[AT] Old tractors and old men

[charlie hill]

Herb and Grant,

I agree with both of you whole heartedly and in fact the two of you
have been inspirational to me.   Particularly Herb because we have
met and I know that you are older than me and have more health problems
too.  I seriously thought about trying to do something with the farm this 
year
but I was in the middle of getting checked out by doctors and it was time to
make a decision.  I couldn't leave the farm untended for another year 
without
loosing my agricultural exemption for property taxes and also my sister is 
my
equal partner in the land and I have to keep her happy as well.  So, I went 
ahead
and leased the farm.  It's a year to year lease but I hate to snatch it away 
from the
guy until he's he's had a few years to recover his initial investment in 
cleaning the
place up after the former tenant, who was going broke, allowed it to go 
down.
I'm thinking what I might do is start out small this year or next by plowing 
up some
land that is now unused pasture that I have to keep mowed.  Then if it works 
out
I can start to reclaim part of the farmland a few acres at a time while he 
tends the
rest.  We'll see.  My main problem is that I lack the motivation.  I don't 
know exactly
why but lately I can't get motivated to do even the simplest tasks.   I 
don't know if it
is the result of some depression or perhaps mild post traumatic stress from 
dealing
with my moms failing health or what but I have to figure out how to fight my 
way through
it.

Stay tuned.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Grant Brians
Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2017 9:42 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Old tractors and old men

Herb's advice here in his post is right on target. The fun part of
farmers markets is the interaction with people and supplying them with
nutritious and tasty food. The best sales people I have seen at farmers
markets are almost always senior citizen men. My advice to Charlie and
others is to also look for a young person who doesn't have access to
land or tools but can be interested in farming. I myself got into
farming because I had a market garden in our Suburb when I was 10-13
years old on a neighbors property. He and his wife loved the veggies and
that the property was taken care of ad he liked seeing me work....
             Grant Brians - Hollister,California farmer
p.s. I will admit I grew up before Video Games, cell phones and the
Internet so I wa wired for work, but still there are young people out
there who want to learn and work.
On 2/4/2017 7:10 PM, Herb Metz wrote:
> Charlie, and Others, I turned 86 several months ago.  Ten years ago I
> developed severe scoliosis, then old mans humped over condition.  It is 
> not
> funny, but people (all ages and both sexes) clear a path and open any 
> doors
> when they see me coming.  Surgeons reach for the door knob soon as they
> learn that I have heart arrhythmia; also am on my second pacemaker. My 
> back
> gets a bit worse each year;  doctors say to set my own pace.
> Barbara and I seriously enjoy gardening; she has a prize daylily garden in
> addition to roses, irises, etc.  I have a large no chemicals vegetable
> garden and sell at both local farmers markets.  Not diplomatic enough to 
> be
> considered a good salesman, but I sure enjoy selling because of the
> conversation sharing with others who appreciate good vegetables.  That 
> perk
> is a bigger plus than I ever expected; in fact I had not thought about it
> until after it was well established.  And that is why I primarily 
> addressed
> this email to you. You are an exceptional conversationalist, so I think 
> you
> would likewise really enjoy the marketing portion of such project.
> Yes, we are getting older; last year we had to hire a part time helper.
> When I was 15 or 16, I remember Dad telling a carpenter cousin that 
> doctors
> were now telling retiring farmers (many farmers in KS at that time) to 
> "stay
> busy"; their prior advice had been "they had worked hard all of their 
> life,
> so sit down and enjoy retirement and take it easy"; unfortunately many of
> those farmers were being buried a few years later.
> Another big perk is getting to use our Allis Chalmers tractors; D-14, G's,
> 720 large lawn tractor, and equipment.
> Just thinking about a trip to the VA and seeing young veterans in
> wheelchairs, who will be in wheelchairs the rest of their lives (limbs 
> lost
> because of land mines) quickly provides an occasional necessary attitude
> adjustment. Herb(GA)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: charlie hill
> Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2017 5:32 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] Old tractors and old men
>
> I'm 66 now and according to my doctors and all the tests
> I'm in good shape.  Blood and urine work all looks good.
> No severe prostate problems yet, etc. but my legs are giving
> me a fit.  Doc tells me my knees are far enough gone to replace
> yet but they are a bit unstable and grind at times.  My right hip
> is hurting me.  My ankles have been bad since I tore them up
> playing football as a kid.  All of that together along with the stress
> and inactivity of looking out for my mom for two years until her death
> have turned me in to an aching,  out of shape  old man.  I have been
> cleared by my doctors and a physical therapist to go to the gym and
> try to get back in shape and I'm going to do that soon.  luckily my
> insurance
> will pay for most of the cost of that through a program called Silver and
> Fit.
> Others may have access to another program called Silver Sneakers.
> My urologist did a CT scan of my kidneys and bladder recently.  He didn't
> find
> any problem there other than benign prostate hyperplasia but he did notice
> that
> I have some deteriorating discs in my lower back so I guess I need to be
> careful
> at the gym.
>
> Speaking of farming.  As sad as I am that my mom is now gone on, I always
> thought
> that when that day came I'd be free to do something different with our 
> small
> farm.
> I wanted to try farming some sweet potatoes, pumpkins, water melons, and
> veggies for
> sale at a road side stand.  I have almost all the equipment I need to do 
> it
> and I even
> have irrigation equipment left over from our tobacco farming days. 
> However,
> I just don't
> have the drive and motivation to do it now.  I also thought at this age 
> I'd
> be able to restore
> my tractors and old trucks but I don't have much enthusiasm for that 
> either.
>
> Oh well.  At least I'm on the green side of the grass.
>
> Charlie
>
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