May 4, 2015

The Cycle of Life Continues

Has anyone else noticed the big mechanical monsters slowly creeping and crawling across the landscape lately?  At times I feel caught up in an episode of Twilight Zone when I catch a glimpse of the mammoth transformer-like machines that resemble grown up versions of kids transformer toys come to life. Are they invading our world? Are we all doomed? 

No, it's not sci-fi, or invasion of otherworldly creatures.  Of course what I'm talking about is today's farming implements and how the sight of them continues to amaze me much like the staid and steadfast wind turbines that occupy so much of the countryside these days.

Sitting in the plowed field waiting to stretch their tentacles, these machines don't look so impressive.  But catch a glimpse of one in action and you'll shake your head in amazement.  All  bundled up they present an impressive vision.  But when unfurled, they reach an unheard of breadth and allow the operator to plant countless rows of seeds in one sweep.

And I have to say, maneuvering one of these down a highway has to be nothing short of nerve wrenching because most of them occupy the full breadth of a two-lane highway.  (So here I will have to remind drivers to take it easy, give them room and just be patient when you encounter one of these giants).  

Seeing them makes me ponder the tedium of planting my garden (days gone by).  I would carefully measure, well guesstimate I suppose, the distance from seed to seed.  Then drop one, or two, at a time into the furrow I'd drawn.  I'll admit that it wasn't very scientific, yet the seeds are rather forgiving and they nevertheless germinate and eventually pop out of the soil to greet the delighted gardener.  That's one of the greatest gifts in life I contend, growing things.

I suspect that most farmers feel the same way.  It's truly the cycle of life:  plow the earth, plant the seed, nurture its grown, harvest and plow the field.  

Thinking of those big giant implements, though, leads me to recall my farmer uncles and their open cab John Deere tractors, doing that very same thing way back then.  But how did they get by without the aid of GPS devices, massive planters, gigantic combines and other specialized equipment?  What of the blazing sun that scorched their necks and arms?  What of the countless hours bouncing up and down in that metal seat as they worked their fields? Well, that was their life and they chose it.  It's what they did and how they did it.

Even further back, my grandpa Arch walked behind a sturdy work horse and planted his fields the hard way:  he earned it and knew what it was like to put in a full day's work.  Sleep had to come early and deep for my grandpa and his generation.  They knew what it was like to work in the true sense.  

I don't know.  We all have benefited from innovations and nobody really needs to labor unusually hard these days.  Times change, yet when it comes to growing things, one thing never does:  to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.

Truer words have never been uttered.