Throwback Thursday: 1982 Honda Express Moped
June 26, 2014
She purrs like a kitten — a 32-year-old kitten, that is. This 1982 Honda Express moped has a new life on our farm, transporting our kids down country roads and back and forth to farm chores.
V. bought this moped while in college and tooled around Kansas State University on it and then back in our small town after college. It sat for a while and, with a little work, it’s back on the road again.
A quick online search shows there are many similar models still on the roads or stored away in need of work.
A bit of background from Wikipedia:
The Honda motorcycle corp. of Japan released the Honda Express (NC50) to the North American market in 1977. This new bike was designed to enter the large market for scooters that developed following the 1973 oil crisis. As such it came with a fuel-efficient single-cylinder two-stroke engine. It was also designed to be simple to operate, as many owners would be inexperienced with or intimidated by larger, more complex motorcycles. Honda accomplished this by using a fully automatic transmission and a small oil pump to self-mix the Express’s oil and fuel, thus eliminating the need for premixing.
Its retro blue and tiny, electronic horn make this one fun, vintage ride.
Call to Power
May 26, 2014
I’ve been away from this blog for awhile — busy and happy doing ag advocacy work for American Agri-Women. I’m VP of communications for 2014-2015 and our group has lots going on. I wanted to finally share an editorial I wrote for Ag Day, way back on March 25, to personally kick off AAW’s “Call to Power” Membership Drive. The campaign wraps up on May 31.
Anyone is welcome to join. Our members include farmers and ranchers as well as those who work in agri-business or those who are just interested in supporting agriculture.
Thanks for taking a read! Happy Memorial Day, too!
March 16, 2014
Join Kansas Agri-Women’s ‘Call to Power’
Calling all farm, ranch and agribusiness women — and any woman interested in learning more about where and how their food is produced. On behalf of Kansas Agri-Women, I invite you to join our “Call to Power,” a statewide effort to spread the word about our organization.
Kansas Agri-Women was formed in 1973 and is an affiliate of American Agri-Women (AAW). AAW is the nation’s largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women. Our mission: We are a force for truth, a reasoned, non-partisan voice for the agricultural community to the public.
Why is this important? Today, people are as many as five generations removed from the family farm. This disconnect from agriculture has led to many misconceptions and even suspicions about how food is produced.
It’s the responsibility of those of us more closely connected to food production to bridge the gap to consumers, elected officials and policy-makers and share how we produce food on our operations. I’m proud to be part of a fourth-generation farm family, growing wheat south of Cheney. We work hard to be responsible stewards of the land and contribute to a safe and reliable food supply.
I’m also thankful to be part of Kansas Agri-Women and American Agri-Women and join with other women who share this commitment. I leave every meeting more inspired and more committed to advocating for agriculture.
The “Call to Power,” is more than a slogan. It’s one of AAW’s most important documents. It was developed by Sr. Thomas More Bertels (1918-2000). Sr. Bertels was a long-time advocate for women in agriculture. She wrote, “The most important task facing farm entrepreneurs today is capturing a significant degree of influence over the policy-making function as it relates to food, feed, fiber, forest products and flora.” Sr. Bertels also described power as the one thing North American farmers and ranchers can’t produce.
Join us as we tackle this most important task. Go here to learn more about Kansas Agri-Women, www.ksagriwomen.org. And, to share an interesting fact in celebration of Ag Day on March 25: Did you know that one Kansas farmer feeds 155 people plus you?
Lynn Woolf
Member of Kansas Agri-Women
Vice President of Communications for American Agri-Women
Walking the Deer Trails
March 17, 2014
It’s Monday and I can’t complain about how the day is going. Still, I wish I was here instead, walking the deer trails along Sand Creek with Cesar. Most times, I’m with V. or the kids. This time, a solo trek + dog.
Cesar scares most of the wildlife away, but I love watching him jump, meander, sniff, run and swim.
There is less time for woods-walking once summer begins, so hoping to get lots of exploring in before then.