Things can’t stay the same forever.

I’m thinking lately of making some changes here. Not shutting down the blog, no, but I’m trying to figure out a way to re-fit it into my life. It seems, night after night, I find myself sitting in front of this screen, trying to think of something to write about, tapped out. Sometimes this goes on for far longer than it should. A hobby shouldn’t be frustrating, and it shouldn’t consume this much time on the way to being frustrating.

It’s not that I lack opinions. I have them. My job doesn’t allow me to express (many of) them (publicly). It’s not that I lack links; I have those, too, but Jolene usually beats me to them. No, what I’m lacking these days is the energy and time to post those long, meandering column-like things that built whatever readership this blog once had, and maybe still has, but probably doesn’t. Honestly, I haven’t checked my traffic in years, because I fear what I might find. This was never a big-readership blog, but it had some fans.

So I thought, hell, treat it like social media — a post here, a post there, and let the comments coalesce around them. Then I consider how our commenting community here is very much like a family, and I fear what would happen if there were three posts a day here instead of one. Then I think, is that my problem? and I’m afraid the answer is yes, it is. I am my blogger’s keeper. To mangle a phrase.

All of which boils down to this, I think: Maybe we’re in a dry patch, maybe I’m sapped by too much stuff here and there, maybe it’s just one of those things I have to ride out. I’m not sure now. What I am sure of is, I don’t want to be staring at my laptop screen for hours after the work day is done. I may have to trim here and there. I’m asking for forbearance.

The blog can’t go away. Because otherwise, where would I share gems like this?

fifthwettest

(THAT’S WHAT JUNE SAID, as Jim Romenesko noted.)

Here’s the story of the day for me, about how Colorado took a bold chance on sharply reducing unplanned pregnancies in the state, and damn if it didn’t work. The magic formula: Long-acting birth control, provided free of charge to anyone who wanted it. And holy shit, look at these numbers:

The birthrate among teenagers across the state plunged by 40 percent from 2009 to 2013, while their rate of abortions fell by 42 percent, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. There was a similar decline in births for another group particularly vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies: unmarried women under 25 who have not finished high school.

“Our demographer came into my office with a chart and said, ‘Greta, look at this, we’ve never seen this before,’” said Greta Klingler, the family planning supervisor for the public health department. “The numbers were plummeting.”

White House Warns Insurers About Surcharges and Gaps for ContraceptionMAY 11, 2015
The changes were particularly pronounced in the poorest areas of the state, places like Walsenburg, a small city in southern Colorado where jobs are scarce and many young women have unplanned pregnancies. Taking advantage of the free program, Hope Martinez, a 20-year-old nursing home receptionist here, recently had a small rod implanted under the skin of her upper arm to prevent pregnancy for three years. She has big plans — to marry, to move farther west and to become a dental hygienist.

“I don’t want any babies for a while,” she said.

It’s not just birth control, it’s good, long-term, safe and free birth control. Spend a dollar there, save $6 in Medicaid funding. What a radical idea. And it worked. Amazing.

Do I have anything else?

No, I don’t. Onward to a new era. Or maybe not.

Posted at 12:30 am in Housekeeping |
 

57 responses to “Things can’t stay the same forever.”

  1. Brandon said on July 8, 2015 at 1:40 am

    And so soon after I came back here.

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  2. Sherri said on July 8, 2015 at 2:29 am

    JC posted a link at the end of the last comment thread, and just in case you missed it, here it is again: http://shortypjs.blogspot.com/2015/07/my-own-southern-heritage.html

    I liked it. Besides, if she’s got people buried in a family graveyard in Henrietta, TN, we’re probably related.

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  3. alex said on July 8, 2015 at 7:04 am

    June went out with a bang. June had a 30-day cycle.

    Some days it’s a struggle to find anything I feel passionately enough to comment about, but I’d sure miss the chatter because this place is like a family.

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  4. beb said on July 8, 2015 at 8:41 am

    The thing about Colorado’s heath experiment is that it’s not some counter-intuitive initiative. If you want to reduce unwanted pregnancies you have to invest in birth control.It’s the people who think drumming abstinence-only into people’s heads will have any effect who are indulging in magical thinking. It’s the old “Moral hazard” shibboleth. Give people birth control and they’ll have more sex. (But is that a problem?) Give poor people money and they’ll spend it on drugs? But Florida’s experiment with drug testing found that a very small portion of welfare recipients took drugs. If you’re worried about drug addicts maybe free rehab centers is a better response. And so.

