My wife is one of nine children and she has roughly 52 first cousins. Before I proceed, let me briefly divert to John Denver.
John Denver? Millennials may say, “Who the heck was he?” Well, he was actually one of the top-selling pop music artists of the 1970’s. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was one of his #1 hits, but many of his songs focused on country life. Here are some short snippets from a couple of his songs.
“Well life on the farm is kind of laid back. Ain’t much an old country boy like me can’t hack.”
…and
“Gee it’s good to be back home again. Sometimes this old farm feels like a long-lost friend.”
You get the idea.
My wife grew up in Westpahlia, Kansas, which is about an hour south of Kansas City. The topography is flat, the soil rich and the work ethic of local farmers astounding. This little hamlet now has fewer than 200 residents. No stoplights, not even a blinking yellow. We recently returned from a 10-day trip back to this dot on the map and something of a trip back in time.
The area was founded by German Baptists and Catholics around 1880. The Catholic church in Westphalia is pretty much the center of everything Catholic and everything social. Mary grew up with Catholic nuns as her teachers in elementary school. By some of the antics she committed in high school you would think the nuns did a poor job guiding her. I’m pleased to say she has pretty much outgrown that phase.
The purpose of our visit was two-fold. First, she and her four sisters get together every year for a long weekend. This year we had a project painting a house in Westphalia one of her sisters recently had purchased. The three husbands pitched in and we got’er done. Cheap labor and a good memory. The second purpose was a family reunion on Mary’s dad’s side of the family. Even though many people had other commitments, we still had 130 in attendance. I was thankful everyone wore nametags.
Allow me to rehash a couple of highlights from the trip. Two of the husbands, who grew up in the area, took me fishing at a local farm pond. In 15 minutes the three of us caught at least 60 pounds of bass. Almost all were in the 3-5 pound range (we threw them all back). What a thrill! The second highlight was being a farmer at harvest time. I had always wanted to see how a combine works. One of Mary’s cousins, Doug, was harvesting corn and allowed me to ride with him for more than three hours. I felt like the husband (Mr. Douglas) in TV’s “Green Acres.”
A combine with attachments is roughly a $1 million investment. The cab has two adjustable padded seats, air conditioning and a nice stereo system. It is hooked up to GPS through satellites and tells you the yield per acre as you drive along at about five miles per hour. It harvested 12 rows of corn at a time while stripping the kernels off the cobs and spitting the cobs and husks out the back. Kudos to John Deere. When the bin on the combine is full, the driver radios a tractor pulling a huge grain bin. That tractor pulls up alongside at the same speed and the combine shoots the corn into the grain bin. When that grain bin is full, he drives to a huge truck that takes the corn to mammoth silos. The process goes on all day. Doug harvested 600 acres that day. One of Mary’s brothers said the maximum they could harvest in the 1970’s was 40 acres in one day. Science and technology have combined so we can not only feed our nation, but we can feed the world. This cousin and three workers oversee 4,000 acres of farmland.
After being with me in the cab for just five minutes, Doug said, “You should know that I am a Democrat.” I wanted to say, “I knew there must be at least one in the state of Kansas,” but I held my tongue. What ensued was a three-hour conversation on every topic you can think of. We covered immigration, the presidency, raising children, living in a small town vs. big city, foreign policy, farm subsidies – you name it. In the end, we found we were both a lot closer to the middle on issues than at both poles. As I descended from the cab and walked across the cornfield, I realized that a little conversation can go a long way. The two ears and one mouth philosophy helps as well: “Tell me a little more about why you feel that way.”
I was raised as a “city boy.” Being exposed to Westphalia and Mary’s family over the decades has broadened my understanding of work, people and faith. The people in this area place family first and the land second, but both are inseparably wrapped around their Christian faith. These people truly would give you the shirts off their backs.
P.S. The next time you buy gas with 15% ethanol in it I want you to thank me. I may have harvested the corn that produced that product.
