Raising a Farmer

A couple weeks ago my fellow Swanville Graduating Class of 1999 gathered together to celebrate 17 years of graduation from high school.  Yes, we celebrated on an odd year that is just how we roll. Seventeen summers ago our hopes and dreams were endless.  We were told to reach for the moon and if you miss you will be among the stars. As I looked through one of my memory boxes I found my graduation announcement.  Our class motto was, “Yesterday is a memory; Remember it; Tomorrow is the future; Treasure it; Today is life; Live it”.  In the inside of our graduation announcement the first line is, “We do not fear the future for we are the future”.    Here we are in our future.  Long gone are the days to see how many people we can fit in a fish house.  Long gone are the days of notes passed in the classroom.  Long gone are the days of my biggest worry for the day was if I had enough written for my autobiography for English.  At the time 17 years ago, I really didn’t give much thought to our motto.  Some of us were so happy to be finally graduating while others of us were nervous what our future would be.  Did I fear my future as an eighteen year old ready to take on the world.  Absolutely not.  Do I fear my future as a woman, wife, mom, dairy farmer in her mid thirties?  Absolutely!  This thing called life happens and you begin to think.  I should have, I could have, maybe later, why didn’t I?  If I would have done xyz then maybe this would have happened?  Did I think I would be a dairy farmer.  No that was not on the list of top career choices at my high school graduation.  Am I happy to be a dairy farmer?  I can say I am proud to be a dairy farmer.  I can say I am right where I am supposed to be in my future.    

Some of us in the Class of 1999 had our life course “planned out”  While others of us waited for life to decide for us.  Some of us moved far away, sharing time in Alaska and Hawaii while others of us are making plans to buy their childhood home.  Some of us have children on the verge of graduation while others of us are just having babies.  Some of our children walk the same halls as we did as energetic students while some of  our children go to a rival school.  Some of us married our high school sweet heart while others of us just found our sweet heart.  Some of us haven’t seen each other since graduation.  One thing for sure is when I looked at my fellow classmates seventeen years after graduation I still see them as the full of life elementary students and awkward teenagers trying to find our selves.  I can’t help but wonder how did this happen?  How did we end up in our future so fast?

 

 

There is nothing more joyful than a dirty little face.  To me there is nothing better than dirty little fingers.  When I see dirty clothes I don’t think, “How am I going to get that stain out!”  I think, “Everett must of had a good day.”  I have a saying at my house, “If it can’t go thru the washing machine it doesn’t last at my house.”  I put everything through the washer.  Everything.  I was reading a “mom magazine” and there was an article of activities to do with your kids at certain ages.  I began reading and it gave you a step by step guide how to make a mud pie.  What??  Was my first reaction.  Is this the moms we are becoming?  Needing to know step by step how to make mud pies?  Are we so consumed with filling our kids days with “activities” that we have forgotten the best one ever?  Mud Pies.  Are we moms so worried about hand-sanitizers and clean faces we have lost just letting our kids be kids.  Just letting our kids get dirty.  My kids are dirty more than they are clean.  I know there are moms who cringe when I am not, “on top of wiping my kids faces every three seconds.”

About once maybe twice a week Everett floods his sand box.  He builds castles, he makes “cement”, he fills holes in with rocks, he makes paint with mud, he buries his toys and finds them again.  He watches the way water flows.  He literally spends hours in his sand box.  Night time comes and he draws maps and new plans for the next time he is in his sandbox.  When Everett drags the hose from the barn to his sand box, it doesn’t even phase me.  Last summer a friend came for a visit and seemed surprised I would allow Everett to flood his sand.  I was shocked why I wouldn’t let him.  Kids need to be dirty.  They need to use their imaginations.  They need to get dirty and dirty again.  Clothes can be washed, hands can be cleaned but this time is for minds to grow.

