Such A Different Life

I was recently visiting with some sorority sisters chatting away at what was going on in our lives.
It seemed very normal and then one of them said it,
"such a different life!"

I had started to ramble about our life, which includes the farm and all the lingo that comes with it.
Sometimes I forget that not everyone knows what farm life entails and the difference
that exists between city life and country life, until they say something.

I used to live in the city, so I get it.
But most people who live in the city have never lived in the country, so they don't get it.

They don't understand that my high heels never last as long because they get ruined
by the gravel, the mud and the dust.

They don't understand that having medicine and syringes in your house is totally normal.
I came home one day and the farmer told me a story about a cow that had some trouble delivering her calves and she had to be given some medicine.
"You'll just have to deal with this syringe being in your drying rack," he said.
(I like a clean kitchen.)
"Honey, I don't care.....glad the cow and calf are doing well."

City folk don't understand the farm laundry situation.

It's constant and never ending.

It smells....like manure and dust and hard work.

And the strangest things can be found in pockets, in the washer and on top of the dryer--change, knives, ear plugs, and castrating bands.  But when I find money, it's mine!

Folks that live in the city don't come home to a trailer full of cows in their driveway.

And understand where they are going (to the market before sunrise) and where they will end up (on my plate).

Most city folk don't get to eat the food they planted, nourished, watched grow and picked themselves. Unless they have a garden, which I commend them for, they just don't get to eat sweet corn standing in the middle of a field.

City folk don't understand that life and death can happen in the same place 

you live and work on, the farm.

I was taught that heaven is under out feet as well as over our heads.  

And when you lose someone or something on the farm, "it's just part of it" and you must move on.  

Farmers and their families aren't really that different than city folk.

But in the grand scheme of things, we do lead such different lives.

I try to explain it the best way possible, explaining my lingo, the laundry, calving, 

the long hours, dirty floors, life, death and more.

However, this different life is one that I would never want to change, for better or worse, 

because I get to stand on heaven and below heaven with my loved ones every day.