#76. or, One Question Wednesday...on Thursday

 On Tuesday, i was invited by Josie Two Shoes to participate in One Question Wednesday. (OQW) The way this works, is i ask her anything that i want to know about her, and in return, she gets to ask a question back of me. If you follow this link, you will be able to see the question i asked her, as well as her answer. There is also all of the questions asked to her and her answers there, as well as some of the replies to questions that she asked the question askers..........confused yet?

  So, now that it's Thursday, naturally i will answer her One Question Wednesday question, which was this:

  How did you decide to become a farmer, what do you like about it and what don't you like about it and what would have been your second career choice?

1....2....3....4.....that's actually four questions. apparently the rules on the one question part are fairly flexible?  :)

  I grew up where i live now. I live in the house i helped my parents build. I only have a few vague memories of living anywhere else.

  Aactually, becoming a farmer WAS my second career choice. I had originally intended to become a mechanic. Our high school, had an exceptional vocational program and i took a considerable amount of classes toward  that end. I was good enough at it that i could have went directly into second year of post secondary school right out of high school. My intention was to go to school and learn how to fix things.

  The year that i graduated from high school, my dad broke his leg, quite badly, in an accident moving some heavy equipment. I decided that i would delay going to school for a year so i could lend a hand while he recovered. I ended up just never going. Why? Mostly because it was the easy choice. I mean, it wasn't the easy path. I probably worked harder that i ever would have if i had gone the path i intended. It was just easy not to change once i started down a different path. I don't regret doing what i do, but sometimes i regret not being a stronger person when i was younger. If that makes sense?

  Along this path though, i did do a few other things. I drove heavy equipment for a while, i hauled cattle for most of a year.  But i do what i do now because i like it. It's challenging at times. When my dad passed away a few fears back, i struggled a bit. Not because i didn't know what to do. My role just changed, there was things i wanted to do differently. I was scared of making the wrong decision. I was scared to fail. Things have changed quite dramatically in the field of agriculture over that last number of years. There's a lot more time to be spent marketing and record keeping of cattle and crops. I wish i could spend more time outside, doing things. I have glorious projects in my head that i would love to do. There's just not time. I seem to spend quite a lot of time on the computer checking prices and doing research. That's what i dislike.

 The things that are good, are really good. Doing this has allowed me the flexibility to be more involved in what my kids do in school. I like being in the field. I like equipment. I like the smell of dirt when you cultivate a field for the first time in the spring after winter. I like baby calves. I like the beginning of combining season, i LOVE the end of combining season. I like the fact that even though there are things that have to get done, often there's still the opportunity to rearrange my schedule if something unexpected comes up.

  I think that i could be happy doing anything. I like to think i'm that type of person. Sometimes, i wonder what life would be like if i had gone down the path i had intended. But i am not unhappy that i do what i do now and i certainly don't have any regrets.I know that i'm not the best at what i do but i do the best with what i have and i'm happy doing it. I think that's something more than a lot of people have in life.