doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com contribution sent, but I ask myself why?

He’s been here 24 years, Not difficult for a true enthusiast…
JR

It's pretty obvious that your perception af what being a farmer today is like, is not in keeping with my lifestyle or how I farm. I get up pretty early each day and begin it with coffee, Scripture reading and prayer. After that, I check in here, the AHFCA site, and the Parker site. Doesn't take that long to read or post a couple things as needed while I knock back my last cup of "jo".

This time of year I'm driving a tractor, tilling land in preparation for planting corn, then peanuts. Long days on a tractor alone are made much less tiresome by having a smart phone to stay in touch with my son and grandson as they drive tractors too, and to pass the time keeping up with my friends on this site and the others. Our primary work tractors have GPS enabled auto-steer. We program it when we start in a field, lay out a line on the screen, and the tractor drives itself from one end of the field to the other holding itself in parallel swaths that are accurate within less than an inch. We have to disable the system by moving the steering or tapping a brake before turning on the end, but once we are on course again and the auto-steer is engaged you can't touch the steering wheel. So, I read posts on here and the other sites until I get bored with it. Then, I may bluetooth my phone to the speakers in the tractor and play one of my Spotify playlists. We're not hayseeds posing for a picture in overalls and a pitchfork, not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not my style of farming.

14,274 divided by 24, divided by 365 = about 1.6 posts per day. I don't see what's so hard to comprehend about that. Now, I have explained it to to you, but I cannot understand it for you. Do your best.

FYI, I have so many interests that I enjoy, that I really never do get bored. I shoot pool with a passion, I hunt, I fish occasionally, I work on my shotguns in my gunroom, I'm a deacon in my church, and I lead an adult Bible School class each Sunday morning. My daddy always said that "If you want to get a job done on time, go to the busiest man around and get him to do it." I try to be that man.

There’s a lot to like in that post, Stanton.

(And farming sure is different from when I sat on the spring steel “lazy U” seat of the old Ford Ferguson as a kid.)

Excellent post !

It sounds like you've got the best of all worlds going there for you there Mr. Hillis.

I also suspect that an adult bible school being taught by yourself would be deeply relevant to my views of life in this troubled world today (I struggle a bit in the class taught in our own little house of worship [& that's my fault, not the Rectors]).

I would guess that you will be going a long-way on that particular schedule.

Dang Stanton. I'm not a farmer. But every year from the time I was six until about 10 my Mom would ship me and twin-brother to southern Illinois to stay with my biological grandfather. He had a farm outside of West Frankfurt. I remember the roller squeegee on the washing machine where my step-grandmother would wring the water out of the clothes and the 100 degree dry heat and the wheat.

But my Great grandfather also lived on 80 acres just outside of Thompsonville. He was born in 1868, married in 1890 and farmed the same farm until the day he died in 1965. He and my great grandmother built the house and barn themselves and made pretty much all the furniture out of spools and the rugs. There was no electricity or running water except by about 1952 an outlet for a refrigerator and stove in the kitchen. The outhouse had a Sears Roebuck catalog in it for obvious reasons. The tractor didn't work but he had two horses Ted and Jim which were the biggest horses I've ever seen. They had no money; made their own butter; ate their own eggs that I had to gather. The house was lit by oil lamps and I, a southern boy, was terrified at the stories of tornadoes. Once he got angry at all of us and ran us off holding a shotgun (don't know the make).

Somehow, your farm doesn't sound like that.

Pictures taken from old 8mm movie film from circa 1954-56: (that's me age 12 in the second photo - 1953 Chrysler station wagon)





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Precious memories, how they linger . . . .

Congrats Stan, on sticking for the long haul. I may have it wrong, but I seem to recall that the person who started this thread, had an opinion or two on social, political issues at one time. Things change, oh well.

I'm glad you mentioned that. I didn't know there was an ignore until you mentioned it, then I went looking for it and found it.

Stan,
If you have a grandson running a tractor, it won't be that long before you have a great grandson running it. Don't close your eyes. Those really will be precious memories.
Mike