Simple Saturday in the South

On Saturday in Late November 2020, we woke up to a beautiful day.  We took care of a couple of items on our project list that we've been wanting to knock off the list.  Although the weather was beautiful, it was still a little warm with the temperature being 77 degrees.  That doesn't exactly seem like fall, but oh well.

Right after lunch we decided to get in the pickup truck and drive out to the farm.  It's a 30 minute drive to the farm.  We live in the country on our little homestead, but Oberlin, Louisiana is even further in the country.  On the way, we stopped off in a small town called Elton.  Elton boasts a good little specialty meat market called "Mr. T's."  We got some smoked boudin and boudin balls and some root beer and continued on our journey.

Upon arriving at the farm, we filled the water trough for the cows and walked across the pasture to the gully and watched a bunch of striped-head turtles swim in the muddy water.  The irrigation well droned on in the background, pumping water to fill the crawfish ponds.  It was quiet.  We walked through the old pecan orchard that my great-grandfather planted.  One of the old pecan trees succumbed to Hurricane Laura.

It lay tragically on its side, uprooted by the strong south winds of the hurricane's fury.  I have on my list of things to buy is a good chainsaw.  Once I make that purchase, we'll cut the tree up and split the wood for firewood.  It'll keep us stocked up for years.  Sad, though.  These trees stood tall and strong for years and years.

There is another old tree, however, that remains standing - the old live oak tree.  It is literally hundreds of years old.  I reckon this tree could probably tell some stories about the changes it's seen and storms it has weathered.  Its strong limbs stretch out, coming close to the ground and then reach back upward again.  Some of the limbs have bark that is smooth like grass.  The cows like to rub their backs on the limbs, polishing the bark in the process to a glossy shine.

Benjamin had climbed high up into the tree like I used to do when I was his age and much younger.

The live oak has a hole on one side and has been like this for as long as I can remember.  It doesn't appear to have weakened the tree.  At one time, I remember, a momma red fox had a den at the base of this tree and raised some little ones.

The cows came running to meet us - all 16 momma cows and 15 calves.  They're pretty tame.  They were expecting some feed, but we didn't bring any with us.  Mom and Dad drove up in Dad's pickup truck.  We let the tailgates down and sat down and visited for a long time, waving as people drove by slowly on the country road in front of the old home place.  It seemed everyone had the same idea.  It was a nice afternoon to relax and not do anything in particular.

As the afternoon faded into late afternoon, the sun cast long shadows across the landscape, taking in the beauty of God's creation made me thankful a full five days prior to Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for a simple country life - thankful for a place to enjoy the afternoon without Covid, without politics, without stress, without phones ringing - just peace, quiet, and simplicity.  My kinda place.

Slowing The Pace Down

For the past three weeks, there hasn't been much time at all for life on the farm - for me that is.  I have a great and supportive family.  My wife and sons have pitched in and taken care of business, cleaning up the yard, patching a hole in the barn roof, and taking care of the animals.  I was able to leave a little early from work this weekend, and Sunday was the first day that I was able to see Our Maker's Acres Family Farm in the daylight.  It was nice.

I went out to the garden and picked a 5 gallon bucket of black-eyed peas and purple-hull peas.  Some were ripe for the pickin'.  Others were over-ripe and dried, but that's okay.  They'll eat just fine.  I walked back to the patio and sat down and just gazed at the peaceful surroundings.  I looked up in the live oak tree and saw large "widow-maker" branches that had been broken by the 100 mph winds.  The limbs broken by violence of nature sat juxtaposed against the peaceful backyard and the enjoyable event that was about to take place.

It was time to shell peas.  All you need is time.  Some people have automatic pea shellers and there may come a time when old-age and arthritis requires that we get one.  For now, shelling peas by hand is just fine.  You need a bowl and a bucket to throw the pods in.

Pea shelling is one of those rare things in life in which you get immediate gratification of seeing the fruits of your labors.  A full bucket of fresh-picked peas quickly is transformed into a bowl of shelled peas and a bucket of pea pods that will be returned to the earth when we compost.

Watching the peas in the bowl grow in volume is a satisfying event. Often Russ will come sit down with me and shell some.  You can observe in the bowl below why Black-eyed peas are called black-eyed peas.

You can tell which peas were dried by their sun-bleached color and which peas were ripe, but not dried, by the green color and plump girth of the peas.

Cowpeas are a crop that seems to thrive in the harshest of conditions.  Even in the peak of summer months, they scoff at the heat and drought that assaults them.  And they produce peas packed with protein that will feed our family.

Pea shelling is a satisfying exercise that allows you to slow down the hectic, frenetic pace of modern life into a peaceful, slow, but productive endeavor.  As your bowl increasingly fills with peas, your stress level is reduced.  There's only one thing better than shelling them - eating them.  Tricia will put on a pot of rice and in another pot, shell cook the peas with some smoked sausage.  If I'm lucky, she'll cook some cornbread to go along with it.  It is an easy, but satisfying meal that reminds me of childhood and simplicity and honest country living.

That'll Do

Matthew 6:19-20 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;"

Looking around the homestead (and looking in the mirror, for that matter) brings to the forefront of my mind that things are moving from order to disorder, from death to life, from newness to decrepit and desiccated.

Things break and need fixing.  Sometimes we go to the hardware store or feed store and buy new parts to repair and restore the old and worn out.  Other times, we take a position of "That'll do."  Do you ever do that?  There is nothing that can't be fixed with tie wire or a roll of duct tape.

Here's an example or two:  A few weeks ago, we reported that a big Chinaberry tree fell across the fence in a storm, ripping the fencing from the 4 x 4 post.  I cut up and removed the tree.  I needed to fix the fence.  I could have gotten the come-along (fence stretcher), a hammer and some staples and done a fine job of mending the fence.  Other priorities pulled and I opted to get some tie wire and quickly fasten the fencing to the post.  "That'll do."  I'll get around to fixing it right one day.

Tie wire holding things together

As the Gospel of Matthew tells us, rust destroys!  It is doing its best to destroy our old 1978 model cattle trailer.  It was my grandpa's and I want to not allow it to get in a state of disrepair.  This weekend I began the arduous task of fixing it.  I could bring it to a welder and have new sheet metal installed, but I opted to pressure wash, sand, coat with Ospho and patch it myself.  For the larger rusted out holes I used fiberglass patches coated in a resin/hardener concoction. 

Large rust holes patched up

For the smaller holes, I used Bondo.  It is a putty-like substance that you add a hardener to and spread over small rust holes and fissures.  I'll later sand and prime and paint.  It'll look good as new.  Yes, "that'll do."

Putting some lipstick on the pig

And moths...  In this case termites.  We discovered termites in our barn!  The other day in the feed room, I stepped right through the floor.  Termites had eaten through the 2 x 12 flooring!  I'll post later about this in more detail later.  Professional treatment of termites can be very expensive.  I purchased some termite insecticide at the hardware store and am in the process of eradicated the problem.  I've killed a bunch of them.  I'm hoping to be able to say, "That'll do."  Still too early in the battle to tell.

Termites be gone!

We're a simple country couple on a simple homestead trying to do the best we can on a shoestring budget.  We're learning as we go - usually from our mistakes.  But we're happy and continually try to be content with what the Good Lord has given us.  And as I think about it, "That'll (More than) Do."

"When you arise in the morning give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food. And give thanks for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason to give thanks. Rest assured the fault is yours." - Unknown