    Duncan Black has been pretty clear about Greece all along. Banks are supposed to evaluate the risk of default before giving a loan but they continued giving Greece loans long after it was clear Greece could never pay them back. It’s not Greece’s fault for taking the loans, it’s the bank’s fault for giving them. Now the banks insist on being paid every cent they’re owed. Loan forgiveness is not acceptable because of “moral hazard.”

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  5. Dave said on July 8, 2015 at 8:53 am

    I have to say, I’ve wondered for a long time how you dealt with stories, words, and creation of columns every day and then come home to do the same. I would think, are you driven to write, commenting and sharing what you learn and find throughout your day(s). I’m sure most of your regulars here understand and I’m certain most of the regulars who comment will be sad but, even in an altered state, where you share more and comment less, it would keep the community of commenters coming back.

    Like Alex, I would miss you and all the regular commenters, too.

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  6. Peter said on July 8, 2015 at 9:00 am

    Nancy, I’ve been following you for more than fifteen years now – time really does fly when you’re having fun – but there’s nothing wrong with taking break every now and then.

    Perhaps you can have guest columns – I shouldn’t volunteer him out of the blue, but I could enjoy a Cooz dispatch any day. Or you can just say you kids can watch the TV but keep the volume on low, will ya?

    Greece: What I find interesting is that the Chinese markets have really tanked lately and a lot of funds invest in that market, but everyone is concerned about the pipsqueak Greek market that no sane investor has been involved with in a long time.

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  7. Heather said on July 8, 2015 at 9:08 am

    Nancy’s conflicted feelings about this site are what I feel any time I contemplate a project that might lead to success: “That would mean I would have to keep it going–forever.” But transformation and change is a part of the game. I think I have been here maybe 14 years? That’s pretty amazing.

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  8. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 8, 2015 at 9:14 am

    Don’t feel tied to one long essayish piece, I’d say. Try the multiple small-ish ones, we won’t get too lost in the comments I suspect, and the longer pieces will probably occur when they need to.

    I think I came here because of a comment Amy Welborn made about a friend of hers talking about Bob Greene’s implosion, and just stayed. That’d mean I’ve been reading since somewhere in 2002. So you’re a long-term part of my life, but if the format changes, I’ll still be clicking. And trying to remember to click the Kickback Lounge sometimes, too!

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  9. brian stouder said on July 8, 2015 at 9:30 am

    I agree with all that’s been said to this point.

    This place is whatever it is, and that’s life, right? Right!

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  10. brian stouder said on July 8, 2015 at 9:31 am

    (and ‘write’ when you want to!)

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  11. Judybusy said on July 8, 2015 at 10:15 am

    It’s about ten years since I joined here, and as everyone else has said, it’s great. Even if you were to type out five lines and a link, we’d keep the conversation going. It’s smart and fun.

    I really feel for the Greek people. I heard on NPR about the ultimatum that they agree to pay back the loans or leave the Eurozone by Sunday. I felt sick.

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  12. Bitter Scribe said on July 8, 2015 at 10:35 am

    Of course the Republicans in Colorado are pushing to end the birth control program, because it’s much more important to punish young girls for having sex than to help them avoid premature pregnancy.

    Has there ever been another country where one of only two major political parties is always wrong about everything?

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  13. Deborah said on July 8, 2015 at 10:43 am

    I would miss this place if it went dark, that’s an understatement. But I certainly understand, it must get to be a pain sometimes. Nancy, do what you need to do, take a hiatus, whatever. I haven’t been around as long as some of the commenters and it took awhile of just reading before I had the courage to comment. Maybe we could have an nn.c “family” Facebook page so we could keep in touch? I also like the idea of guest posters.

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  14. jcburns said on July 8, 2015 at 11:07 am

    Of course, the thing I like the most about nn.c is that it’s refreshingly Facebook-free.

    Don’t get me started, but one of the reasons I don’t have a Facebook account is that it’s my sense that the commenting there is devalued, diluted because it’s in fact TOO easy to just burp something onto a page and it scrolls down and gets lost in a vast mass of likes and jokes cut and pasted from elsewhere. (As Zuckerberg’s minions quietly pass through with titanium rakes, gleaning valuable data from the towering piles of babble.)

