In the past few years, it seems I've only gone back to the farm for large projects like hay hauling, fencing and most recently, barn building. Dad has put up a quonset-style barn, and for our small family farm, this project meant all hands on deck. Eighty feet at a little over two feet at a time is quite the effort! The day I joined in, I was on the ground crew, breaking the slag off the welds my brother and dad had completed, and then polishing them ‘til they shined. I had on goggles, sparks were flying everywhere, but I was soaking up the stress-relief that comes with some good, hard manual labor.
Dad had rented a boom lift, we had the tractor bucket in use, and three workers were required for each side of each arc raised during the project. They had to build up each side of each metal arc simultaneously, meeting in the middle, tightening screws the whole way. There was something great about seeing my dad’s dream of a new barn transpire right before our eyes. Not that 7,500 bolts tightened themselves, but with lots of help from great family friends – one that must be noted being our dear family friend Dave – the project seemed to go fairly quickly.
There’s something about getting out and really working with your hands to materialize a project, that is so rewarding. It’s what each of you talk about when I visit with you on interviews.
The barn was finished a few weekends ago. Mom took her fill of pictures of the event, and dad’s since brought every visitor out to see the finalized product. A barnwarming will be essential to break it in, but for now, I think Dad’ll just be content to sit under his completed barn in an old lawn chair. He’s still blissfully ignoring the soreness of his joints thanks to the four hard weekends it took to get the barn built. Instead he’s focusing on the horizon, excited for the next step in the project; probably barn doors.
Sounds like a story that could be applied to any of your farms, when you’ve worked hard on a project and saw it through to completion. I know you and my dad can relate.
God Bless,
