The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
8-5-2013 Column
Honey do lists are not just for the jobs around the house at our place. By April, Mark is already starting to plan what jobs to tackle when the kids are home from school. The old saying of “making hay while the sun shines” might be rephrased by our kids to “work while the kids are home on summer vacation.” However I don’t think they would refer to working long hard hours on the farm during the hot summer months as a vacation. If anything, school might be considered a vacation destination for many farm kids.
Despite the long hot hours of summer jobs, it is not all work around here during the summer. The kids still find time to have some summer farm fun. Katie and Austin weren’t letting the fact that we didn’t have a graduation party this year deter them from having a mud pit party. FFA friends from Fargo to college friends from St. Paul road tripped to central Minnesota to try out a mud pit party first hand. Austin, being a gracious host, made sure to introduce everyone in the pit to the thick pasty mud as he lowered them in the mud. After a quick trip to the creek to wash off, the partiers returned for second event of the evening….a real barn dance in the barn.
Katie, Austin and a couple of friends worked hard to clear a section of the hay mound for a real barn dance. They threw bales of hay out of the barn and restacked them on a kicker wagon. They swept away cob webs and layers of hay dust until the floor and walls were spotless. Just like the movie “Footloose” lights were strung between rafters and a hanging wagon wheel chandelier. The barn looked so inviting and promising. You couldn’t help but think you could dance the night away under the lights as you stomped your boots to the beat of the music. Austin was teaching some kids basic swing dance moves and twirls. In a line they moved to the right, right. They moved to the left, left. It was so much fun. I think Katie and Austin will be disappointed when all of their hard work is covered up by third crop hay next week. At least they will never forget the summer night they danced in the barn.
Of course for Katie summer parades are on her to-do list. As a county dairy princess she and the other girls have perfected their synchronized wave team routine by the end of the summer parade season. It really takes some coordination to wave in a smooth figure 8 pattern between your elbow and wrist and then switch hands and sides. It looks really neat, but I sure love it when they cut loose and wave a good hardy “happy to know you wave” when they spot a friend on the side of the parade route.
The highlight of the summer farm fun is county fair week when chores and jobs are brushed aside. Just the essential jobs are completed between trips to the fairgrounds for a second round of chores with the show string. It is amazing how much fun the kids have working when they are at the fair. They actually smile and laugh as bedding packs are prepped, cattle are washed and decorations are put in place in anticipation for the opening of the annual fair.
Our show crew and show string numbers have declined rapidly. With Michael, Andrew and Isaac graduating from 4-H, the work load has fallen to Katie and Austin. They are enjoying the freedom of being their own bosses, but sure miss the extra hands in getting all of the work done in time for the fair. They have become such old hands at setting up and prepping for the fair that this year seems to be pretty laid back and stress free, at least so far. As the kids continue to tackle new jobs and adventures, we try to step back and out of their way.
As I was growing up, my dad’s motto was “work hard to play hard”. We have adopted his motto with our own children. By county fair week, the kids figured they have earned their play time with a summer’s worth of hard work sprinkled with a little bit of summer farm fun.
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As their 4 children pursue dairy careers off the farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their Minnesota farm. (Natalie grew up in Stronghurst, the daughter of Becky and the late Larry Dowell.)
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