My last day...almost

It was hay season and I was 16 years old. On a warm June morning, i was managing a 70 acre hay field with a 1969 John Deere 4020. This was  a tractor that came into production in 1964 and they continued to make until 1972. It literally came off the assembly line 2 years after I was born. This hydro static power shift model weighed approximately 9560 lbs. Graduating from a little snapper lawn mower from home, this machine was powerful and gave me the feeling of power! If you've worked with any powerful equipment, you know the feeling I'm talking about.

So, on this Saturday, my boss, friend and agricultural mentor, Carl Hicks, asked me to use the 4020, which had round bale forks, to pick up and organize the hay. I hopped on the  JD, cranked her up and went about my simple task.

Being in the foothills of North Carolina, the pasture that I was managing had hills with terraces.  Terraces were an idea of many agricultural departments in the 30s & 40s for the purpose of slowing down erosion. Not only did it slow down erosion, but it also required you to slow down and manage the crossing  with a tractor.  The round hay bailing would not discriminate where it would unload its bales and many of the 1100 lb bales would be above, in or around these terraces.

So to share the interesting details about this story, I must explain about the synchro-range nature of gears on the John Deere 4020. Synchro-Range requires the tractor to be stopped and clutch depressed to select one of four shift stations. Once a gear is selected the tractor can be shifted on the move between the two forward gears (and single reverse in stations 1 and 2) by using the clutch. If you know anything about most smaller /older tractors, to change to a higher gear, you have to stop, choose the higher gear and if its really high, you have to be sure you don't drop the clutch and cause a stall.

I was just about finished getting the bales up and saved the more difficult bales that were on a steep grade for last. This particular bale was just above a terrace. On an incline, I backed up to the bale, lowering the forks on the lift and secured the bale and raised the lift. I mistakenly took the tractor from reverse (while stopped) quickly into 4th gear. The incline I was on and the amount of throttle I used had a bad calculus. Ole green choked. Here I was on an incline, a 9560 lb tractor with an 1100 lb bale of hay. When the engine stops running, the brakes are useless. On this incline, the tractor began rolling backwards. I attempted to jam the tractor in to park. That wouldn't work as the speed began to pick up at a rapid pace. Then the tractor hit the terrace, the steering wheel turned violently and the next few seconds are a complete blur to me. Based on the picture, you can see that 10,000 lbs + rolled. I remember being underneath the tractor.  In shock from what had happened, I remember walking across the pasture to tell Carl what had happened. Scared of what he might say or do, I had compounded fright. But Carl didn't yell because frankly, it scared him almost as bad as it scared me.

I learned a number of lessons that day. Slow down for one! There are other lessons I could share but I'll keep those in a secret notebook.

So 34 years later I can honestly reflect and tell you that it was almost my last day. In true John Deere form, Carl hooked up a John Deere 1020 with a chain and pulled the 4020 over, allowed time for the oil to re-position in the engine....and yes, she cranked right up. It had a few nicks and scratches but it was running within hours.

The responsibility that I received working for Carl carried with me over all these years. I still have agriculture in my blood.  When I see him (which is not often), we still talk about that day on Williams Road in Davie County and how it could have been so much worse. I thank God it was not my time to go. Writing this I think about all the experiences I've had since that time.

I got back on the tractor. Carl made me. It was kinda like getting back on a horse that bucked you off. It was a day of lessons, but thank God it wasn't my last.

12,000 Have passed

I use a calendar calculator occasionally to calculate contracts and due diligence dates for real estate related transactions. Using a website, I thought I'd have fun and figure how many days I've known my wife. I met Elizabeth on a balmy August 4th Saturday in 1984. Ronald Reagan was President, Van Halen's famous album 1984 was most popular, the cost to go to a movie was around $2.50. Earlier that year,  this thing called a personal computer, the Apple Macintosh was making its debut. Like our first date, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched  its maiden flight on August 30th, 1984.

As the dew on the fescue in the early morning, the world was fresh and innocent with new ideas everyday.  I was 17 years old and had no idea about the journey I getting ready to go on. Like most high school guys, I was looking for a girlfriend. I was looking for good and God was about to offer me great!

So, this 16 year old Texas girl makes her debut into Mocksville and I am probably the first in line

In a photo booth at the Masonic Picnic in August 1984

to welcome her. Now, 12,000 days later, so many things have happened, so many things have changed. Every now and then I’ll go to Amazon Prime music and play David Lee Roth’s version of “Jump” that made Van Halen so popular. The movie theaters see less of us and Apple movie benefits from our movie going desire with the click of a few buttons. I'm writing this on a Mac Air.

Every August the last 27 years, I have revisited that afternoon we met. Day one was amazing. I left her house that day saying I can’t wait for day two. Now, after day 12,000, I’ll go to sleep tonight saying I can’t wait for day 12,001.

