Buzz!

good to hear from you as always. :)

I must have missed the part about
not actually growing food there! ack!

and I do agree about the picnic she prepared
and all the fussing and not eating or enjoying
the time with her family. I found that strange and
wondered if her family gets annoyed or hurt by
that or if they just chalk it up to 'mom doin her thing'

I guess I was inspired by her drive, her ambition & chutzpah
(asking the owner of Patagonia for a loan)
and all of the creativity and work that goes into
the farm/magazine/brand she has. I am also excited
about someone who is successfully marketing organic farming
and think the more we can stay connected to where we get our food,
who is growing it, etc. the better. (of course, in this case it seems
she's not actually growing it!)

I also love reading stories of women who create
careers for themselves out of a desire to be at home with
their kids.

and let's not forget to mention that the photo of MaryJane
for the article was exquisitely beautiful. Maybe in the end, I was
seduced by that.

thanks buzzy!
I love hearing from you.
a

Hi Andrea - Love the site and journal as always. I hate to be the lone contrarian here, but I was really surprised to hear your positive response to the MaryJane Butters piece in the New Yorker. I read it, too, but my response was: boy, this woman and her "farm" (they don't really grow food there, they just process it in a factory hidden in the barn) are so... depressing. I mean, she spent six hours preparing a picnic, supposedly as a sendoff for her daughter and son-in-law, and then she spent the whole evening photographing it for her magazine and getting annoyed if people tried to eat anything! Sorry, but while Butters may be a nice person, the vibe I got from the article was that her main strength is as a marketing savant and industrial manufacturer who is very, very good at selling things. There's nothing wrong with that, but she's not quite the innocent, wholesome "Farmgirl" she works so hard to be seen as. Hey, it's just one person's opinon. xo Buzz

Thank you for sharing the link to MaryJane Butters' website -- I had never heard of her or her fabulous farm. Did you see that she offers a week long apprenticeship? I am now having organic farming fantasies! It looks like an incredible opportunity. (Just wish I could afford it.)

that is a wonderful photo. it just screams of aniticpation! hovering above the island, knowing it'll soon be all yours... lovely.

mmmmmmmmmm....
window seats are by far the tastiest.
Unless of course you have a highly interesting seat partner, in which case it's okay to have the isle. I once sat next to a velvet-clad, wrinkled woman vigorously chewing nicotine gum. She was so tiny---she took off her knee high leather boots and crossed her legs in the airplane seat and told me she was off to Paris to "max the shit out of her credit cards".

Unexpected beauty....that's the best kind!! Great photo :)

you seem to have a beautiful life.

Hi Andrea,
Its meeee!!! I went to Virgin Gorda too. It was a few years ago. Did you make it to Tortola? They are both such wonderful places. I think we caught the locals ferry from Tortola and a family had a goat with them. It stood quite well on the boat too. Some ex-patriots had bundles of coffee, fruit and lumber and a woman was carrying a bushel of plantains.
James

Nice picture, I really like it.

Andrea, Mary Jane's magazine looks wonderful. I'd never heard of her until now. Have you ever submitted an article to her site? I think you should! You have such wonderful observations to share. I checked out the virtual tour--don't you just love those outdoor rooms? Makes me want to move the heck out of the Washington DC area to wide-open spaces.

What a beautiful picture!

The picture is unbelievable! What a beauty...

Hey Andrea! I just moved from Moscow, Idaho, where I lived for six years. That is where MaryJane Butters runs her farm. Last summer I was walking into the local food co-op there and in walks MaryJane. She is truly one of the kindest, gentlest women ever. If you want to see an amazingly beautiful place, go to Moscow in June, when the rolling hills of alfalfa and wheat are a mixture of waving deep and light greens. It is breathtaking!

Morgan