Ron Smith 1, Senior Content Director

August 4, 2016

21 Slides

To some, summer consists of those “lazy, hazy, crazy days” Nat King Cole sang about more decades ago than I like to remember.  I do recall a few of those indolent days spent mostly in the swimming hole, fishing, playing baseball, or eating homegrown watermelons under a shade tree.

I also recall hoeing the garden, mowing the lawn and sitting through long-winded sermons in a church that wouldn’t feel the religious experience of air conditioning for another 20 years.

This has been a busy summer, including a move, knee surgery, a 10-day 11-state road trip vacation, Little League baseball games, and my usual farm visits, summer meetings, and, for the first time in several years, a small backyard garden

Here are a few photos representing some of my summer activities, and a few from folks who graciously share what they do in the summertime.

About the Author(s)

Ron Smith 1

Senior Content Director, Farm Press/Farm Progress

Ron Smith has spent more than 40 years covering Sunbelt agriculture. Ron began his career in agricultural journalism as an Experiment Station and Extension editor at Clemson University, where he earned a Masters Degree in English in 1975. He served as associate editor for Southeast Farm Press from 1978 through 1989. In 1990, Smith helped launch Southern Turf Management Magazine and served as editor. He also helped launch two other regional Turf and Landscape publications and launched and edited Florida Grove and Vegetable Management for the Farm Press Group. Within two years of launch, the turf magazines were well-respected, award-winning publications. Ron has received numerous awards for writing and photography in both agriculture and landscape journalism. He is past president of The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association and was chosen as the first media representative to the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Advisory Board. He was named Communicator of the Year for the Metropolitan Atlanta Agricultural Communicators Association. More recently, he was awarded the Norman Borlaug Lifetime Achievement Award by the Texas Plant Protection Association. Smith also worked in public relations, specializing in media relations for agricultural companies. Ron lives with his wife Pat in Johnson City, Tenn. They have two grown children, Stacey and Nick, and three grandsons, Aaron, Hunter and Walker.

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