I tried to make cowboys out of both my sons. Honestly, I really did.
As soon as my first son, Seth, was out of diapers, he would ride along with me every afternoon to the farm. I was still teaching school and we lived on five acres on the west side of town, but owned a farm about 15 miles from there. As soon as I arrived home each afternoon, Seth would be ready to “go check the cows,” and we would load up in the pickup truck and head to the farm. Every cow seen with her tail sticking out (even if she was just relieving herself) would be evaluated by Seth as, “Dad, I think she’s gonna calve tonight.” He would supervise, from the cab of the truck, concerning how many bales of hay I should put out or whether they needed the mineral feeder filled. I concluded that he would surely become a farmer.
Each Tuesday night, I’d dress him up in his hat, boots and duster and we’d head to the only nightly livestock sale in the country. He would take in all the sights, sounds and smells of the auction barn. The trip home would always find me serenaded by his chants and bid-taking as if he were the real auctioneer. Oh well, if he couldn’t make an honest living farming, maybe he could become an auctioneer.
Then Zach, the second son, came along and he showed even more interest in the cattle than Seth had. He was raising bottle calves by the time he was three and showing heifers at the county fairs by the time he was seven. Zach was calmer and quieter with the show calves than Seth, and the animals responded appropriately with intense bonding and affection between calf and boy.
Both boys were active in 4-H with both of them serving stints as President of the local club. They both showed their heifers at every county fair in south Missouri, the Ozark Empire Fair and the State Fair numerous times and they both were fortunate enough to have shown Grand Champions at each of the above. Seth won state public speaking in 4-H while Zach was the state winner in FFA Creed speaking. Zach also was President of his FFA Chapter and received the State Degree. Needless to say, because of their heavy involvement in these groups, I always assumed they would either farm or find careers in some field of agriculture – just like their dad. Was I ever wrong!
Seth is in Ireland, finishing up his PhD in philosophy and beginning to apply for openings at universities across the country to become a professor. Zach just graduated with his BA degree and has been accepted into graduate school at the University of Mississippi to study – you guessed it – philosophy. He, too, wants to go on and get his doctorate and become a professor of philosophy.
I took one course in philosophy during my college career and thought it had to be the biggest waste of time and money in my entire educational experience. Nothing in philosophy made any sense to me and I often wondered what kind of person would want to devote their entire life to the study of such nonsense. But, both my sons love it.
I’ve often said that I am lucky enough to never have to ‘work’ a day in my life because I love what I do so much, it never feels like work. Seth and Zach both feel this way about the field of philosophy, so I support them and wish them well in their chosen field.
I do, however, take great pride in knowing one thing; In a few short years when they are both professors of philosophy at some prestigious university, I feel fairly certain that they will be the only two professors of philosophy in the entire United States that are also adept at the skills of artificial insemination and rectal palpation.
Jerry Crownover farms in Lawrence County. He is a former professor of Agriculture Education at Missouri State University, and is an author and professional speaker. To contact Jerry, go to ozarksfn.com and click on ‘Contact Us.’
