Laura Unearthed

Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you’ve said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”   Farming conversations conjure up a feeling of community amongst us because farm life lends to many common experiences.   While you didn’t live the exact same scenario that I lived with my dad, you lived a day with your dad that left the same feeling.   Even if you’re reading this without a farm background, you just might relate to the reminiscing in your own lifestyle, as well. Here’s to my dad, here’s to my husband, and here’s to all the great dads – farm and otherwise.   All of a farm kid’s favorite dad memories… see if these bring back any for you:   My favorite off-the-farm memory: in Germany with my dad at the church where my Great-great-great Grandparents were married.  "We all carry inside us, people who came before us." - Liam Callahan 1)     The first time h...

Harvest is fast approaching here.   With a newborn, I’m surprised how calm I am about it.   I think I’ve lost a grasp on how crazy it’s going to be soon.   Not like those of you who are farm wives weren’t aware… but here’s how we know harvest is around the corner…   1)       You washed all of the laundry in one day… because you could.   The laundry room is the calm before the storm, enjoying order before all of the dusty laundry with grain-filled-pockets starts flooding the floor.   Unless you have a newborn, like me: then, it’s more like the storm before the storm. 2)       “It just depends on the weather…” …has become the farm wife’s routine RSVP, again.   3)       We’re digging through all of the children’s clothes. Someday soon, cool weather will pop up unexpectedly.   She needs the right gear for the farm in a size that fits… because she’s going. ...

Cooking, cleaning, wiping bottoms… no doubt, mothers deserve a day of honor.   Pitching straw bales, steadying oneself after a spirited cow knocks you around, hauling an assortment of dirty, gross farm items in your car… the list of sacrifice grows deeper for a farm mom.   For those of us growing up on the farm, we often take for granted that our mothers performed at a different pace with unique challenges.   I remember fondly the adventure of running cows back to the barn as my mother and I were on our way to the Easter Sunrise Service in our Sunday best.   I would guess she doesn’t remember it with the same affection.   I know now why she emphatically repeated to me, attempting to engrain on my memory, the best practices for removing caked on, five-day-old manure stains from our good “cattle show” jeans.   (Lay pants out on basement floor, douse with stain pre-treat, wait, soak in wash sink with detergent, wait... again, get new water with detergent ...