Ranger Rick: Take it all in and be thankful for rural living

I’m going to surprise most of you this week. I won’t be writing about the sorry state of politics, government or economics this week. Frankly, it’s boring this far out from the next election.

I love dirt. Not the kind sticking to politicians or political deals, but the little particles of ground rocks, sand, and soil. With all the fields being plowed and planted recently, I enjoy going past a freshly turned field with open windows and smell the soil. My work friends think I’m crazy because soil and barnyard smells don’t offend me.

When I was a young lad, after a late summer rain, my mother would get me in the car and drive out into the country past the freshly mowed hayfields. Being raised on a farm, she missed the country. She’d have the windows down and just breathe in the smell of the freshly mown hay – she loved that smell. I wondered what was so great about it at the time. I finally got it. Now, I do the same thing after a late afternoon rain during hay harvest season.

I admit, on a hot, humid, heavy air day, the smell of hog dung does get a little over the top, but I don’t freak out about it. It is what it is – great fertilizer for growing. If you are a farmer, the nutrients in the soils you plant determine what yield you get from the crops. Of course there are other aids to help your yield; such as pesticides, herbicides, and additional chemical fertilizers to aid the soil and in turn, plant growth. Animal manure (and human) just happens to be good fertilizer and it has to go somewhere.

Proper alkalinity or acidity (PH) needs to be determined per soil to be planted with the selected crop. Seed stocks are a great expense for farmers and they need to carefully determine what needs to be done to prepare the soil to get the greatest yield. And you thought being a farmer was not “rocket science”? It is much more that way every year as soils change, weather conditions are a huge growing factor, and improvements continue in farming techniques and machinery (think GPS navigation). I am thankful for our farmers and wish them all a great growing and harvest season. May your yields be greater than ever.

On the home front, you have to be like the farmer. Planting new grass, or filling in grass “holes” in your lawn – the proper seed per application, fertilizer to help it take hold and grow needs to be determined to get the best results. Watering is essential to establish and nourish a great looking lawn.

Many folks want new trees and shrubs, flowers and bushes and planting them is a chore but the results can be spectacular. Shade from sun, a place where birds alight and build nests to raise their young, providing additional beauty to your yard for personal satisfaction – all require much effort and additional maintenance and care. I don’t particularly like to work on the yard, but once out there, I really enjoy it.

The next time you’re behind some farm machinery going down the road, be thankful instead of being mad, the slow moving machinery is slowing you down to your destination for a very short time. Take a deep breath, enjoy the view, smell the smells – that farmer is working hard for all of us. Be thankful we have people in the farming industry – farming keeps you and your family fed and helps fuel your automobile with ethanol. It is a large industry with fewer and fewer participants each year as farmers die and nobody takes up their profession (it really is a way of life). Sons and daughters no longer want to toil long hours without knowing if their work will generate enough income for sustenance, payments and taxes.

Once the fields you see now being worked are gone, they are gone forever. And that is not good for any of us. Say “thanks” to a farmer, they deserve it!  Enjoy your time outside and take it all in; the sights, smells, sunshine and sometimes rain – God knew what He was doing when creating the world and all in it – enjoy His handiwork! And if you are a non-believer, it was made for you too.

Also, if you see an animal in the roadway, please do all in your power to avoid hitting it short of an accident. I see too many animals in the road and roadsides dead from being struck by vehicles.

And if you see a turtle on the road, please stop safely and help it across the road to the side it is headed. They take years to get any size and their slow crawl across the road is certain suicide on a busy roadway. Give them a chance to survive and thrive. If you see amphibians and reptiles like frogs and turtles, you know the environment is healthy.