I didn't actually grow up on a farm, but I got about as close as a city boy can. Though we didn't live there, my parents owed the farm my father grew up on, I was in 4-H, and I showed sheep at the county and state fairs. Given that I'm now a software engineer living in Southern California, I guess I fell a little further from the tree than might be expected.

My aunt Cheryl said didn't think she was going to have much to do with farming when she went to journalism school, but she ended up writing for Successful Farming, marrying a farmer, and most recently, being honored by the National Farm Medicine Center for her work advancing farm safety and health.

Goes to show you never can tell, I suppose.