open spaces

Yesterday we had a full day of

o p e n

s p a c e s.

Wide open spaces. And tractors. And trucks. And forklifts. And mowers.
oh my.














Patrick's dad, farmer David, called me early yesterday morning and invited Henry to come ride on his tractor. Since he has many of them, I will refer to this one as his honkin' tractor (the-very-technical-farmer-term). He told me it would be his last day cultivating with his honkin' tractor. This particular tractor is special not only because of its size, but also because it has a "buddy seat" for Henry so he can safely ride along. As far as tractors go, William likes to look, but not touch and absolutely not ride.
Knowing that Henry would love to spend the morning farming with his grandpa coupled with the promise of a beautiful day outdoors, I accepted his offer and made plans to meet him near a field in the country. I then had the task of getting myself and both boys dressed and ready in less than thirty minutes. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that after nineteen months with two children, it is still an exhausting undertaking to get ready and out the door. But we made it.
We met farmer David and Henry anxiously jumped out of the van and ran to meet him. I'm learning that unfortunately life on the farm is just like life in the city; pretty unpredictable. Honkin' tractor did not start.
Our morning plans quickly turned into a full day of farm work. There were honkin' tractors' batteries to charge, fields to finish, roads to cross, mower blades to sharpen, and forklifts to drive. At one point I said to Henry, "you are sure working hard" and he looked at me like, DUH, and said, "yeah, I'm a farmer". Oh, of course. How could I forget?
It was a perfect day.
Both boys loved being with their grandpa and working on his farm. There is something so peaceful and calm about the quiet of the country. And something so beautiful about the rolling fields and open spaces. Right now the crops are just starting to come up and the dark earth is covered with a blanket of seemingly endless green. It's beautiful.

{please forgive me for posting some of these pictures in the large format. I know it's huge, I know it's honkin', I know it's obnoxious. I just really wanted to try it. please forgive me!}