The reflection in time and the thoughts backward 12000 days have caused me to think about the scripture that says

‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ 1 Peter 3:8–9

God obviously looks down and says, “Swicey, 12,000 ain’t nothing”. (Forgive me for the assumption that God speaks southern).  While I have cherished my 27 years with Lizzy, I realize that God’s desire for me is to cherish eternity with him. Give that idea some thought. We may believe that time is going by slow and that we have plenty of time in the future to make right by God, but now is certainly a good time. Sometimes we see eternity compressed into moments that give us a glimpse of what it must really be like, but even my gazing upon the Elkhorn Mountains of Montana must only be a spec to what the majesty of

Elkhorn Mountains, Montana

the great I AM’s presence must be.

I started this thought by looking backward, but before it was over, I nudged myself to look forward. I thought to myself, “what will be 12,000 days in the future.” I’ll be 77 (God Willing). Now that was sobering.

I am thankful for the last 12,000 days. It has been amazing; the times I have spent with my wife, the places we’ve gone, the happy times we’ve shared and the challenging times we have pulled each other through. Now, I look forward and am committed to making the next 12,000 days just as special. Tomorrow may look like 1000 years to God, but it is 24 hours to us. I’ll live it with appreciation for the patience he must have, realizing its one more day closer to cherishing God in his economy....eternity.

Dreaming of being a cowboy

Willie Nelson strummed , “I grew up a dreaming of being a cowboy”.

I’m not sure what year it was that I wanted my first pair of cowboy boots; maybe 10 or 11. I think every young boy that came of age in the 70s and early 80s was influenced by John Wayne and the rugged appearance of the American Cowboy. To me as a young man, Texas was where all cowboys lived. They poked cattle, rode horses and flirted with pretty Texas women. As funny as it may sound, I always wanted to date/marry a woman from the Lone Star State. That was God’s gift to me and worthy of another blog, but in 1984, I stood at the altar with a girl born in Dallas.

Dan Pate, Matthew Deihl  and me branding cattle in Montana

When I was 12, I had the opportunity to work on a farm.  I learned to run the 1969 John Deere 4020. There was nothing like corralling the cattle, running them thru the head gate, vaccinating, de-horning, and (yes) castrating the calves. As a young kid, the smell of cow manure was not something gross; and certainly the stain of it on your boot heels was like a badge of being a cowboy. That’s right, dried manure on your heels. No wonder mom wanted our shoes off at the front door.

So, as an adult, the friendship that I made

Temple and Curt talking about Cattle Handling

with the Pate family in Montana gave me the opportunity to continue “dreaming of being  a’Cowboy”. I remember exiting the airplane in Helena, Montana and being welcomed by my friend Dan. He gave Elizabeth and me free reign to his family ranch that backed up to the Elkhorn Mountains. Dan, a former bareback & bull rider and a world class auctioneer is a cowboy in his own right. Dan and his brother Doug have carried the torch of their family’s 50 year old auction business making themselves known in the mid-west as a premier auction company. Later Dan introduced me to his brother Curt Pate last summer. Curt on the other hand  calls himself

Meeting legends in the Cattle Industry

a Stockman.  For over 10 years Curt has been conducting demonstrations and clinics on stockmanship, colt starting, horsemanship and safety. Curt has gained fame and notoriety for his participation in Robert Redford’s movie, The Horse Whisperer.

In June,  Curt came to North Carolina to conduct a Cattle Handling event in Columbus County. With him was the famous Dr. Temple Grandin. Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities and a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed are located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a center track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants.  

She holds B.A. at Franklin Pierce College and her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University. Dr. Grandin received her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. And she is autistic. Yes, that’s right.

So, on a balmy North Carolina afternoon, Curt and Temple shared with a group of about 100 people good livestock handling practices. The event made me realize the importance of professionalism and education. Even in livestock handling, it pays to learn from the best, and these two are the best of the best. Pate writes a regular blog.  Temple on the other hand has published multiple articles and written scores of books.   
Cattle handling trainer, Stockman, PhD,  call them what you want, but I’ll tell you they’re both a cowboy and cowgirl.

Watching the demonstration took me back some 37 years on those hot summers we tended cattle. If you’d have interviewed that 12 year old kid with stain covered cowboy boots, I probably would have described my future similar to what Curt now does for a living. But, my path took a different road.

I still wear cowboy boots; heck I even own a few horses and during different seasons, I have a few head of cattle. My dream as a kid of being a cowboy came to life. Because being a cowboy come in different shapes and forms. Curt is on horseback as much as he’s in a car and Temple in is the stock yard more than most. Being a cowboy is a state of mind. It’s not buying a new pair of Luccheses and putting them on for a country music concert. It’s the appreciation of the field, love of the animals and a free spirit inside of you that longs to pursue your dreams.

Did my dream come true? Yes, I’m a cowboy; maybe a little different type than Curt, Dan and Temple, but I do consider myself a cowboy. I still dream of working cows, sunsets and finding peace in the simplest of things.

It's ok to dream….I still do.