Luke and I had a date night. The fact that we went on a date during the spring is surprising - the fact that it was on a weeknight was even more surprising. What could pull Luke away from the farm you might ask? Earlier in the week I saw an ad that a documentary entitled "Farmland" would be playing for one night only at the movie theater. It seemed like something Luke would like, so I watched the trailer. The trailer made the documentary look awesome, so I asked Luke to go with me. (View the Trailer here: http://www.farmlandfilm.com/#trailer).
As Luke and I drove to the movie theater, it was quite obvious we were cutting in close on time. Running late, as usual. Why do farmers always run late???
I said to Luke "Well, there will probably be a lot of farmers in the audience. They might as well start the movie 5 minutes late so that everyone will technically be on time." Luke chuckled, and agreed. He told me that by always running late, he was adding years to my life. I disagreed, saying the stress of perpetually running late was taking years off my life. His argument was that knowing that no matter what, we will be late, means I never have to stress about being on time. Faulty logic, but I suppose I would stress less if I didn't hold myself to the notion that being on time is incredibly important. Or, I could just do what I do now, and blame Luke!
The documentary was excellent. The film acknowledges that farming is a relatively old profession, but yet that we need young people to return to farming to keep the farming tradition alive. The movie celebrates the work, the lives, of 6 young farmers. One thing I loved about it is that it didn't bash any type of farming. So many farming movies these days ("Food, Inc." for example) promote one side of agriculture while bashing the other. I loved that "Farmland" celebrated all types of farmers: the small-scale CSA farmer, the large- scale organic farmer, the cattle rancher, the pig farmer, the chicken farmer, the GMO cash crop farmer. It didn't push judgment against any one type. The farmers in the video even said while they prefer their own method of farming, their job is not to bash other farmers. I very much respect that and appreciated that about this documentary.
So, why did I fall in love last night? Because the video filled me with a lot of pride for the farm, pride and love that I haven't had in awhile. I have been very apathetic toward the farm in the past year. I did a lot of reflecting on that during and after the video. I could write a short novel on it - so I will spread out my digestion, and my overcoming, of my apathy over a few blog posts.
One reason the video filled me with pride was to see all the farmers and their young children (4 of the 6 farmers had little girls and boys.) To see them riding on the tractors with their dad, the love they had for the farm, to see their squeals when they opened up a toy John Deere combine for Christmas. I can already picture that for Henry. Henry loves to grab his toy tractor and push it all around our house. I can see how wonderful it will be to have Henry grow up on a farm. The smile that forms when he goes to look at the pigs running around the pasture. The manner in which the fussy boy settles down when he listens to the clucks and calls of our chickens. Henry has his own little mini petting zoo that he is growing up on. I can't wait until this summer, to see him explore the farm for the first time. To watch him munch on a cherry tomato right off the vine, grab off a cucumber and enjoy it right there in the fields. This fall when he will be staining his hands red with the juice of a raspberry as he picks them with his mom. Wiping the dirt off his knees from falling in the fields when he runs to visit his dad. I can picture it, and it is beautiful.
This is a picture that I took of Henry when he was watching the pigs run around their pasture. The pure joy on his face. And on Luke's. If that isn't a reason to love farmland.....
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