Farm Fresh Blog

As I type this the thunder rolls outside and four dogs are playing WWF in the living room. I doubt they can even hear the thunder outside as their paws thunder a looped path through the dining room, into the living room, then into the foyer, and back into the dining room again. Lily barks madly both at the storm outside and the other dogs. She is the Fun Police and they are having too much fun.

On a spinning, drunken carousel, Mesa, Dillon, and Aja continue their panting, grunting, growling orbit. Locked away from the fun, Ranger barks orders behind a closed door. The rain pours down outside as frightened Cowboy and Trace huddle in a dark bedroom while Other Half sleeps.

The house smells like a kennel. A fine spray of mud has misted the walls and I've seen cleaner carpet in crack houses. It is simply impossible to keep a house clean after two weeks of rain, so we pick and choose our battles. Today the battle is simply getting seven dogs exercised while more rain comes down outside.

I am thankful I was able to get the farm chores done without getting struck by lightning, but will readily admit to sending out a steady stream of prayers under my breath as I tossed out cattle feed.  The dogs have taken a break but the floor of the house continues to shake under my feet as the thunder rolls outside.

And still it rains. Disconnected newscasters smile and tell us we need the rain. Really? Do they have to wear rubber boots just to walk out the door?  Clearly they live in a different world, one where they are not hustling to juggle chores in the mud, before racing off to a full time job in a land of concrete.

Other Half and I talk more and more about retiring. It is a tempting dream in the mist that I reach for but cannot yet grasp. How much money is enough money? Like most Americans we are caught in a ludicrous gamble - we struggle to earn enough money today so that we can enjoy a life tomorrow. It is a gamble, and with each passing year, the odds change. Are we working ourselves into the grave before we can enjoy the life we have worked so hard for? Is the security of a paycheck worth this gamble?

Investment bankers would argue that we should stay and make more money to play the odds in the stock market, but I lean toward a different kind of stock market - the livestock market. As a person of faith, I tend to believe that God will allow the animals and the land that we have cared for for so many years to take care of us.  For I believe there is more to wealth than figures on a piece of paper. Wealth is about good friends, and good health, and giving back, and having the time to enjoy it all. Wealth is not about having things, but enjoying the things we have.