Category: anecdotes

living in a miracle

I’m taking a crash course in living right now from one of the loveliest ladies I know. I’m following my textbook around as she lives and a more riveting account of a life you will not find.

I’ve always been told the best classroom is life itself, but I’ve never learned quite like this. This living autobiography dabbles in comedy and tragedy, philosophy and religion, history and modern culture. I’m flipping through pages like crazy in these days and overwhelmed that what follows is always just as genuine as what came before.

As we’re climbing over rocks or talking with protestors on the street, she’s not satisfied to accept an expected explanation. She’s a digger and she doesn’t stop until she hits gold, whether the topic is parties or pleasures or philosophies. And she doesn’t make things up, either, to make the digging easier. She does her research until arriving at a conclusion that fits the weight of the question and then she holds that conclusion humbly.

This girl’s life is not full of roses and robust resolution, but it is authentic (in the innocent sense we lost when “authentic” became fashionable) and it is teaching me great Truths.

Life is full of miracles.
Currently I’m living in a miracle called, “God transforms a life.”

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Who are some of your favorite teachers of life? 

Posted on by Caroline 1

Occupy Life (things one might do while unemployed)

I thought it would be fun to write a post about unemployed life, because unemployment has been getting a lot of press lately (see Occupy Wall Street and my take on it). Feel free to pass this along to unemployed friends you might know or employed friends who might be interested in how the 9% unemployed could be living right now.

I call this list: Occupy Life

  1. Go a-visiting.
    Make frequent trips to visit neighbors, friends, and your siblings where they provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner and delightful conversation. I’ve found that people are not opposed to this one bit. They enjoy the interruption in routine and a reason to break out the cookies (or special recipe) they’ve been saving for an occasion of any sort. If you have got a knack for baking, maybe you could whip up something before you set out, that’s sure to make someone’s day!
  2. Get your give on.
    It’s a great time to go through everything that has piled up with the promise of “getting to it someday” and then give it away! If you haven’t used it in the past 6 months, do you REALLY need it? Could someone else need it more than you? I will admit my packrat tendencies and, even though I love giving things away, sometimes it’s hard for me to part with things (see below).
  3. Go through collections of junior high love letters.
    I read one that said, “Hi, I like you and you probably know that by now. The problem is, I like 2 other girls and I have a girlfriend. But my girlfriend is going to break up with me (for good reasons) and you know I’ve liked _____ all my life! And the other girl won’t talk to me but when we do hang out we just hold hands.” and then the next note from the same boy said, “I don’t know why you showed ________ the note. She was mad. Well, I guess me and _______ are mad at each other and we were supposed to fight. But, I guess we’re friends again.” Oh, junior high!
  4. Read. read. read.
    There is so much going on in the world and it is overwhelming even if you’re reading the news non-stop. I like to mix things up a bit – news, commentary, theology, philosophy, comedy, fiction, autobiography and biography. Right now, I’m reading an 18th century theologian, the “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” and using my internet sleuthing abilities to stalk all kinds of blogs. The most important book you could ever pick up: the Bible. That’s where the wisdom is at, without fail my friends!
  5. Start making Christmas gifts!
    I’ve been in my grandpa’s woodshop – sawing, sanding, drawing and designing and I LOVE what it does for my heart! Spending TIME with people I love making GIFTS for people I love – priceless (and literally doesn’t cost anything because I just scour my parents’ farm for supplies! My brother just happened to get married recently and we used barnboards for decorations…. everyone on my list just might be getting a re-purposed barnboard for Christmas). I smell like sawdust after a couple hours and it makes me feel like I’m working hard to accomplish actions of love. Smells good.
  6. Do what you love doing...
    all day long. If it was me, I would write and/or hang out with kids and/or read. Guess what – being unemployed is technically a dream come true! I already have a computer, internet is free almost everywhere, I have a library of books I haven’t read yet, and there are oodles of ways to make sure I’ve got kiddos in my life!
  7. Deliver pizzas or drive a tractor.
    If “unemployed” means you “can’t find employment suitable to your expectations,” then you most definitely need to make yourself useful in the meantime. Can you drive? Deliver pizzas (as Dave Ramsey would say). Or do what I did – drive a tractor. That’s right. And if you live in a city, I’m sure there are some small businesses that might need extra hands around the holidays! There is absolutely no reason to ask the government to pay you a salary to sit on your couch. Sorry, there are just too many jobs posted for that to make sense. Get humble. It might hurt, but it’s good for you (and me).
  8. Figure out the science of milk foam.
    The key is the milk has to go both up-and-down AND side-to-side. Those fancy machines are so expensive and boring and loud, but the alternative happens to be simple and interesting and very quiet. Just take a beater (one you would use in a hand mixer), heat a small juice glass of milk, and then roll the beater between your hands! Woila! Latté!
  9. People watch.
    Currently, there are some ladies playing a competitive rummy game to my left and a book club to my right (which also appears to be a strategic team to save a local library). I just love imagining what people are thinking or what they are headed home to after coffee. One lady who just left made all her personal/business calls sitting one table away from me. I feel like we’re pretty close now. She has two kids and her oldest just recently joined a sports team, which she is really excited about. She is juggling night college classes with her work schedule and Black Friday might be a hard day.
  10. Cherish the slow moments.
    If there is one thing people like to tell you when you are unemployed, it’s some version of, “Enjoy this time, because you’ll wish you had when you are working full-time.” I get it and I am trying. Complaining doesn’t make me any more qualified, so I’m trying to keep that in mind. The sun shines just as bright on the employed as it does the unemployed (and we have a lot more time to think about it).
  11. Be oh-so-grateful for community.
    This is a serious one. I am part of that 9 percent, but I’m not part of the unemployment movement (can I say that?). I am not waiting and hoping and praying the government will feel responsible for my situation. I am depending on the Body of Christ and they haven’t yet let me down. My friends and family have been so gracious to welcome me into their homes and their lives, showing me love I didn’t ask for or deserve.

