Almost exactly one year ago, I was sitting in Kansas City examining my life choices. I was doing something I loved – providing media coverage at Western Farm Show as the editor of Farm Talk. I had just eaten an incredible dinner – barbecue, obviously. And yet, something was horribly incredibly wrong.

Probably because I was stuck on an overpass in the middle of an unanticipated ice storm. And I would continue to be for another several hours while I watched people in flip flops attempt to push two-wheel drive sports cars uphill on a thick sheet of ice and other shenanigans you only get in the Midwest.

So why couldn’t I just find somewhere warmer to spend my time telling farmer stories? Well, here I am, and happy to be.

Happy to be back where I can ask for a coke and in return be asked “What kind?”. Happy to be back where sweet tea is the default setting and where colorful cattle with disproportionate ears outnumber the plain solid black ones. Happy to have access to all the Cajun food my heart desires – hopefully large quantities.

However, more than any of those other admittedly excellent things, I’m happy to be part of the Delta Farm Press family. I don’t know if you are aware what gems of individuals you have dedicated to getting you the absolute best ag news coverage, not only in the South but in the whole of the U.S. as well. They are truly the most incredible team I’ve ever encountered. I have so much to live up to.

While I have spent the last eight years enmired in the Midwest farm traditions of corn, wheat, soybeans and cattle, I want to encourage you that a mere location change to the Midsouth does not disqualify you from my admiration of your agricultural excellence or my attention to topics that truly impact your farm operation.

Growing up in East Texas close to both the Arkansas and Louisiana borders means my foundational ag experiences probably look a lot like most of yours. Living with an ag science teacher for a dad meant I also never lost my appreciation for learning - even when I left behind my drawling accent and sense of state-centered superiority.

I made it my personal mission to communicate digitally or in person with all of the readers of my last publication and made good progress over the years. Let’s try that here, too. If you see a curly-haired, wide-eyed, wonder-filled woman with a camera wandering around at the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show (If my Baptist relatives let me go, thanks to the name. Even though I always explain to them it's not that sort of gin.) Then, pull me aside and say hello. I want to learn everything there is to know about my new home away from home (and you, too).