Simpler Times

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've blogged.  The guys have just been busy haying--swathing, baling and hauling bales.  R cut for a couple of other people and M baled for a neighbor.  R finally got sick of the swather and went to hauling bales, but I swear M would make bales forever if he could.  I've been telling him that he's not using his time wisely, doing someone else's work when he has so much of his own to do.  He said "that's what got us here", and he's right, but it may be time to concentrate on our own stuff.  He just can't seem to pass up a money-making opportunity.

That brings me to the subject of my post--Simpler Times.  I've been feeling bad for my boys lately (actually for awhile).  Times have changed so much since M and I started out.  We were still farming and ranching but on a much smaller scale.  We had to contend with the same challenges like hail storms and drought and fire, but the costs were not as great and there was less government involvement.  It just seems that now nothing is simple, and we never have enough time.

I think back to when we were first married and M and C played on a softball team with games two nights a week and tournaments in various towns on the weekends.  The relatives used to come over for Sunday dinners and horseshoes.  Now, I can count the days M has taken off for fun in the past four months on one hand--two!  And still we can't get done everything we want to or need to.

The boys seem to have inherited their dad's work gene.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, but they are young and have young families, and they miss out on so much "life" when all they do is work.  We were afraid J's baby wouldn't know him for the first month of her life because she was born during seeding (what were they thinking?).  R's girlfriend doesn't like to be alone, and R, who used to be so social, hasn't been out on a weekend in ages.  It makes me scared and sad for her.  I've been there and done that, and I want more for them.  I remember saying I didn't get married so I could spend all my time alone.  I wasn't alone once I had children, but then I felt like a single parent.  I also remember M telling me what I call the "big lie".  That farming is so great because you can take off when you want.  Except during calving, seeding, spraying, haying, harvest or fall cattle work.  That leaves January and February.  Even he admitted today when he was fearing another hail storm and the neighbor had bales on fire from lightning that we have a lot of bonuses, but we really have to work for them.  Hopefully, our boys won't have to struggle financially like we did at times, and they don't have to live in old trailer houses and run old equipment, but looking back, those times weren't all that bad, actually not bad at all. 

I wonder if it's a sign of old age that I'm feeling nostalgic.  M is feeling his age and desperate for some time off so we're leaving for week.........and no, it's not a good time to be gone.