    I get that it sometimes is the only way to connect with some in one’s greater family, but still, sheesh.

    I think youall and the community you’ve created around Nancy’s writing is amazing.

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  15. nancy said on July 8, 2015 at 11:13 am

    When I say, “like Facebook,” I don’t mean “like Facebook.” Rather, FB — and Twitter — are handy places to dump a link with a quip, or a comment, or whatever, which people can then react to. As it is now, when I see a story I like, I usually open a WordPress post and dump a link in there, hoping that by the end of the day I’ll have enough to at least make a link salad and maybe, maybe a longer thing worth noodling through.

    I think the problem is, my attention is taken by what’s going on in Michigan, which is infinitely discussable, because what’s happening here is happening everywhere, in many senses. But I can’t, not if I’m going to be a reporter.

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  16. Suzanne said on July 8, 2015 at 11:38 am

    I’d miss it, too. I’m fairly new to the place, but have enjoyed the commentary & comments. But I can understand. I’ve begun several blogs, but they don’t last long enough for me to remember the password to get in. Dang. Writing is hard work!!

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  17. BethB said on July 8, 2015 at 11:53 am

    I’ve only been reading this blog for a couple of years, so I am a “newbie.” This is the first place I check every morning, even before I look at my email or eat breakfast, and I check back often throughout the day to see if any new comments have appeared. It’s the only place I have found that has topics, links, and comments that I am interested in and sometimes feel passionately about. I rarely comment, but I’m always nodding my head and saying, “Yes!!!” to just about every link or comment I read. (my quota of exclamations)

    The man I married 21 years ago, sweet as he is and caring about me, has at totally different outlook on life now, and we disagree about politics, guns, immigration, the President, and just about every other issue that I read about here at nn.c. He is 82 now, and the older he gets, the more conservative and reactionary he becomes. He certainly was not like this when we married, and even though I’m 17 years younger, I never thought age would bring about so many changes not related to health. He is not a stupid or uneducated man, just kind of nuts about certain things. We tend to get along fine as long as we stay off the topics I can read about here. The things he sends me to read are from rightwing nuts; the links I send him are from sources that tend to be reliable.

    Luckily, his daughter and son-in-law who often spend Sunday evenings at our house, tend to agree with me about important issues, as does my sister, so I am not without comrades.

    This is a long-winded way of saying that I would really miss this blog and all of you if it were to cease. I don’t know any of you and probably never will meet you, but I have read very few other blogs where I can say, “These are my people.” I often wonder where you live, how old you are, what do you do for a living, etc.; in other words, the kinds of things people find out when they begin getting acquainted after meeting the first time.

    The writer of another blog I read has recently had the same dilemma as you, Nancy. She has also been writing her blog for a long time, and she has decided to only post a blog entry on M, W, and F instead of every day. She started this several months ago, and has reported to her readers that she feels freed up to do so many other things now rather than living and breathing the blog. Her posts are still excellent, and the commenters are still there, so perhaps you can go to an every other weekday schedule. I have the feeling that the free-wheeling comments will still come, and I will definitely still be here, avidly reading as always.

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  18. Icarus said on July 8, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    Blogging is hard work, whether you get paid in dollars or likes and shares. I’ve only been reading this blog for a couple of years too and am more of a lurker than a fully fledged member of the community. I’ve always thought of everyone here as my smarter, older relatives who are talking about important things and I’m the young nephew who is allowed to sit at the “Algonquin table” as long as he doesn’t cause too much trouble.

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  19. Dorothy said on July 8, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    I just got a breaking news email from the NYTimes that the NY stock market has unexpectedly shut down all trading for this afternoon. This can’t be good, can it? Did I read earlier that China was having big stock market problems this morning??

    p.s. I forget who suggested it in comments above (I read it much earlier and am hurrying at the moment) but I like the idea of having a “guest editor or speaker” here on occasion. Just opening it up for conversation is fine with me too. I love this little place on the Internet. I quote it ALL THE DAMN TIME to my husband.

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  20. ROGirl said on July 8, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    I thought I was the only one with a visceral dislike of Mitch Albom until I came across this site. It never gets old. My cat steps on his face as she enters and departs her litter box.

