Admittedly, I shy away from international issues.
Perhaps because I feel there's little I can do to effect change, where change is needed.
Or, perhaps, because my comfortable home, out of harm's way and buffered by woods, allows me to feel insulated from the troubles of the world.
As if somehow the world's crises will respect my land's boundaries.
And resolve themselves without any impact on me.
Frustration calmed by distraction.
I immerse myself in what is beautiful.
But, even here, removed from it all, I sense a difference.
The farmer's fields usually planted in the green of corn or soybeans, this year are covered in wheat.
Acre upon acre of golden grain, as far as the eye can see.
Standing tall, swaying as the breezes pass over them.
A more beautiful scene, there is not.
Distraction leads to wondering--for this is more than a coordinated rotation of crops.
What I see in my small rural community and unfolding across the landscape is a response to the international food/fuel price crisis.
For in the last year, the price of corn is up 31%, rice 74%,
and wheat...130%.
The crisis on the far side of the world has reached my home.
This year the fields' harvest will be gold.