    I just got back from Honduras in June and I still haven’t allowed myself to fully process what it means to live here now, but I know that there are people around me ready to support me in the process. My church family has been so encouraging, giving me job leads and networking contacts as well as odd jobs here and there. My parents have been amazing. Never, ever in my life did I think I would say, “Well, I’m 27 and living with my parents.” The sound of it makes me grimace a little. But, can I say this is a uniquely United States discomfort? In other countries this is normal and doing anything else would be foolish.

  12. Apply.
    Did you think I would forget? Ha! I’ve applied for somewhere between 75-100 jobs from California to New York. I spend a little bit of each day either searching or applying or emailing. I talk to people who talk to people who know people who might have something and then I track them down. I’ve applied for jobs in advertising, agriculture, publishing, social work, higher education, and as an administrative assistant. I have had interviews and almost-interviews and people who tell me, “You are exactly what we are looking for, but we don’t think this job would fulfill you.” Really? Let’s wait for paycheck one and let me decide. But, with every rejection (there’ve been many) and every cold call and every dead end, I know that God is not confused or frustrated. He is sovereign and He is good – all the time. I trust in His perfect plan and my place in it.

    If you want to make even this interesting, then you’ll apply for some jobs with a bit of whimsy. I once sent this Cover Letter to an advertising agency with an … interesting angle.

Okay, folks. What additions do you have? I know there are oh-so-many things unemployed peeps can be doing with their time that might be more productive than camping out to make a statement that someone should give them more money.
Well, even the unemployed can
let LOVE fly like cRaZy!
Posted on by Caroline 6

I will sail my vessel

There is something about the view of rolling Iowa hills from the window of a tractor that makes singing along to the radio especially exciting. It’s like “singing in the shower” with an incredible view!

I’m not normally one to like country music (or at least admit it), but it does seem strangely fitting with this backdrop. I will say the songs that really get me come from my childhood. I’d wake up early (when it was my turn to help with the morning chores) and go outside before the world woke up. It’s funny, country was the only station that ever seemed to work out there in that barn. I listened to Paul Overstreet, George Strait, Alan Jackson, and… Garth Brooks.

The other day, we were farming my grandpa’s land and The River by Garth Brooks came on the local radio station.

I’ll go ahead and admit it – I rustled up my best twang and sang from a deep place in my chest about sailing my vessel until the river runs dry – following my dreams like a vessel on a river.

I wondered how many times my grandpa said, “Well, we’re just gonna keep on farming until the Lord tells us different.”

