I'm Not a Farmer, But. . .

I am the son of a farmer. My father's father farmed as well, as did my mother's father. I grew up in a farm family and spent many weekends and summers working livestock, baling hay, and learning to swear effectively. Despite all of this, I am not a farmer. Not even close. I teach in a classroom and gym. I blog. I read a lot and collect graduate degrees in my spare time. I'm pretty sure I would struggle to even drive a tractor at this point in my life.

I suppose there's a certain degree of guilt for not becoming a farmer. The farm that my grandfather and father farmed has no heir, and my father's firstborn son did not follow in his footsteps. Although he'd never say it, I've got to believe there's some disappointment for Dad that I never even showed the slightest hint of being interested in taking my life in that direction. But it was just never for me.

I worked hard during my youth on the farm, but I didn't learn a whole lot. I have no idea what a good corn price is. Or cattle price. I grew up with several toy tractors and implements, but I'm not sure to this day that I could say what each of them does. I don't know how to fix anything and can't name 80% of tools. I hear people talking about bushels and acres and how good the crops are testing, and I just avoid eye contact because I simply have no clue. And I probably never will.

That doesn't mean I wasn't listening and watching all those days on the farm. I was. And I learned something very valuable from my father, the farmer.

Something I do know about farming is that it's high risk, and many of the risks are completely out of a farmer's control. I've seen machinery break down, livestock die, markets crash, and severe weather decimate the crops in the ground. A lot can go wrong, and usually does. Because of this, farmers have somewhat of a stereotype of never being happy and complaining a lot. That's all right - so do teachers. However, through all of these ups and downs, day in and day out, I saw an uncanny stoicism in my father that I will spend the rest of my life trying to emulate.

When I think about all the difficult days my father has seen, both on the farm and off it, I can barely remember a time when he completely lost his cool. I have seen my father, perhaps better than anyone else I know, take challenging times and shoulder them without shouting or complaining or falling into a "Woe is me!" bad mood that others must simply deal with. He seems to just understand that bad things happen, often through no fault and no logical reason. And he's had to have been hurt and upset and downright angry at times because of some of these tough times. All I've ever seen from him, though, is him getting back to work. He believes in hard work and God, and that has seen him through many trials and tribulations.

I am not a farmer, and I don't want to be one. But there is one farmer that I want to be like. Through the storms that I cannot control and the unexpected bad news that I cannot fathom, I hope I learn to be like my dad.