A Day in the Life of a Midwestern Farming Family
Our story begins on
a hot summer day in July 2002. Brandon Shimerda has just finished his first
year at the University of Michigan and is spending the summer at home. He is
sitting in the back seat of his family's station wagon in between his 14-year-old
sister and 8-year-old brother. After a 14-hour drive, the car slows to a stop
in the driveway of an old farmhouse in Minnesota, which belonged to his relatives
for 3 generations. This is also the same land that Brandon's great great grandparents
first farmed. The family gets out of the car, greets their relatives, and begins
to unpack the car.
After spending 14 hours in a car with his family, Brandon decides to escape
for a while and regain his sanity. He begins to walk around the property and
spots an old barn in the back of his relative's cornfield. He walks over to
the barn and enters through the big red doors.
As Brandon enters the barn, he is transported back in time to the late 1800's.
He is still on his relative's farm; however, it is just after his ancestors
have settled the land. The barn is newly built and freshly painted. Brandon
senses that something is not quite right and leaves the barn. He looks out to
the road and sees a covered wagon pass by on a dirt road where only a few minutes
ago he saw cars and concrete. He realizes what has happened and walks the property
to get a good look at the landscape.
As Brandon surveys the landscape, he spots a small sod house. Once he takes in the landscape he begins to walk towards the house.
At the house, Brandon
introduces himself to his relatives. He explains to them that he is just passing
through and he would like a place to stay for a day or two in return for a couple
days work. The family agrees and tells him that he can start working tomorrow.
They sit him down at their table and feed him the only thing they have; potatoes,
bread, and some milk from their only cow.
Over dinner, Brandon's ancestors tell him stories about how they came to America.
They also tell him about how they had to clear the land when they first arrived.
After dinner, they go to bed. The next morning, Brandon awakens at dawn to begin his day's work. First they feed the chickens and milk the cow. Then everyone except for the mother and the youngest children go out to the fields to plow and get the fields ready for planting.
At dusk they stop working and make their way back to the little sod house. They get the horses together, pile into the wagon, and go into town for the church potluck dinner, their only social event of the season.
At the potluck supper
they talk with their neighbors whom they barely ever see since they live so
far apart and there is always a lot of work to do on the farm. They talk about
their farms, their plans for planting and harvesting, and exchange farming tips.
They soon leave the church and head back home. Once they arrive back at the
farm, they take care of the animals and then go to bed, since they have to wake
up at dawn the next morning and continue to work on the fields. After only one
day of work Brandon is exhausted and falls asleep immediately.
Suddenly, Brandon is jolted back to reality. He is still in his relatives barn and his father has just walked in saying, "There you are. We've been looking for you."