Northern Farmer

I got a call today from the post office, the last one since last summer when some chicks arrived. There was seven 50 pound bags of Goliath seed corn waiting there for me. So being the fairly miserable day that it was I wasn’t all to busy. No wrecks or anything like that lately in the cowherd, so I could just mosey on over to town and pick the corn up. That’s the first time corn was ever delivered by the post office for me, and the post master who has been there somewhere since the Garden of Eden days says he’d never seen a delivery like that in his post office ever. Hmm. Well, I always was a different sort of a feller so I figured I’d might as well be proud setting new trends in the area. Now just so we get us some corn this year!

We’re having what’s called a slow melt here. Not muddy yet, but the snow is disappearing slowly. The cows are still hanging in there on their weight watchers farm diet, but the count down is on and green grass should be under two months from now, so just hang in there girls! We might make the toughest year in decades here! A terrible long one for sure. But the end is in sight, but so is the end of the feed, she’s gonna be close. But the Lord is seeing us through it all and I ain’t complaining, in fact I’m really looking forward to this year coming up. Bought me a couple of fun things the other day at the Mills Fleet store, that’s one of them good stores where if they ain’t got it, you don’t need it), bought some dipper gourds and bird house gourds, the seeds I mean.You know, it amazed me how many heirloom and open pollinated seed that store carried. Hmm, must be a demand for the real thing. So that’s a good sign for an old dirt farmer like me. The old saying around here is to have the spuds and onion sets in on Good Friday, ha! Who ever came up with that saying ain’t from Minnesota, or else if he or she was they were probably sooner or later taken out behind the village and stoned by the masses. There’s snow on the ground yet and the ground is frozen solid a few feet down to boot! No, if’n I’m gonna be planting them crops by the signs, which I like to do, it’ll be some April signs, and there’s even gotta be a little luck getting those early crops in then! Durn near feel like packing up and moving to Arkansas or some other exotic spot.

But we are here and that’s that for that! Between family, farming and church there’s a full schedule, but a better life I can’t imagine, (unless we were in Arkansas, cough). Oh, I just got a call today from a co-op and they said to order fertilizer “NOW” because the price was going to “shoot” up again this week. You know it’s really making me wonder as I sit here on the farm, take my cap off and scratch the remaining hair on this old head. I will say that through the years as I was a younger man I seen allot of things go wrong with the economy, was laid off many times back in those years. But of coarse when you have roots on a farm a layoff is the greatest thing since, well its great! I never once shook in my boots wondering where I’d find money, or how we’d survive. Heck this could be a two year vacation I used to figure! Lord, I loved being laid off back then, trapping, hunting, help out on the farm and just generally have a good time. Ah, what a life! But back to the economy nowadays. I can say without any doubt in my mind that I’ve never, ever seen things lining up the way they are lining up now. Years ago we had cheap energy, plus a good supply of it. Nowadays that’s just a long lost dream never to be seen again. Years ago there’d be a recession and a person always knew that it’d work its way back out of it in a bit, just give it time. But I tell you, all that was, ain’t! Nope, there’s absolutely nothing backing up this economy and whatever comes with it. There’s no more abundant resources just waiting for the economy to pick up again. And daily the news comes in about things going down the tubes, but daily we’re told its never been better by the talking heads.

Christianity has all but left this country, now there’s feel good churches that if they are even half way serious about the Lord figure that if they institute some program that they’ll be OK. But I tell you, there is nothing that’ll ever replace God Himself. And that’s what’s needed out here, not programs from some city slicks who are more lost in this world than the average destitute person in the back alleys of a major city. We need young folks and old folks that ain’t afraid to forsake allot and get out and declare the glorious gospel to the people out here again! We need folks like that that aren’t afraid to go visit farm to farm, town to town and straighten this countryside out again. There, I just wrote it and it sounds stupid to many, OK, I’ll agree with anyone that figures it sounds stupid. Maybe a church program would be more “suburban”, more sophisticated for our sophisticated way of thinking. But remember, our sophisticated way of thinking might have appeared to have made some sense when there was cheap energy, cheap everything and a person could live like the most pagan folks of old and rather enjoy it. But guess what, those days are coming to a close very, very fast! As I said, I have never seen all these things coming into play like they are, and so fast!

Daily I’m scrambling trying to fine tune around here, because its changing daily and I hope I can stay comfortably ahead of the crashing of it all. There’ll be a rough road ahead, but us drought farmers are one step ahead of many, we’re used to it! Glory, the Lord trains us in ahead of time! There is not a nickels worth of debt, so that’s a plus. A big plus. You know, I just heard about a person that I know that went out and borrowed big on some vacation equipment, after just getting a job a while back or should I say changing jobs. A word of warning here, but folks don’t listen anyhow, is that you never borrow when you first get a job and are on the bottom of the seniority list as a depression is coming on. But folks are lemmings and they feel they deserve it! Well, they’ll get it alright, mark my word! I almost want to cry sometimes, can’t people see, are they blind to all the storm clouds coming over them darkening everything? What makes people think that its going to keep on going like the last fifty years? She’s on her way down and very few see it or care they’re so blinded by their personal lusts. Even Christian folks, or should I say especially Christian folks, they’re going to be hit hard as they believed in their new form of religion. The religion that says “they deserve it”, just like the advertising on TV always says. Or “God wills” this prosperity for us. I tell you, no He don’t! Yes He wishes you and your family to prosper, but not like a pagan! Oh I get so disgusted. I know what the prophet Jeremiah must have felt like. You see it all going down, but so many are totally blind to it! Sad.

All I can say is, tend to you families business, work hard, love your family. Do things for yourselves, raise your own stuff as much as possible, stay away from any debt. Sell that fancy vehicle and downsize to a rusty but trusty not so thirsty vehicle. Because within ten years we’d better be used to living in a third world status nation. She’s gonna go down, hard. Get into that family Bible, carry a pocket Bible and read them! The Lord said that in these days we should not fear because He will take care of His own. Believe that!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 7:12 pm and is filed under Northern Farmer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.