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  21. Jolene said on July 8, 2015 at 12:27 pm

    I feel you, Dorothy. I am forever saying to people, “One of my Internet friends said . . . “, and that friend is always somebody from this group. And I share BethB’s, “These are my people,” sentiment.

    I’m sure we will be fine with whatever innovations seem right to you, but nothing can replace your sharp eye and equally sharp wit.

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  22. Jolene said on July 8, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    By the way, I recently realized that, in Safari, I don’t see the links to the side matter: no Kickback Lounge, no search engine, no anything. What’s up with that?

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  23. Julie Robinson said on July 8, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    Most of the blogs I read have tailed off or stopped publishing, and Lord knows I couldn’t come up with something every day. Heck, I don’t even have time to comment every day. But this is the only blog with comments worth reading, and I sure would miss it. Change what you must, just don’t go away entirely!

    Right now they’re saying “unspecified technical problems” for the stock exchange shutdown. Obviously something with their computers, but who knows?

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  24. Jolene said on July 8, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    Just saw that United Airlines had grounded its planes due to a computer glitch, and the WSJ has gone offline. Coincidence?

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  25. jcburns said on July 8, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    Jolene, the site does responsive-design (mobile friendly!) things so that if your window is too small, the sidebar disappears. If you call up the page on a phone or tablet, same thing.

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  26. alex said on July 8, 2015 at 12:58 pm

    Maybe the Chinese hacked Wall Street so we couldn’t bail on their stocks.

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  27. beb said on July 8, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Dorothy, I think the Chinese stock market crashed early today. Trillions in lost assets. Might explain why Wall St. decided to sit out the rest of the day.

    I think I began annoying my wife when I’d say, virtually every day, ” read something interesting on nancynall…” But I was reading something interesting virtually every day…

    Today, in Celebrity Dicks, the award goes to Tom Selleck who is being sued for stealing water from one water district to use on his ranch which is another water district. Since this has been on-going since 2013 it’s not specifically drought related. You would think a man with his kind of money could afford to pay for his water… But he’s a celebrity, laws don’t apply to his type.

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  28. Mouse said on July 8, 2015 at 1:34 pm

    I’ve been reading you since Telling Tails in the NS rag.I know you would never want to do anything half assed—-Perhaps a few lines and a link every so often to keep the conversation going!That would be good enough for most.

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  29. susan said on July 8, 2015 at 1:43 pm

    Nancy, you do what you need to do, but I’ll echo what others have said. Though I only burp out a few reactive comments every so often, those do not reflect how much I read and appreciate your postings and the comments of your commentariat. A smart and literate bunch of people (except for the trolls…). Oh, I forgot… !!!! and one more makes five!

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  30. brian stouder said on July 8, 2015 at 1:58 pm

    …and I will confess that it took me two re-reads to suddenly (and crashingly!) get the joke about how wet ol’ June gets, with the extra 8″…

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  31. alex said on July 8, 2015 at 2:27 pm

    June was sure fucked by the weather this year, Brian, no double entendre there.

    I blogged for a while and eventually burned out on it and also found myself worried about what I could say publicly because of professional obligations, so I understand where Nancy is coming from and I salute her for soldiering on all these years and remaining one of the bright spots in my daily reading. To echo BethB above, I too find affirmation here amongst the regulars and it has lifted my spirits on many a day when I needed it. Thank you all!

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  32. Scout said on July 8, 2015 at 2:30 pm

    Although I don’t comment every day, I do read every day and check back periodically on the comments section. I understand the burn-out, but still hope this place doesn’t go away entirely. It really is a community and even though the only person from it I’ve met in person is Deborah, I feel connected to all of you.

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  33. brian stouder said on July 8, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    Dorothy (at 19), if I venture to say to Pam something like “did you hear that ______ actually said ________, and that there’s a photo of him ______ing his Subaru?”

    the first thing she says (in full smarmy-mode) is “Is that what Nancy Nalllll says?” –

    so indeed, I get what you’re saying!

