Jerry Crownover – Adapting during a pandemic

just athought What’s On Your Mind, Ozarks?

Life Is Simple By Jerry Crownover Life is Simple By Jerry Crownover T he global pandemic has necessitated so many changes in our daily lives that it, sometimes, seems like nothing is as it was. While many of these changes seem like insurmountable problems, others have provided interesting opportunities. Wouldn’t you like to have been a toilet paper manufacturer these past few months? I have talked to several people and relatives who have transitioned to working at home during the crisis. Surprisingly, most have told me that they actually like doing so, with more than a couple telling me that they think they are more productive because of fewer distractions from co-workers and the chance to get more sleep because they don’t have to drive to work (or shower, shave and get dressed). As a farmer, I’ve been working from home for the Jerry Crownover is a farmer and former professor of Agriculture Education at Missouri State University. He is a native of Baxter County, Arkansas, and an author and professional speaker. To contact Jerry, past 23 years, so there was no newness for me to experience. go to ozarksfn.com and

With most schools shutting down last March, parents of click on ‘Contact Us.’ school-aged children were able to experience their stint at home-schooling, and to quote one such parent, “It really wasn’t that bad.” As a result, many are considering homeschooling as a viable and permanent option. Since my wife and I homeschooled our two sons, before it was a fad, I was not surprised at these comments, either.

Since many restaurants and fast-food eateries were either closed or limited in their services, many people had to relearn to cook and eat at home, finding homemade meals, with a sit-down time with family, was actually a pretty nice change. In addition, the absence of school activities, coupled with no ballgames, ballet classes and music lessons, parents and grandparents were able to have evenings at home for several weeks. Again, since we live 10 miles from the nearest café, we rarely ate away from home before the pandemic, so we weren’t inconvenienced, in the least, when it came to meal time.

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PO Box 1514, Lebanon, MO 65536 Toll Free: 1-866-532-1960 479-846-1002 • Fax: 479-846-1003 E-mail: editor@ozarksfn.com Eric Tietze Publisher Administrative Amanda Newell, Marketing Manager Eric Tietze, Accounting Advertising Pete Boaz, Display & Classified Sales Amanda Newell, Production Sales Circulation Eric Tietze, Circulation Editorial Julie Turner-Crawford, Managing Editor Jerry Crownover, Columnist Jody Harris, Columnist Production Amanda Newell, Production

Contributors

Jessica Allan, Kathy Daily, Jim Caniglia, Monte Elam, Ken Knies, Amber Parham, Kathy Parker and Terry Ropp

About the Cover

Kenny Underdown runs 200 cow/calf pairs at his Alpena, Ark., farm. See more on page 14.

Photo by Terry Ropp

Ozarks Farm & Neighbor accepts story suggestions from readers. Story information appears as gathered from interviewees. Ozarks Farm & Neighbor assumes no responsibility for the credibility of statements made by interviewees. © Copyright Ozarks Farm & Neighbor, Inc., 2020. All rights reserved. Printed in USA.

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