With eight kids, nobody would have questioned him if he’d given up and moved on to something with a bit more promise of provision. But, in all my growing up years, I never heard his kids wishing their childhood happened any different.

The Lord certainly guided his way as a father as much as a farmer (of course, he had a wife who wouldn’t let him forget it). Maybe my grandpa’s quiet time with the Lord happened when he rode his horse out behind the barn to check the fields. I know my grandma would do her Bible study in the station wagon in the garage, where the kids were told she would not (under any circumstances) be disturbed.

I don’t know how they did it.

There are so many stories. Maybe someday I’ll start gathering and assembling all the stories I’ve heard that had this beautiful backdrop. 

Maybe someday I’ll have stories of my own, like packing my family of 10 into a 4 door sedan for a road trip or setting a feast for dinner (even in hard times) and watching it come out, “just right.”

Maybe someday I can …

let LOVE fly like cRaZy
in a way that generations after will remember.

Posted on by Caroline 3

one FINE day

Remember that movie, One Fine Day?

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Well, yesterday was about as FINE as it could get! I spent the whole day laughing with and talking and listening and dreaming with a very special Honduran someone. She reminded me of all the reasons God filled me up to be poured out during my time in Honduras.

It was amazing to introduce her to a few aunts and uncles and cousins and see her fit right in. She sensed right away our bond through Christ and His love and I’m so thankful! My family does an AMAZING job of showing love. I can’t wait for the big thanksgiving extravaganza in a few weeks! This was ONE fine day – imagine what several will be like with friends and family gathered up to celebrate the many blessings we have!

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 2

the key to a healthy farmer

I’m not sure, but I think today might have been my last official day farming… for Eeyore anyway.

It came on kind of like a surprise attack – the end of harvest, that is. I thought I’d be more than ready to move on to less farmer-ish things, but (as it turns out) it’s a good thing my tractor-ing abilities have attracted some attention. Another farmer ’round here said he might need some help. I guess that makes me an independent farming contractor, doesn’t it? Wonder if that’ll fit on my resume…

I will say it might be hard to transition to a new boss. I’m kind of partial to the one I have. That brings me to the subject of today’s post. It’s been awhile since I shared some wisdom from the field (and by that I mean literally from the cornfield in Iowa, if you haven’t been following my posts), but don’t think I’ve been twiddling my farmer thumbs. Nope, when I’m not writing about farming, I’m probably studying it (in the classroom-without-walls sort of way).

Lately, I’ve realized something. And it is REAL important if you want your farming operation to run smoothly. I mean REAL important in the same way that I need coffee in the morning (just ask Eeyore – it’s an absolute must).

Here it is – the key to a healthy farmer. Are you ready?

Well, first let’s assume the farmer has his machinery and fields and bins and whatnot in order. Let’s assume he’s a good farmer (because Eeyore is, of course). I didn’t say I was going to share the key to a good farmer (there are plenty of more qualified people who could tell you that). I said I’m going to tell you the key to a healthy farmer. I also don’t mean a healthy diet – farmers, I’ve learned, have coolers packed with all sorts of good things to nibble on during the day.

So, the key to a healthy farmer?

a good dose of UNfarmerly humor

I don’t mean knock-knock jokes and I don’t mean the blushing kind. I mean … skipping versus trudging and smiling versus frowning and yes, the occasional innocently unknowledgeable (some would say blonde) remark.

(Pardon me while I make my position as field hand a bit more irreplaceable)

From my observation, the farmer can grow quite somber at times. His furrowed brows can get accustomed to a serious study of things and his jaw can set in a “and that’s settled” sort of way. Not that a somber countenance is bad, but sometimes (a lot of times) it is healthy to have something to chuckle about (or someone).

Let me give you a scenario. I’ve got to preface it by saying I prefer the 3 person rhythm. I know, I might sound like a fieldhand snob, but I really like how the harvest rolled in when it was Partner, Eeyore and I making decisions and jokes and (every once in awhile) mistakes. I liked how the radio would crackle with familiar voices and that I could rock out to music in the cab when no one was looking. I love visitors, too, because I can draw on the weeks of knowledge I’ve tried to store in my brain and show off my mad tractor skills. I especially like kid visitors because I like being a kid myself, which actually brings me around to my scenario.

