Rori, Tractor Copilot

As I talked about in my post "Tractor Cabs and Farmer Time," my lovely dog Rori gets the pleasure of copiloting while I'm in the tractor. And in the pickup, while riding horses, or in an ATV.

Quick intro to Rori: red and white Australian Shepherd/Border Collie who just turned three. She's a total weirdo, slightly cross-eyed, loves me too much, thinks she is the one dating Royce instead of me, a little bit of a creeper and an amateur trick dog. 

My mom bred and raised Rori's litter out of her good Aussie female, Rebel. Rori was my first pick out of the litter, and she chose me too. She's my partner-in-crime and kept me sane (well... semi-sane) while living in Michigan. 

So in case you need a dose of adorable, here are a few photos of Rori attempting to deal with the two square feet of space.

Farm Fiancé Lessons: Tractor Cabs and Farmer Time

Marrying a farmer gives me the chance to do some farming as well. Seeing as how I came from a farm background, I actually enjoy spending hours in a small tractor cab. I regularly use the word "therapeutic" when referring to tractor time. It is a wonderful time to get some quality thinking done while also being productive.

An afternoon of solitude was precisely what I needed after the craziness of my move from Michigan to Texas so on my first Thursday in Texas, I spent the afternoon in the tractor running the plow. I have never been involved in the tillage process before since I was always busy in school during this time of the year, but after a one-round lesson from my awesome teacher Royce, I was good to go.

For the most part, it was glorious! Just me and my dog, Rori, against the corn and cotton stalks from last year. I might have had a couple of small "oops" moments, like when I didn't quite get my GPS guidance clicked on or when I put my plow down a little too soon during my turn, but when I pulled the tractor and plow into the farmyard, they were both still in one piece. I'll call that a win for me!

However, I learned a very valuable lesson every farmer's wife, fiance or girlfriend should know. Knowing what I know now, I got way too excited when Royce asked me to run the tractor for him. For the next week after that, he kept asking me if I could plow "for just an hour or so."* Not saying that I didn't truly love running the tractor for the afternoon (because I did) and not saying that I won't run the tractor on the weekends (because I will), but I really like my big kid job too. Getting him to grasp the fact of me working from home has been a challenge, but he's catching on now.

*Side note: Just an FYI, farmer time does not correlate to the actual clock at all. An "hour or so" ends up being at least three hours. Farmer time is a little bit like a woman's "getting ready" time. While I say, "I'll be ready in 10 minutes," what I really mean is, "I'll be ready whenever I'm ready, and that will most likely be at least 30 minutes."