Nine years ago, love looked like counting down the minutes at work on Friday, then breaking the speed limit to get to the ranch. My stomach full of butterflies—all to spend the weekend with my boyfriend in the calving barn. We worked side by side, our love growing over manure, afterbirth, and newborn calves. My... Continue Reading →
The Long Days of Harvest
I’m tired. And I know the crew is too. I hate how easily I snap at the kids at this point of harvest.In the brief moments when Rich is home, all three kids climb all over him, clambering for his attention. I usually stand in the background, watching. Partly because I love seeing how much... Continue Reading →
Farmer’s Wife
When I married a farmer, I didn’t realize one of my biggest roles would be feeding people. Years ago, Rich occasionally showed up at the house before noon, asking, “Could you make the guys lunch?” Now, I anticipate before he even asks. There are certain seasons when he will need me to make lunch (or... Continue Reading →
Marrying a Farmer Isn’t What I Expected
Recently, a fellow farm wife asked me, “Was marrying a farmer what you expected?” I thought back to the summer before my farmer and I were married. In the evening after work, I would drive out to the farm, park my car, and hop into the buddy seat of the combine. Butterflies popped up in... Continue Reading →
Love Letters In My Backyard
It was a gray spring day; the buds on the trees were just starting to bloom. I walked across the kitchen floor, and my bare feet slid across the carpet. Looking out the window, the reflection from the windows on the old house nearby caught my attention. The house was the original home on our... Continue Reading →
Unrealized Dreams
One of my dreams was to live in a city. I don’t know why I was fixated on a life in the city. Maybe it was because of the movies I watched growing up. Or maybe it was the idea of something so different from the small town I grew up in. Now here on... Continue Reading →
A Few Good Things
As a kid, I remember thinking of Christmas as a mile-marker. I would look back over how much had changed from one year to the next. In high school, I’m sure I wondered if the next Christmas I would have a boyfriend. (Spoiler alert: I did not.) Or the year I went from not being... Continue Reading →
Embracing the Light
The change is so subtle, it feels like it happened overnight. And maybe it did. Slowly, the morning light breaks through the prairie skies sooner, and the light lingers well into the 5 o’clock hour. Wasn’t it just yesterday it was pitch black by five? During the winter months, the light would vanish, enveloping our... Continue Reading →
The Same Season Never Comes Back
“Mom? Dad? Come get me!” Rhett calls from his bedroom. I reluctantly open his door, easing myself into his room (and this conversation). “Hey buddy, Dad went to the field already. He had to leave really early.” He falls back onto his pillow and yells out, “He forgot to take me with him!” Rich’s work... Continue Reading →
Some Days I Feel Like a Terrible Mother, But He Loves Me Anyway
I start putting a load of laundry in the washing machine when I hear the kids begin to argue in another room, no doubt over one of the many tractors that line the halls. “No, you need a time out! You go to your room!” my son yells. As soon as I hear it, a... Continue Reading →
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