This last May I visited Everett’s school not just as his mom but as a dairy farmer.  Of course 304 tagged along and was the star of the afternoon.  As I entered the classroom the first thing Everett’s fellow classmates asked was, “Can we go see 304 now!” “Did you bring the big cow?”  They were so excited to see her.  Before going outside and loving on 304, I talked to the class about dairy farming.  I brought along samples for the kids to see, to touch and to smell.  Before I started I heard, “I smell farm stuff.”  “Everett you are so lucky to live on a farm.”  I passed the feed samples around and explained to the kids what our cows eat on out farm.  Eager 1st graders with lots of questions.  Questions I love.  We talked about what are some of our favorite dairy products and what foods are made from milk.  I then asked the class what they had for breakfast and lunch.  As they were listing their menus from the day, I then I asked them if they could tell me what types of farmers grew the food they had just listed.  With every plate of food we eat a farmer is connected to that plate.

Everett helped me explain to his class how we milk our cows twice a day.  Finally it was time for what the kids were waiting for, to go outside and love on 304.  Seeing the kids brush, talk to 304 and ask more questions is the best thing ever.  For kids to be able to get a close look at a dairy cow is the best teaching tool I have.  We finished the afternoon with cheese sticks and every student received a  “I met a dairy farmer” sticker.  One little girl proudly showed me her sticker on her back pack and told me how excited she was.  The funny thing is for how excited they were to see 304 I was just as excited to show them.      

                   

When ever we hear someone describe 304 as Everett’s “Show Cow” Nathan and I mumble under our breathe.  304 is no show cow in dairy judging standards.  By her looks she is the worst cow in the barn but she is the best cow in the barn.  We know 304 is no show cow.  We have even been asked,  “Why do you take her to the fair?”  My cousin one year as he helped us unload the trailer at the fair said as soon as we opened the trailer, “Nate I know you have better cows than that!”

Both Everett and 304 started their showing adventures together.  304 is the very first animal Everett has taken in the ring.  304 was a calf and Everett was 3.  304 on paper has all the genetics but Mother Nature had other plans for her.  When Everett was 4 he showed 304 as a heifer.  We were all excited as we awaited 304’s first calf.  As soon as she calved all and I mean completely all udder support fell apart.  Fair season came around that summer and the discussion of bringing 304 to the fair was brought up.  Nate’s initial reaction was “We can’t take her.”  The fair is a place where your best animals are show cased.  The best of the best is judged.  A place where ribbons and pride of hard work are showed.  By just taking a glance at 304 she doesn’t represent this but when you look closer she represents all of this.  Everett told us as a 5 year old as Nate tried to talk him out of taking 304 to the fair, (Nathan and I hearing that little voice in the back of our head “what will people think?”)  Everett simply replied, “If I can’t take 304 then I won’t go.”  No tears, no tantrum just matter of fact.  Everett is devoted to 304.  Everett loves 304.  Everett represents the heart of dairy farming in his simple words.  No matter what, I will stand by my cows.  No matter what I will put my cows first.

Nathan and I talked about what are we trying to teach Everett by taking animals to the fair.  Are we teaching that ribbons are the most important thing or is showmanship?  Are we teaching placing 1st is the most important thing or the hard work getting ready for the fair has merit.  We are teaching dedication and love for your animals comes first.  Everett has both of these for 304.  304 has taught Everett more than what Nathan and I could have taught Everett.  She gives him confidence in the ring, she trusts him, she teaches Everett how to handle a cow in the ring, she teaches Everett.

Last year, Everett was so happy when he was given a red ribbon as he walked out of the ring with 304.  I can still see his big smile, “Mom Look what we got!” Nathan and I just looked at each other but to Everett it was a ribbon.   There will come a time when Purple, Blue and Red ribbons will mean something and not just a ribbon.  There will come a time when tears and disappointments will come out of the fair ring.  There will come a time when all your hard work will feel for not.  There will come a time when Everett himself will become more competitive and look more closely at his cows.  Right now, we are laying the ground work for a strong foundation for when those hard times come.  We are teaching confidence walking into the ring, we are teaching loving on your animals come first and 304 the show cow is teaching us along the way.

