God Bless the Workin' Man

I sat and thought and thought about some cute title, many song lyrics came to mind, from Alabama's 40 Hour Week, to Brooks and Dunn's Hard Workin' Man and many of the popular 'farm themed' country songs............then I thought of ballads, because I do love that man A LOT!
I would like to take you through a day with my husband. His alarm goes off at 5:25am, I know this not because I pop right out of bed with him, I think anyone who knows me, knows that I can get to 5 am way easier than I can start there! He starts his morning off with weather.com and the markets, checking out the auction websites and craigslist while eating a bowl of cereal, I promise you this is his preferred breakfast. His stomach doesn't like bacon and eggs that early and eating cereal promises that no one else has to be involved, awake and talking to him. Out the door moments after 6 to start his day. Animals are fed. Sick ones doctored, currently there's a calf who injured its leg and redresses the leg each morning. Then on to maintenance, whether its a tire that needs fixed, equipment that needs to be adjusted or greased, he gets everything ready for the day. This is of course summer time when he doesn't have to make sure everyone else is up (slightly altered schedule during the school year, he probably doesn't go out till 6:15...... )
Once things are ready to go, and by this time Jason (brother in law) has done his morning chores, they begin their day. This last week it has been chopping silage. By mid morning (this week) Cody is back home from football camp, Sam has drug himself out (he's kinda like his momma about mornings) and they pack some drinks and head out. Several loads are chopped, hauled and packed before lunch. Most of the time work stops for lunch. After the meal a quick siesta is had, AKA 20-30 minute power nap.

(OMG----it's raining outside! YAY! Sorry to get off subject, but wow!)


After lunch its back at it, David does the chopping, Jason does the packing and helps with unloading the wagons and truck. The hauling is done this year by a combination of Cody, Sam, Beth, today me, and Luke helped over the weekend. We are about to fill our bunker silo, so there will be some adjustments to switch over to the upright, the blower will need to be gotten out, etc.......

Today as I helped, I couldn't help but mentally add up all the different jobs David does. He makes marketing decisions, considers upgrades on equipment, veterinary work, shop work, repairs, the 'skill jobs' (makes me think of Cody talking about skill positions in football) keeps in his mind what he planted when and where, the variety it was, everything you ever or never needed to know about all of our tractors, combines and pieces of equipment, what grain is in the bins, whether its been checked recently, when he mowed the alfalfa last and will it be ready to be mowed again, when to move the bulls to the summer pasture, which group of cows have calved, should be calving soon, etc etc........ he blows my mind.

He can fix anything, of this I am pretty sure. We broke a brace on the silage chopper that braces the blower. He stopped, got the pickup, pulled underneath it and monkey-ed up the thing, had it off of there and we were headed to the house before I much more than got asked the silly question of can you fix it? You would think 22 years and 12 days into this thing, I would know better....... measuring tape, piece of scrap iron, cutting torch, the grinder, a chalk mark for the bolt hole needed, another drill, little more grinding, then it was hold this, close your eyes, I am gonna weld............waaa laaa....... he fabricated a new 'end' to the brace and back to the field we went.

I know that when he proposed to me, I knew I loved him, when we got married, I knew I loved him, when we had babies---loved him........... I am pretty sure that I had no idea how that love would grow exponentially, year by year, day by day.........hour by hour. Heck I even drove for him chopping silage and while I could tell from the body language I was frustrating the crap out of him, stupid dirty windows, sun glare.........yeah I have excuses. He called me on his way to a meeting, that he was probably late to, trying to get 'one more 5 minute job' done, to make sure I had everything under control while he was going to be gone and to say he loves me.

(BTW, rain already stopped........sigh)

Waiting up for my sweetie,
From Tulip~
KH
:)