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  34. MichaelG said on July 8, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    I’ve been reading at this corner since Bob Greene. Thanks, Bob. I guess that makes me about an average termer. I have long appreciated and admired the discipline it takes to make a daily blog work. Thank you, Nance, and my hat is off. Whatever you choose to do is OK by me. Please, though, don’t just go away. As others have noted, I (we) wouldn’t miss just your wonderful writing, we would all miss one another. What me selfish?

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  35. MarkH said on July 8, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    beb – the Chinese stock market did not “crash early today”. The rout has been ongoing for a minimum 30 days, with plenty of previous warnings. Authorities only today put in restrictions on stock sales for the next six months in order to curtail panic, but it may not be working. But, yes, asset losses are in the trillions.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/china-bans-stock-sales-by-major-shareholders-for-six-months

    And, by all sources, the NYSE is down due to a genuine, unknown massive technical glitch. They just announced they intend to be back up and running at 3:10 PM EST, right about now.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/102806720

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  36. Dexter said on July 8, 2015 at 3:17 pm

    Ten years ago Jim Webb’s PR guy Craig Crawford was commenting on msnbc at least twice a day, and was on “Imus in the Morning” as an “I-fave” weekly. He also started a fun blog where politics dominated, but much personal stuff was shared after we got to know each other a bit. We really cooked the war on that blog, some days amassing 400 posts. Craig maintained the blog, frequently switching platforms to avoid spammers and trolls, and the blog flourished, with sidebar ads helping defray the costs. Craig also promoted his two political books on the sidebars. At first, Craig would change thread topics either once or twice a day, then after a few years, that became just a few or even just a couple times a week, and he would not comment at all for long days-on-end.
    Readership dwindled, and then Craig issued a plea for us to post “guest post topics”, and he provided the instructions. If he approved, he’d headline the blog with our well-thought-out topics. We had some witty folks there, but the same three dominated with countless guest topics, and it’s true, those witty funny regular joes lost their edges, rather quickly, and readership nosedived. Months ago, I quit checking regularly…we had a ten-year online reunion party and the posts for the day was around 28, total. Back at the start, we’d average 250 or more. I also started a blog, garnered just a few readers who provided feedback, then I lost interest totally and abandoned.
    What I like about nn dot c is that there are only a couple of contributors who exhibit troll-like behavior, and not regularly at that. Yeah, some of us are snarky, but we consider that more blog-spice.

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  37. Dorothy said on July 8, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    When I told my husband about the Williamsport newspaper headline, he kind of smirked and said “I hear April says the same thing…” Guess he forgot about “May” as well!

    This truly is my favorite place on the Internet. In the whole gigantic Internet. It’s an education virtually every day. I feel smarter having interacted with all of you. I DO think an abbreviated schedule might help our proprietress to recharge her batteries, though. Why not take a whole month off? Then ease back into it M-W-F? If we’re all getting an education, you’re our teacher, and you should have the summer months off, right?! But we’re asking for just one month. Otherwise we’d all shrivel up and float away, we’d be so miserable!

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  38. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 8, 2015 at 4:33 pm

    Wait a minnit, a month off? What is this, France?

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  39. Hattie said on July 8, 2015 at 5:16 pm

    Nooooooooo!!!! Keep the blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought of stopping once, but I’m very glad I didn’t. My little corner of the blogosphere poops along, year after year. It’ my little home in cyberspace. I can control content 100%, say what I want, ban trolls. Happy happy.

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  40. Colleen said on July 8, 2015 at 5:18 pm

    I’ve been a fan since “Telling Tales”, when I found myself in agreement more often than not. This is definitely one of my go to places on the interweb every day. I appreciate the comments and those who make them, though I don’t comment often myself. I fear appearing stupid, so I read and nod. I appreciate the effort it takes The Proprietress to supply us with conversation fodder every day, and would be the poorer for it if the blog were to cease.

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  41. Deborah said on July 8, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    So some of you have mentioned your blogs today and that reminded me that you can click on the names in comments and if the commenter has a blog it will take you to it. So I’ve clicked on all the names today and now I’ve added some bookmarks. Cool.

    It has been raining and hailing off and on today in Santa Fe. I have some errands to run but I don’t want to get my car out of the garage. Some of the hail has been about the size of cherries but most of the time it’s marble sized or pea sized. We had lots of rain in the spring and now that the rainy season has barely started it’s crazy. Our land in Abiquiu has never been as green, or the grass as tall as it is. We have had wildflowers that I’ve never seen before. Everyone is happy about it, but we know it can turn right around next year and be dry as a bone. Unfortunately the rain hasn’t helped the tent caterpillar situation and the aspen are stripped bare in huge chunks on the mountains.