It was a day in the field that turned quite confusing for me. There was a lot of mumbling and grumbling and a somber shadow that hung unfortunately lower than the bright sunshine that I was trying to bask in from my front row seat in the cab. For the life of me, I could not figure out what everyone was so sad about. No one felt like mumbling and grumbling to me, so I had to take my best guess at where I should go and what I should do. Thankfully, I had a very lively tractor companion and we laughed. Oh! Did we laugh! I tried out a few funny accents while going on about his stinky feet and if he wasn’t belted in, he would’ve been rolling on the ground. We hopped out of the tractor and saw all the somber faces and I still didn’t understand one bit of it. I’m sure they were discussing something really serious and important.

The next morning, when Partner, Eeyore and I got our rhythm back, I realized I was tense … and quiet. Eeyore will forever blame it on a caffeine deficiency, but I think I just needed some time to readjust to the old rhythm. Eeyore kept coming over the radio, asking questions like, “How you doing over there, Caroline?” and “Are you awake?” and “None o’ them yawns, now.”

That’s when it all started to make sense (maybe that was after a Diet Coke was delivered). All those silly questions I ask and sorry attempts at humor and mistakes a seasoned professional would never make … those don’t fit inside the furrowed brow and set jaw countenance. And that is refreshing.

Sometimes farmers don’t want to talk about farming at all… and sometimes they want to talk about farming with someone who thinks every piece of information is new and interesting – like the first time you were introduced to silly putty or hot chocolate or the game of football. The first questions are always silly, and even the farmer can’t keep a straight face while explaining.

The farmer needs UNfarmerly things to talk about and laugh about and comment on. He needs someone that will take his mind off the weather, the price of corn, and decisions about upgrading his operation. Or, maybe, the farmer needs someone who will listen to all those things, try to say something smart, and then talk about something completely unrelated.

Because, at the end of the day, farming isn’t living… and we need people to remind us just what that is.

(do you think adding “comic relief” to my job description will get me a raise? Eeyore will see right through this as an attempt to flex my business prowess and make myself more valuable 🙂

Well, from the fields of Iowa, I’m trying to

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 2

the farmer comedian

I must preface this by saying I ran this post idea by Eeyore and all I got was a grunt… and then he said to Partner, “We’re pretty serious ’round here all the time.”

view from the tractor

So, I’ve got this theory (inspired by Eeyore’s wife actually) that farmers would make good comedians. Sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, they’ll surprise you with their wit and woefully dry humor. There is a catch, however. The conditions have to be just perfect. You can’t throw a farmer on a stage and expect him to be funny… no, you’ve got to have the perfect set-up and it goes something like this:

They will definitely need to be wired in by radio – farmers aren’t necessarily the most approachable comedians when it comes to appearance, but when you give ’em a radio they churn out the real charm. From the seat of a combine or tractor (the 20 ft. view, some say), the world makes sense. Things are divided into rows and bushels and pounds and yields, so the mind can wander into those clever little things that don’t make sense at all. From that little throne in the little glass cab, the world is his soybean (and those are pretty glamorous right now, aren’t they?).

It’s not just a radio you need (if you’re thinking you could secretly tap a farmer’s radio and air it during prime time to make a buck). No, you need time… like hours. You see, part of the farmer’s charm (Eeyore’s anyway) is that there’s no rush. When he climbs the steps to his throne in the morning, he knows he’ll be ruling all day long. So, he strings out his material… across about 8 hours. A joke here, a sarcastic remark there… it’s good for the same reason a birthday is good – you wait and anticipate and then celebrate because it doesn’t come around too often. If we’re talking rain (as all farmers do), then it’s more like a drip-drop then a flash flood.

There’s something else you must know. When the humor does come, you can expect a 3-5 exchange. That’s a little phrase I’ve coined to explain the back and forth on the walkie-talkie. When I’m filling up the air in my glass cab with belted choruses and ideas for inventions (has anyone ever thought to use the innermost part of the corn cob as styrofoam?)… Eeyore is preparing his next one-liner and it goes something like this (a recent conversation about our college rival):

Eeyore: See, now they’re startin’ the game early on Saturday, so’s them Hawkeyes can get to drinkin’ earlier.
Me: Really? You’re just being mean … Maybe I should go up there and teach the students something about healthy lifestyles…
Eeyore: Well, I don’t know that it’d make much difference.
Me: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
Eeyore: Well, with them I think it’s the other way ’round.