 

Ice Cream is celebrated all summer long, not just in July.  There is nothing better than ice cream on a hot summer day.  Summer and ice cream go hand in hand.  It’s like peas and carrots.  Bacon and eggs.  Cookies and milk.  Summer and ice cream are meant to be together.

Through out summer, small town festivals are gathering and putting in endless hours to ensure their festival is the best it can be.  Bowlus Fun Day was another successful year this year.  One of the stands at the Bowlus Fun Day is the Ice Cream Stand.  Benny and Judy Zapzalka along with their children and grandchildren hand scoop gallons and gallons of ice cream throughout the day.  How many gallons of ice cream are hand scooped during the day?  The magic number is 68 gallons of ice cream!!  68 gallons of ice cream are hand scooped until the last gallon is gone into the night.  Lines of kids patiently waiting for their hand scooped ice cream.  Maybe a root beer float is what they are looking for to gain reprieve from the summer July heat.  They have them in the ice cream stand too.

The Zapzalka’s work tirelessly all day together.  Someone is checking on the ice cream.  Making sure all the flavors are stocked in the freezer.  Someone is scooping ice cream.  Someone is taking orders.  Working as quickly as they can to ensure the best ice cream is given out.  There is nothing better than hand scooped ice cream!  When the fireworks start they are still in the ice cream stand catching a few of the beautiful bright lights together.  Thank you Zapzalka Family for dishing up the best hand scooped ice cream and always having a smile!    

• Enough Ice Cream? by Farmer Bright
• Mint Chocolate Ice Cream by Kimmi’s Dairyland
• Why this Ice Cream Addict has a New Addiction: Ice Cream Sandwiches by New Mexico Milkmaid
• Sprinklers, Fans and Ice Cream in the Barn Modern-day Farm Chick
• Here’s the Scoop on My 5 Favorite Ice Cream Recipes by Eat Farm Love
• Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal a la Mode by New Day Dairy
• Gimme the Jimmies by The Deere Milkmaid
• Ice Cream Month by Spotted Cow Blog
• Oregon Ice Cream by Guernsey Dairy Mama
• In Celebration of Ice Cream by New Moon Farms
• The Best Ice Cream Stand by Raising a Farmer
• Sadie’s Homemade Ice Cream by Dairy Good Life

This last weekend was the Swanville Carnival.  My hometown.  What a great weekend it was.  Saturday was my class reunion, Class of 1999.(yes, it is an odd year 17 that’s the way we roll)  On Sunday afternoon, the Swanville Fire Department hosted Water Fights.  Nothing better than playing with water on a hot July afternoon.  My uncle Jerry is the Fire Chief in Swanville.  Jerry loves to have fun.  As kids we had fun with Jerry and we continue to have fun with Jerry as adults.  We all love to have fun with Jerry.  Neighboring fire departments come for the goodwill game.  Bowlus Fire Department brought two teams to compete, so of course me and the kids had to cheer Nathan on along with his fellow fire fighters and have fun with Uncle Jerry.  As they were getting set up one of the other teams needed a third person.  Jerry asked if I would be on a team.  Playing with water is always a strong “Yes!”.  When it was my teams turn I was able to wear Nathan’s fire gear.  Luckily we never had to go up against each other.

 

 

My fellow teammates and me. (L-R Me, Robbie Czech and Jeremy Czech)

 

One of the best parts about water fights is not just playing with water but watching my uncle Jerry.  His smile is so infectious you yourself can not smile when you see it.  He gets excited.  He laughs. He smiles.  He has fun.

I am not sure where my team placed because we were having to much fun.  All the kids enjoy standing waiting for the water to land on them.  Children of fire fighters are able to watch their dads be fire fighters.  Try on their helmets and jackets.  Dream when they can be just like dad.  The water running down the street they are able to splash in and play in.  Flip flops turn into boats and float down the river of water. Everyone has fun at the water fights.

