From the Editor

If the unpredictable, distasteful and unbelievable election of 2016 provided anything worth savoring, it was the reaffirmation of the power in the rural American vote.

A few years ago during a visit on Christmas Day, my dad and I started talking about holidays long gone by. After an hour or so of his familiar yarns, I asked what Christmas was like in the Army.

It’s fitting that I bring technology up for two reasons: It’s our focus topic this month, and I happen to be one of those pesky millennials – you know, the generation known for selfies, selfie sticks and thumbs that can punch out a sentence faster than you can speak. (If you don’t know what a selfie is, talk to me later.)

Years ago, my kids, out of a sudden case of curiosity, peeked into my old high school yearbooks. To my surprise and their amusement, they began mocking what was long ago a sophisticated look and style.

Some will call it curious timing. Others will say the stars lined up out of kismet and good fortune. But just days before Brazil would light the Olympic flame for the first time on South American soil, the USDA extended its own peace offering to the world’s fifth-largest nation.

Perhaps you’ve had the difficult discussion, as a parent or child, when you decide what direction to take in life. What education and training is needed? What career will lead to being happy and successful?