I’ll admit, it took me until I was driving home to make sense of this clever turn of phrase… and then I had the AHA face right there by myself in my car, “Oooooh! I get it!”

You see how he did that? He lured me in with something interesting and a bit vague, drew out a comment or two, and then went in for the slam-BANG finish. Impressive, folks. That’s what that is. But, back to my point… it’s the 3-5 exchange and then silence. No explanation, no resolution, just silence. If I’m in eyeshot of Eeyore, I’ll see him slowly put the walkie-talkie back in its place and concentrate on the rows ahead. This is key. He’ll be funny again when he’s ready, but not before.

I still haven’t figured out how to make any money off this discovery. Eeyore is always bothering me to make money off my ideas, like this blog. He and Partner think they should be getting paid royalties because I’m using their stories. I said I didn’t use their real names. “E’rbody knows,” he says (I’ll just let him think that this blog has that kind of reach). I told him I don’t get any money from the blog.

He thinks I should get sponsors so that I’m getting paid for the time I put in (you know, a ROI). I told him money doesn’t make any sense to me and I don’t care much for it. He said I better find someone who cares a little.

One thing I do know, jokes aside, when that auger swings out over the empty rows of corn, I better be ready with that grain cart.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 2

it’s a [good] conspiracy

Well, right as I was walking out the door this morning to the field, I got a call. To be honest, I couldn’t quite understand it all, but I did get, “We’ve gotta work on the … and we won’t be up ‘n runnin’ right ‘way this mornin’ … I don’t know how long it’ll be … but I’ll give ya a call.”

I’m kinda bummed. I had my lunch ready and my coffee almost in the travel mug. I’m more bummed because this is a perfect morning for harvesting. Clear skies, sunshine and a chance to break out some serious layers to shield off the winter-ish breeze. I guess I’m even more bummed thinking about Eeyore trying to figure out and fix the problem in time to tackle the rest of that 90 acres like we planned.

On the flip side, I’ve got a little time to write. I’ve been farming by day and nannying by night, so I’m nearly worn out when I finally settle in. Yesterday was particularly stressful because Eeyore came over the radio, “Hey, Caroline? Why don’tcha follow me ’round …I’m gonna outline this field and I’ll dump ‘long the other side there … This’ll be a real test of your driving skills … I don’t want you hitting corn, but I don’t want you fallin’ in the river either.”

On the radio I said, “Tests make me nervous!”

In my mind I said, “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT “TEST”? This whole thing has been a test and I’m not just talking about my emotional well-being after returning from a developing country to be rejected by countless jobs and still uncertain of my place in the world. I’m also talking about driving a tractor at all. Now you’re telling me I’ve got to squeeze into a six row path with certain death on one side and certain employment death on the other?

Of course, I went. And he wasn’t kidding. I felt certain some of the corn was unfairly leaning out in my path and the steep ravine was unfairly jagged and unpredictable. With nothing short of near-hernia, I made it and felt pretty accomplished.

This whole thing (being somewhat professionally stuck) could be a big conspiracy to keep me humble and I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t fighting it. Speaking of conspiracies… when I’m not following Eeyore around in the tractor or cracking jokes with Partner, I’m either reading or writing or doodling or all three.

I’ve already started writing/doodling my Advent Conspiracy list! If you don’t know what Advent Conspiracy is, check out the video below. The idea is that Christmas ≠ consumerism, so our preparations should reflect that. If we give gifts of presence (time together), then what we treasure is each other and not just something in a box! I also try to make most of my gifts (which can get tricky for the boys in my family) and this year I have a new source – Pinterest. There are so many clever and crafty ideas – from baked goods to stuffed animals from old gloves! Anyway, apart from enjoying people more and tapping some of the creative genius we all try to ignore, we also save money by giving this way. The Advent Conspiracy suggests there are some really amazing things we can do with it!

[AC] Promo 2011 from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.

