New Year's Day - what is a holiday on the farm?

I was in church this morning listening to Chris Newkirk and my mind was listening and running at the same time as he reminded me to "labor in the love of the Lord" and of course that meant thinking about growing up in the Osage.

At one time in my life I thought I would never want to live in a small town (that was when I was growing up in a small town and was ready to get out into the big world).  I use to tell mom that I was never going to drive on a country gravel road or chop ice for the cows or pull a calf in winter.  But now and especially today I was thinking about how wonderful it was in the Osage.

 In the city everyone is looking forward to the ball games and a long weekend and watching movies that were DVRed and basically laying around the house for a few days before going back to the grind.  But on the farm a holiday was something very special and full of anticipation but yet there were responsibilities which could not be ignored.

But here is how I remember the Osage holidays:

• No DVR and no drawers full of movies but there was anticipation of what was coming on TV at 8 P.M..  Why 8 P.M., because that is when the movies started if there was one.  And there was NO channel guide and we did not watch enough TV to know much about what was coming so whatever came on was what we watched.  On holidays we typically played 10 point pitch in the evenings and a lot of times it was with friends or family.
• The cows had to be fed everyday just like people meaning there was never a day off and besides who even thought about a day off with nothing to do?  Everyone had to do some work on those holidays and especially Ernie Eaton and family and of course the Kelley's who both had dairy cattle that had to be milked twice a day.  
• Feeding the cattle was one of those things that seemed like a lot of work but looking back I really enjoyed getting those bales of hay out of the barn and watching the cows come as we delivered the goodies.  The Bermuda grass hay was always pretty easy but the Sudan grass hay would be squished down and full of heat no matter how cold it got.  The alfalfa was generally pretty good shape and full of green leafy roughage that the cows seemed to love.  As you drove in the gate the cows would be either standing there waiting or coming at you all at once.  They were happy to see you and luckily they did not know how powerful they could be as they pushed against you.
• Another side note to getting hay out of the barn was watching the mice, rats and opossums who were hiding.  This may sound crude but it became a game of either using a pitch fork or a 22 rifle and seeing who would be most successful.  Do I need to go into detail?
• One of the least favorite things for me which I would gladly do today is chopping ice for the cows to get water.  Thinking back on that activity the fun thing was getting those big chunks of ice out and then putting them on top of the pond ice and treat it like a hockey puck.  It was a contest to see who could shove it the farthest and many times we took sticks and just played hockey.  There was one time when things went bad and that was when I hit Larry in the mouth with my hockey stick and the pond ice started cracking at the same time.  I thought we were going in and Larry was bleeding and it was just not a pretty site.

What was a holiday on the farm?  A day where you got up and fed the cows, chickens and the dogs and took off a little time for a special meal and perhaps a Dallas Cowboys football game and if you were lucky some company (typically relatives or the Shumates which might as well have been kin) which kept Dad from thinking up something to do.

Living in a small town never looked so good as it does today.  I love the Osage and I hope you do too.

What do you learn in the Osage?

• Responsibilities are a good thing and they should be cherished
• Holidays are what YOU decide to make them, focus on what is right with the world
• Farm life is never boring and in fact it makes you appreciate the small stuff
• Give your kids responsibilities and hold them accountable, it will last THEM a lifetime

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com