This week the carnival rides were coming into the small town of Swanville, MN to celebrate the Swanville Mid-Summer Carnival July 8, 9, 10th. Excitement is happening through out the small town.  Kids are watching, waiting, asking if it is Friday yet, waiting.  They are catching a glimpse of each ride, wondering if they are tall enough to go on the big rides this year.  Is their favorite ride here yet?  (Mine is the Tilt-a-Whirl)   The Swanville Lions are busy setting up tents and making sure the Bar-B-Q chicken is just right for the weekend.  The town is waiting for the chicken shack to open to have their share of the best chicken you will ever have!  My mouth is watering all ready just thinking about it. The homemade pies are ready for the carnival goers to enjoy.  A quick stop to the malt wagon as you are headed to play a couple games of Bingo makes for a perfect weekend.

 

There is a life cycle of the Swanville carnival for ones who call Swanville home.  You wait and wait till you are old enough to walk the midway by yourself.  This is a huge moment when you are able to walk the mid-way, up and down with your friends.  We have made it we are big kids now!  Your parents are in the beer garden by the big tree.  (The big tree is long gone now but we still congregate in the general area) Each year you get older.  Finally you are old enough to be in the beer garden.  Finally.  You have been waiting for this and you are in the beer garden.  You might walk one round of the midway just to see what is all there but as a young adult your main hangout point is the beer garden.  Life evolves and you become a parent.  A parent with little people who have been asking when is the carnival and now you are back on the midway.  Walking up and down.  Back to deciding which are the best rides to ride.  What ride should be given my last ride ticket?  Do I want a corn dog or a burger?  Big life questions!  Former classmates of yours at one time you walked countless times the midway with are now congregating around the little kid rides “patiently” waiting for their own children to get off the rides.  We are all waving at our children as they make the round on the ride.  We all do it.  Once our children are off the ride we are back to walking the midway.  Up and down.  Trying to decide which ride should be next.  You and your fellow classmates in this stage of the cycle are longing for a time when you can be at the beer garden again.  You finally have children old enough to walk the midway by themselves.  Then you become a grandparent and then you are back on the midway.  Walking up and down.  Trying to decide life’s big questions, cotton candy or cheese curds?  The life cycle of the Swanville Carnival.

 

I lost my parents a long time ago, my mom when I was 20 and my dad when I was 23.  My mom, I was half way through my second year of college, my dad I was newly engaged.  A time which should have been filled with excitement and looking towards the future was clouded with grief and hurt.  Time has passed and lessened the pain.  The pain isn’t as sharp.  It no longer catches my breathe.  Time has eased the lump in the back of my throat.  Milestone moments of my life and my children’s’ lives, my family and friends have corralled around me and safe guarded me from the pain.  Nathan & I’s wedding, our children’s’ births, figuring out being a wife, figuring out how to be a mom, birthday parties.  Milestone moments.  The unsaid words someone should be there are never said.  Many times I have cried to Nate or yelled in anger, “I just need a mom!”  A mom to help me.  A mom I don’t feel like I am a burden to when I do need help.

But then there are the moments you are not prepared for.  The moments where it catches your breathe.  The moments you were not expecting and it just happens.  My mom loved flowers, every morning she would walk the yard in her pj’s and house coat looking at each and every flower bed.  Saying good morning to each and every flower.  My mom was pretty awesome.  Spring time comes and I safe guard by heart knowing what could have been but isn’t.  Instead of dwelling in the sadness I have chosen to share my mom’s love of flowers with my children.  I try so hard not to think about “what would it be like” because it isn’t and it won’t be.  But then it comes out of the blue and hits you like a ton of bricks.  Everett asked if he could pick out flowers for his own flower garden.  I walked to the back of the green house with him and Vivian.  Everett started to examine each and every flower.  Whispering to the flowers or to himself.  I couldn’t breath.  A lump started to form in an instant.  I wanted to freeze time.  I wanted to time travel.  I wanted my mom to share this with me.  When Everett was finished, he proudly carried his box of treasure to the front.  We shared his joy with the cashier.  

