Farmer's Creed

I believe a man’s greatest possession is his dignity and that no calling bestows this more abundantly than farming.

I believe hard work and honest sweat are the building blocks of a person’s character.

I believe that farming, despite its hardships and disappointments, is the most honest and honorable way a man can spend his days on this earth.

I believe farming nurtures the close family ties that make life rich in ways money can’t buy.

I believe my children are learning values that will last a lifetime and can be learned in no other way.

I believe farming provides education for life and that no other occupation teaches so much about birth, growth and maturity in such a variety of ways.

I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free: the splendor of a sunrise, the rapture of wide open spaces, the exhilarating sight of your land greening each spring.

I believe true happiness comes from watching your crops ripen in the field, your children grow tall in the sun, your whole family feel the pride that springs from their shared experience.

I believe that by my toil I am giving more to the world than I am taking from it, an honor that does not come to all men.

I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have done for my fellowman, and by this standard I fear no judgment.

I believe when a man grows old and sums up his days, he should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life he’s lived.

I believe in farming because it makes all this possible.

Harvest Time!

This fall I was privileged to be able to go to my parents' and help with harvest. Usually I am in the classroom by that time of year and unable to get away to help with the farming. Because it's been my plan for the past several years to go home and learn as much about farming as possible, this was something I had been looking forward to for, well, several years. It would be perfect--I would get to be outside farming all day with breaks for feeding Matthias, and my mom would get a break and some fun grandson time.

The first couple days went great--Matthias slept all morning, I got out to ride horse and still had time to help my dad grease up the combine. Then I would ride in the combine, learning the ropes, hopping off to haul the grain home and dump it in the bin.

Then I lost my voice, and Matthias ended up with a cold. So there was an unfortunate change of plans for me, who was looking sooo forward to some "outside" time, and my mom, who was looking soooo forward to some "inside" time, especially with such a cute little guy. We ended up being inside much of the day, taking supper out to the field in the evening.


I was able to get out quite a bit, though, and spend time with my dad in the combine. During these rides I had a great time visiting with my dad about farming. I should have had a tape recorder because I knew I'd forget the way he worded things that made them make so much more sense and mean so much more than the way I just type them. There's just something so calming about driving along, watching the wheat heads feeding in, bumping against the reel, pouring in an amber wave out of the auger and into the truck. For all the changes that I've seen in farming since I was a kid, those things have remained a constant.

Which reminds me of one conversation my dad and I had about the changes and advances made in farming. From the horsedrawn equipment that my grandpa used to the Easy-Steer, GPS and DVD players that some farmers enjoy in their equipment today, it's hard to say what is an advancement and what isn't.  Yes, bigger equipment has absolutely revolutionized farming and made it more efficient. It's foolish to think that we'd really, truly be better off if we were still using the single-bottom horse-drawn plow. Because the steel plow itself was a huge revolution of the time--do you suppose many farmers mourned the loss of their previous, less-advanced farm equipment with the advent of that plow? Maybe. I doubt it.

But along with the advancement in efficiency, there comes a bit of a loss of connection to the land. My dad told about farming with an open tractor--no cab, certainly no A/C. "You were close to the dirt. You could smell it and feel it." You would see the gophers and field mice as you worked. So I suppose many of the farmers of the day joked about how "soft" these modern farmers were getting--a padded seat on the tractor for their delicate tush, an umbrella so they don't get sunburned. Pshaw. What is farming coming to? Heaven forbid cabs...and air conditioning! The combine we had as a kid even had an 8-track player! What luxury!

The distinction I have drawn as far as the advancement of farm machinery is this: does it help the farmer be more efficient and do a better job doing the thing he (or she!!) loves? If so, great! Most all the advancements I listed above (save the 8-track) had the purpose of helping the farmer do a better job. As our equipment becomes more and more gargantuan, it does continue to help the farmer do more work with less help. Great.

But when does it become about having the "biggest" and "best?" There seems to have been a shift in farming even from the time I was young to now. Sure, yes, farmers have proudly shown off their new equipment for eons. But I grew up in a Norwegian community. No matter how proud you were of something new, you didn't brag on it. It was kind of a joke (but not too far from the truth) that if someone would buy a new vehicle they would practically hide it away for the first few weeks until they got over the embarrassment of having bought something "new."

