A Farmer's Daughter

Its not all that infrequently that here in the cities I get called out on my farm-girl roots. Growing up in the country equates with a lot of strange things to people here in the city. People tend to think living in farm community means I must have hoed fields with my hands (only once did I ever hoe a field with my hands. I was about 12 and it was for 100 dollars, which seemed at that point in my life to be an exorbitant amount of money. Turns out it was a STEAL for my uncle, and so, apparently, we both won) and really truly walked up-hill both ways to school ( I rode the bus). Pretty much its a lot of old school ideas about living in the country. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved growing up in the country with a huge family and lots of fields to play in. It just makes me the spectacle in the city sometimes.

City peeps: "Whats it like to ride in a tractor? me: boring
City peeps: "Were there cows and pigs?" me: No, just vegetables. the word farm does not = animals. We were mostly about potatoes, sugar beets and corn.
City peeps: "How do you know how to change a tire?" me: because I was raised in the country where you had to change your own tires. City peeps: oh, you mean on a farm? me: No, just in the country.

It goes on like this frequently.

 Lliving in a farm community did teach me some fantastic things though- a dose of humility, an intention to be hardworking and loyal, these things are some of the qualities that I try to keep part of my daily life. But, the farm thing never really gets away from you, and city folk are sort of enamoured with it. Thus the facination with animals and tractors.

When we had Collin I imagined that he would have an interest in farms- but I didn't intend to push it on him. If he wanted to learn about it, I'd be happy to take him to the farm while we were in Michigan. If he didn't I wasn't going to force a John Deere tractor in his hands.

As it turned out, its more like we have to pry the John Deere tractor out of his hands. Collin, without much guidance from us is all things farm obsessed. He loves farm animals, he loves tractors and every sort of construction equipment known to man. So, when we went home for the holidays and Collin had the opportunity to head to the farm and drive the combine and new tractor, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

He adores the idea of a working farm. Feeding animals, tilling soil, planting seeds. I think he's drawn to it because of me (genetically disposed I guess) but also because Drew's passion in life is to grow green things. I pretty sure that this fascination makes my dad's heart beam. I'm pretty sure that he's over the moon happy that Collin loves the things that were such a big part of his very own childhood.

 When we got to Michigan my dad set up a time for Collin to head down to one of the barns and get to sit on the tractors. We figured most were put in the for the winter, so we just told him he'd be able to sit in the cabs. The farm is only about 1/2 mile from my parent house, so it was all of 2 minutes away, and super convenient for Drew and my dad to take him down to visit on morning of the eve of Christmas Eve.

 Collin was super excited just knowing that he was going to be able to see the tractors- which is a rare occcurence here in Minnesota because we live in the city. You can tell by the ridiculous grin on his face that he's beyond elated. Collin could have gotten to visit the tractors for his one and only christmas present and he would have been fit to be tied.

 So, off they went, my dad, Drew and Collin down to see the menagerie of tractors. First on their visit they found the combine, which is an enourmous monster of a machine, but to collin it was like two stories of pure happiness. He crawled right up and was right at home in the cab.  Pretty much as though he owned the place.

 Then things got bigger and better. The GIANT tractor with the tracks was next in line and Collin was in awe. He climbed up in it with a cousin and learned that they could take it for a ride, which I'm pretty sure nearly made him pee his pants.

When all was said and done I'm failry certain we had made his day. He ended his visit with a little love for the riding mower- it is a John Deere after all.

So as it turns out, I think we might have a little farmer on our hands after all, and I'm sort of happy about it. A little humility, good work ethic (and a bit of dirt under your fingernails) and loyalty never made life any worse for anyone, now has it ....:)