Farmers

I don't have anything crafty to share with you today....YET anyway!  But just have to share this Super Bowl commercial that really hits home to me:

As a farm family, everything said is so true.  Farmers work their tails off trying to get it all done.  I watched my Grandpa Kintigh work from sun up to sun down.  And back in those days, I would spend two weeks of my summer vacation helping on the farm.  We, my Grandpa, my Grandma and I, would get up at 6 am to go out in the dewy bean fields to "walk beans".  That's how we got rid of the weeds.  Pulled them by hand, used a hoe to chop them down.  We'd be done by 9 am when it would start to get sweltering hot, and go on with our day.  Then, we'd go back to the field at 7pm to walk beans some more.  It's rare to see someone out "walking beans" these days.
I've watched my dad tend to calves born in the middle of the night in freezing rain, blowing snow, bringing them into the basement to get them dried off and warm.  I've witnessed my Grandpa, Dad and Husband all bottle feed calves when their mamma's couldn't feed them, or wouldn't claim them.  I've seen them saddened when a baby calf doesn't make it, or the mamma cow doesn't make it through a birth.  I've seen the vet come out a do a c-section on a mamma, only to end in disappointment.
I've seen them come in from planting a field, clothes soiled from dirt and grease.  I've heard them cuss when they've broken down at a crucial moment of harvest.  I've waited up for my husband who's worked in the field late into the night trying to get the crop planted before the rain comes.

Farming is a rewarding job.  You watch the cattle graze and grow.  You watch the beans and corn sprout from the ground and grow into an beautiful field of green.
Farming is a demanding job.  Lots of hours.  Lots of sweat.  Lots of dedication.

I'm thankful for this life on the farm.  I'm glad I've witnessed what hard work brings.  I'm glad I married a farmer!