Lessons Learned on the Farm

As a child, I had the benefit of spending long weekends and summer days on my great grandparents' farm. Mom and Pop were two wonderful people who believed that kids needed a good dose of love accompanied by freedom to learn from their mistakes. They lived in a little white farm house that they built with the help of their sons on a piece of Texas farm land surrounded by rolling hills that were dotted with scrub brush and prickly pear. Below are some lessons and skills I learned on the farm. 

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• Be aware of your surroundings- I remember my dad and I climbing up "Pop's Hill" when I was five. Every couple of feet was some type of thorny plant or sharp rock. He told me to watch the ground in front of me, to know what was ahead. Maybe we would all be better off if we looked up from our phones a bit more. 

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• Maintain balance- Mom and Pop had a cattle guard on the road that opened up to their front yard. A cattle guard, for those who aren't aware, is a series of parallel metal bars with gaps between them large enough to prevent cattle from crossing, but small enough to allow vehicles to go over. As a little girl, I learned to step carefully on each bar, being sure not to fall in a gap. Balance, both with our lives and our bodies, is a very important skill. 

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Face Fears Together- On two or three occasions Mom and Pop's farm was pummeled with hail stones. As a small girl I remember my parents gathering me up to carry me to the storm cellar. We waited what seemed like all night for the storm to pass. We sat, the whole family, me, Mom, Pop, and my parents in the darkness of the storm cellar, listening to the hail stones hit the roof. Instead of fear in that moment, I felt love and warmth of family. We all have difficult times to face, facing them with those you love can make all the difference. 

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There were so many other things I learned on those days from how to avoid wasps,what to do if you see a rattle snake, how to play creatively with my great grandmother's empty sewing spools and how to swing on a swing-set made of old tractor seats and scrap metal. It was a wonderful part of my childhood. Some things just can't be taught through digital media. Some lessons can only really be learned by doing and experiencing. This is what Mom and Pop's Farm was to me.