Ed Gulley is a fascinating man, a man of many parts. A dairy farmer. A family man. An artist and sculptor. A good friend. A butcher of meant and lover of animals. A fierce advocate for the family farm.

He defies political labels and would love to see Congress emptied out of politicians and demolished. He is a very real American to me, a kind of heartland symbol of another time, and now, the co-publisher of a hot new blog, the Bejosh Farm Journal.

Maria sold three of four of his very idiosyncratic farm implement sculptures, his wind chimes have been popular for months. He inseminates cows, slaughters them by hand, rescues hawks and possums and raccoons.

Ed gave a talk on farming today on the Open House, and it is a speech every American who eats should hear. Again today, I was struck by how many people were at our farm from all over the country, of different political views, the left and the right, pro-and-anti- Trump, it didn’t matter a white.

Nobody talked politics or argued about them, we talked to one  another in corners, on benches and chairs, all over the farm, watching Red work, giving carrots to the donkeys.

This is how I always have seen America, strong and diverse and  a beacon to the poor and vulnerable of the world.

This is not the America we see on cable news, and hear the awful pundits shout and scream about, the one our corporate-bought politicians ignore and abandon. On my farm this weekend, my America was there, it was good to know it is alive and well.

This is my America, not their America, the one I am fighting for.

This gathering on the farm was the way I have alway seen my country, I do not believe it is an allusion, it is my America and it was all over my farm this weekend, along with refugees and immigrants and farmers and bankers and writers and artists, and  readers of many different colors and identities.

Ed has the values of a family farmer and the soul and sensitivity of an artist. He appears whenever I am in trouble to lend his strong arm and generous soul. I am grateful for him, he reminds of what our value truly are.