage of the ancient book-length poem by Lucretius called The Nature of Things and began to
wonder, how would this book sound if it
were written today? Both physics and poetry have radically changed since
Lucretius was writing his treatise that all phenomena have a natural
explanation (Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-24217346337175252252017-11-30T15:36:00.001-08:002017-12-18T07:11:11.530-08:00Announcing my new chapbook!
World, Composed
My first poetry collection is now available for purchase from Finishing Line Press. Click here to pre-order a copy! The book comes out March 23, 2018.
Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-49045129972241466582017-03-06T08:34:00.000-08:002017-03-06T11:12:19.061-08:00Sustainability Update: Electric Car with Backup Gas Generator
Our 2017 Chevy Volt
Lifetime MPGe: 96
We were in no hurry to replace our old Chevy Cavaliers--modest, reliable cars that suited us fine, even if car-lovers don't find much to celebrate about them. We had no car payments for years, and we loved that. James's car finally died for good when we were on a date in a snowstorm on Valentine's day.
When it did, we finally had an opportunity to buy a Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-69111423277392285902015-08-23T11:02:00.003-07:002015-10-07T06:27:28.175-07:00Solar Power Update
August 2015:
Our panels have produced a total of about 3.2 megawatt-hours since we went online in April.
1298 kWh taken from our power provider (at night and on cloudy days),
2209 kWh pushed back (that's electricity we don't use that goes back to the grid).
We're still loving it. Thanks, Rectify Solar!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-83081936235655660462015-08-07T09:34:00.000-07:002015-08-07T09:34:12.051-07:00Heirloom Tomatoes and Sunflowers
These are ripe tomatoes! "Aunt Ruby's German Green" is a delightful heirloom I've been growing for the past four years. It tastes like a mild, yet flavorful beefsteak. You can get these seeds from Seed Savers Exchange your first year, then save the seeds year after year.
The inside is beefsteak-y and meaty. The tomatoes themselves are pretty hefty.
I love the variety of Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-87270558087782068122015-08-06T06:44:00.001-07:002015-08-06T06:56:13.939-07:00When Eco-Solutions BackfireTwo things to get off my chest: the EPA-regulated gas cans and DIY water-saving toilets. While I embrace the technologies that make sense ecologically, I can be absolutely devastated (I'm that sensitive) when the little solutions go wrong. I guess I'm just built this way emotionally, believing everything is either saving or destroying the world.
Gas and Mowing/Farm Equipment
There's so muchJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-28603951595822519422015-05-14T09:39:00.001-07:002015-05-14T09:39:38.050-07:00Solar Power Works!
We've had solar up and running for just about a month, and we've generated a total of 844 kilowatt-hours of electricity--enough to run a refrigerator for six months (or charge a mobile phone for 26 years, but let's stick with the fridge, a real energy hog).
There's a handy app on my phone that I refer to, oh, fifteen times a day, that monitors our system's solar output. That's Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-85210653749504730572015-04-03T08:27:00.000-07:002017-03-06T08:41:34.857-08:00Solar Panels!After months of anticipation, the solar panels are finally lining up along the roof of the barn. We have yet to turn the system on; there's still some wiring to be done and a few panels left.
Chicken Coop, Barn, and Solar Panels: A Dream Come True
I look at the farm journal from when we first got here, where I fantasized about one day having solar power on the barn, and I'm pinching myself Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-53032080266067526092015-01-19T10:18:00.001-08:002015-01-19T10:18:44.983-08:00Goals for the Farm in 2015This year should bring two big changes to the land.
We intend to put a 5kW solar panel system on our barn to serve at least half of our electrical needs. We're waiting to find out what will happen with the bill introduced in the Indiana legislature to eliminate net metering, but the drastic reduction in our return on investment does nothing to dampen our enthusiasm for solar. It was estimated toJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-181087130085035742014-06-04T06:34:00.002-07:002014-06-04T06:35:06.145-07:00Life on the Farm, June 2014, Snapshots
Peonies
Radishes, Strawberries, Mixed Greens
Buff Brahma Bantams, Foxy and Dusty
Foxy Brown and Dusty Springfield
Foxy, Dusty, Mildred, Vera, and Sophie
(That's Mildred Dresselhaus, Vera Rubin, and Sophie Germain for math & physics lovers.)Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-60635878243504214972014-04-29T14:29:00.000-07:002014-05-03T11:22:41.822-07:00Apparelled in Celestial Light
In my last post I described the way the snow threatened the Magnolia blossoms. Days later, James got a job and the sun shone magnificently and I was able to plant. The Magnolia blossoms opened up after all, although plenty were singed, brown on white, like roasted marshmallows.
I try to read the trees and the sky—to interpret what is writ large. This spring, after such unprecedentedJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-47193852023149278822014-04-15T09:01:00.001-07:002014-04-15T09:01:38.025-07:00Farm Diary: April 14, 2014
The
Magnolia Star trees in our front yard had finally begun to bloom, but this
morning, the cream buds were wilted and coated in snow crystals.
