tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post3775130204688861545..comments2018-11-29T21:54:37.049-06:00Comments on Watch Out For The Bull: The Family Farm - From Burning Bridges to the TornadoRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412944120622315804noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-12538785920493129742014-09-04T17:49:01.199-05:002014-09-04T17:49:01.199-05:00I've heard a lot of people wish for that, but ...I've heard a lot of people wish for that, but having had a period where I was off for a year from school, I think the stress of it isn't appreciated.<br /><br />The problem with looking back and saying "I wish I had a year", is we look back at it from the prospective of where we are, and assume a certain continuity. But usually at that young age things that hit us are decision making in and of themselves, and almost any minor change in direction can be hugely significant, for good or ill, or more often than not for just something different. That job we didn't take, that person we met or didn't meet. Hard to tell how any of that would have played out.Pat, Marcus & Alexishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13097254988446524947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-34703364020636223822014-09-04T15:42:13.606-05:002014-09-04T15:42:13.606-05:00You might enjoy it more if you wait to wander arou...You might enjoy it more if you wait to wander around until you are older, but you usually have better stories to tell if you were young, broke, and stupid when you did something. Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11412944120622315804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-12770524596391361312014-09-04T15:01:25.533-05:002014-09-04T15:01:25.533-05:00My biggest regret is that I didn't take a year...My biggest regret is that I didn't take a year off or two post college graduation to drive around and see life. Had I done that, I'm guessing I wouldn't have ended up where I am today, and that may have been a bad thing because I have it pretty good right now. I just know a handful of people who did it and their stories are always the same. It was a life changing experience and they have so many good memories. They seem more likely to try something new and live life more fully. <br /><br />All is not lost though. I hope to get the kids up and out of the house and then maybe take a year or two roaming where my heart desires and perhaps get a little bit of the benefit even though I'm doing it much later in life. The plus is that I'll be old enough to enjoy it more fully than I would as a pimply faced young 20 something.Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214319366049620074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-15558778996919665112014-09-04T13:05:41.006-05:002014-09-04T13:05:41.006-05:00Not really, although I held out a little hope for ...Not really, although I held out a little hope for a while that I might find an engineering job that "I could live with". <br /><br />After deciding not to get a masters degree, I more or less lost all interest in getting an engineering job (can't really explain WHY, but I did, I was disillusioned in a way). It's not really something I'm especially proud of, and it's difficult to explain to anyone, but that's what happened.<br /><br />I second-guessed that decision almost every day for years while I struggled to make a living and strained almost all my personal relationships (but at least I wasn't living somewhere like Dallas, working 80 hours a week, and in debt up to my eyeballs). <br /><br />I wouldn't suggest anyone try doing something like that unless they absolutely had to.<br /><br />Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11412944120622315804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-28127549562113563262014-09-04T12:46:16.139-05:002014-09-04T12:46:16.139-05:00I've probably said it before, but back then I ...I've probably said it before, but back then I never would have guessed that anyone else was doing or thinking about things the same way I was at the time. <br /><br />I also don't know if it would have helped or hindered me back then to be able to go online and find a few like-minded people as easily as it is today. I'd like to think it would have been easier to figure out which direction to go if I could have interacted with more like-minded people. Of course, that might have pointed me in an entirely different direction.<br /><br />Life can be tough to figure out at times, but that might be the way it's supposed to be.Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11412944120622315804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-29062569473917790032014-09-04T12:45:02.042-05:002014-09-04T12:45:02.042-05:00During that post engineering school, farming exper...During that post engineering school, farming experimentation period, did you keep your hand in engineering?Pat, Marcus & Alexishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13097254988446524947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-38055369936115341952014-09-04T12:12:32.809-05:002014-09-04T12:12:32.809-05:00I have to note that I sure see a lot of my own sto...I have to note that I sure see a lot of my own story in yours. After I graduated with my BS in geology, I had a year of forced unemployment as there were no jobs. During that year, I worked as a National Guardsman, but I also spent a lot of time out of doors hunting and fishing. It wasn't a great year in a lot of ways, my mother was very ill, etc., but being out of doors in that year made a permanent impact on me.<br /><br />My college years were mostly spent outdoors, when not in the classroom, anyway. Looking back, that was one of the very best things about them. That post college year was that way too, but with no real sense on where I was going at the time.Pat, Marcus & Alexishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13097254988446524947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-44875809197366013672014-09-04T07:19:12.866-05:002014-09-04T07:19:12.866-05:00That's interesting.
My father maintained a tr...That's interesting.<br /><br />My father maintained a tremendous garden. I used to sometimes say it was a subsistence farm, which was an exaggeration by quite some measure, but it was a big garden. After he died I kept it up for awhile, and noted that there were some things that I produced even after I was married and had kids that we could go nearly all year long on. Potatoes were one. I'd harvest in September right after deer season and I'd just run out prior to spring planting.Pat, Marcus & Alexishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13097254988446524947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-68252942378836713952014-09-03T22:28:18.035-05:002014-09-03T22:28:18.035-05:00My parents always had a big garden when I was grow...My parents always had a big garden when I was growing up (I had to help in that garden and didn't really care for gardening as a kid), and I was able to use that garden area as my gardening and test plot area. Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11412944120622315804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012091795932325815.post-63630061448499045182014-09-03T21:06:43.700-05:002014-09-03T21:06:43.700-05:00So what did you do for ground at that time? Lease?...So what did you do for ground at that time? Lease?Pat, Marcus & Alexishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13097254988446524947noreply@blogger.com