Happy Kansas Day!!!
Pretty proud to live here.
Some people think its a boring place to live but I'm pretty in love with it. And Ive even got Arizona, Iowa, North Dakota and Haiti to compare it to-and I think it's still pretty awesome.
And although there are many professions in this great state I can say I am proud as a Kansan to be a farmers daughter - a farmers wife-a farmers sister and a future farmers mother.
You see-our little boy is double bred...he's a farmer and a rancher through and through From mamas side and daddy's side. And even if he only chooses to be a farm boy til he goes to college, I think this is the best way to raise a kid. Respectful of land and animals, hard working and down to earth.
A man that spoke this weekend gave me this poem. You may have heard part of it but he's added to it. I thought appropriate for kansas day. Enjoy.
I am just a farmer and rancher, plain and simple.
I know the sun better than anyone, and the soil and the wind and the rain.I am the man who works with them who loves them and sometimes fears them.
I am just a farmer and rancher, plain and simple.
I am the sower of seeds, the tender stock and the reaper of harvest.
I am sweat and tears and pride.
I am the black earth of spring, the green hills of summer, and gold harvest of autumn, and the cold white stillness of winter.
I am just a farmer and rancher plain and simple.
I live in a complex world made of simple things and they are my source of joy and hope and comfort.
I am warm memories of the past, the steely reality of the present, and a hopeful dream of the future.
I am just a farmer and rancher plain and simple.
I have savored the breeze off freshly cut hay, I stirred the soil and in turn it has stirred my soul.
I have awed at the first steps of a new born calf, I have felt the power of a thousand storms and rejoiced in the fresh world left in their wake.
I am just a farmer and rancher plain and simple.
I am an accountant, chemist, Dr., midwife, mechanic, seller, trader, buyer, helper, comforter and teacher.
I am perseverance, creativity and courage. I am confidence, ingenuity and intelligence.
I have but one man to answer to, one man to depend upon, and one man to confide in and in the quiet of the years, I have come to know him well.
I am just a farmer and rancher plain and simple.
Not a man of riches but a man of great wealth. I have learned to treasure life and all things living to respect their maker and my own.
I am humbled by the earth's bounty and awed by endless rebirth.
I am fascinated by the marvelous intricacies of my world and enriched by their beauty.
I am just a farmer and rancher plain and simple.
It is a solitary profession I have chosen or perhaps that I have been chosen for.
A profession where there are no certainties, where no guarantees are granted, no promises given, no excuses taken.
If a man can truly be free then I truly am.
I'm just a farmer and rancher plain and simple.
A seeker of excellence... and I will endure