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  42. adrianne said on July 8, 2015 at 6:02 pm

    Nance, I would miss your daily (well, M-F) musings, but understand the time constraints involved. Maybe take some time off this summer, and then come back on a reduced schedule? Also, I think you’re too hard on yourself – it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece every day, just food for thought.

    Just saying, I love the community of commenters! Much more intelligent and fun than the Intertoob trolls that infest so many websites.

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  43. David C. said on July 8, 2015 at 6:05 pm

    On weeks like this, this NN.com is refreshing in its pleasant and peacefulness. First, my mom had a heart attack. She’s doing fine, but is getting stubborn about following the doctor’s diet and exercise recommendations. Next, the cross street at the end of our street is being rebuilt and we have dump trucks going down our street and making a huge racket. I think, because we were a out of sorts because of my mom one of the cats was keyed up too. The tailgate of a dump truck banged and scared the hell out of him and he bit me. The bite got infected, so I went to the doctor. Here in WI any animal bite has to be reported, even if it’s your own damned pet. The vet who vaccinated him is retired and we couldn’t find the records, so Petey is now in cat prison until Saturday. Our other cat is depressed and missing his pal. We’ve decided we need to put our house up for sale and move back to Michigan. Our parents are in their 70s and 80s, and will soon need help. We don’t feel it’s fair to our sibs to leave all the burden on them. Anyway, we’re stressed as hell, and it’s nice to have a place like this to read and take it easy.

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  44. Jerry said on July 8, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    Not sure how long I’ve been reading the blog but I’d certainly miss it if it went away. I check in every day, even if I seldom comment. In fact at the moment I’m replying from Australia where we’re on holiday – and before you ask it’s mainly cool at the moment.

    For me, as a Brit, it provides an interesting perspective on American life from a viewpoint that is probably closer to my own than most “news” that comes out of the States.

    And picking up on a topic from recent posts and comments my understanding of the American Civil War was that it was essentially about slavery. Although history when I was at school was very much a matter of Britain and the Empire.

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  45. LAMary said on July 8, 2015 at 7:17 pm

    I think whenever I feel like everything I would say has been said I write something about food. Today is no exception. This is what the NYT Cooking folks decided to put on FB today and this is what I’m making for supper:

    Salad Lyonnaise

    Gluten Free, Egg, Frisee, French
    Cooked

    18 ratings

    INGREDIENTS
    · 4 cups torn frisée or other strong-tasting greens, washed and dried

    · 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

    · About 1/2 pound good slab bacon or pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

    · 1 shallot, chopped, or 1 tablespoon chopped red onion

    · 2 to 4 tablespoons top-quality sherry vinegar

    · 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

    · Salt

    · 4 eggs

    · Black pepper

    PREPARATION
    1. Put frisée or other greens in large salad bowl. Put olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When hot, add bacon and cook slowly until crisp all over, about 10 minutes. Add shallot or onion and cook until softened, a minute or two. Add vinegar and mustard to the skillet and bring just to a boil, stirring, then turn off heat.

    2. Meanwhile, bring about an inch of salted water to a boil in a small, deep skillet, then lower heat to barely bubbling. One at a time, break eggs into a shallow bowl and slip them into the bubbling water. Cook eggs for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the white is set and the yolk has filmed over. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on paper towel.

    3. If necessary, gently reheat dressing, then pour over greens (they should wilt just a bit), toss and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top each portion with an egg and serve immediately. (Each person gets to break the egg.)

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  46. Deborah said on July 8, 2015 at 7:35 pm

    That sounds good, LA Mary, will have to make that sometime. We’re having roast chicken with apples, mashed potatoes and haricot verts for dinner this evening. Kind of heavy for July but today has been very cool and wet. We actually had a fire in our fireplace last night, it was in the low 50s. I’m not complaining at all, I much prefer cool temps over hot, but don’t remind me in February that I said this.

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  47. marianne19 said on July 8, 2015 at 8:12 pm

    Nancy,
    Been reading a long time and would miss the blog and comments. I see Peter suggested “promoting” some long-time commenters. I also frequent John Cole’s Balloon Juice and that’s how he kept things going when he chose to step back.

