Farming for Sanity's Sake ...

Times have not been the best in 2009, but it is amazing to me to see the number of recent articles about different types of hobby farming as therapy, as escape, and as that added boost to help people cope with the insanity of the world around them.

For example, take the recent Hometown Annapolis newspaper in which a couple decided to give up the urban hustle-and-bustle for the respite found in alpaca farming. Read the article.

In The Washington Post, another couple decided to hang it up with suburban living and are escaping to more peaceful confines on the Eastern Shore to raise chickens. Read the article.

A recent documentary on the National Geographic Channel takes a closer look at farming as therapy with, "The Farm," chronicling how the Louisiana State Penitentiary System uses farming to help inmates cope with their circumstances and as an outlet for many of their inmates. Read more.

There it is, your moment of Zen ...