It's values like those mentioned above that draw me to farming. Later I'm going to post a poem I found posted in my dad's "office" (gun room). That does a better job of summing it up. But knowing that it's not just a job, not just a career, not even just a business. It's a lifestyle that allows a person to enjoy the values of a hard day's work, the satisfaction of being your own boss (Mother Nature notwithstanding), the enjoyment of watching wildlife in the field, even when it means losing some extra time to allow that mother pheasant and her chicks to cross your path safely, or leaving a few heads of grain untouched for the wildlife to feast on during the winter. I could go on, but I see how long this is already, so I will leave you with a few pictures.

We did spend some time out in the field! Matthias was dressed appropriately.

He sneaked in some naps in the pickup.

Daddy came to visit us!! We were sure happy to see each other!

Four years

I was going to post this in a more timely fashion, that is, on February 13, but we've had a lot going on lately so I didn't get to it. Plus, I gave up Facebook for Lent, so that has had me coming to the computer less and less (a GOOD thing!!).

Four years ago I was finally at a point in my life where I was happily single--a place that was uncharted territory for me since the first grade. Literally. I had been talking back and forth with a guy about buying his dad's old, beat-up pickup. In between our conversations, the pickup was sold. The guy left a message on my machine expressing his regret, and that I could "call back if you want to." Though I really thought he wasn't interested, I did call back. I didn't realize until the phone was ringing that it was Valentine's Day. Oops. Well, I thought, I guess I will find out if he has a girlfriend. We talked for about an hour, I safely assumed he was single, and I headed out to go to a horseman's event with my Dad, who was batching since my mom was in Fargo awaiting the arrival of a grandchild! "Happy Valentine's Day," we told each other awkwardly as we hung up the phone. After a meet-up at a friend's birthday a couple weeks later, we were calling each other more regularly.

This is that guy...

The next year Jon and I went skiing at Bridger Bowl near Bozeman, MT. We had been discussing marriage for some time, and figured we would be getting married in the summer. But since I didn't have a ring, I couldn't make wedding plans! As men just don't understand what all goes into planning a wedding, I kept hinting to Jon that in order to plan our wedding, I really should have a ring. He did not know at the time that I had already bought the dress. I was afraid he'd think I was creepy and call the whole thing off. But it was on such a good sale and I had never seen a dress quite like that, so I just had to buy it.

...and Jon married me anyway!!

We headed to Bridger the weekend of Valentine's Day. Jon kept saying that he wouldn't propose on Valentine's Day, but in my wedding-planning anxiety I just kept on beating the dead rotting horse-corpse. I didn't know at the time that he had taken time off work and bought the ring long ago.

February 13 came with some excitement as I went downhill skiing for the first time on a "real" ski mountain. He was a bit preoccupied with his cell phone, so I was on somewhat high alert. After a good lunch at the lodge, we headed up to the highest part of the mountain that we could be on (without a shovel, radio and ski buddy).

 

It was there that Jon popped the question! I will say that I hadn't fallen down yet that day, but after that I kind of lost my balance the rest of the afternoon and fell down four times.

Our first Valentine's Day as a married couple we spent in town; I on the couch sick and Jon whipping up some scrumptious chicken noodle soup, which tasted great at the time, but . . .

Jon refused to not kiss his wife on Valentine's Day, so the next day found him on the couch fighting the same bug as I'd had. Thankfully it was fast because we were on our way to go skiing the next day. Jon jokes that he still wasn't in his right frame of mind as we bought a new pickup on our way by. You see, we had to have a four-door, 4wd vehicle for our next plan...

I think he's still delirious.

who was in my belly the next Valentine's Day. Unfortunately neither one of us can remember what we did last year. I think Jon got me some nice flowers and we probably went out to eat!

This Valentine's Day was also low-key. Thursday night is "tv" night at our house, so Jon made finger steaks, we had some candy and vegged out in front of the tube. Which was just what I wanted to do!

time for a new post

Hi,
I think it's about time to update this. It's been a long time since I've done so. Right now I'm trying to recover from the flu, so I don't have a lot of energy to do anything elaborate, but I have lots of time to do small, non energy-consuming things. So some of these pictures are quite old, and some are quite new. I think I have them in some sort of order.

