I am from Indiana…and let me tell you even though Indy gets snow, freezing rain, and single digit temperatures at times, I had no idea, and I do mean no clue, how cold it could really be outside until I am forced to venture out when it’s negative anything on my temperature gauge.
Yesterday my husbands says to me- “Would you want to help with chores on Saturday and Sunday morning since Dad is gone?”. My immediate answer- “How patient are you feeling this weekend?”
My husband goes to work anywhere between 6 and 6:30 AM most of the time. Normally hubby and father in law feed our cattle, which normally takes right around 2.5 to 3 hours. If one of the other guys show up to run the pay loader it can go quicker. My father in law went on a weekend vacation up to North Dakota for college basketball and my brother in laws hauled two loads of cattle, so our help around the farm was dwindling for doing chores. So, naturally I agreed.
I love my husband, I really do…and I love our farm. I do not, however, like my husband at 4 AM when he wakes me up to tell me to meet him at the farm around 5:30 or like the farm when it is pitch black and negative temperatures outside. Like I said I never really knew what cold was until I moved to South Dakota. Some days it is so cold that I go the rest of the day freezing because I can’t get warm again!
Anyway, I bet my brother in laws could load a feed wagon in about 5 seconds…okay, maybe not quite that fast, but pretty stinkin’ fast. I, on the other hand, am slow…like snail slow. And I am constantly scared I am going to run into something, break something, or dump too much mineral in the wagon, because that mineral is really pricey and I really really don’t want to be the one to waste it. Plus, I am always scared when I mess up I am going to get the look and the whole “Is that how they do it in Indiana…?” thing…so naturally, I move slow and steady.
The last two mornings have been filled with getting up at 5 and doing chores with my husband. Who might I add has to be one of the most patient people I know. Honestly. And he is also one of the most cheerful morning people I have ever met. I am impatient and so not a morning person until I have had at least 30 minutes to process the fact that I am out of bed.
At the end of my two days of doing chores I have accomplished a few things. I think that if we were dairy farmers who had to milk at 4 AM I would have some HUGE adjusting to do. I am much faster at loading feed into the feed wagon, I really can function heavy machinery at 5:30 AM! And even though my husband drives me nuts when he is so cheerful in the morning, there is nothing I love more than seeing his face light up when I drive to the farm and jump in the feed wagon even though it’s 5:30 in the morning, pitch black outside, and -10 F.
PS. Once the weather clears up a bit in South Dakota I will do a piece on what we feed to our cattle, why we feed it, and also have some pictures of how it works on our place! Stay tuned!
Hey Morgan – great blog so far! I still write on mine occasionally but haven’t kept up on it like I did 2 years ago. You can follow me if you wish :). Take care!