The Prairie Panicle No. 19
A monthly report from West of 98
Welcome to West of 98! In addition to my weekly essays, I write a mid-month newsletter called The Prairie Panicle. It summarizes my writing over the previous month and offers additional reading/listening/watching recommendations that strike my mood in the moment.
Holy Week
I send this month’s Panicle as we are smack-dab in the middle of Holy Week and I am mindful of what that means.
I’ve struggled in these last 40 days of Lent to keep up with my Lenten goal of writing every day. It’s partly general exhaustion and partly discipline. One year I am going to write all 40 days of Lent and I will come up with some truly special work. I believe that. This year was not the year and that’s okay. I commend my wife, who maintained several disciplines, including strictly refraining from meat on Fridays. We are not Catholic, but she appreciates the discipline of that approach. As a sixth-generation cattle rancher, she knew it would require some intentional effort on her part, so she wanted to adopt it. We were blessed in Stamford with a Friday meal at St. Ann’s Catholic Church every Friday and I patronized all but one (when I was out of town for spring break). The fish fry was fantastic and if they did it every month during the year, I would be there. Support your local fish fry and your local church meals if you can! It matters.
When I consider the events of Holy Week, it gives me perspective on the day-to-day troubles of the world. This is not to say that our daily stresses and difficulties do not matter. They do. We have to live in them and we have to live through them. That’s not always easy or fun. But I think about how, ultimately, the things of the fallen world are so fleeting and that the Resurrection provides each of us the hope of restoration that was lost in Eden.
As my faith has become more agrarian-minded over the years, the Garden of Eden speaks to me in a much more impactful way. We were meant to be God’s stewards of the land and its resources. We will be those stewards again one day. In the meantime, may we practice those skills to honor God’s Creation and make it better in any way that we can.
Sunday is coming, friends! May God bless each of you.
What I’ve Written
I kicked off the last month of writing with an announcement that my letter to the Secretary of Agriculture was featured in “Livestock Weekly.” Here, I detail why that was so meaningful to me:
I skipped a week of writing in March (see the earlier comments about exhaustion). I resumed with a new-and-improved version of one of my earliest essays, about the difference between a poor town and a dirty town, and how Stamford has made strides over the last 20 years.
The last month concluded with a lengthy original essay about the importance of feeding our neighbors as a better approach to feeding the world, with some examples of farmers and ranchers who are inspiring in that regard.
Online Reading
In the last two editions of The Prairie Panicle (read here and here), I shared some good work by my lawyer friend
, who is dedicated to the cause of breaking up monopolies that harm small towns. Well, he’s at it again. Back in January, he took a deep dive at ’s “BIG” newsletter on the question of fire truck manufacturing, which has been consolidated by private equity firms into only a few companies. The result is soaring costs and delayed delivery times, which have critically impacted cities of all sizes and their ability to provide fire protection to their citizens.Basel’s report was followed (curiously) by a New York Times article several weeks later that covered the same ground but which did not credit him in any way. I was frustrated by that, because it felt like my friend was getting his work swiped by a powerful media outlet. Since then, the Times story has led to questions by several Senators on the matter and in their newest story, they quoted my friend Basel and linked his original story. I’m proud to see him get due credit. I am hopeful that it will lead to real action that helps communities like Stamford in the future, when we need to use our limited local funds and federal grants to purchase our next fire truck.
Relevant to Holy Week, over the weekend I read this piece at Plough from English writer Dorothy Sayers. It was originally published in 1938 and remains powerful. The title alone should be intriguing enough: “The Greatest Drama Ever Staged: The terrifying story of which God is both victim and hero.”
Book Recommendation
Several weeks back, my friend
posted on Instagram that he had acquired a book called “Pain Don’t Hurt.” It was 365 daily meditations about the greatest film ever made, Road House. No, seriously. I immediately texted him and he informed that it was an absolute riot. Given that Ed and I are co-founders of the world’s foremost virtual Road House fan club, I had no choice but to make an immediate purchase. Ed still somehow undersold the hilarity. We both purchased the second edition, which appears to be sold out, but hopefully a new printing will be forthcoming. This man dives deeper into the intricacies of a brilliant and ridiculous movie even more than I thought was possible. It is beautiful. I cherish his contribution to the literary world.
Wendell Berry Read of the Month
One of my favorite essays is called “The Idea of a Local Economy” and it’s about just that. It differentiates the global economy and its perils and pitfalls from an economy based on neighbors providing one another with needed goods and services. It’s perhaps my favorite Berry essay about economics and I always list it as a must-read. It is freely available online under that name and also under the name “The Total Economy,” which is the same essay published under a different title by different outlets.
Listening Recs
I made a return to Doomer Optimism with my Twitter friend Casey Spinks to discuss the changing politics, economy, and culture in Texas over the decades. This topic was inspired by our shared love for John Graves’s work. As a result, Graves’ writing, especially “Goodbye to a River,” plays a significant role in the conversation.
Back in December, I appeared on the Texas Standard, which a daily news program that is broadcast by public radio stations all across Texas. The Texas Standard crew spent a day in Abilene and asked to interview me. Unfortunately, I had a community conflict and couldn’t appear in person. We set up a phone interview where I discussed the importance of rural public schools and revitalizing rural communities. It was a good conversation and I appreciated them taking the time to consider rural perspectives. It remains timely. You can listen here.
West of 98 Store
I just picked up some great commissions at Bookshop.org, thanks to some generous book shoppers! Any purchase at Bookshop supports independent bookstores instead of the Amazon leviathan, but if you purchase through my West of 98 bookstore. I receive a small commission that goes towards this humble project.
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and the Rural Church and State and West of 98 podcasts. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to him wherever podcasts are found.
That book is still making me laugh just as hard as it did on the day I first opened it. A true masterpiece!
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