Along with all the benefits of farming, which I would consider perks of this job, there are troubles that come along, too. Pondering that statement, I think that would just about cover any occupation.
I was waiting for an empty wagon in the cornfield next to the woods one day and, looking around, noticed the view from my tractor cab was really quite amazing. I was eye-level with the corn tassels and just beyond, the trees on our hill were ablaze with color. Capturing that in a picture with my cellphone I posted it on Facebook: “The view from my tractor cab. Perks of the job.”
The fall chill has arrived and it’s invigorating. Fresh, crisp, country air on a sunny fall day is welcoming and enhances our work environment tremendously. In other words, I’m happier and work better when it’s just a little nippy.
As we labor on the farm, the various seasons produce different aromas and scenery changes, and it is all part of our Father’s handiwork. It humbles me. Fall is my most favorite time of the year. God’s autumn paintbrush is magnificent and again I think, if this world He created, which has decay and waste, includes this much splendor, what will heaven be like!
We have finished chopping corn and it has been a satisfying harvest, with a few troubles thrown in for good measure. One full morning we had to shut down operations to contend with a leaking drinking cup. This cup was in a calf pen and it had overflowed, causing the gutters to half fill with water, not good on so many accounts.
Because the pipe was old we had to replace it. This pipe was directly associated with the pipes running out to the cow and heifer waterers, so every group of animals on our farm was directly connected to fixing this drinking cup — a major situation that had to be remedied ASAP. The animals need water.
My husband ran for parts, and when he came home I joined him in the barn, bringing tools and a work light. Replacing the old pipe, we ended up splicing two new pipes together in order to adjust the drinking cup to the right height so the calves could reach it.
I detest being in the barn all morning. It is one thing to get the animals fed, pens cleaned, cows milked, milkers washed up, barn floor scraped and limed, and be done. Being in the barn all morning is just not fun.
The weathermen were forecasting rain and even thunderstorms for that afternoon so after fixing the drinking cup instead of stopping to pack a lunch, we grabbed a can of Sundrop and some cookies (it would have been just as easy to grab an apple and a granola bar!) and headed out to continue chopping. It never did storm that day, so we worked the entire day on breakfast and a snack.
That night before milking, we sump pumped yucky water out of the gutters before letting cows in. When we finally got back into the house after milking, we were both exhausted and hungry but realized much was accomplished that day.
Every morning for quite some days in a row we’ve had a bat greet us in the barn, swooping just over our heads as we try to get the work done. I suggested greeting it with a broom, but my husband resisted, saying bats take care of the flies. I’d put up with a few more flies and get rid of the bat. I kept thinking that thing was going to get tangled up in my barn scarf. It gave me the shivers. If that happened, I’d scream really loud and then collapse into a dead faint.
One day after working in the field all day we got back to the farm to check on a new heifer that had been trying to calve. We had left her in the cow yard so the area where she could give birth was contained. Noticing what looked like afterbirth, we figured she had birthed the calf, so we looked high and low for it. Those little newborns can finagle themselves into any nook or cranny. We could not find it, so we brought the heifer into the barn to physically examine her.
Pulling on plastic sleeves, my husband immediately felt feet. Running to get the birthing chains, I handed them over and he somehow got them fastened on both front feet. Attaching a rope from the chains to the bar across the aisle for leverage, we pulled down and out, slowly and surely, timing our pulling with the contractions of the momma. The poor heifer moaned, pushing as we pulled. I felt so sorry for her!
Finally, the head surfaced and we continued our pressure. The shoulders came and shortly after, the calf’s hips and back feet slid out, all of the calf encased in the slippery afterbirth. Unfortunately, however, it was stillborn. The upside was, the heifer stood and milked that night.
Beautiful changing scenery, fresh invigorating country air, bountiful harvest, leaky drinking cups, swooping bats, life and death. Perks and troubles are all part of life on a farm.
(“You are the Lord, You alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships You.” Nehemiah 9:6. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalms 46:1)
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