Wisecracks And Farmkids

I bet you remember either growing up on a farm or having some relation that did. Today less than 2% of our countries population actually farms. My pictures today are random and my thoughts are even more random.

Ever wonder why anyone going slower than you is an idiot, but anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

Ever wonder why when you blow in a dog's face he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a ride he sticks his head out the window?

Changing gears, we are spending more time in the shop this winter. It's getting time to put on our mechanic hats, find where we left our tools, hope the grand kids didn't rearrange the bolt bin too bad, and start getting equipment ready for spring.

Speaking of mechanics, here are a couple of good ones. Randy and Dean work at our local JD dealer and do a great job at helping keep our green machinery ready and going during fieldwork. Both of these fellows grew up on a farm.

Here's a good looking farm couple using the shop for a barbershop. Mark and Stacy are in Nashville, Tenn. for a National Farm Bureau conference.

These farm kids needed a job one day so their dad, Mark, had them clean up old ball bearings that came out of the hydraulic track drive he was repairing.

Here's a batch of farm kids stopping for lunch at the only stop in Barnes City, a bar, while tiling earlier in the week. Steven and Lucas, the young men in hats are Juniors in high school and participating in Winterim, a career class where they spend a week with our family experiencing farm life.

This past week Cargill/Eddyville used the cabin for an evening. Pictured below are four farm kids. To my left is Ray. He came from a dairy farm. He is a corn merchant known throughout the state. To my right is Kaye. She grew up on a farm near Eddyville. She manages the Eddyville plant, the second largest Cargill facility in the country. To Kaye's right is Greg. He comes from a family of JD dealers in North Dakota.  He came down from Minneapolis, MN and is the CEO of Cargill worldwide.

This is my brother Dan. We grew up together as part of a farm family of six children. Having a mentally handicapped brother helped me be comfortable around special needs kids and helped make me a more caring person. Actually we are all special needs to some degree in God's eyes.

Below is a 27 year old picture of Mike, Mark, BJ, and Becky, helping me fix a motor on the only vehicle we owned. I'm so thankful Jan and I had the opportunity to raise our family on the farm. I understand and appreciate the fact that not everyone has or desires this opportunity.

 

Rick Warren in his book, "Purpose Driven Life", starts by saying, "it's not about you". Teaching kids to work, giving them responsibility, and helping them learn to think about others helps them grow into adulthood as assets in their jobs, their communities, and society as a whole.