So, maybe it’s a good conspiracy that I’m farming… and even that I’m able to take moments like right now to process … and apply for yet another job.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 4

rained out

Well, this morning started out soggy, but I had “high apple pie in the sky-y-y hopes” for harvesting… and then I got to the “far north side of the field by the cow field” and walked the muddy way to the tractor. A couple hours after I got there, we had to pack up and leave because the rain seemed so persistent.

So, I traded my cheese sandwich for grilled and my bottle of water for steaming coffee and my walkie talkie for a laptop and the firsthand farmer lingo for a secondhand re-telling. After my “10 things I learned in Iowa harvest” post spread around the family like fire, I realized if I target the Midwest audience, then my readership could explode! Not that I care about how many readers I have… it’s just funny to me that I can write a blog pretty regularly and the biggest response I get is from my comical/embarrassing experience with Iowa farmers.

I thought I better at least take one more shot at sharing my perspective on farming (since the rain is keeping me from the fields). I’ve learned a few more things since that post…

  • First, the farmer (Eeyore as we call him) is not so sure his identity is as concealed as I promised. Within hours of my post, he came over the radio, “What’s this Eeyore business?” and I responded, “I don’t know, you tell me. I didn’t put any names in there…” pause “Well, e’rbody’s figured it out then…” Sometimes, I just giggle because I don’t know what to say. So, just to make things clear – I have not given any names and the names that are given are changed to protect the innocent. That goes for “partner” too. If my descriptions match someone you know, it is only by coincidence.
  • Second, I drove with my cousin (the third grader who is qualified for my job) and I’ll be honest – I was nervous. I thought he’d get in there and push all the right buttons and drive circles around my anxious jerking. Well, turns out I can sleep a little better at night knowing that he’s not quite ready to take over.
  • Today, I am proud to announce I moved up in rank (of course I’ve made up ‘ranks’ so it feels like I’m getting promoted and if you’re about to question it, don’t – it was my birthday last week). That’s right. Today, I got to drive another tractor and it was different in every way. The transmission was a gear shifter, the buttons were all in different places. There was A – F and then 1-2-3-4 in each letter. The clutch is essential is this machine and oh! I forgot to mention that there is a very large obstruction in the form of loader arms right where I count the 5-6 rows out for on the go loading. I got a 5 minute tutorial from my partner and then off I went, picking up a load on the go. I haven’t told Eeyore, but I’ll expect a badge tomorrow.
  • So, partner and I cover a pretty wide variety of subjects between the tractor tutoring and the unloading. I’ve been storing advice on WAY more than tractors (he’s probably trying to forget the things I say). He’s also super encouraging, like when I learned the new tractor today he said, “Well, hey! You’re a natural,” even though I was obviously struggling. He said that people just assume girls can’t do things like drive a tractor, but he says he can teach anyone. I also know now that it’s harder to load corn on the truck on the road because it’s level and that dry corn unloads like water. I know that you can go 40 mph in a truck chasing deer in a field and I know the human body is capable of a 24 non-stop road trip (and much other anecdotal advice). I know that he doesn’t like my weird music and that a certain pair of jeans with holes will always be my “sunday jeans” (because they are hole-y). I have to share one conversation that (he would say) reveals a bit of the blonde farmer in me:
    “I hate it when people call me Carolyn. I mean my name is obviously Carol-ine so people should pronounce it that way.”
    “How is your name spelled?”
    “with an i-n-e”
    “C-a-r-r-o-l-l-ine?”
    (joking) “Yeah, C-a-a-r-r-o-o-l-l-i-n-n-e-e”
    (blank stare)
    “No, of course it’s C-a-r-o-l-i-n-e”
    “Well, that’s not how I would spell Carroll”
    “Oh, well that’s how I spell my name – C-a-r-o-l-i-n-e. How would you spell Carol?”
    “Well, my aunt’s name is Carroll and she spells her name C-a-r-r-o-l-l”
    “Well, that’s not how I spell my name!”
    “That’s not how my aunt Donna spells her name either”
    (long pause and puzzled look and then serious)
    “Well, that’s not even the same letters!”
    (laughter)
    “Hey!!! No blonde jokes!”
    and so go our conversations….
  • I wish I could record how the grumblings go over the walkie talkie. I’m working up to a real good impersonation and it’s kind of scaring me. I can’t decide if I’m copying what I hear or if it’s actually starting to be how I talk. I can carry on a good five minute conversation about yields and head rows and moisture and fields and weather. I surprise myself (and then I realize I don’t really know what I’m saying and so I’m not a complete farmer yet). Here are some funny things I’ve heard over the radio:
  1. “Well, it’s pretty rough in here… better unload there at th’ end.”
    Translation: You’re good, but you’re not that good. I’m not taking chances on your driving, but I want you to think the field is responsible.
  2. Me: “Sorry about that, I was SO close but SO far.”
    Eeyore: “Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades.”
    Me: “I’m not good at those either.”
  3. Eeyore is waiting with auger out, ready to unload.
    Me: “We had to cut a tree…”
    Eeyore: “Cut it or pull it out at the roots?”
    Me: (Oh, crap) “Uh.. well, we cut it but pretty low down”
    Eeyore: “You gonna come back next year ‘n cut it again?”
    Me: “Well, that sounds like pretty good job security I guess.”
    Eeyore: “Sounds like a government job.”
    Me: “That’s why we’re broke.”
    Eeyore: “Yep.”
Well, I guess I might as well make an apple braid today. I’ve been wanting to try this recipe and today seems like the perfect opportunity to put some fresh Michigan apples to good use! And, yes. I will be cranking the Christmas music – I firmly believe there is NEVER a wrong time to sing “O come all ye faithful.”

