The Farming Curse

Grandpa's Farm: Life in the Country


The Farming Curse

       Well, here we are back at the farm for another exciting week. We've just been sitting here listening to the hummingbirds dive bombing the cat. If we went out there they'd dive bomb us, too. They just got in from wherever they disappear to in the winter. Snow birds! Oh, well anything for a little excitement. Better get the sugar water out or they'll try to get into the house to get it.

       I was just asked a very important question concerning the natural instincts of mankind as it is related to farming. The question was: "Why do you suppose that little boys always want to play in the dirt?"
       I think this goes back to when God created the earth and made a man out of dirt. When he did that he instilled into little boys the natural tendency to mess around with the stuff they were created from. (I know it says dust in the Bible but dust is just rebellious dirt that has made itself so small that it blows away when the wind blows).
       Little boys have been excited about dirt since time began. Adam was placed in God's Garden to take care of it so I would guess that God decided that since Adam was dirt to start with that he ought to be good at taking care of dirt. God created a farmer.
       Now in God's Garden I would guess that Adam was having such a good time with dirt that God saw what a dirty mess he was. So God created Eve to help get Adam cleaned up. God probably didn't want to do that job himself so he delegated the task to Eve. Anyway, Eve woke Adam up, complained about what a mess he was and then she went off and tried to put his pet snake away while he cleaned up. Bad move! The snake had his own game to play and the end result was that the snake talked her into stealing forbidden fruit which she then shared with Adam. God placed a curse on Adam and made him be a farmer his whole life. Some men still are cursed in such a way, but all little boys still like to play in the dirt from Adam's bad example that turned into a hereditary trait. There is probably a dirt gene in the pool and some boys just never get away from it. You might say they have dirty genes (and definitely that they have dirty jeans, too).
       I would guess that Adam became a pretty good farmer because he had a son, Cain, that was also a farmer. Cain was so excited about being a farmer that he thought God would appreciate his farming. He was wrong. The sacrifice to cover sin was an animal sacrifice not a potato sacrifice. Cain just couldn't believe that God wanted blood not water and you can't get blood from a turnip.
       So, in conclusion, don't count your chickens before they hatch and don't count your potatoes before you dig them up because there are no bigger gamblers than farmers. If you weren't raised on a farm just stay in the city and enjoy your crowded conditions, traffic jams, concrete yards, nasty neighbors and stale air.

Come to think of it - who really has the curse?

Sorry to get you all excited that something might have happened out here in the country other than dive bombing hummingbirds. Just stay home and rest.