Who Are Your Heroes?

It's only been in the last year or two that I've come to realize that I have a lot of heroes. People who I look up to in life, admire for one reason or another, or have learned a lot from.

So, question for the day: Who are your heroes in life, and why?

I'll share if you share! ;)

Looking back in life, I'd say the first person who I ever stood in awe of was Pat Parelli...

I must have been 10 when I first heard about him, and I don't even remember who told me about him! I just remember thinking, "Wow, I want to do that someday", as I learned more about his training techniques. I admire his calm, confident attitude that he always seems to have, especially when he's working with difficult horses. If I can someday achieve a fraction of his patience, I will be a happy person. 

Next up is Joel Salatin, of course!

I was 14 when I picked up a rickety, shabby copy of his book titled, "Pastured Poultry Profits" at my local library. It all went downhill from there. I really admire Joel's tenacity, creativity, courage to go against modern day farming techniques that are harmful,  his sense of humor, and his common sense. 

What a guy. ;)

Had it not been for Joel's books, I would probably still be raising Holland Lop rabbits to sell as pets, and that would be all. Joel taught me a lot about farming. Even more important though, he taught me that anyone can farm. No matter what race or gender, no matter where you live, or what your income is. Anyone can farm. That was a revelation to a conservatively brought up girl like me who always thought she had to have 100 acres, and a herd of cows before she could be called a farmer! 

Tasha Tudor is a more recent hero of mine...

If it wasn't for the fact that Tasha was still alive when I first read one of her books (Tasha Tudor's Garden), I might have thought there was something to the reincarnation theory after all. ;) Tasha lived an off-grid lifestyle, on 240 acres in Vermont, living with her herd of Nubian goats, corgi dogs, numerous birds, and her art that she drew. What I admire most about Tasha, is her grit. She didn't care that she was different from almost everyone else in society. She had a dream, and she followed it. I'm always finding myself saying, "If Tasha could do it, you can do it too!", when I've hit a bump in the road of life. 

Next hero on the list may surprise a few...

It's Beatrix Potter, the famous author and illustrator.

Oh dearie me... How I look up to Beatrix... :) I'm almost finished with reading a biography about her, and I have LOVED it! More than just an author of classic books (and we won't mention the fact that I have every single one of them!), Beatrix was a naturalist, farmer, shepherd to the endangered Herdwick sheep, and donated thousands of acres to the National Land Trust of England. She wasn't afraid to go against what was considered "proper" in her era, and follow her dream. Like Tasha Tudor, I admire Beatrix's determination to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. 

And then there's Jenna Woginrich... Wow do I admire Jenna.

Just the fact that she's written books, given talks at the Mother Earth News Festival, is learning to herd sheep with her Border Collie, Gibson, is working towards being as self-sufficient as possible, is training her pony to do draft work, and is single, is enough to command my respect. She's living the life that I want to live someday... I can't wait until that day comes...

I certainly have other heroes, but methinks this list is starting to get rather lengthy, so I'll leave off here...

It's your turn now: Who are your heroes, and why?