{"id":7742,"date":"2024-06-30T08:48:10","date_gmt":"2024-06-30T12:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/?p=7742"},"modified":"2025-11-20T07:06:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T12:06:05","slug":"the-heartland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/excellent\/the-heartland\/","title":{"rendered":"The Heartland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Families of the Heartland<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over two years ago, I planned to visit Wisconsin to check in on 6-month-old Theo. However, my knee had other plans after needing a major overhaul. With that under my belt, we came up with Excellent Adventure 2024 to visit them and, as an added bonus, my sister-in-law Myhra’s brother Richard and his wife LaRae at their home\/farm \/woodshop literally in the middle of (nearly) Nowhere, North Dakota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisconsin Driftless Farm Country<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Theo lives with his Mom, Dr. Kari, and Dad, Carl, in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I visited here <\/a>a little over three years ago when Clan Tubridy gathered with Clan Bringe to celebrate Theo’s upcoming birth. This area, unaffected by the glaciers at the end of the ice age, is beautiful beyond words: rolling hills, windy farm roads, picturesque small towns, and lots, and lots, of farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Bringe Farm:<\/strong> Mary Jo, Uncle Alex (aka Stewie), and Dad Carl. Theo is busy pushing the buttons!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Theo is two and a half years old and a sweet, inquisitive, and well-behaved little dude. We had many adventures in the three days I was there! On the first day, we visited Armand and Mary Jo at the Bringe homestead. Their oldest son, Alex (aka Stewie), would let some of his cattle out onto a new pasture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who Let the Cows Out?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We got to watch. It was very cool and somewhat surprising that some of the cattle were apparently afraid of Theo! Later, Theo rode in various tractors – John Deere Green Tractors – with Grandpa and Uncle Stewie! We hung out at the farm before heading back home for the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Country Farm Breakfast<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Country Farm Breakfast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The next day, Kari joined in, and we had a treat that really made the whole trip. In the morning, we went to a Country Farm Breakfast. These are held at different farms in the area and supported by the various farming associations, youth organizations, and the community as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Country Farm Breakfast is an organic dairy farm with Jersey milk cattle near Harmony, Wisconsin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This was hosted at an organic dairy farm. I got to see the cows and talk about milking with one of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n