A Breed Apart

It can't be denied. Some of us can only be described as a breed apart from the rest of humanity. We know not why, but for some reason we feel compelled to live a lifestyle different from most. We like getting dirty. We want to grow our own food. We make friends with animals who will be in our freezer soon. We'll turn down dinner invitations to keep an eye on that ewe who is getting ready to lamb for the first time. And we will get up at regular intervals in the night during freezing winter weather to check on her. In our pajamas. Our souls thrill to the sound of hoofbeats drumming the ground, and a new calf or goat kid brings tears to the eyes. The smell of hay is like salve to a wound. It calms us. Focuses us. Relaxes us. Why can't they make a perfume that smells like hay? ;) We trade out stiletto heels for muck boots that have interesting artifacts stuck to the bottom. And evening wear is code for "something warm, but sheds animal slobber easily". We cry over lost animals who died a death they shouldn't have, but we are straight faced while harvesting those who will feed us. 

We are a breed apart. What makes us live this way? Why are things like this such a passion for us? As if the echoes of generations past are still reverberating within us, we fashion our lives as they had theirs. The farming life is etched in our hearts. Our very souls. It's an ancient calling that rings from time immemorial, and will continue it's tolling still more. We hear it. It calls us. We are drawn to it. First in hesitant curiosity. We want to know more about this seemingly foreign lifestyle that involves so much blood, sweat and tears. Why would something that seems to hard to do, call so many? As we begin taking baby steps in the agricultural world, we realize something. It feels natural. It feels right. We feel a sensation of "I feel like I've done this before", as our hands hold the hoe, or a baby chick, or we successfully milk a cow or goat. So many generations before us lived in this way. We are simply returning to our roots. Our ancestry. Our birthright. Our heritage. We learn to trust our instincts, in a manner not many people know how to do in this era. We watch. We listen. We work. We learn. And then it dawns on us that this seemingly foreign lifestyle is not foreign at all. The farming lifestyle is what we were meant for. We just got a little lost along the way.

But we're here now. Living the life that our ancestors did. It's in our blood, and we cannot lose our passion for this.

 It's a grand ride. Hold on tight!