Still Farming!

Hi,

I wish I could write down every moment of this time I spend here. But I’ve been far to busy for that. The work is hard and time consuming, for me at least, although it’s been very rewarding. It’s amazing the sense of accomplishment I have when I finally sit down in the evening totally exhausted and cold but pretty proud at the amount of work I’ve done completely on my own.

In a lot of ways it seems like I just got here – I’m still getting the hang of this type of work, getting to know the animals, growing familiar with the landscape of the farm, and it’s hard to realize that my stay here is soon coming to an end. I’m going to miss this farm so much, and my Uncle Alan and my Aunt Judith. They’ve been so good to me. My uncle is a veritable gold mine of information about farming and he’s been so patient with me, explaining the workings of the farm, answering my questions, giving me helpful instructions, and not flipping out when I make dumb mistakes. (And trust me I’ve made them.)

I know this place has got to be even better in the summer. Apparently there’s a lot more work to do in the summer, but i think it could be done easier and faster in good weather. It’s amazing how drastically snow alters the landscape. For a city boy like me whose used to being indoors most of the time that’s taken some getting used to. Every time we get more snow the landscape changes – landmarks, the way things sound. I’ve dealt with that at home before on a smaller scale, but at home at least our sidewalks and driveway are always cleared. Here I’ve put in so many hours just shoveling paths. And on the few warmer days we’ve enjoyed here everything was slushy in the day and icy at night. It’s rough for the inexperienced city boy like me.

The boy next door has been a great help. He’s really good at what he does but then he’s lived on a farm all his life. I'm greatful to him for coming over. He’s home-schooled so he said he can adjust his schedule to help. He’s really funny: he’s always full of questions, mostly about how I do different things, and he talks to me the whole time we work. He’s a much nicer kid than I was at twelve. I hope we can still keep in touch once I go home.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say for now. I’m having fun and learning lots. This is very different from my ordinary life I’m used to and I’m really enjoying it. (All except the cows. They make me nervous and I make them nervous.) :)

Goodnight,
Jason