Growing Up a Farm Kid

I miss Spokane. I miss Walmart being a seven minute drive away, I miss having an array of coffee shop choices, all within 5 minutes of my house, I miss having a paved driveway to skateboard in, but let me tell you. It is SO good to be back on the farm. 

I missed the cows. I missed the smell of the cows. I missed having miles and miles and miles, of what feels like my very own road, because the only people that drive it, are lost tourists, and farmers. I even missed the farm work. 

I grew up so blessed. I drove the tractor for my dad in the winters, while he fed cows, or I got in my ab workout and pushed the hay off the tractor, myself. I spent my summers, rolling over hay bales so my dad could drive by with the trailer and throw them on. I lugged aluminum pipe all over a hillside, played in the mud with my little brother, had insane make-believe adventures in our treehouse. We rode our bikes all over, going at least 7-14 miles a day. We had tons of yard space to run and laugh with our dogs, and we could yell camp songs as loud as we wanted and only the older couple whose house was next to our field, could hear us. 

I didn’t know it at the moment, but I was living some of my favorite years of my life, so far. I grew up, working hard, understanding responsibility, and the value of a life. I watched animals give birth, and I watched animals pass away, I raced my best friend on miles of green pasture, and I sat on the back of my pony while he grazed in our yard (while wearing an insanely stylish home-made cape) I was at branding parties, learned to give my very own lambs, vaccines. Mixing milk formula and feeding bummers, two to three times a day. Collecting eggs, shooting squirrels like it was a chore, throwing rocks into a trailer, and getting dirty.

 I grew up, learning to face my fears. This one time, I was petting our bottle calf, blue boy, and he knocked me down and started playing (when a cow plays, especially a completely tame steer, it's NOT fun) and then his scaredy cat girlfriend almost kicked me in the head and from that day forward, I was terrified to even be in the same field as cows (even on a tractor). Yet, my dad still had me walking out through the pastures with him. Throwing hay off the tractor, and bottle feeding the babies. There was no room for my fear. Scared to drive the tractor? That's ok, we started in a low gear. Scared to drive the 4-wheeler? That's ok, take it slow. My dad taught me that I was capable of anything. My mom put bandaids on my cuts, and my little brother made me laugh until I felt better. 

It's just now occurring to me how much I really did, what living on a farm really did for me. I developed skills at age 9, that a ton of kids will never have (like driving a stick shift). It wasn't glamorous, I’d hop in the truck with a mix of mud and cow poop on my face, but I loved it. My parents used to say “it builds character” and I would roll my eyes and probably say something mean, but looking back, it really did. Get dirty? Take a shower. Physically hard? It will feel rewarding when you're done. Scared? That's ok, take it slow. Don't know how? It's easy to ask. 

My little brother and I would laugh so hard, we always made our work fun, and I think maybe that's part of the reason we are so close. My parents really gave us a magical and amazing childhood by planting us on a farm. I had no idea how much we would grow, how much we would learn, and what a bright summer those memories would be. 

Gosh, it's insane to me. I have friends that I went to school with, that lived in town, and have no idea what it was like to grow up on a farm. It's not just living in a rural community, it's being a part of what makes the community rural. I didn't know it. I a little bit hated it at the time, but looking back now. It feels so good to know that I grew up a farm kid. I grew up on KWVR country, and that was all I needed for relaxing.  

So, to all the parents, and all the kids that are thinking of joining 4-H or FFA, I say go for it. Please. Because even if you never travel across the country, or across the world on some grand leadership trip, you learned about taking care of an animal, even if it's just a small taste of what it's really like. It will change your life for the better, every hard second of getting it halter broke. Every time it steps on your foot while you wear flip flops, every time you have to chase it around your yard because it got away from you, it's worth it, and someday you will laugh at all the memories, and your life will be fuller, because you did.