8.17.17 Mud n GRIT

The last 30 hours or so have been the stuff muscles and nightmares are made of. Broken pivots. I was not quite sure what this really meant until I requested some pictures. I am very familiar with the hour of sloshing the muddy clothes in a bucket to remove most of the mud prior to washing in my machine. I am very well acquainted with the hours the kids are gone and am shocked at the stories they share when they come home. But I love these pictures and I love the powerful Gritty children the experiences are producing.

Confidence. Life doesn't get much dirtier than this. And please note at least 50% of pivot issues are resolved after dark here. Imagine this with small flashlights strapped precariously on your head.

In the pivot track he is on the mud that they will have to shovel out. 

Resting on the job he may be floating. For real the track is that wide and deep.

See that's about 3 feet deep. 

And it goes on forever! or many miles. This treat was two towers that kept alternating getting stuck. So dig for 5-100 yards then pray the wheels will grip that distance and move on. Then move to the next tower and do the same thing getting the tires to roll one inch then one foot at a time.

My 5'11' Aliza standing waiting to put more cement in that mud. The cement gives a bottom to the marsh like pit. So ever being earth friendly they are breaking up old cement ditch with hammers moving it by tractor, then in 5 gallon buckets into the field to be placed like puzzle pieces into these trenches. The good news is that generally when the project is complete the pivot does not get stuck again this season.

The sloppy mud that was removed to get to the bottom of the trench. First is the shovel, then more shovel, then some pushing and pulling, and then more shoveling, then the laying of the cement. This is where endurance, perseverance, will power, team work, etc. come from. 

I've mentioned Reed's struggle with reading. Each of these three struggled with reading or math. Sometimes life is hard. Mastering new skills is often a challenge. THere are many situations that are not pleasant or fun. But I hear often from Greg's siblings "these memories fueled me when life got hard and those lessons on the farm gave me the confidence I could master anything!"

 Reed's teacher tonight was stating the necessity of Grit in learning. Well I think I have proof they are gritty kids. Reed was not involved today, he has been on many of the other days though. This was not the first time for this kind of adventure. This summer has been ripe with broken, stuck pivots and the call for helpers to fix them.

 After they ate lunch today they went to tackle the other pivot that had literally broken. They lugged a 100# lb gear box and jacks and other tools into the field and fixed that and a driveline. 

About 12 hours total in the corn field today after 2-4 last night.  Sweat running down the back, covered and caked in mud and corn stuff. It was a long day for them. Just like many more that will come in their future. But they will take the lessons they learned of working together and the only way to get through a job is to get through it. It's hard to be the mom and wait on these days. I don't love them having to work so hard, I don't like them having little time to play like other kids. However,  they do seem pretty creative in their play and I know that these lessons are more valuable than just loafing around. Just a few more days and school will start and then the resting will begin. Or more accurately they will come home to these messes and work through them then to bed and back to school. Thank goodness for lots of water to clean up in. Showers are a most blessed event here.