The Thing About Dairy Farmers

When you live on a farm you hear all kinds of interesting things, especially from children. Take for example the day that my sister-in-law was working along and her youngest daughter said with a sigh, “I question my love for the cat every time I see her chewing on a chicken head.”

Just think about the honest truthfulness of that statement. I’m pretty sure I’d question my love for ANYTHING I found chewing on a chicken head. But maybe that’s just me.

I love all the little comments that come tumbling out of children’s mouths almost as much as I love the stories that my parents and grandparents pass down.

One day I was sitting with my grandmother and she started talking about growing up on the farm. She told me all about her favorite cow, a blue-spotted one, that she would milk by hand.

“That’s so neat,” I said. “There really is something about milking by hand, the barn is so quiet and peaceful.”

She nodded absentmindedly.

“So,” I continued, “at what point did you get milking machines?”

She was quiet for a minute then said, “Actually, we had them for a lot of my childhood. My father and the hired hand used them.”

“But you didn’t?” I questioned.

Her eyes sparkled a little bit. “Guess not. And I never thought much about it. I just happily milked my cow.”

We laughed and she went on to explain that they used a generator to power the milking machines and the electric lights in the house. Just hearing all the stories made my fingers itch to start writing.

Which is pretty much The Thing About Dairy Farmers came from. It started as an essay and slowly evolved into a book of stories and memories and farm humor.

And the good news? It’s on sale Saturday-Sunday, March 18-19th. Yes, indeed.

To buy a paperback copy,  ($11.95) you can click right here. 

Or you can grab a $0.99 Kindle copy right now! 

To find out more about the book and/or share your own farming stories,
jump over to the book page here.