Growing up in the grass seed capital of the world the way I did, I wasn't the only teenager that had this type of summer job. And those of us that did the same thing during the summer time had a type of understanding that other friends did not. We had similar work ethic without other options. At the time, most of us were in it because that was our only option for summer work. They were either a direct descendant of the owner, or in my case, my family was very good friends with the farm's owner.

There was an understanding between all of us that you listened to that station in the evening to see who would get on air. Friends would request favorite songs, girls would request romantic songs to try and get the point across to that special boy. But Marie and I would request classic Bellamy Brothers, Redneck Girl often. Because as all of you know, a redneck girl wears the name on the back of her belt. Both Marie and I proudly wore our leather belts with our jeans displaying our names across the back. (If you don't know the lyrics and that made no sense to you, shame on you.)

I'll do my best to take you back in time to our high school summer-time playlist.
Redneck Girl- Bellamy Brothers
Fishin' In the Dark- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Cadillac Ranch- Chris LeDoux
Where The Sidewalk Ends- George Straight (because everybody loves George)
Watermelon Crawl- Tracy Byrd
and anything by The Judds
... you get the idea.

My mom and I take it to another level. Randomly, I will receive a text message with a set of lyrics typically not the chorus to name the song, and extra points for naming who sings it. If I'm driving, I'll record myself singing lyrics and have her name it. I don't drive without music on and I think that I blame that tick on having worked in the fields for so many years. To keep myself from getting bored or tired, I needed to SING!!! So... there is never a quiet cab when I'm driving. Some habits die hard.
The last struggle that I know my fellow farm gals will understand is finding a comfortable temperature. Depending on the time of season... whether we were cutting, thrashing, or working dirt really determined how I would dress. When I was young, my dad always advised long pants and tall boots. Keeps the seed out. However, sometimes my rebelling teenage attitude came billowing out and I wasn't able to stop it. If I was stuck in a cushy, air conditioned, clean combine cab all day and I didn't have to climb up on top of trucks to settle seed down before tarping or if I didn't have to do a lot of running around the field... all I had to do was drive, I'd wear shorts. Tank tops, tshirts, and sweatshirts. Then Boss would get in, crank the AC while he rode a round with me and completely mess up the comfortable temperature I'd finally achieved. As an adult, I learned that jeans and tall boots were the only way I could function. I really couldn't handle dirt or seed being in my socks or in between my toes. I needed clean, dry feet. To keep myself cooled off if I had to spend much time outside, I was a tank top gal through and through. My armpits get claustrophobic I used to say.
These days, Marie and I have no need to cruise in our daddy's pickup trucks... we have our own. Again, if you don't recognize it, shame on you! Look up the song and get familiar.
No comments:
Post a Comment