While there are some decidedly beautiful perks to being socially distant on a farm, there is a cost. Farm work is never done.
We have a deadline – May 30. By May 30, we have to have 1000 ft. of fence run to spec. That would be a rather daunting task without the beautiful tool attached to the back of the beautiful tractor. I don’t know how many of you have hand dug a post hole, but I have and it is not at all fun! We need to set 75 fence posts. I am going to start thanking God as often for the inventor of these couple of machines as I do for the creator of Imitrex, and that is a lot.
We had a very industrious weekend a little while back where the work crew showed up and we got so much accomplished! It is a privilege to be able to teach my grandkids some of the skills my husband learned as a young boy that we are still using (ahem) many years later. In an odd way it is coming full circle. Farmer Man helped his dad build fence as a job in his later teen years. The fence was different, (beautiful, fence-envy, four board fence) but setting posts is a skill that transfers to all kind of fence. So we get to pass down some skills too! It was a glorious day for fence running and the cutest work crew ever! We managed to set 12 posts that day.
If you have ever hung out with me and Farmer Man, you will know that we are very strong opinion people. So, planning the next run of fence took some time, some “conversation”, and stole a bit of our productivity that afternoon! But, fear not, we now have a full plan, string run, and . . .
Life interrupted, because that is just how the world works!
My husband had mentioned some eye symptoms in passing, that then seemed to increase. So in the middle of the whole COVid pandemic, we had to figure out a way for an emergency eye appointment. The doctor’s exact words without knowing anything about a farm or fencing project – “you may not ride a four-wheeler, you may not use a hammer, you may not use a post hole digger” for 4 weeks. Oh, and rest and do as little as possible for a week, no head turning – turn your whole body. Long story short – Farmer Man, the expert tamper, the one with the knowledge, the one who drives the tractor to where it needs to go – is grounded.
So currently, I am working to keep Farmer Man resting and still during the best fencing weather we’ve seen in a while, with a deadline looming. He took several days off from his real job until his next appointment. So, he’s at the farm, looking at the farm work that needs done, in beautiful weather – and we are binge watching Star Trek.
My wonderful brother-in-law has already offered to be the tractor driver so we can set the rest of the posts, and my son is pretty good at the cross-wire part, and the cutest work crew will return soon. God is good!
Farmer Man might be grounded but, he will not give up the position of “straw boss” any time soon, and at least the walks are nice! I may or may not be spoiling him with lasagna and home made rolls!
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