by Curt Kovener
My Grandpa was a farmer. In the middle of the 20th century Depression, he took a repossessed, run-down, top-soil eroded 160 acres of weeds and spent dirt and with equipment he bought used, a lot of sweat and faith renovated the land and made a living for his family.
No four-wheel drive, air-conditioned cab model tractors; he made the ground produce with a Ford 8-N, 9-N and a Farmall Model H.
He was an old German farmer who lived and learned a lot of life. Here are some observations on farming as well as life for which he could have been responsible.
•Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
•Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
•Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
•A bumble bee is considerably faster than a tractor.
•Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled.
•Meanness don’t just happen overnight.
•Forgive your enemies… it messes up their heads.
•Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
•It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
•You cannot unsay a cruel word.
•Every path has a few puddles.
•When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
•The best sermons are lived, not preached.
•Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
•Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
•Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
•Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
•Don’t interfere with something that ain’t botherin’ you none.
•Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
•If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
•Sometimes you get, sometimes you get got.
•The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every morning.
•Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
•Sometimes when you think someone isn’t directing their comments are you, they probably are.
•Live simply. Deal fairly. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the rest up to the Almighty.