Green Spaces in Rural Places

I grew up as a military dependent, known to many as a brat. We brats embrace the term, not as a slur, but as a mark of distinction. We recognize in each other a shared lifestyle, foreign to most staties. Most of us experienced varied cultures and countries, making us adaptable to most of what life has to offer. Our symbol is the dandelion, scattered by the winds of life, yet able to set down roots and thrive where we land.

When I was a teen, of an age to meet my life partner, my father was stationed at the 779th Radar Site, just outside Opheim, Mont. We'd never lived in a farming and ranching community before. We'd never lived where there wasn't a large military presence. We'd never had lifelong friends, having moved every two to three years. In fact, we hardly knew our own aunts, uncles, and cousins.

We arrived from Wiesbaden, Germany in the summer. Talk about your culture shock! The first thing that impressed us was the lack of trees and forests, and the long, straight roads. We bemoaned the lack of cover offered by the land. The huge sky seemed to press down upon us. But the beauty of the plains grew on us.

Later we were transferred to Duluth, Minn. There, we complained about the trees blocking the views, and the twisting roads. You couldn't see traffic coming at you until they were right there! But I'd met and fell in love with a young man from Opheim. We married and I made my final move, back to Montana.

At first, we weren't going to be farmers, even though Dennis had grown up on their family farm. But my father-in-law needed help, and Dennis was killing himself, working days with his dad and nights at the former Glasgow AFB. So we came to the farm, where I've learned a lot about this lifestyle over the years.

We are now well into harvest time, the culmination of all our hard work, plans, dreams, and hopes. It is the payoff for all the earlier efforts of seeding and caring for our crop.

Farming is unlike other businesses, in that the entire year's income depends upon a few months' worth of work. And so much can disrupt that. Some years there are rains at harvest. Some years hailstorms hit and destroy your dreams. Some years there are early frosts while the wheat is still green enough to be damaged. Some years there are early snows. Sometimes planting is delayed due to a late spring, or late snows, or heavy spring rains, leading to late harvests. Farmers are very much dependent on the weather.

Some farmers hedge their bets by also raising cattle or other livestock. The old adage is that when grain prices are up, cattle prices are down, and vice versa. Of course, this isn't always true. Many farmers now plant multiple crops, rather than just wheat. Those crops are planted and harvested at different times, extending their harvest times. There are those who have the added work and headaches of irrigating their land. Those with livestock also spend time putting up hay for the winter. That keeps them busy between seeding and harvesting.

It has always seemed strange to me that farmers are businessmen who produce a product, yet don't set the price they receive for it, but are dependent upon the markets. There are so many variables to account for: weight, color, protein, insect or frost damage, whether other countries have a surplus . . . Sometimes it seems as though the deck is stacked against us. And yet, we love the life, and there's always next year.