February 11th 2023

Purple

Last week I was hard to miss on the farm. I have light purple insulated bibs and my sister gave me a bright purple coat a few weeks ago which I've worn quite frequently. This coat is clearly not farm-wear, but it's warm and light and it makes me think of her, so it makes me happy. Now, being decked in purple nearly head to toe (aside from a bright green beanie to round out the look) is not my usual style. It makes me feel a little bit absurd at times, but it also makes me irrationally joyful to be so obnoxiously purple. I was thinking about how ridiculous I might appear, and then had to laugh at the paradox. 

        Less than one percent of the US population is farming. For a lot of folks I have been the only farmer that they know personally. Of that one percent I'm sure it's maybe another one percent, or less, that are farming with draft animals. So here I am feeling a bit awkward in purple while making a living farming with horses, and part of a tenth of a percent of the US Population, and even that might be an overstatement. Sometimes it feels a bit mad to do something so counter-cultural and so against the grain. But then I can't help but wonder if wanting a hand in your own sustenance, and supporting your neighbors should be so odd. Maybe we should find fast food so jarring and disorienting, or the miles food travels to sit on grocery store shelves, or the fact that everything has to come in layers of packaging and plastic. Maybe farming in purple is currently the oddest thing I do, but perhaps it shouldn't be quite so surprising, maybe it should actually be the most "normal" thing to do.