What will you do to
let LOVE fly like cRaZy
today?
Posted on by Caroline 3

10 things learned working Iowa harvest

I could title this, “everything I need to know in life I learned in harvest,” but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

I’m still kind of a newbie in the fields (I’m hoping I can keep saying that until I gain more tractor confidence), but here are some things I’ve learned so far:

  1. knobs & levers – There are SO many knobs and levers inside a tractor these days! My mom always says that the minute I get into a new vehicle I have to pull everything at least once. Well, that was NOT an option. There were yellow knobs, warning knobs, green levers, buttons, and all sorts of graphics … it’s like a live version of a video game (and I’m not very good at those). Here’s my trick – find the knobs I can touch (radio, throttle, speed, lights, seat adjustment, steering wheel, walkie talkie) and then push and pull like I know exactly what I’m doing.
  2. lingo – Yep. There is most definitely farmer lingo and even farmer-specific wit/humor. This makes me nervous. I’m such a communicator that I start sweating if someone gives directions I don’t understand. “Swing round the south side ‘n come up ’round the bend ‘n I’ll unload.” The south side of where? which bend? are we unloading while moving or stopped?
  3. walkie-talkie – This is where the lingo happens.
    “Are you comin’ up over the hill?”
    “What’re ya tryin’a say? I’m old?”
    “Well, now that you mention it…”
    and then there was
    “Hey, did you finish up back there?”
    “Well, yeah there wasn’t much there…”
    “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t get lost”
    “I’m not that old, now… careful.”
  4. direction – There’s no way around it. When we’re talking north road, south fence, and aiming east, I can’t fake it. I used to call roads longways and sideways when I was little and that just doesn’t cut it in the fields.
  5. on the go – If I get to do this I am both excited and nervous. It means I drive alongside the combine as it unloads the corn into my grain cart. It means I’ve got to stay the right distance (about 5 to 6 corn rows) away from the combine and the right speed (about 3.8). That’s a LOT of pressure, but I always feel accomplished if I don’t mess it up. It sure helps when you have a gracious boss.
  6. there’s no bathroom – Well, you get the picture.
  7. yard lights – When it gets dark (like it did last night), my partner taught me to look around the horizon at the yard lights from the different homesteads to get oriented to where I was in the field. That was some handy advice right about 7:00 pm.
  8. food – Bring it because you might be out there for 8, 9, or 10 hours. That’s right. Getting into that tractor is a COMMITMENT and you better bring your stores like you are hibernating or you’ll have to call in reinforcement to bring you survival rations and water (Yes, I did have to do that).
  9. a fifth grader could do it – Yep. Every time I get excited about conquering another challenge out there in the field I remind myself that a fifth grader can do what I’m doing… and probably offer better jokes! 🙂
  10. Eeyore syndrome – I can never tell if it’s a good field or a bad field, good/bad yield, and good/bad weather, because the voice on the other end of the walkie talkie always sounds on the sad side.
    “So, are we getting a good yield in this field?”
    “Well, it’s alright. Sure is dry today… this stuff is just so dry.”
    and
    “Oh, we’ve only got that patch there left.”
    “No, there’s a whole other stretch ’round the back.”
    And, of course, this is with (almost exactly) the tone you would expect if Eeyore himself was giving you the information. I’ve learned the farmer is just cryptic by nature… and that I should try to take note of important things (like beans should hit right at %13 moisture and that a combine head for corn is much different than for beans) and then just give my best Tigger to bounce the spirits up a bit.
I’m going to go ahead and make an 11. the view – it’s amazing almost all the time. The blue sky… the clouds… the fields of crazy colors… the sun setting… all from the view of about 20 feet up.
So far, so good.
I guess even in the fields you can

