by Neal Lemery (Published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 6/19/2022) I’m always learning from my garden, even when I think I “know it all”, and expect that things will always go as planned, and that I’m old and wise, and there’s nothing left to learn. Well, I’m old, but wisdom…

None of us bear the full responsibility of another person’s choices in life, be it addiction, crime, or other destructive behavior. Your family may choose to practice a form of agriculture that produces and markets alcohol. That is your choice and is a historical and customary practice for farmers, brewers…

by Neal Lemery (published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 5/27/2022 I try to live an organized, purposeful life, with some guiding principles and an action plan. My “to do” list should be close at hand, current and relevant. …

by Neal Lemery (Published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 4/17/2022 “We are collections of stories, we are vast houses in which stories come and go, and if we don’t listen for them, and savor them, and carry them in our pockets, and share them, then we have nothing, for stories…

Creating connections — One of the often uncelebrated benefits of living in a small town are the seemingly random and unplanned conversations that occur at the grocery store or the post office. A recent encounter at the post office turned into a deep and motivating conversation about how we help others by offering…

My Bitter Truth — It was about a minute into our conversation that it hit me, a realization I had in the back of my mind for the last several months. …

by Neal Lemery — We are emerging into new times, new opportunities. How are we going to take advantage of all of the possibilities? The end of the pandemic restrictions is not going to be a return to normal, “the way it was”. …

By Neal Lemery (published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 2/6/2022) It was always in the barn, by the loose hay that Grandpa had tossed down from the hay mow, the bales breaking open, one by one, on the old wood floor. Grandpa forked the loose hay into each cow’s feeding…

By Neal Lemery The recent sunny weather gave me good reasons to get outside and start my early spring pruning chores. That work includes a lot of social and personal pruning, as well as the work in the garden. I have a long list, starting with eliminating some of the…