Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I spy... a blog post!

I am not going to lie.  

Things have been crazy up in here.  

(some sickness, work stuff, home stuff, Christmas stuff)

But the good news is they are improving! 

And last night, I shot over 100 pics for Christmas blog posts!  

*someone really shoulda told me it's already the 14th of December!  When did that happen?!  How am I going to get all this Christmas joy shared?! 

Anywhoo, the moral is that I heart Christmas in a BIG way and I want to share some of family traditions and things I love and whatnot!  But... it won't be today.  :(  

Instead, because I am oh-so-original, I'm posting my AgriNews blog from yesterday.  It's a cute story that will restore your faith in the future of agriculture (if you had lost any of it).  

Enjoy! 

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I recently visited a farm on behalf of the newspaper. I went to do an interview with a livestock producer about a particular breed they were trying out and was curious to see how the animals were adapting to a life with four seasons. 

I’m intentionally trying to keep things vague, so that you’ll have to read the paper! 

But, as it is with life, something came up, and my interview with the producer was quickly shifted to an interview with the producer’s daughter as the parent had to make an emergency run into town. 

For the first time in my career as a reporter, I don’t think I had to ask a single question. The 11 year old took off to the barn with me quick on her heels and trying to figure out what she was saying. 

She was talking so fast it was hard for me to keep up. I eventually gave up on taking notes — knowing I’d need to follow up with the parents anyway — and just started listening. 

We walked. And she talked. 

She told me about her horses, the sheep — including her perspective on how to tell if it’s a boy or a girl — the dogs, the ducks that wouldn’t go in the pond, the chickens that have the crazy hair, the ram that’s a meanie butt, the goat with a messed up “bahhh” and the dog— or was that goat? — that she accidentally fell on and broke its leg. 

“It was an accident, though,” she said. “I was only nine. It was completely an accident, and I didn’t mean to do it.” 

I muttered something about how things like that happen sometimes, but she didn’t hear me, she was on to talking about the horses and calling them all by name as if that helped me understand which one she was talking about. 

This girl talked a mile a minute, and I just kept throwing in a random, “Uh-Huh” or an “Oh, OK” to let her know I was following the train of thought she was on. 

But the part that got to me was when she was talking about her family’s farm, how her dad grew up in the same house he and her mom lived in and how she, too, was planning to live on the farm forever. 

She is going to be a horse trainer and build a house in the back pasture with her friend, Ashley, and they are going to be partners and it was going to be great. 

The gal had the brightest sparkle in her eye talking about her future — her future in agriculture. 

She talked. I listened. 

That was how the entire interview went. We stood out in an unheated old, drafty barn and she was thrilled to have me there to hear all about what she had learned in 4-H and the differences in English and Western saddles for her horses. 

I would like to state for the record though that I did know some of that stuff. 

I heard all about how she doesn’t like the color pink. She’s more of a “purple and blue kinda girl.” 

While I was a little disappointed — but understanding — that she had become my guide that morning, I left feeling guilty about that sentiment because I had, instead, had the opportunity to get a glimpse into this gal’s future and her ideas for staying in agriculture. 

That made my day, to know that there still are girls that dream of building a house on the farm and staying involved in the industry I grew up loving, just like this little firecracker. 

And I was I leaving, I zipped up my camera bag, pulled my pink stocking cap down tight and put on my pink gloves, she hugged me and thanked me for hanging out with her. 

Yup, I think that if she represented any bit of the future of this ag industry, we’ll all be just fine. 

These were some of the critters at the farm.  I just love the donkey looking around the corner like, "hey, what's up?" Also, that ram is the "meanie butt."  

3 comments:

  1. I love this. So often I really do feel a huge burden by the thoughts of agriculture's future. I can only hope there is an entire generation of little "firecrackers" like this one who will fight tooth and nail to keep this industry moving forward. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Aw Whitney, you made me cry. This girl sounded just like me at that age. Maybe in ten years you'll come down to our farm to interview me and Joe will bring back memories of this girl because I'm pretty sure she's going to be one heck of a firecracker too.

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  3. This little farmgirl rocks! I love her attitude about agriculture. I sure wish more people did. Agriculture has one of the biggest impacts in this world, and very few people realize it.
    For my job, I assist disadvantaged students with the college-going process. With that, they often ask me what I studied in college. I always tell them Agricultural Education, Agricultural Studies, and Agricultural Extension Education (yup....3 degrees on my diploma!). And they look at me like I'm crazy. I always enjoy that 'teachable moment' with them. Thanks for sharing. :)

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