As usual, there hasn’t been much happening here. We’ve been sitting here watching the dog sleep. Sometimes I try to liven up things a little bit by scratching my ear or taking off my shoe. I like it laid back like this out here in the country.
Like the other day. I was going to cut some hay. Before I could do that, though, I had to get the oil changed in the tractor. Before I could do that I had to change irrigation water in the lower field and before that I had to fix the flat tire on the four-wheeler. Then I needed to grease the old mower/conditioner and add some hydraulic fluid so it could leak some more out on the ground. This kind of sequence of events could easily disrupt the normal, easygoing, laid back routine of country living if it was allowed to but since nothing exciting ever happens out here in the country we just take it in stride. It will all get done in good time. There are a limited number of hours in the day though, and when most of that limited number is spent working in town the number of limited hours is even more limited. At least the “before that” activities keep it from getting more boring.
Have you ever noticed that in order to be bored you have to have the time to think about it? If you are busy (or, should I say - actively engaged?) you can’t be bored because you don’t have time to think about it. I am so rarely bored that if I did happen to have an attack of boredom I wouldn’t recognize it.
“Boy, I feel funny. There just isn’t anything to do around here. Wonder what the problem is?”
My wife would say, “Hey, if you don’t have anything to do I have a few things you could work on.”
Out would come a big yellow pad with three columns of “honey – do” items listed on it.
Did you realize that the cure for all boredom is a list? If you go to a female doctor and tell her you’re depressed because life is so boring, she’ll just hand you a prescription on a yellow pad with three columns of work items on it and say “Here, take two of these, three times a day for two weeks and you’ll be cured.”
I’ll just say, “I can see you’ve been talking to my wife. Sorry – the horses just got out, I have to change the irrigation water, the tractor needs the oil changed, the 4 wheeler has a flat tire and I have to cut hay – I am cured already!”
I don’t think the real problem is being bored. Here at Grandpa’s Farm there is always something that needs to be done. The problem is that for certain things I’m just not “in the mood” to do them. I love to cut and bale hay. There is a wonderful silence in the middle of the tractor roaring and the machinery clattering. I think that it has to do with rhythms of movement. There is just a correct and soothing rhythm of movement when a tractor is running and a baler is pounding that allows your worries and cares to ooze away so that when you are done you just want to sit and rest.
Since there is no soothing rhythm of movement to picking up baled hay it is hard to get “in the mood” to pick it up.
God knows that! It seems like every time I get the hay baled He whomps up a big thunderstorm to get me “in the mood” to pick up hay.
It works, too. Many times I have just made it in the barn door with the last load just as it starts to rain. Then there is a big clap of thunder and a voice comes out of the clouds and says, “I knew you could do it with just a little encouragement!” What I really dislike is the amused chuckling that goes on afterward. And I intend to tell him so, too!
So, to keep a short story short, I’m sorry I got your hopes up that something exciting might be happening out here in the country. If you like quiet, laid back days, same old routine day in and day out, and a slow pace of living I’d recommend you plan to move out to a nice little farm and get started. That’s why I live here. I like the peace and quiet and every day the same out here in Ho Hum County. Keeps the blood pressure low.
Just be sure to get an old tractor and old machinery, an old 4 wheeler, old horses, dogs, cats and chickens, and a big hay field so you don’t get too bored (besides that, the mechanic, vet, horse shoer, tire store and parts houses all need to make a living, too). For a small fee I would consider working as a consultant. I seem to have a knack for locating those kinds of items and I would appreciate your help in supporting the above mentioned businesses.
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