Hey everyone, today is my client Rebecca S. Ramsey’s blog party (and her birthday too! Happy Birthday!!). All around the blogosphere people are celebrating their favorite Wonders of the World. Go over to Rebecca’s site for a list of links (and check out her archives to see her incredible blog), and have a Wonder-full Wednesday!
My wonder is….
Can you tell what it is??
Oh. It’s in the subject line.
It’s rice!!!
But not this Rice…
This rice!!!
It’s good for breakfast…
It’s even good to drink!!!
Just don’t drink too much.
My parents are rice farmers. Don’t believe me?
That’s me standing in a rice field.
It’s September, which means it’s almost time for harvest!
That means this…
And this…
My dad took that last photo. Pretty amazing, right? His favorite thing in a rice field isn’t the rice though. It’s these:
Birds love rice too!
But I’m not a farmer. I like this too much:
Don’t forget to check out Rebecca’s blog, and her book FRENCH BY HEART!
So good……
Mmm, rice! Also great in sushi rolls!
That picture your father took is beautiful!
But we already knew you were “outstanding in your field,” Nathan!
Those photos are terrific. Maybe your dad should have his own blog spot?
Wow. Rice is very cool. And that makes you somewhat cool.
Hi Nathan
Just wanted to say that I found your blog at the weekend and enjoyed the open question post. There are some really great Q&A's on there. You're certainly generous with you rtime.
Look forward to checking it regularly.
PS I'm not a cat person neither and I've posted photos of my new baby on my blog. It should be about writing…
So if somebody mentions rice in a query to you, are they a shoe-in? 😀
What if it is a rhetorical question about rice in their query?
cmr
Oh, and if I may add something about rice: I have celiac disease, which means that most grains–wheat, rye, barley, etc.–are poison to me. But I CAN eat all the rice I want.
Yay for rice! And a huge thanks to all the rice farmers who help me survive.
Gorgeous! I *am* a farmer, and after being flooded this year, we’ve been talking about growing rice here instead.
Our son’s on a gluten-free diet, so our family probably gives your folks some business–thank Heavens for rice! And thanks for those wonderful photos.
Great wonder post Nathan!
Awesome photos. And I should tell you that way over here in South Carolina, we even eat rice for breakfast! At least some of us do.
Thanks for joining in the blog party and making my day even happier.
As I tell everyone, you’re amazing!
Becky
Nice post, Nathan. Becky’s blog is a blast. You have good taste in clients.
Reading Ms Ramsay’s cool blog reminds me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UHtrhe5ROI
Then there’s this. I made it up.(Sung to the tune of Happy Birthday)
Happy Birthday to you,
You live in South Carolina,
There ain’t nothin’ fina,
Than to live in Carolina!
…I’ll stick to writing…
I love the rice photos. The fields are huge.
You forgot a dessert or snack though… Rice Krispie Treats! So yummy.
There are Mexican rice drinks that are not alcoholic and those are yummy, too.
I thought rice was grown in wet places? Or does it dry up before harvest?
AR-
They drain the water a couple of weeks before harvest. Given how hot it is in the Central Valley, it doesn’t take long for things to dry out.
I like a good risotto.
I’m Indian and we love rice, too 🙂
How many farmer’s children stay on the land?
Rice is nice!
In my family we have rice wars. Mexican v. Puerto Rican rice. Then the rice puddings get involved and it gets ugly, but tasty.
beautiful pics of your family farm, and San Fran, too
Beautiful photos, Nathan! Becky is such a fun author!
Whoa! That picture of the ducks is AMAZING! So good!
How big is your parents farm? 60 acres? 100? (I’m moving onto 18 1/2 acres, so I LOVE land!)
Thanks for the early morning smile! My son loves spicy rice.
I used to be the champion of making concoctions of rice, brown sugar and milk. Then forcing my bff to eat it. Did I mention the rice wasn’t cooked, just soaked. Don’t ask, I was a disturbing child.
Also loved your client’s post today. She’s really cool..
Nathan: How about requiring that all queries be written on rice paper?! You could keep a water bucket by your desk and just disolve the rejects.
Luv the personal pics and insight into your life outside the biz.
Rice is indeed cool.
You know how you ask someone in Chinese if they’ve eaten? You ask, literally, if they’ve eaten rice.
Well, or other cooked cereals. But the first definition of the word is “rice.”
And here I thought you were going to give a shout out to my alma mater. 🙂
https://www.rice.edu/
You showed your favorite city without noting that it’s the home of Rice-A-Roni!
Jeff-
Owls love Rice too!
john-
Rice-a-roni isn’t rice!!
Ok, well, technically it’s rice, but no self-respecting rice farmboy eats instant rice.
Nathan said: “Ok, well, technically it’s rice, but no self-respecting rice farmboy eats instant rice.”
