Instead

All our plans for the weekend went the way of the wind when we heard that my brother, Uncle Tom, needed help putting up hay.

(Yes, he's my brother. But we call him 'Uncle Tom', because he's my kids' uncle. That's how it is now... My sisters are referred to as 'Auntie'. I call my own mom 'Grandma'. I call my husband 'Dad'. I even refer to myself in the third person as 'Mom'. I think this must be a universal truth of having children.)

Anyhow, we did get a little work done here on the farm Saturday morning, then it was down the road -- about an hour and forty-five minute drive -- to help with the hay.

This is my nephew, who is a senior in high school. He's pretty funny. He dances like John Travolta and climbs like Curious George. It's mesmerizing. If I did any of those things with my body, I would surely herniate seven discs.

Anyhow, back to the hay... I should clarify something. The helping with the hay, specifically, was not so much me. This was more of an offering of my husband's hay bucking skills. I have, in my day, bucked my share of hay bales. But I don't think my back would let me do that kind of work anymore.

I'm so sad abot this.

Baling and stacking hay is so fun.

I love having dust in my eyes and nostrils, and hay scratching every part of my body.

Not.

I do love the smell of fresh hay, however. I think it's even sweeter when I'm not the one doing the labor.

So, I was the lucky girl who got to tend to the children up at the house instead, and whoop up sum suppa.

(That's 'make some supper', in layman's terms.)

That was Saturday.

On Sunday, we spent the morning at church, then headed back to Uncle Tom's in the afternoon so we Mr. Blue Eyes could lend a hand. Little Blue Eyes and I were catching a cold, so the kids and I just hung out outside and in the house together.

Uncle Tom has a trampolena (as Miss Peaches likes to call them), so we had to get some bounce time in. I also snuck off to take a few picture of the horses and mules...

...but the lighting wasn't good and I was feeling kind of surly, so I wasn't too ambitious about it.

I was sure to get a couple pictures of this dude, however...

Uncle Tom's rooster. He brings new meaning to the term 'cocky'. He may just be the meanest rooster in the midwest.

Everyone there had stories about how he had tried to attack them, spurs and flapping wings and all, at one point or another. I made sure to keep the kids a safe distance from him. He spent the better part of both days pacing around the house, looking at his own reflection in the windows, and crowing at himself.

My brother, Uncle Tom...

I love this picture, because it portrays him perfectly... When the storm hit our place in July, I called him, because I knew if he could, he would help. He and his 'special friend' (girlfriend? lady friend? not sure... but I do know she is special) Sandy were here by the afternoon to help with the clean up. As soon as these linemen pulled up to work on our power lines, Tom was there offering them water and asking if they needed anything else.

Tom is...

Loving.

A father of six wonderful children.

A hater of computers and/or the internet, so there's little chance he would ever read this.

Profoundly spiritual.

A talented carpenter.

A hard worker.

Miss Peaches' 'pretend pony'...

(She feeds her 'pretend pony' grass. A lot of grass.)

A 'by ear' piano player.

A hugger, kisser, and sayer of, "I love you."

This means a lot to me. There is something... important... about being in the presence of your brother and knowing you are loved.

So, it was important for us to get there and help him out when he needed it, even if it was just in the form of an extra set of strong hands, a hot dish, and a couple of silly kids to provide comic relief.

Comments

[beth]

Awwww, I love this post. Brothers are the best! (I have two) :-)

[Tauna]

Uncle Tom sounds like the best of brothers in the world.
They should all have to take lessons from him.

Sounds like your day was busy busy!
Not sure how you accomplish it all.
I love your pictures.
I love the way you write.

I'm still waiting to see pictures of your canning.
And tomatoes.
Ya know, in your spare time.

I love looking at canning and garden produce pictures.