Harvest Time at Home!

This picture reminds me of home. Reminds me of hard work. Reminds me of how lucky I was to grow up with this outside of our window. This picture makes me love my cousin, Jon- for coming back home to help my dad with harvest, for helping now that Grandpa can't, for being a good daddy.

This picture makes me miss Grandpa. He usually ran the truck, and his smile was so large when we'd pull up in the driveway. He loved harvest, and he felt blessed he got one last harvest last year.

And, one more generation removed from the farm. This picture makes me happy that my kids will still get the experience of agriculture, and farming, despite the fact we live in town. My dad loves taking them for rides, and the boys love beeping the horn, watching the corn go in, looking for foxholes and pheasants, and asking papa 19 million questions.

Harvest is a wonderful thing. There's satisfaction that comes from putting food on someone else's table, and knowing your family helped do that. But, it's also hard work, long days, stressful times...but despite it all, I am so happy I was raised on a farm.

Joe and I are starting to look for a house and I'm pretty picky about our location. But, I told Joe that when I see a house sitting next to 15 other houses, to me it's just the realization that we won't ever live in a small town or on a sprawling acreage. Our kids will be townies. They won't know the joy of being let out your front door at 8 a.m. and asked to come in for lunch at noon. They won't know the thrill of riding your bike around and around and around in a barn. They won't get to see their grandparents and parents working together to make a living. They won't see pheasant or deer running outside their bedroom window. They won't ever be punished with hard labor picking up rocks. They won't get to practice driving in a truck in a field. They won't get to play hide and seek and hide in the corn or the barn or the shed or the trees.

I feel like they are missing out on a lot. So, that's why it's so important we have grandpa and grandma. I can't wait until the day when Joey breaks curfew and I put him in the car and drive him to a field and get in the skidloader and say, "Start picking up! Sure hope that extra half hour was worth it!!"