I’ve been writing this additional monthly newsletter for nigh on six months and I’ve concluded that it will inevitably hit within a day or so of my usual West of 98 newsletter. Such is the peril of adding a new newsletter to a weekly gig. I hope that I am not overly cluttering your inbox and that the additional email is worth the read.
Got something you’d like to share or recommend for the Panicle? Email me, text me if you have my number (ask me if you want it!), or find me on the social media apps.
My Lenten Goal
Last month, I revealed that I was taking up the habit of writing daily for the 40 days of Lent. An underrated aspect of giving something up is that it removes something from a busy life! A problematic aspect of adding something new for Lent is that it adds something to your life!
Admittedly, I’ve skipped a few days here. I've not written as many total words as I hoped. I’m not going to beat myself up, because that’s not the point of Lent. I like many of the words that I have written. I am going to continue writing as much as possible for the remainder of these 40 days.
West of 98 Store
I’m continuing to add to the West of 98 bookstore at Bookshop.org, with lists of my essential reads and books I recommend in my writing. The purchases will pay me a small commission that I will apply towards the West of 98 project. Even if you never buy my recommendations, do your online book shopping at Bookshop! Their profits support independent bookstores.
What I’ve Written
How did our presidents feel about agriculture? I celebrated Presidents’ Day by examining this question in “A Presidential Ideal.”
In “The Yeoman’s Ideal,” I examined the sincerity of Thomas Jefferson’s vision of small landholders. In “Independence of the Peasants,” I looked at the timeless power of Jefferson’s vision of individual independence. The Jeffersonian plot arc wrapped with “Independence and Individualism,” as I distinguished between the good of independence and the peril of “rugged individualism.”
In between all that, I marked Texas Independence Day with a special “Texas, Our Texas” newsletter.
Books I’m Reading
We took the kids to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center last weekend on an overnight Spring Break trip. It’s a cool place doing important international wildlife conservation on the Texas prairie. Fossil Rim is outside Glen Rose, also the home of one of my favorite authors, the late John Graves. I credit Graves’s “Goodbye to a River” for fully awakening me to the idea of writing about the connection between people and place. It sent me into a Wendell Berry-fueled agrarian tailspin from which the people around me will never recover.
We stopped at Rhythm & Co. Books, a cool independent bookstore on the Glen Rose square, and I picked up Graves’s From a Limestone Ledge: Some Essays and Other Ruminations about Country Life in Texas. I gave away my copy to a friend several years ago. I was due for a reread and buying Graves in Glen Rose seemed only proper. It’s a collection of essays from Graves’s homesteading life, with names like “Some Chickens I Have Known” and “Tobacco Without Smoke I: Dippers.”
This book reveals that Graves owned a billy goat named Martin Shockley, an extraordinary goat name if I ever heard one. I long ago vowed to name any future billy goat in his honor. My wife is horrified by this idea, as a general rejection of all billy goats, not just of those named Martin Shockley.
While I’m at it, I’ll also recommend the third of Graves’s famed trio, “Hard Scrabble,” which dives into his attempt to revitalize a worn out farm.
Online Reads
wrote the great book Uprooted about the fraying relationship between people and rural places, but she also writes the Granola Substack. She’s written a new essay called Resisting the Rise of ‘Dopamine Culture’, a title which speaks for itself. is one of my favorite Substack writers. He recently re-published a 2022 essay called “The Good Farmer and His Limits” that is worth a read. “Limits” are counterintuitive to modernity, but they are vitally important to a healthy life, community, and society.Panhandle correspondent
has a fresh newsletter with some powerful imagery from the recent wildfires in that area, along with his usual high-quality thoughts and a very special story.Front Porch Republic celebrated its 15th anniversary this week with a host of special writings. Here’s a good jumping off point, but I cannot overemphasize: if you care about community and the connection between people and place, FPR is a must-read.
Barn Raiser is a rural-focused independent journalism outlet and they have an intriguing read on grocery co-ops as a solution to the lack of rural grocery stores.
I’ve been reading about permaculture lately. My Twittering on the matter led me to this report from the FAO on the mulberry as a forage crop and it drew me into other reads on the human edibility of mulberries. Planting more permanent trees with edible components should appeal to all of us who care about our food independence!
Listening Recs
I’m caught up on “History of the Americans,” a tremendous podcasting project to tell the history of the lands that make up the United States without presentism. It began in the pandemic and host Jack Henneman is currently working his way through the mid-1600s in New England. If you enjoy history or care about understanding American culture, it’s an interesting and thought provoking podcast.
Over at “The Rural Church and State” podcast, we had an honest and encouraging discussion of New Year’s resolutions. In the weeks to come, we’re going to launch a series on the topic of voting as a rural American.
As always, thanks for reading along and supporting my work! Your feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.
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.