Bleary Eyes

While most of the fashion magazines are saying that the smokey eye is the way to look, we here on the farm are sporting the bleary-eyed trend.

That's right, folks.

Red rimmed eyes, generally associated with lack of sleep are the new thing for February. Maybe because of Valentine's Day? Red hearts, red eyes?

Anyway, we are clearly exhausted around here, and it's not because of a fun night on the town. Rather, instead of togetherness making us tired, it's our parallel lives that are exhausting us. I came to this conclusion today. Joe and I get irritated with each other at times, and it's generally over putting socks away or another charge on the card from gap.com, but mainly it's because he and I are dealing with the same frustrations as of late:

Babies.

However, his are of the bovine species and mine is of the I'm-eight-months-and-have-an-ear-infection breed.

Thus, the bleary eyes.

Late nights with Jack fighting his ear infection are truly testing my patience. Couple that with three other kids, early morning runs (thanks to another stupid goal of mine to complete another half marathon...what was I thinking?) and you have a crabby mama. If you look into the universe that is parallel to mine, i.e., Joe's Farm World, you would see a similar scene. While I was up bouncing Jack, Joe was on his way down the road for the third time since 11:00PM, checking the heifers who are ready, making sure that no disasters are ensuing. While our calving barn is just a quick two miles away, put anything two miles away at 2:00 AM, and it seems like a haul.

While the love and the frustration and the duties and the exhaustion are the same, in our parallel worlds, the care and time and great understanding with which we accomplish our tasks are the same. I get really frustrated when folks out there who are not in the thick of livestock farming comment on how "most" farmers out there are cruel to their animals, raising them only for money and not allowing them to live a life that is carefree.

I think the person who is not allowed a carefree life at this moment is Farmer Joe, as it is three o'clock in the afternoon, and he's out for the fourth time, checking and choring again. Like a new mom, we aren't allowed out and about for more than three hours at a time without a check, as something might happen/go wrong/or birth in that short amount of time.

So pardon our bleary eyes. We are tired, but it is the outcome that we're remembering as we go on in our duties. I am remembering that my son needs love when he doesn't feel good...that, and I need thigh toning, so I'll stand and bounce him all night!! Joe is remembering, in his fog of exhaustion, that the calves born and nursed today with assistance will be the mamas birthing the next year, so we need to protect our precious commodities.

That, and they might just pay for a calving barn surveillance camera system that I'm going to start saving for!!