And once again a blog entry is long over due.

“I want to write a blog,” she said.

“I’ve done a weekly newspaper column. Regular blog entries will be a piece of cake,” she said.

“I’m never really at a loss for words,” she said. (In my defense, several people agreed with me on that one.)

I could claim I’ve been busy. That would be correct. Not a good excuse, perhaps, but correct.

I’ve done a bit of driving down unfamiliar roads, talked to some interesting folks, explored some innovative new ideas. Those are the things that make my job fun. I still have to occasionally pinch myself and make sure it’s real I get to do all that for a living.

Magazines are proprietary about upcoming articles. No one, even me (especially me), wants to be scooped on a good story. So, it is often hard for me to talk about current projects. That is not an excuse for not writing a blog post; but it does explain why people’s inquiries as to what I am working on may be met with a blank stare.

In between projects I have been devoting time to marketing – a necessary part of my job. I, like any entrepreneur, have a product to sell. That requires not only sending story proposals to editors and making graphics project contacts and pitches, but increasing my presence in the marketplace and expanding my professional circle.

It amazes me sometimes to think I have a website, write a blog (occasionally), maintain two Facebook pages and a Twitter account. I also have two email addresses and two phones. And you wonder where I’ve been…..

You see much these days about how lovely life was before technology took over, but truth is, I couldn’t do what I do without it. On top of that it enables me to retain contact with old friends all over the world. A feat that previously would have required reams of paper, barrels of ink, and much more willpower to accomplish the task than I likely possess.

You also see much these days about how listless, shiftless, and worthless our young people are. Oh, if they would only put down their cell phones and pull up their pants, civilization would be saved.

It’s nothing every generation hasn’t said/heard. Our parents thought Rock & Roll would be the death of us all. (My dad referred to it as “that yeah-yeah music.”) Now Bruce Springsteen is on the cover of the AARP magazine, Bob Dylan and the Beatles provide background music for TV commercials, and Rolling Stone is one of my main sources for news and public affairs commentary. Only a handful of our presidential candidates remember black and white television.

Truth is, the next generation will lead us into the future like it always does. It’s their world, and we might as well get used to it.

I, for one, am comfortable with that. I watch the young folks around me and I see the makings of good, solid people. They’re bright, and aware, and pretty well grounded given that rock & roll sieged drug and sex addled rebels like ourselves raised them.

A project I take on every fall is writing some of the profiles for Vance Publishing’s 40 under 40 in Agriculture initiative. This honors the industry folks under 40 years of age who are pegged to most make a difference as the world of agriculture prepares to feed 9 billion people by 2050.

Let me tell you – these are some impressive people. I have no doubt they will meet that challenge, and then some. And if this year’s class is any indication, will do so with grace, class, and humility. (I had to convince one of the recipients to take the award.)

They’re only a sample of the younger generation I encounter on a regular basis – young folks who honestly care about the future of their communities and this world, and are determined to work to make it better.

Overall, I think we’re in pretty good hands (fashion sense aside – like tie-dye and bell bottoms set a glowing example. And for those of you who didn’t live through the Sixties, they were literally “glowing.”). I’m ready to see what the next generation does with this world. Lord knows we’ve given them a hearty agenda of issues to address.

Let’s pray they do better than we did.

You can see more on 40 under 40 in Agriculture at 40under40.com