Adventure Log

Once I arrive at the farm, I like to check in on Moogie and see how he’s feeling.  A friendly little calf, he is always eager for attention.

Up close and personal, or working on his soccer skills, Moogie has personality.

This week Charlotte found a little guy in the pasture who had been abandoned by his birth mother.  He was dehydrated and in need of some nourishment and attention. 

Charlotte is a firm, gentle hand with the young ones.
There is a simplicity here; it reminds me that life is fragile.

A business transaction is easily accomplished in the shop, using the pickup as a desk.  Trust and honesty are key elements that make it easier this way.

A tree that’s grown to surround a fence post serves as a reminder that time often brings change that we hadn’t anticipated.
At the end of every day, I drive back to town very aware that life is a participatory activity.  I think that daily awareness keeps ‘typical’ at a safe distance.

Gordie always wears a green and fuzzy John Deere Hat. It has ear flaps and I like to tease him about it. Today he wasn’t wearing it, so I grabbed it and put it on backwards in an attempt to mock him. My mistake. It was really comfortable and I enjoyed wearing it most of the day, even when sneaking into the pantry for sugared donuts.

The corn planter hit a stretch of muddy field and needed to be cleaned up. Planting is a surprisingly precise operation, and with the cost of seed, it just makes sense. A fifty pound bag of seed corn averages about $250, so putting it in the ground with care is a must. We use a sixteen row planter, each row holds two bags, so a quick bit of math tells us that the planter holds $8,000 of seed. Add fertilizer to the mix and you’ve got well over $10,000 of materials in the hopper.

After a couple hours of cleaning up the planter, Charlotte convinced me to sit down for a photo. I did my best to draw on my modeling experience and was able to showcase my mud coating with a sincere, yet distant pose. There was plenty of laughter, then a quick washing of the face at the yard hydrant. I put the green hat on again, and climbed into the barnyard to chase around Moogie. He enjoyed playing and loves to kick up his heels. It’s a good idea not to be too close when he begins running around, those little feet come flying past at a good speed when he is bucking and showing off.

Later we paused for supper, which was steak fajitas made from fresh sirloin. I assisted by tending the grill, and a tasty meal was had by all. After supper, Gordie and I headed out into the fields to re-calibrate the GPS system on the four wheel drive tractor that pulls the planter. Sporting my fuzzy hat, we reset parameters and repositioned hardware until we were happy. The tractor can now auto-steer itself across the field with a margin of error of no more than two inches. Very Cool. Technology and mud, I like it.