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 5

upside down at the ankles

When I was little, I was thrown around like a toy amongst the brothers and men in my family. I don’t mean that in a bad way (because my mom would say I “asked for it” almost every time and I probably did). But let’s just say it wasn’t strange to walk into our living room to see me hanging upside down with my brothers’ hands at my ankles. Now, I could incite trouble like any good tomboy could, but I wasn’t one to give up once I got in the middle of it. So, even in that helpless upside-down-at-the-ankles state, I would be jerking and swinging and doing any kind of acrobatics to get free. And it was always when the boys got tired of the game that it was over – not when I accomplished something with all my thrashing. They would let me go (probably by the surprise release method) and then I’d catch my breath long enough to go at them again, sure that this time I could somehow swing an underdog victory.

(Sigh). Right now feels a lot like upside-down-at-the-ankles. I realize I haven’t written since those last days in Honduras and I can’t quite decide if it’s shock or pain or laziness or a dreadful combination of all three. I had all sorts of ideas about what life would look like back here in the States. I still have that tomboy-ish mischief in me that looks at trials and says, “Ha! You can’t get me!” and then scampers off knowing full well that trial is a-comin’ at full speed to pick me up by my ankles and shake all my independence out (oh, and every little bit of loose change). And that, folks, is exactly what happened.

I stepped off the plane in Omaha after one of the most emotional departures of my life in Tegucigalpa to blaze a trail that only made sense in my mind. It looked like this:

I was applying for jobs in those places, but I was also picking up the pieces of my stateside self – trying to figure out what it would mean to live in this skin – and I ended up back on the good ole family homestead thrashing and resisting the attack I provoked on my pride and independence. I am not one bit regretful of my galavanting, though. I’m kind of a face-to-face girl and I needed the time walking on beaches and sitting on couches and chasing kids around houses to remind myself that God has called me to let love fly just as crazy here.

But, when the dust settled from the adventures and I started getting used to painfully pleasant rejection letters and emails, I started to feel the weight of “missing” the ministries and people and crowded streets and fried corn tortillas. It was sure heavy.

God is so gracious to give me community in this time. I was ready to pack my bags and move almost the minute I got back, but He hasn’t let me. No, I think I needed to get some thrashing out, upside down, before I could move on and He was gracious enough to let me do that in the midst of canning salsa and playing nertz and hiking timbers and harvesting soybeans. I am so very thankful.

Last night, when I was babysitting some imaginative munchkins, I scooped up Dari and flipped her upside down and said, “I’m going to shake all your sillies out!” I shook and shook while she giggled until I said, “Well, I think I got ’em all!” to which she promptly responded by scooping all her sillies from the air and then touching my knees, saying, “Now all the sillies are in your knees!”

Oh, what beautiful perspective innocence brings! My knees have never had such a party!! It reminds me of Ecclesiastes 5 and verse 20 more specifically. Solomon is going on and on about what is/isn’t important and what we can/cannot hold onto in this life. Then he arrives at this verse that has nestled its way into my favorites,

For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

I want so much to forget my days, for the joy in my heart! How wonderful a thing – to be SO AMAZINGLY FULL of joy that there is no room for anything else.

So, I guess I’m back at this blog thing again. There is too much inspiration in this season to find excuses not to express it! The changing leaves, the baking spices, the conversations, and the endless times I find myself in the upside-down-by-the-ankles state … they all want written about and I think I’ll finally give in.

maybe you’ll help me remember how to

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 2