While growing up I liked to think of myself as a country girl, but my weekends following my grandpa around his farm as a kid wasn't enough to earn that title. I most definitely grew up a city girl. As a high schooler I announced that I was going to marry a farmer. It wasn't really a decision. It was something I just knew. I'm fairly certain my parents thought I was crazy. It took awhile but a matchmaking scheme by my grandma turned into a relationship with a Diesel engine worker/cattle farmer.
From pretty early in our relationship, my husband wanted me involved with the cattle. I still remember my first cattle working experience. The cows were much bigger up close than on the opposite side of a fence. Every single one was black. How was I supposed to tell them apart without distinguishing white marks? Some weren't overly friendly. It was muddy. I had to borrow rubber boots from my dad. I didn't want to look foolish, but I was totally out of my element. And I was the only girl.
My husband was a patient teacher, and I learned my way around the farm. Pink equipment started to appear. My dad bought me my own pair of boots. I slowly learned the ins and outs of working cattle. I began to get to know a few of the friendlier cows and experienced the excitement of staying up until the wee hours of the morning waiting on new calves to make their appearance. I've experienced the gruesome and the heartbreaking. It's taken 7 years but I think I can consider myself a farm girl now.
I've done A LOT of things I never dreamed I'd do, even as I was dreaming of marrying a farmer. I wash cows on a regular basis. I learned how to rake hay. I fell face-first off the tractor. I've stuck my fingers up a cows nose, pitch-forked afterbirth, stacked square bales, have pet cows, and literally gotten stuck in the mud. And I love every minute of it. Around our farm, there's never a dull moment and I'm always learning something new.
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