Author: Angela Ma

Kentucky, USA

Slaughter Before Sunset: A Month on the Lawson Livestock Farm

Pigs scream. Sheep close their eyes and give up. Inquisitive cattle step in to the slaughterhouse bobbing their heads; nervous ones refuse to enter. There is only one death but there are many ways to do it. Any livestock farmer knows that. But it is not a profound knowledge to be contemplated with gently misting eyes, overlooking the acreage from the tip of some stark yet beautiful hill. It’s bon appétit. Continue reading Slaughter Before Sunset: A Month on the Lawson Livestock Farm

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Ilam, Nepal

Immortal Roots: 16 Days at the Kulung Organic Tea Farm

I came out of the plane into a blazing noon. It took hardly 60 seconds to cross the tarmac, go past the open-air conveyer belt which made up the single baggage claim, and exit Chandragadhi Domestic Airport. In that time my clothes became a sauna. I felt an insect race down my cheek and hit my hand. I looked. It was not an insect, but a drop of sweat. Continue reading Immortal Roots: 16 Days at the Kulung Organic Tea Farm

Angela Ma
Texas, USA

Secrets of the Yeastyboys: Two Weeks at Robert Clay Vineyards

Located in Mason, Robert Clay Vineyards is an estate winery owned by Dan and Jeanie McLaughlin. The property is 50 acres. The vineyard is 20 acres. There are 15,000 vines, grown in rows anywhere from 300-750 feet long, divided into five blocks: Touriga, Merlot, Viognier, Chardonnay/Barbera, and Experimental. The Touriga grape becomes Touriga wine. The Merlot grape becomes Merlot. Etcetera. Continue reading Secrets of the Yeastyboys: Two Weeks at Robert Clay Vineyards

Angela Ma4 Comments
Interview

Interview #1: For the Love of Criminal Defense

On August 29, after two COVID tests, four hours of driving, three hours of my boyfriend telling me to drive better, and two hours of me telling my boyfriend to can you please stop the hell telling me to drive better (even though he was right, like always, because that’s what love is), I arrived at Hard Way Farm in Mendocino, California. Classic metal paddock gate swinging open to a barking Great Pyrenees dog; a parked school bus, several wrecked and rotting buildings, a “new” house, and a guy with curly hair and a big smile; a blond woman in a plaid shirt and baseball cap, waving. Continue reading Interview #1: For the Love of Criminal Defense

Angela Ma4 Comments
Haifa, Israel

Rock, Bone, or Sherd?: A Month on the Tell Keisan Excavation

To be precise, what I actually became was one member of a herd of semi-indentured servants under the direct supervision of some archaeologists. But I was rolling the exact rocks, scrubbing the exact pottery, and digging the exact dirt at the Tell Keisan Excavation that Charles, my supervisor, directed me to, so by the transitive property, I guess I could say I was Charles. And Charles is an archaeologist. Therefore. Continue reading Rock, Bone, or Sherd?: A Month on the Tell Keisan Excavation

Angela Ma5 Comments