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  48. Sherri said on July 8, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    I would absolutely miss this blog, and I understand and appreciate the time and effort it takes to maintain it.

    I’m gloomy about Greece and Europe these days. Maybe we should remind Germany that Greece isn’t the only country that didn’t repay its loans, or maybe suggest that they pay the Marshall plan forward. Greece is hardly blameless, but for Germany and the other Northern European economies to treat this situation like the blame is all on Greece, and that Germany hasn’t gotten plenty of benefit from sharing a currency with Greece, is ludicrous. A Deutschmark would likely be considerably higher than a Euro, and hence those Volkswagens and BMWs Germany is exporting would cost more and probably be less popular.

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  49. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 8, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    Love LAMary’s recipe, and here’s another piece of upbeat blogfodder: the second reel has been found!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/movies/comedys-sweet-weapon-the-cream-pie.html

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  50. Kim said on July 8, 2015 at 9:40 pm

    It’s all been said, but because I value this site and its denizens please allow me to scoop a bit more praise onto the pile.

    Nancy, you make it look easy (and if it is, please keep that to your bad self!) but anybody who pushes a pencil for a living knows it’s tough. Tamping your opinions on the topics that most occupy your must be ridiculously hard, since civic engagement is your thing. Not scooping your professional self must be even harder. Coming up with something else to entertain us with every damned day (sorry, Neil S., but it’s too good not to steal)for the past how many years? I can’t even think of someone else who does that and is worth reading.

    Plus, the comments are ever thoughtful, amusing and occasionally overheated. It is a community, for real. I wish I had the discipline to make the time to engage more, or better.

    Thanks to all – and Nancy, I would read your grocery list and the village’s commentary if it comes to that.

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  51. Suzanne said on July 8, 2015 at 10:05 pm

    Not to mention that someone posted a recipe for French Pork Stew here and it is one of my favorites! How great is this blog? It feeds us!!

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  52. Basset said on July 8, 2015 at 10:10 pm

    I certainly would miss this ongoing discussion, it’s one of only two blogs, sites, whatever that I visit every day. Didn’t know what a frisée was till just now.

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  53. Dorothy said on July 8, 2015 at 10:21 pm

    How did I go all my life never hearing the words “haricot verts” and now I’ve read them twice in one week! Last week Mike bought a bag of shallots because that was the only way they were selling them in whatever store we were in. He joked that I should find some recipes to use them up. And lo and behold, one of them called for “haricot verts.” “What the Sam hill is THAT?!” I says to myself. So dictionary.com was pressed into action. Thanks for using the words again, Debrah, so I can tell that story!

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  54. LAMary said on July 8, 2015 at 10:37 pm

    Dorothy, there’s a recipe for a salad with haricot verts, carrots and corn in the NYT cooking section today.

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  55. LAMary said on July 8, 2015 at 11:10 pm

    here it is Dorothy:

    Vegan, Vegetarian, Carrot, Corn, Haricot Vert

    Cooked

    36 ratings

    Ingredients
    ½ teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
    2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
    2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
    1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
    1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    ¼ cup minced fresh chives
    Black pepper, as needed
    1 pound haricots verts, trimmed
    2 ⅔ cups cooked fresh corn kernels (from about 4 corn cobs)
    ½ pound carrot, peeled and coarsely grated (2 cups)

    Preparation
    1. In a small bowl, whisk together salt, vinegar, garlic and mustard. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk in oil until incorporated. Whisk in chives and pepper.
    2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in haricots verts and cook until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, cool and chop into bite-size pieces.
    3. In a large bowl, toss together haricots verts, corn and carrot. Toss in dressing and season with salt and pepper.

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  56. Del said on July 8, 2015 at 11:46 pm

    Keep it coming Nancy!

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  57. Peggy said on July 11, 2015 at 3:23 am

    Nancy, I’ve just discovered your site and really enjoy it. I’d hate to see you give it up because you don’t have something to say every day. There are sites that I check once a week. They don’t always have something new, but when they do, it’s worth reading. I hope you just keep posting when you have something to say, and don’t worry about it when you don’t. I’ll keep checking so I’m sure to catch it when you do.

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