I’m a man who likes cold whole milk in a glass, and real butter on my toast. I like the smell of coffee brewing and bacon frying. I like homemade ice cream made with milk and heavy whipping cream.
I like beef… ranch raised, grain finished, and well marbled. I like pork chops and fried chicken too. I like garden raised veggies… especially homegrown tomatoes.
I like the smell of chile peppers, onions and hay growing on the farm. I like the smell of sweat, fresh worked soil, and a faint whiff of diesel exhaust from a tractor working in a field. I like the smell of feedlots, of dairies, fresh sweet feed and a cleansing summer rain.
I cherish the friendships I’ve made and being around like-minded people. I like folks who are honest, even if I don’t agree with them. Those who speak freely, without worrying who they might offend. I like the raw truth, folks who are thick skinned but with a heart that has no hate. I like it when you can call your neighbor for help and they drop everything and come running… asking nothing in return.
I like a firm handshake, eyes that smile, the tanned wrinkled skin of old gnarled hands that have seen years of hard work. I like dirty fingernails, and scars that tell a story of how they walked the hard road and weathered the storms of life. I admire folks who’ve seen adversity… who had no choice but to push back and survive.
I like watching kids play together… especially in the mud after a rain. I like children that hold and love on their animals. I love the simple purity in a child, their dirty faces, milk mustaches, a good belly laugh and to watch them in peaceful sleep.
I like the coolness of the early mornings and the red glow of a sunrise to start my day.
I like dirt roads that take me home in the evening, and dust as it lingers in the sunset. I like coming home dog tired and wore out, but with the satisfaction of doing honest work.
I often look up at the heavens on a clear night and wonder if God approves of who I am… and what I’ve done.
I like the simple life even though we live in a complicated world.
I could have done a hundred other things and lived in other places and made a lot more money.
But a farmer is who I am and all I’ve ever wanted to be.
