Rural Issues: Grateful for small blessings

We are down to the short rows of 2024. Winter is upon us. Christmas is days away. The older I get, the more quickly the days, weeks, months and years pass by.

Although there are things — and so many people — I dearly miss from years gone by, with age I am more aware and grateful for the small blessings in my life.

I drive a 2018 Equinox with over 102,000 miles on it. It is certainly not the most impressive vehicle in any parking lot — but, boy, do I appreciate my remote start and heated steering wheel on these frigid winter mornings. Is it just my age, or does 20 degrees feel colder than it did 20 years ago?

We sat down to dinner in our old farmhouse last night to enjoy a big bowl of chili that we made entirely from bounty we grew on our farm.

The ground beef, tomatoes, onions, peppers, chili powder and garlic were grown right here. The sage that Jim tossed in the pot came from my herb garden.

The dill pickles on the table and the strawberry jam Jim had on his peanut butter sandwich were homemade. There is a sense of satisfaction knowing we are self sufficient in many ways.

As a farm broadcaster and active member of the overall ag community, I have crossed paths with a lot of folks over the years. Some of those longtime acquaintances became friends.

It is such a blessing to catch up with them from time to time. It is also a blessing to see those younger members of the ag community building their networks of acquaintances and friends.

I am ever so grateful that social media was not a part of my life in those earlier days of my career. The connections were real.

I think we had to work harder to stay in contact with one another and because of that we felt greater responsibility to the people in our community.

Each quarter of the year, I host a Tailgate Talk with farmers to talk about, among other things, their media and communication habits. The audience for these virtual sessions is Brownfield’s advertising and public relations partners.

To be transparent, I only invite farmers that listen to ag programming on their local radio stations. Beyond that, there are no prerequisites, and I have no idea how they are going to respond to questions.

During our most recent conversation, a 35-year-old farmer from Ohio said his preferred form of communication is a phone call. Not email, not text, not a message on Facebook or X or any other platform.

I doubt we are going back to one telephone with an exceedingly long cord on the wall in the kitchen, but there is something “purer” about talking instead of typing when you are having a conversation.

I hope you have deep and meaningful conversations and take a moment to be aware and grateful for all those blessings in your life this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas!