Turning back time.

This is the weekend that we must all remember to turn our clocks back an hour.  Daylight savings time shifts to standard time.  It is a function that many of us would like to do more often in life than once a year every fall.  Going back to fix bad decisions, renew our youth, avoid a disagreement, enjoy a special moment --- all of these are reasons to turn back time, if we could.

Fortunately, none of us have the power to actually go back in time, even when we adjust the hands of clocks (or in this digital age, press a button to numerically reverse the time).  We all must live life in the moment, remembering the past and looking forward to the future.  Our lives are a summary of all of our decisions and actions.  Each one of us can make a difference, for good or ill.  We choose our life’s path, and determine whether to embrace or ignore the opportunities that come along the way.

Writing the weekly F-A-R-M blog was an opportunity I agreed to follow during part of my life's journey for the past sixteen months.  In 2006, Lancaster Farming newspaper had leaped into the electronic communication age and created its website.  Editor Dave Lefever pitched the idea of a blog and I said I would consider writing one but first I had to figure out what it meant.  I finally agreed to give it a whirl, and in June 2007, my first blog appeared.

Since then, more than seventy weeks’ worth of Sheila Miller’s comments and opinions have appeared on this site.  I have shared my thoughts and experiences from my perspective as a farmer, parent, former legislator, agricultural coordinator, volunteer, spouse and daughter.  I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to create this column, and hope it has helped to inspire readers to start or stay in farming.

After my first blog was posted, a minister took the time to log in and confide that he always wanted to be a farmer.  He said my blog had helped him find the courage to pursue his dream.  Other readers have told me that some of my stories brought tears, some brought laughter.  And just today I received a call at the farm from a woman who read my blog who asked me to encourage a young student to follow her dream to be part of the beef industry.

At times I have wondered if the time I have spent writing these weekly blogs was worthwhile.  While the electronic feedback has been sparse, the verbal comments let me know that the encouragement people found in F-A-R-M was appreciated and accepted.

In early October, Lancaster Farming notified me that the decision was made to discontinue my blog and conclude this chapter in my life.  As I write this final column, my closing wish is that everyone who dreams of farming gets to experience the overwhelming satisfaction of achieving that goal.  The journey to success is taken with many small steps and measured by miles of hard work.  Turning back time is not an option.  So get moving and find a real meaning for life in the field of agriculture.
 
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