Labor Day

​Our house painters briefly showed up today before immediately leaving because they thought we might be sleeping (at 10a.m.!) because it’s a national holiday today. Ha!
 
Labor Day is a day “set aside” to recognize the contributions of American workers to society.  The irony is never lost on me that most farmers I know work on Labor Day.  That farmers, borne of a fierce independence and social isolation, are not considered part of any great labor “force.”  Farmers, who have mostly existed in the lower socio-economic factions of our society, shy away from any recognition of their place as the backbone of said society.
 
We just plow forward (pardon the pun), coaxing life from the land and distributing it amongst our fellow citizens.  We just do what needs to be done.  Humble.  Quiet. Steady.  Content to work “behind the scenes.” We labor in constant companionship with the land. And yes, it’s a labor of love.  A love like a long marriage: one that runs deep and true, and whose faded passion melds often into bickering, but whose constituents could never imagine being apart.