Never Gets Old

It sounds like we are currently under attack.

The crop dusters are back.

As I sit here on this devilishly hot day, my girls and now little guy are running from one side of the house to the next, watching the crop duster as he (or she...but I'm assuming he) dive bombs our house in order to dust the field across the road. The girls are giddy, saying thinks like, "The pilot has to see me! I'm waving!!!" and "Remember last year when they came, they were awesome."

Jack is loving this, as his new trick is making a motor sound for anything that is mechanical and moves, i.e., cars, semis, pickups, tractors, lawnmowers, earth movers, bikes, motorcycles, and now planes.

While I thought that by my sixth year of living amongst the corn and soybeans I would become desensitized to this method of applying fungicide, but I'm not. I still jump. I still run to the windows like the kids. Even though I know that I should be snapping pictures of the plane and its proximity to my rooftop, I find myself just standing in the window or on the deck in awe of the precision these pilots must execute to get just the right distance to apply just the right stuff to the field.

It is fascinating.

And, for those of you who are wondering, it's necessary. This is our livelihood. This is our bankroll. This is our preschool tuition and shoes and groceries next year. While I know that some folks out there are still questioning the application of anything, be it fungicide, herbicide, fertilizer, nitrogen or manure, please know that a lot of thought, time, effort, and in a crop duster's case, training, goes into the planning of the health of  our crop. We're helping to keep the plants as healthy and happy as they can be.

We're fighting an uphill battle currently, as we have missed many of the good rains. There's a lot of sighing going on from the office in the morning as Joe checks the radar and its lack of water. Worried, furrowed brows crease many faces in our community. We're better off than some, but we're no

It never ceases to amaze me that the question, "How much rain did you get?" is one of the first ones farmers ask each other, whether the year is wet or dry. This year the answer is generally, "Not enough."

While you can control decisions from whether or not to utilize crop dusting (a.k.a. aerial application) and what brand of seed you can buy, when it doesn't rain, your controlled decisions go out the window. This is something about our livelihood that could drive a control freak like me to insanity. I don't fight uphill battles without a fight, and my rain dance currently is not working.

Sigh.

However, tonight, we'll put the thoughts and what ifs about the drought out of our mind, and try to enjoy the novelty of the crop duster, because that never seems to get old.

t out of the woods yet, and it shows in my husband's conversations with friends and relatives.