Paul on tractor

Well, The Man called me up and said "come out with your camera if you want a photo of Paul bringing in his first load of hay," so out I went. And here was Paul, on the little tractor, bringing in hay. He's only been on it a few times, and the second time, his first time solo, he bravely went out in a rain storm in a desperate attempt to bring in some of the straw before it was drenched. I was pretty proud of him, to go out and not complain, and then when he came back ahead of The Man, to be on the alert for what he could do to help later on. I think, in spite of himself, he's getting used to the farming, and learning about driving the tractors. His main chore is to feed the barn cats and mow the lawn, but then he hangs around to see how he can be of assistance. One day, he did come back in and say with a bit of disgust "I go out to feed the cats and come back in four hours later for dinner." He's used to coming right back in.

Now, he's also getting used to something I had to learn - go out with long pants and take your gloves with you. One morning, I went on my walk with shorts on, and ended up with lots of little itchy areas on my legs - just from contact with the tall grasses, I think. But I learned my lesson! I only go out in shorts if I'm just gardening, not wandering around the farm. And, I take my little hand clippers - I never know when I'll see a plant that needs my attention :)

Paul and I were taking about the work ethic of these farmers and he said "if you had an Army made up of old farmers, they would just work and work and work and wear the other side out."