LESSONS FROM THE FARM 

PREFACE        

A man who operated a small family farm was once asked how long he intended to keep farming.  His reply was revealing, “Until the money runs out.”  I grew up on that type of farm, my Grandpa Brown’s farm.  It was a small dairy farm that included several different animals to husband and crops to grow, harvest, and store.  It seemed to me that Grandpa loved being a farmer and because of him I am a farmer at heart.  If I could have chosen one thing as my life’s work it would have been farming.  I love the smell of freshly turned soil, of alfalfa being cut, and barley being harvested.  I love seeing waves run through the fields of barley as the wind blows.  I wasn’t so enamored with getting up early every day to feed and milk the cows and care for all the other animals.  If I could farm, I’d be a crop farmer.  I feel like I’m in heaven when staring at a field that will take all day to plow or mow.  Being raised on a farm imprinted me for life.  Though the realities of life prevented me from farming for a living, my love for the soil, what it can produce, and the lessons it teaches has never left me.  My early years on that farm left me with a deep respect for those who face constant toil, hardship, even failure and still keep working, driven by the hope of a bounteous harvest.  They face the uncertainty that is so common in life with faith and hope for a better day.  They plant, never knowing for sure if they will harvest.  If they endure a bad year, they try again the next.  The memories of my youth have become almost idyllic in nature as the years have varnished them into a scrapbook of pleasant memories.  I can vividly recall as a boy walking through the alfalfa fields very early in the morning when the dew was still heavy on the crop.  It would soak my jeans up to my knees and leave a clear trail in the alfalfa of where I’d walked.  I’d think I had walked a straight path through the field but when I’d turn and look back I was startled to see that my path had been more meandering than straight.  When I look back at my life I’m forced to accept the same conclusion.  I would like to share some of the lessons first introduced to me while growing up on the farm with Grandpa.  Perhaps some may be of benefit to you.  I have also shared how some of these lessons have reappeared in my life long after leaving the farm.  While your life may be different than mine, the lessons could very well apply to your circumstances.  I wouldn’t discount them because of their simplicity.  They are what they are, and stand on their own.  When you get to the point of looking back on your path through the dew laden alfalfa fields of life, I’m hoping some of these lessons will have made it more enjoyable, if not more productive and rewarding.