Julene Bair

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Our Turn at this Earth – Big Daddy

March 7, 2018

“Our Turn at this Earth” is broadcast Thursdays at 6:44 pm on HPPR.

When I farmed with my father in the mid-1980s, I often expressed my concern that the water we were withdrawing from the Ogallala Aquifer, to irrigate our crops, would one day run out. My father, who was one of those hardy old-timers—a grandson of pioneers—said, “Don’t worry. Big Daddy will put the plug in before it’s too late.” By “Big Daddy,” he meant the government.

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Our Turn at this Earth: The Writing on the Wall

March 2, 2018

“Our Turn at this Earth” is broadcast Thursdays at 6:44 pm on HPPR radio.

 

According to legends passed down from generation to generation among the Hopi Indians, humanity has occupied three previous worlds, each of which was destroyed because we failed to honor the instructions of our creator. I learned about this myth from a man named James, a Hopi farmer whose family I stayed with during a 1980s visit to Hotevilla,

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Our Turn at this Earth: As If No Tomorrow

February 24, 2018

“Our Turn at this Earth” airs every Thursday at 6:44 pm CT on KANZ.

 

When, as a young woman, I had the good fortune to stay for a few days in the home of a Hopi farming family, I saw many similarities between my host, James, and my own father. Both men had spent virtually every day of their lives outdoors, tilling soil and caring for crops.

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Our Turn at this Earth: A Deeply Rooted Way of Life

February 15, 2018

“Our Turn at this Earth” airs every Thursday at 6:44 pm CT on KANZ.

When I was a young woman, a friend who assisted the Hopi Indians with their causes invited me to join him on a visit to Hotevilla, the most traditional village on the Hopi Indian reservation. The Hopi descended from ancient Pueblo cultures that emerged in the desert Southwest around the 12th Century BC. They dwell in the region we now think of as northern Arizona.

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Our Turn at this Earth: Full Speed Ahead

February 5, 2018

“Our Turn at this Earth” airs every Thursday at 6:44 pm CT on KANZ.

In the mid-1980s my father got a letter from the Kansas Water Office warning that, from then on, farmers who didn’t report their annual water use would be fined. This was long before our Groundwater Management District began requiring meters on irrigation wells, so we would have to extrapolate the amount of water we’d pumped that year from utility bills for the natural gas that powered our five well engines.

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Filed Under: Our Turn at This Earth

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