Bowlus Fun Day is this Sunday July 3rd 2016  It puts the Fun in Fun Day.  Nate is a Bowlus Volunteer Firefighter and the department along with the first responders puts on this event.  Polka mass starts at 10am followed by the best parade in Central Minnesota.  After the parade head to the park for every staple food for a great event:  Nachos, ice cream, sno-cones, cotton candy, burgers with fried onions, popcorn and cold beer to name a few and finish with a tour of Bowlus on the Bowlus Fun Line.  In the afternoon cool off by the water fights.  Area fire departments come for the water fight tournament testing their skills .  What makes this event a success year after year is the dedication from the department and the countless volunteers working in the stands through out the day into the night.  When someone is asked to work a stand it is always a strong yes.  Members of our community know how important this event is and what it means to our small community.  The money raised helps equip the fire department and first responders.  When you live in a small community the fire department is usually the first ones called, they don’t just fight fires.  It takes special people to make up a volunteer fire department.  A volunteer firefighter drops everything and goes.   Many times I have been left in the barn alone doing chores by myself or in the middle of the night bringing the truck to the house so Nate can get to a call quicker or watching Nate and his brothers run out of church during their sister’s wedding practice missing the entire grooms supper.  We ourselves know the importance of a strong fire department because we have had to call on them.

On Sunday Nathan and I run the Nacho stand, the best Nachos in Central Minnesota!  We go through a lot of cheese and chips!  So if you hear someone yell, “NACHOS!!”  That will be me.

Everett helping last year loading up the chips.

What does a Domino’s franchise owner and a dairy farmer have in common?  You would be surprised how much we have in common.  Shane and Debbie Cole are the owners of Domino’s in Little Falls.  Shane invited us to the store to see how a pizza is made and share with us how much cheese is used in his store.    This afternoon the kids and I took Shane up on his offer.  Everett was able to make his very own pizza.  I was amazed when Shane told me how much cheese the store goes through.  On average 3,000 pounds of cheese a month(that is not a misprint 3,000 lbs a month) 6 different kinds of cheeses are used either on pizzas or all the good stuff at Domino’s.  Mozzarella being the majority of cheese moved through the store.  Two shipments weekly come to the store delivering ingredients.  That is a lot of cheese and cheese comes from milk!

 

The common ground doesn’t stop with Shane and Debbie’s store needing cheese and Nate and I producing milk which is made into cheese.  Shane, Debbie and Nathan are graduates of Little Falls High School 1999.  All three of them are raising their families in their hometown.  Our children are going to school in Little Falls just like they did.  Shane & Debbie and Nathan & I are raising our families in our business.  Our Children are there every step of the way.  Our children are huge parts of our lives and business.  An asset we can not put a value on.  While Shane’s children are older than Everett, Shane and Debbie’s three daughters are working along side their parents gaining more responsibilities every year.  I could see the pride in Shane’s eyes when he talked about his daughters and how they are involved in the store.  Just like when Nate gleams with pride when Everett works with the animals on our farm.  As we were there, one of their daughters was busy working.  I asked Shane about Pack n’Plays in the office when the girls were little.  He smiled and shook his head yes.  Dairy farmers work long hard hours.  I have never figured out personally how many hours Nate and I put in a week but Shane has figured how many hours a week he needs to have covered at his store.  He figures he needs to cover roughly 450 man hours a week.  Shane started as a driver at Domino’s became a co-owner and finally a sole owner, this is very similar to Nathan working, co-owner and finally sole owner of our farm.  Shane and Debbie take pride in everything that leaves the store just like dairy farmers take great pride in the milk we produce.  So the next time you grab a slice from Domino’s know lots of love, commitment and sacrifices went into a single slice.  From the dairy farmer all the way to the pizza oven we are committed to our family, our community and our business.