We got dirt to break,
We got a note to pay
Gonna plow, plow to the end of the row
Wake up in the morning and plow to the end of the row
Adrienne Young, "Plow to the End of the Row"
With the sunshine and warm temps this weekend, I finally got the field plowed (or, rather, disked) again. I was trying to till it with my tiny little Craftsman rototiller, when John (my brother-in-law) came to my rescue and brought over his tractor. Thank goodness for family! It wasn't long before Mr. Seibel (the neighbor who farms our field crops) was out with his tractor disking up the fields to plant corn. I wish I would have had my camera with me, because what a picture that would have been - me with my tiny little tiller, John on his bigger, but old and beat-up Ford 660, and Mr. Seibel on his huge International Harvester (twice the size of the Ford), all within a hundred feet of each other. Meanwhile, my mom was also mowing the lawn, using the lawn "tractor" (smaller than the Ford, but bigger than the tiller). All we needed was one of those gigantic mid-western diskers to make the varying-scales-of-farming picture complete.
Can't say the farm was too "peaceful" or "serene" with all of those tractors going. Lots of fossil fuels being burned, too, I'm afraid. I have romantic notions of using a horse to plow up the fields some day, but if that ever happens, it won't be in the near future. Got to at least get a barn built first.
I got rocks in my shoes, dirt in my eyes. Working like a dog until the day I die. You got to plow, plow to the end of the row.
I spent most of yesterday and this morning raking and planting, tilling only when necessary. That was much more peaceful, but just as hard on my back. I keep waiting for my body to adjust to the hard work, hoping that one morning I might not wake up with "a aching in my back and a tremblin' in my knees," but I have a feeling that might just be part of springtime for me for awhile. 'Cause I "gotta plow, plow to the end of the row."
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