My Dad was a serious Little League baseball fan. He not only coached my brother through the ranks of youth baseball but he would also attend games in other towns. He loved the purity and simplicity of the game at that level.
He once went to an All-Star game in “the city” and sat way up in the bleachers of the stadium. While wearing a baseball cap from a nearby Virginia university.
He was immediately approached by a father eager for conversation. Now, my dad could talk to anyone… anyone at all. He was a salesman by trade and could inevitably find a common bond with a total stranger. He was as happy as a pig in poop as dad after dad sat down beside him wanting to “chat” about baseball.
It took him a minute to realize what was happening. All these fathers thought he was a college scout looking for talent. Did Daddy correct them? Oh no. He happily sat there and let them think he was a big-shot with the university and welcomed the attention. He never came out and said that he was or that he wasn’t but he wore that hat throughout the ENTIRE All-Star tournament and added dark sunglasses to his ensemble.
I thought about my Daddy when I was in Yorktown last week. All I wanted to do was practice shooting on these little twinkly lights before my senior girls showed up.
Poor guy. He actually paused playing and grinned for my camera. I wonder who he thought I worked for? He’d be disappointed to know that I’m not much more than a farm hand.
I am soooo far from an expert on how anything grows. Really. But I’m really good at plowing through our various agricultural handbooks and I also married a pretty good resource.
In addition to people finding my website when they search for terms like, ”drill sergeant gorham” (Whaaaaat???) and “what to do with your wife” (Dude, if you don’t know I probably shouldn’t tell you.) – I also get lots and lots of searches for things like…
How to grow corn?
What do cotton plants look like?
and my ALL TIME favorite from way back when I worked in a gourmet peanut shop…
What do peanut trees look like?
If no one learns anything else from my blog, I’d like just one person to learn that peanuts don’t grow on trees.
So – I have a point, really I do – if you are here because you wanted to know something about peanuts, soybeans, cotton, corn or agriculture in general (Sorry, I still can’t help you with your wife.) then ask away! I promise we don’t bite (No, that isn’t what your wife wants. I don’t think.).
That would make my whole day complete if someone who was genuinely curious about farming asked little ‘ol me for more photos or to explain something in more detail. I’d do my best to help!
No matter how fancy tractors get
No matter what Monsanto makes chemicals capable of
No matter how much irrigation we install on the farm…
Keith and I will still be sitting here doing the same thing his parents did, our grandparents did and our great-grandparents did. Waiting for a storm to blow through and praying that it doesn’t go around us.
