A day at the dairy

So I think I will rename this blog and try to incorporate more of our lives as they pertain to the dairy. Then again, maybe I won’t. First of all, I don’t have much to do with the dairy. I just stop by nearly every day after work so that I can see Scott for the first time that day and so that I see him before he comes home at 9 that night or later. Occasionally, I will help feed and water calves. My other job is to bring Scott something to drink. Oh, and I’m also the afterhours, mobile bovine pharmacy.

Scott’s life as it pertains to the dairy is much more interesting. He and his dad take turns getting up 3 days in a row to milk cows at 4 am. Other things he does include feed calves in the mornings, put out hay, put out grain, mow, rake, bale, and haul hay, breed cows, take cows to the sale or the processing plant, move heifers from pasture to pasture, clean calf hutches, fix fences, pump out the pit (which is the sexiest thing you ever did see) and anything else that might need doing.

Sounds exhausting, no? You’d be right about that.

Physically: Aches and pains, heat exhaustion, subclinical dehydration, kicks from cattle, milking, driving a tractor for hours on end. My job here is to make sure Scott is hydrated, takes care of himself, has clean clothes, and eats something healthy at the end of the day.

Emotionally: The father/son/employer/employee relationship is not an easy path to wander down. Neither is the husband/wife story. I’m torn every day between demanding myself to be patient (again) and wanting to demand more of Scott as a husband. As I leave the dairy after my daily visits, I am saddened by leaving him and knowing I won’t see him or get to be with him for several more hours and then at the same time so proud of him for following his dream and working hard to keep the dairy alive.

Spiritually: The time I resent the dairy the most is on Sundays and Wednesdays, when it keeps Scott hard and work and doesn’t give him enough time to make it to class, Sunday night services, Wednesday night services and sometimes even Sunday morning worship. I find myself alone at church 3 out of 4 times a week. And I begin to hate the dairy for getting in the way of my husband’s relationship with God. And for getting in the way of our relationship as a family. It’s not just me; Scott hates missing church and hates that I go alone.

I sound like I’m whining, I know. I sound like I’m selfish and just want Scott to myself all the time. But it’s more like I grieve. First for the time we are missing out on learning how to love each other and the time we should be spending together as a couple B.C. Then for how torn my husband and I are between work and family. And finally for the constant stress and confusion we face from all of the above listed factors. So no, not whining, just wondering when we’ll catch a break.