My Inner Cowboy

I grew up in the suburbs of Richmond, VA. I live in a more rural area of VA now, but it is really just a distant suburb of Richmond. Where I live used to be considered "the country", but that has been quickly dissappearing for some time. I have never actually lived in the country, nor did I ever really have any sort of exposure to farm life growing up. Even now, I have just a regular old house and a regular old job at a factory. I am thankful for both, but I am somewhat envious of people who own and run farming operations. I know it's a lot of hard work, but some days I long to be able to work outside and wonder if it's not something I was made to do.

A few years ago, a good friend of mine bought an old cattle farm a couple of counties away from where I live. He didn't know a lot about cows at the time, but he always wanted to have some land and get some cows. He just had a dream and one day decided to follow it. Even before he moved out to his new property, we sort of made a deal. He would give me exclusive permission to hunt his land and I would help him work around his farm. Now, we are really great friends. He would let me come and hunt even if I didn't help him out and I would come and help him even if he didn't allow me to hunt there.

I really like going out there, getting lots of fresh air and just working with my hands. I tell people I love going there because it allows me to get in touch with my "inner cowboy". Since going up there, I have learned about all kinds of livestock, chickens, fencing, hay, and the network of farming families and associated businesses which keep Virginia farms going.

Today was a work day on the farm. My friend and I were directed by his wife to construct a chicken house. We sat down over a cup of coffee this morning after I arrived and drew up our plan. We then headed out and got to work. It was cold out today and very windy. However, we managed to finish up our project in the late afternoon. I have to say, it really looked great and we had a lot of time today to talk while we were working. We hadn't spent a day like that in a while and we never ran out of things to talk about. That was one of the best parts of the day, besides admiring our work at the end.

Today it was building a chicken house. Next time it will be something different like building a pig pen or herding cattle. Whatever it is, I know already how much I will enjoy doing the work and the great company. Do you have an "inner cowboy"? Do you have some sort of thing that you are really into which is totally different from your normal life? Is there something you like doing which is a total escape from everyday life? For me it's heading out to the farm, where my cell phone doesn't work and there is plenty of chores to be done. See you out on the range Pilgrim!