Innocent questions, quickly cooling off

After Mama’s recounting of the story of our meeting and marriage, the young ladies who had so enjoyed that tale approached me last night at church and asked what it was that drew me to Mama when we first me. I told them initially that there were multiple things that attracted my interest, but I would have to think for a few minutes to articulate the answer they were looking for. So, after church was over, I caught up to them and finished the answer to their query. What attracted me to Mama initially was her lack of pretense. Her honesty and straightforwardness. What you saw was what you got. And I liked what I saw. So much so, that Mama and I had to thwart the efforts of some around us to focus on each other rather than other choices among the young ladies in our youth group they saw as potential interests I could, and in their opinion, should have chosen. Now, forty years later, we can see the outcomes of making the right choice.

Their remark to me was that Mama and I are so different. They described Mama as outgoing, funny and easy to approach, while I was described as “quiet”. That was the word they settled on as they searched for an adjective to describe me. Good enough. I have always been an observer and only as required, a participant. Mama is completely the opposite, but she knows after all these years and even somehow back at our original encounter, that there was more stirring in my thoughts and my heart than was obvious from my actions. Observation is more than looking on, it is an active, participatory engagement. When we are actively observing we are analyzing, cataloging, evaluation, learning. Connecting to what is being said and done in a way that incorporates the actions and information into our thoughts and actions. Our little Savanna is a good example of observation in practice. Walter is another. Mama is more about the engagement. Because of that we have made a great team.

But what each of us saw in the other was that we were in the right place doing the right thing to the best of our abilities. We met in church and have had that as the foundation of our marriage for our entire life together. All the successes and blessings of the years we have shared together are because of the Lord being the center of our lives individually and our marriage together. It has been fun for the most part, certainly challenging at times, but altogether delightful. I suppose that opposites really do attract personality wise, and Mama and I are as wholly complimentary as two persons can be. Two have become one.  

Mama is going to be busy this afternoon as she takes three of our little goats to the vet. Two of the three need to have their horns removed. We have been totally shocked at how fast the horns have grown since we made the appointments to have the two disbudded. The third is going to be wethered. He is our tiny little buck and will be going to a very good home as a pet. He will make an excellent pet for small children. We have a third little buck that has horns so long now that there is no good way to remove them without leaving some messy looking scars. He will have to keep his horns, but he is a very gentle little guy and will make a very fine sire. Hopefully, we will be able to sell him as a breeding buck in spite of the horns. Catching the three we need for the vet visit should not be a problem, but we will see how that works out when we actually try to do so.

Tomorrow night is predicted to be just above 40° F. That will be the first very cool night of this Fall. Today will be our last day of the year over 80° F. The temperatures will slowly retreat down the thermometer from this point on until we begin to have to worry about freezing. At that point, I have a lot of work to do around the farm – especially with the water line I have run to the barn. But still, Mama and I look forward to this time of year every year. The over two-and-one-half inches of rain that fell yesterday wet everything down well enough that I will be able to till the garden this weekend to get it broken up before winter sets in. I will repeat the process several times while adding nutrients to the soil in preparation for Spring planting. I enjoy that work.

Something that I cannot do is to cut down two large oak trees very near our pig building. We are witnessing the deadfall from those trees after every storm and the branches that are falling are getting larger and larger. I will need to pay to have those taken down. It is all a matter of where we choose to spend our income and right now, we have very little discretionary income to assign to a project like that. Hopefully we can have that removal done soon because as Winter comes, it ill become more urgent to protect our outbuildings against either of those trees falling onto those outbuildings.

 Soon perhaps we can address that issue, but for now, there is more than enough to keep me busy.