Valentine's Day

Every year over Valentine's Day weekend a very special show comes to town. It isn't what you are thinking, no matter what you are thinking... I promise. Every year James insists we attend this special show, and inevitably we spend the entire day surrounded by very special people.

Carhartt jackets and overalls abound, bright green trucker hats are the norm, and the aroma of fresh cow manure wafts through the halls of the exposition center... Ahhh, the annual Farm Machinery Show.

Every year James and his dad attend the show to see how much bigger and efficient the tractors are. They look for good deals, admire the giant machinery, and talk shop with the other farmers. I usually get drug along, as well. It is Valentine's Day, after all.

I distinctly remember my first Farm Machinery Show. I agree to go to these kinds of things because I really enjoy learning new things and having different experiences, and of course, because it was Valentine's Day, and if I am not going to get a nice dinner and flowers out of this, then damnit, I will at least get a corn dog and a coke.

We walked around and around, gazing upon tractors that looked more like alien spaceships than something you would see out in a field picking up corn. They were huge! Some are at least 40 feet high, and have great, long, sharp tines sticking out of the front. Some were so big that the cabs had seating for two or more people. I was amazed. I tried to imagine a farm that was so big that even using one of these giant machines, it would still take hours to get all the work done. It made me tired just imagining.

We wandered around some more, and soon we came upon the livestock section of the show. People would bring in their show cows, and the farm equipment that dealt with cattle would be stationed all around them. Did you know they have cow washes, very similar to car washes? Awesome. You just shove them on through and they come out sparkling on the other side.

I noticed something peculiar when we were walking around, and I mentioned it to James, "There are quite a lot of blind people here, who would have thought!?". He looked around... elbowed his dad and repeated my thought, and they both instantly buckled over in laughter. Great.

I looked around at everyone poking about with the long sticks, they were all different colors. There were black ones, white ones, blue ones, hot pink ones... you name it. Then I pondered again, out loud, "Why would someone who is blind care what color their stick was?" Hilarity ensued, once again.

Finally, an explanation. At the Farm Machinery Show people pick up all kinds of tools. These tools, in particular, were long poking sticks used to prod cattle to move around. Huh. Very funny. Laugh at the little city girl.  To me it just looked like a lot of blind people. I thought it was something else that so many visually impaired farmers existed.

Now, still, his family has not gotten over this amusement of mine. The joke has spread and even the uncles are in on it now. We can't be around cows, farm machinery, or long sticks without someone saying something about blind farmers.