Chapter 7
Gus’s aches and pains reminded him farming was a young man’s game. The trials and tribulations of farming had sometimes caused him to question whether it was all worth it. One spring storm could wipe out many days of hard work planting seed. A mid-summer hail storm could strip corn or milo right off the stalk. A tractor breaks down or the hired help doesn’t show up. The farmer had wondered over the years what it would have been like to put in his forty hours somewhere, with nights and weekends off, let someone else do the worrying. And yet, Gus had always known he would have never been happy doing anything but working the land. It was in his blood. Those periods of frustration passed and he got back to the business of farming.
The farm had changed dramatically since he’d taken it over. Hundreds of acres had been cleared of brush and hardwood forest to accommodate for more rows of crops. Gus had gambled and borrowed against the farm buying out the neighboring farms tripling the acreage he’d inherited from his father. The notes had been paid in full for years and the Rogers were considered wealthy by most folks. Gus had never intended to be wealthy. It just happened that his hard work and a little luck had paid off. Many thousands of hours of working on the farm are lost in time and since Grace died he’d considered retiring but knew if he did he’d be more lost than he already was.
Gus’s farm hand of several years had recently taken another job. Gus was sorry to see him go but he couldn’t offer the benefits his new job offered. Gus made a trip to town and put an ad in the newspaper. He’d asked everyone he could think of if they knew of anyone. He even left an ad on the bulletin board at the barber shop but just wasn’t having any luck at all finding a hired hand.
The Pride of Howard County Page 7