Our
hens are barely laying. We’ve been getting about an egg a day (down from three)
since Marie Curie went broody and we had to “break” her. It might be my
imagination, but I think the girls are getting aggressive. I chose Buff
Orpingtons Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-38224344270699240232014-01-07T12:45:00.000-08:002014-01-07T12:45:04.132-08:00Life on the Farm, Polar Vortex editionI shouldn't really say that I live on a farm. We don't depend on anything we grow or raise for money. In fact, so far we only give things away: eggs to my parents, plants for the gardens in the spring, a little produce. When I refer to this land as "the farm," I use the word in an aspirational sense--someday--and with a hint of the preposterous: no one who knew me in the first, say, 30 years of Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-971975692364555202013-10-06T17:20:00.002-07:002013-10-06T17:22:55.701-07:00MediumI've been using a website called Medium to post essays. Here are links:
Restless Fourteen Times: The Marvel and the Tyranny of Personal Data
Reflections on the Fitbit Flex, a wristband that monitors calories and sleep.
Rebuilding the Plains: Restoring Pre-Agricultural Land in the Conservation Reserve Program
An account of the first part of our odyssey to convert our hill to a native grass and Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-36273496066092011352013-09-20T08:02:00.001-07:002013-09-21T07:04:44.653-07:00Border Collie + Chickens!Gracie, my parents' Border Collie, is amazing. And exhausting. Living next door to Mom & Dad, their dog quickly became partly our dog. I have bonded with Gracie a lot, and long before we introduced four chickens into our lives.
When the chicks were tiny, we kept her on a leash if we brought them outside and she tugged at the leash, her wolf-like teeth snapping. But she paid attention to Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-11614439725349722752013-09-18T17:19:00.000-07:002017-03-06T08:53:07.621-08:00Modern Farmer and the Ideological Agricultural Divide
There is reason to celebrate. The second issue of Modern Farmer is here! My husband picked it up at Whole Foods on Monday. (It is also available at Tractor Supply. I could subscribe, but buying magazines at Tractor Supply with my chicken feed sounds so cool. The first issue of Modern Farmer made me very happy.)
The two places I am most likely to buy my copy of Modern Farmer--Whole Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-6945747450093650372013-09-10T14:05:00.000-07:002017-03-06T08:55:58.686-08:00Winter Chicken Coop In ProgressI almost hate to post any pictures until it's done, but it looks so good! Dad built and painted the box white (what do you call the box where you retrieve the eggs?).
I'm so happy that we were able to salvage this metal that was sitting in the corner of the property for fifteen years, from when they built the barn. Fifteen years in the woods and there was surprisingly little rust. It wasn't hardJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-63503500189822738912013-08-24T10:55:00.000-07:002013-09-18T07:13:19.716-07:00Building the Winter (Permanent) Chicken CoopDad's retirement is benefitting me greatly.
Just as we copied the plans for the chicken tractor from the book, Self-Sufficiency for the 21st Century, Dad found a Maine website, Downeast Thunder Farm, with detailed plans for a coop.
It has been hot and we need rain. I think Dad is looking for signs of rain clouds here.
Once again, Dad has been doing all the design Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-79364249248821594212013-08-17T08:03:00.000-07:002013-09-18T07:13:19.727-07:00Indiana Produce for a Santa Fe FeastAugust in Indiana. The days are shorter already, and we've had a couple cold snaps. I start to feel a twinge of melancholy, like the whole year is already over. But something absolutely magical works as a countervailing force: the harvest.
Bountiful, Indiana harvest! I am joyful.
Today, I woke up and picked food for lunch and dinner. Lunch will be Italian--Caprese--an easy way to consume Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-12354928359351682642013-07-22T15:28:00.000-07:002013-09-18T07:13:19.705-07:00July in Indiana: At a Glance
July in Danville is time for the 4-H Fair, where I saw these rock star chickens:
and went on a couple rides:
Our chickens are growing every day. Their winter coop is being built:
In the field, there are some mighty pretty Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-64430635952357748262013-05-14T14:56:00.001-07:002013-09-18T07:13:19.718-07:00The Chicken Ark and other stuff...At last, the chicken tractor is here! We just need a few finishing touches (chicken wire around the whole thing, for one).
Dad is the carpenter. He made some vague plans from a book come to life, and we are all grateful. Of course I worked on it, but I'm not going to pretend I did any of the higher-order carpentry. I got more practice using a saw and a drill--both skills I've used many Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-6769295500718672012013-04-26T07:52:00.000-07:002013-09-18T07:13:19.720-07:00The secret of my un-success, or great advice I won't be followingI caught this inspiring passage in The Greenhorns' New Farmer's Almanac last night:
In whatever you engage, pursue it with a steadiness of purpose, as though you were determined to succeed. A vacillating mind never accomplished anything worth naming. There is nothing like a fixed, steady aim. It dignifies your nature, and insures your success.
This sounds about right, and it is a variant of Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6804548502586467788.post-1226318555717474212013-04-24T09:11:00.000-07:002013-09-18T07:13:19.703-07:00April's Farming Publications Set Me Straight"Of course this year will be better than last! Every farmer knows that. Every year."
--My grandmother, two weeks ago
I have a sheet of paper on my fridge that's meant to remind me why I'm here, onJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06882130095378727417noreply@blogger.com