Moving Pipe and Pulling Weeds
Went up to one of our church welfare farms early yesterday as part of a service opportunity and moved PVC irrigation pipes out of the fields. Our job was to pull the 10-inch diameter (or so) 35-40 ft pipes out of the field and put them on a trailer. There were 25-30 from our area who went up and arrived in Greeley (about an hour away) at 7am. It was a perfect morning, though, since it was overcast and 65 degrees. Couldn't have asked for better. The mosquitoes were all out in force, but I don't think they were actually biting. Though I've been up to the farm before (the LDS church actually has three such farms in the region that I'm aware of), this is the first time I've moved pipes, which really was relatively easy work, if not dirty and wet. We were done in only an hour.
In two weeks, we'll have the annual "bring-your-kids-and-pull-weeds" event at one of the church farms, which we've managed to be camping for during the last couple years (see previous post). However, my girls are actually excited about getting up at 5:30am to go pull weeds. They actually request to do it and look forward to it. How come that never happens at home? Of course, it's not really that intense. We walk the rows of corn or beans or whatever and pull out stuff that doesn't belong. Most of the really nasty stuff is plowed under pretty good, and we normally just wind up pulling sunflowers and crops that don't belong in that field. There were a couple of years after I first moved here that were much more serious work, where the weather was dang hot and we had tons of weeds to pull. Hopefully no more of that, though, at least if I have the kids in tow.
It's a great opportunity to give back something and to serve in some small way. If you've never taken the chance to go when such an opportunity pops up, you should. Teaches not only our kids, but us too! I believe it is important to find ways to be involved and provide service regularly. It's not really for those who receive it, but to keep ourselves in check and to give us a measure of humility, no matter what our circumstances.
Moving pipes also helps me think that perhaps I could be a farmer. It's a long way from being a keyboard-plunking IT guy who grew up in suburban USA, but there's a part of me that would love to work the land in some way. Of course, I'd have to be independently wealthy before I could ever have the courage to do such a thing. Let's be rational, after all! :-) My aunt and uncle actually made that jump from corporate life to ranch life a few years ago, and I've admired them for doing so. Sometimes I wonder whether the work I do now is as meaningful, but I'll save that for another post.
I'll report more on the weeding (and the kids' whining about it) in a couple weeks.
In two weeks, we'll have the annual "bring-your-kids-and-pull-weeds" event at one of the church farms, which we've managed to be camping for during the last couple years (see previous post). However, my girls are actually excited about getting up at 5:30am to go pull weeds. They actually request to do it and look forward to it. How come that never happens at home? Of course, it's not really that intense. We walk the rows of corn or beans or whatever and pull out stuff that doesn't belong. Most of the really nasty stuff is plowed under pretty good, and we normally just wind up pulling sunflowers and crops that don't belong in that field. There were a couple of years after I first moved here that were much more serious work, where the weather was dang hot and we had tons of weeds to pull. Hopefully no more of that, though, at least if I have the kids in tow.
It's a great opportunity to give back something and to serve in some small way. If you've never taken the chance to go when such an opportunity pops up, you should. Teaches not only our kids, but us too! I believe it is important to find ways to be involved and provide service regularly. It's not really for those who receive it, but to keep ourselves in check and to give us a measure of humility, no matter what our circumstances.
Moving pipes also helps me think that perhaps I could be a farmer. It's a long way from being a keyboard-plunking IT guy who grew up in suburban USA, but there's a part of me that would love to work the land in some way. Of course, I'd have to be independently wealthy before I could ever have the courage to do such a thing. Let's be rational, after all! :-) My aunt and uncle actually made that jump from corporate life to ranch life a few years ago, and I've admired them for doing so. Sometimes I wonder whether the work I do now is as meaningful, but I'll save that for another post.
I'll report more on the weeding (and the kids' whining about it) in a couple weeks.
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