Coons, Cows, Corn & a Good Cry: Tales from a Farmer's Wife

"We caught the cat," 

he said in a relaxed voice while he sipped on his coffee in the early morning hours.

"What did you say?" as I turned off my blow dryer.

"We caught the cat instead of the coon."

"What!??!!"  

"Don't worry," he said, "he is just chillin' in the cage watchin' me eat my breakfast."

I had no words but to run to the window and see it for myself.  When I did and walked back to the bathroom to finish my hair for the day, he laughed at me.  Like he usually does.  

We have been having raccoon issues so we decided to take action and set some traps, but our other friendly visitors got trapped instead.  This is pretty typical, well the unfriendly creature visits to your porch, when you live in the country.  And that early morning conversation?  Pretty typical with my farmer.....random, strange, he--calm and relaxed and 

me--running around and stressed.  

Speaking of the porch, I come home to some lovely things on my porch (like my shopping packages that I hide from my farmer) and some not so lovely things.

My farmer works with and cares for our cows every day.  And when he gets home, sometimes he has to strip on the porch.  So as a farmer's wife, sometimes you come home to clothes and boots covered in cow manure.

And guess what?  I am always okay with this.  First, he stripped outside and not on my somewhat clean floor that is never really clean (farm life fact).  I told you in "My Story" that I love the smell of cow manure.  It reminds me of childhood and hard work.  

As a farm wife, you have to learn that your life and your parties may be interrupted by something on the farm. Sometimes your cattle get out in the middle of your wedding reception that you are hosting on the farm, and all the "boys" hop in their trucks to wrangle them up.

Farm Wife Fact:  Learn and remember, the animals come before the party.  

My farmer, like most, love their corn.  They love to plant it, watch it grow, see it turn from bright green to that beautiful fall, golden brown. 

My farmer loves it so much that he decided he should probably go and check on it in the middle of that same wedding reception and in that new suit I bought him.  But we all know what he was really doing in there....what all boys at that party did.  

Dad used to say, "If you can't piss in your own backyard, your neighbors are too close."  Apparently, the neighbors or guests of the party that night were a little too close so my farmer had to go to the corn field where I am sure he felt more at home anyway.  

As a farm wife there are so many things that you have to learn, and learn quickly.  Including that your life revolves around the weather.  I always knew this as a farmer's daughter and was reminded during the times when I didn't see my dad for a week or so because of planting or harvest, or when he didn't see me off to two of my proms because he was in the field.  

Brett and I were together during the 2012 drought, the historic drought.  It was rough, really rough for a lot of people.  We lost crops and had to liquidate some of our grass-fed cattle herd.  One night we were laying there and I heard thunder.  I shot up in bed, grabbed the snoring, exhausted guy beside me and whisper-yelled (you know what I mean), "BRETT, I hear thunder!  It's going to rain!"

"Sssshhhh......", he said.  We sat there like anxious, little kids waiting to open our birthday gifts.  The next thunder roll boomed and shook the windows.  We jumped from bed and ran to the kitchen window.  It started sprinkling which was the most we had seen in months.

Me, "should we go outside and do a rain dance?!?!"
Brett, "no, just let it be.  Let's not get in the way of letting it hit the ground."

We headed back to bed and then it stopped.  It stopped raining that night and for a long time after that.

And then I cried, I cried a lot that year because of the drought and the stress.  But as a farmer's wife, I know that "that's just part of it".  The crazy weather and the coons, the cows, the farmers' love for his corn crop and that good cry every so often.  That good cry knowing that you just need to let it out because you have learned "that's just part of it" and there will be days ahead with blue skies and beautiful crops.