This is not supposed to be sideways, so here's your neck exercise for the day!

On Mark 8:14-21

I've been trying to read the Bible in a year (like I've been trying to do for the past few years). I never actually succeed, but I figure that if I do it for about 10 days every year I should be able to get through a large chunk of it, anyway.

Something really stuck out at me this afternoon as I was reading Mark 8. Jesus has just fed 5,000, then 4,000, with meager amounts of bread, on two separate occasions. Reminds me of the church potluck where there doesn't seem to be a lot there (it HAS happened!) and somehow everyone ends up gluttonously full, carting home their own leftovers and those their neighbor has pushed upon them.

Those stories always amaze me--how much more they must have amazed Jesus' disciples and all those who were present!

With that in mind, here's Mark 8:14:  "Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat." My immediate reaction: What idiots! One would think they'd start learning how to prepare for the crowds they were encountering....or at least bring along enough food for the trip!!

I read on. Jesus said something that was obscure to me about the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod, which must have been equally obscure to the disciples, because they replied, "It is because we have no bread!" (read: Yeah, Jesus, duh! We have no bread because Mr. Airhead Simon (or whomever) forgot to pack it! That's what we're complaining about!) 

At this point, I'm pretty sure Jesus did a massive facepalm. He started rebuking his disciples, saying stuff like, "Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear?" (read: You eedjits!) He reminds them about the two huge miracles concerning bread that he had JUST done. "Do you not yet understand?" he implores.

He must have been feeling like I did sometimes (okay, often) as a teacher, giving specific, step-by-step directions, like "Pick up your pencil," and being met with blank stares and, "Uh...I don't get it. What do you mean by 'pick up your pencil'?" Here he had been doing such awesome miracles, urging people not to tell about them, which they couldn't keep quiet if they had tried, and his own disciples are complaining because they had forgotten to bring along food for themselves and didn't know what they would do....

Then I think about my own life and am humbled. I think about all God has done for me: like how in college I thought I'd have to move into the dorms for an undisclosed amount of time, then to the apartment, and the apartment unexpectedly opened up early; like how I thought I'd be single the rest of my life if I didn't abandon my convictions, and somehow Jon and I bumblingly met each other. Like how I thought we'd be stuck in town because of land prices, and somehow the sellers of our new property accepted our absurdly low offer. Like how I was afraid I'd have to send my baby to a day care and go to work outside the home, and somehow I'm able to stay at home with Matthias.

You'd think after a while I'd get the picture and quit worrying because I forgot to "bring enough bread" like the disciples did. Jesus is probably doing a facepalm right now. Or maybe He's nicer than I am. He probably is. But what I hear Him telling me is that it wasn't about how much bread the disciples brought. They were human and made stupid mistakes like forgetting to bring food, and He provided for their needs. He continues to provide, despite my own doubts and shortcomings. I need to trust. I need to understand. I will fail at both. And yet He will provide.

Matthias wanted me to clarify...

A while ago my sister posted this picture of Matthias on her blog.

She is always razzing me because we went to rival schools, and I usually don't join in that much because I probably would have fit in better at "her" school, the agriculture college, than I did at mine, the "business-med school-lawyer" college. Water under the bridge; I'm just not that great of a participant in razzing.

Matthias, however, saw the picture and wanted me to fix it. He is already such a "people person;" perhaps he already sees business or politics in his future? God help us. But his expression is much improved, so that means something...

We have an eater!

Matthias took his first spoonful of non-breastmilk food the other day. I chose peas. I'm not really sure why; maybe because they are somewhat bland, and I was in a hurry to get through the grocery store with my little guy who had just gotten a shot (although he was sleeping blissfully and had no troubles from it).  Here are pictures:

Okay....

Well, I guess I'll have some more.

Why are we doing this, again?

Okay, okay, I'll be a good boy and eat them.

The peas seemed to agree with him, and last night we tried carrots, which he liked slightly better. Although by these pictures it may look like Matthias hates peas, he did keep asking for more, so he must have liked them!