Are you having flashbacks of My Cousin Vinny? Just askin’.
bryan-
Yup! What a great movie.
I love today’s entry. That’s so great. The pictures are nice. Also, rice pudding is the best!
I am SO glad I stopped by your blog this afternoon. Your post provided me with a mini-vacation, made me laugh, and made me think about how much I love where I live today while at the same time gratefully remember the cornfields and rural life of my childhood on the plains of Colorado. Thanks!
“…no self-respecting rice farmboy eats instant rice.”
I quite understand, Nathan. It must have been frustrating when you were a boy in the fields, watching all those instant rice farmers going home so much earlier each day.
I always wondered how rice farming works. And there you are standing in what looks like a wheat field! Dry and golden.
Also that combine looks familiar. Only ours was the right colour: green! Great pictures.
My kids at school love going on freerice.com to help learn and donate rice while they’re at it.
haha… thanks for the hilarity. definitely made my studying in the library session better!
Dude, given that there is about to be a serious world food shortage of staples like rice, corn and wheat, you are in a good position to write an insider’s look at what goes on behind the scenes….nah….too boring…
You could write a farming thriller! Evil megaconglomerates seek to effect a hostile takeover of your grandpappy’s rice farm which is the only thing sustaining the whole town….but they want to use the rice for (gasp)–fuel for their SUV’s! So the farmer’s city-slicker son Nate-dawg comes home for the summer to relax a bit, and discovers that the plan to take over the rice farm is bigger, and much more evil, than anyone suspected.
DEADLY HARVEST
I left my heart in San Francisco. 🙁 I love that city.
Hi, Nathan,
Love your photographs, especially the rice field and city scape. I finally updated my website in order to join in on Rebecca Ramsey’s Wonders of the World Blog Party. It’s been great fun visiting the other sites in the party!
You have a hidden talent. This was a very artistic post. I loved your segue from photo to photo. Nice Rice.
And Anon 1:54 I think I’d add in a steamy romance for Nate Dawg and send it off to Silhouette Romantic Suspense. Love the title.
wow, really? i have to eat rice every two to three days or i feel out of sorts. haha! loved the fotos! thank you for sharing.
One of the great children’s books of all times, Maurice Sendak’s CHICKEN SOUP WITH RICE.
Jane
This was a truly great post. I have Ms. Ramsey’s Blog listed in my favorites.
My wonder is…
Last night, I was thinking, when a person tries to curl up in a little ball, it’s called the fetal position – but when the sky does it, it’s a hurricane.
And I was thinking also of the brown insect carcasses clinging to queen anne’s lace this summer – one here, one there – first I was concerned they were bumblebee husks, but then found out they were from cicadas, and therefore not evidence of bee extinction in my own backyard. Wonderful!
And now the rain, and I picture gray cathedrals being built up drop by drop, suburb-obliterating behemoths with rainbow windows, greeting one upon opening the door in the morning. Wonderful!
I wonder now how (if) being from a family of rice farmers influences fav book choices of Moby Dick, and also Faulkner.
Though I should talk, loving Tennyson’s Idylls of the King (as in Arthur), coming from a family of homemakers/mechanical engineers.
Thanks for sharing your rice-licious (sorry, too much Project Runway) photos…
A rice farmboy! Who’dathunk?
I didn’t know we grew rice in the US, and actually Googled ‘Central Valley’. ( I live on the East Coast.)
You learn something every day. And- I have to share after watching Mythbusters tonight- I also learned that non-dairy powdered creamer is crazy flammable and that inhaling sulfur hexifluoride will give you a monster-bass voice. (Think helium in reverse.)
Of course, Don’t Try This At Home, but the creamer bit makes me happy I put half and half in my coffee.
Oooh, can I add a rice? FreeRice.com
It’s a vocabulary quiz (great fun for readers!), and each word you answer correctly earns 20 grains of rice for the United Nations World Food Program. Warning: site is addictive
Nice photos. And being a waterfowl lover, I can totally appreciate the fall migration element. We look forward to it on Lake Merritt (Oakland) every year. The central valley gets all those swans and geese, too. For folks who haven’t see it, the massive migration along our Pacific flyway is quit impressive. Especially when it rains a lot.
Looks like Mallards—which, I suppose, is like saying that coffee place on the corner is probably a Starbucks—but really, they do look like Mallards …
Well, that one on the right is a Mallard. The one on the left could be a female Pintail. 🙂
Rice! Yum. Especially basmati! And rice milk – so much better than cows’ milk! 😉
Hey Nathan. A-B buys a lot of rice for Budweiser. That’s right, Rice is whats called and adjunct grain used in harmony with malted barley to brew the King of Beers.
A-B also operates Pacific International Rice Mills just outside of Sacramento.
Love that short grain sweet California rice.