Life in Corn Country...

We live in North Central Illinois...deep in corn country. We are surrounded by corn fields and for at least 6 months out of the year there is corn in them! It gets planted in about April-ish and is usually harvested October-ish. So here it is October-ish and we returned home this afternoon to a partially harvested corn field to the east and south of us! The corn provides a natural "privacy fence" for a good part of the summer so we don't mind it. It is beautiful in the fall just before harvest...natural decor. And so neat to watch it as it grows in the spring. We watch when it is planted and then keep watch over it to see how soon we can spy rows upon rows of sprouted seeds turning the landscape green. Then its in the inbetween stages of between shin and waist height where we can still "wade" out into the field for a lost ball. But by mid summer it gets to 8-9 feet tall and anything lost in the field is usually just that... lost. Until fall when it is harvested by a big green machine... the combine. And if you are lucky, whatever you lost in the field will survive to be discovered. I love harvest time. To some it just means more allergies (i.e. my husband and son...) but to me it is just another summer spent. And on to brisk fall weather, colorful leaves, apple cider, hot dog roasts, and perhaps, if we are lucky, a hay rack ride! HAPPY FALL! photos to soon follow...

H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act

I post this in honor of my friend Marge's baby, Dekar, who lived only a short 8 hours until the Lord called him home... please copy and paste this into your blog to spread the word... THANKS!

H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act

(Please copy to your blogs so this bill gets more exposure. THANK YOU!)

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.

Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.

On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let’s help pass H.R. 5979.

Action Steps:
Step 1. Use Your Blog to Enlist Others-Copy the contents of this entire post and publish it on your blog immediately.

GOAL: Enlist 10 of your readers to spread the word

Step 2. Use Your E-mail to Enlist Others-E-mail 5 bloggers and ask them (nicely and in an unspammy way) to publish these action steps on their blog. Consider contacting celebrity bloggers, political bloggers, medical bloggers, or bloggers who are not part of your reading community.

GOAL: Enlist 3 bloggers outside of your normal blog sphere to spread the word in other online communities.

Step 3. Help Pass the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act-By October 15th, publish a post on your blog supporting H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. For maximum impact, title your post: “Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act.”

GOAL: 1,000,000 Google results on October 15th when that term is searched for. Currently, Google only returns 20,400 pages - most of which have nothing to do with the bill.

Thank you to Antigone for starting this movement.

More information HERE