Andrew Jackson steered his pickup onto the driveway of the Jackson farm and drove slowly towards the farmyard. Looking out of the window to the left he saw the white blobs of the sheep in the first pasture, most of them grazing, some lying down. The guard donkeys moved among the sheep like grey shadows, pausing to look up, ears pricked forward as the truck rolled by. Farther away, in the second pasture, he could see the dark bodies of the cows and calves, indistinct against the equally dark background of the woods beyond. It was a scene he had viewed almost daily for the better part of 55 years, and it had never failed to move him.
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Are we going to call this meeting to order or what?” Brady Jackson leaned back in his chair and looked…
Andrew pulled into the farmyard and up to the overhead door of the machine shed, which was closed against the cool southeast wind. The brisk breeze sent the early-autumn leaves skittering across the gravel and piled them up along the bottom of the machine shed wall. It was not a stormy wind, but neither was it one of the merry little breezes you might find in an Earnest Thompson Seton story.
Andrew held on to his hat as he climbed out of the truck and opened the shed door. He stepped inside and saw his son Randy, bathed in the brightness of a portable halogen spotlight, leaning over and working on the front-end loader of the John Deere tractor they had owned for some 20 years.
Randy glanced up but kept working. “Hey Pops,” he said. “Good timing. Give me a hand here would you? Hold this hose in position so I can tighten the clamps.”
Andrew walked over and did as instructed.
“Got a leak in the hydraulics,” said Randy by way of explanation. “Thought I’d fix it before it blew out, for a change.”
“Well that’s not how I would have done it,” said Andrew. “I always enjoyed the excitement of a geyser of hydraulic oil spewing out all over the front of the tractor, and then having to fix it outside in the rain. Good times.”
“I know,” said Randy. “I remember. That’s how we learn from our parents, right? We watch what they do and we think, hey, there has to be a better way.”
“There is almost always a better way,” said Andrew.
Randy finished tightening the last clamp and straightened up, stretching his back. “It seems I am not as young as I used to be,” he said. “My back keeps letting me know.”
“That’s a fairly common complaint,” said Andrew. “Very few of us are getting younger.”
“Coffee?” Randy walked over to the workbench, wiped his hands on a clean rag and picked up the pot. “I just made it 10 minutes ago.”
“Of course,” said Andrew. “Thank you. Coffee is why I am here.”
Randy laughed. “Any time I need you for something I just make a fresh pot of coffee and I know you’ll show up. It’s like you have a sixth sense or something.”
“A seventh sense maybe,” said Andrew. “Isn’t the sixth sense the one that lets you see dead people?”
“Whatever,” said Randy. “You have an extra sense that helps you detect coffee from 15 miles away. That’s all I need to know.”
There was a moment of silence as the two of them set their coffee cups down on the ancient Formica-topped table in the corner and pulled up a chair each. Andrew took a sip of his coffee.
“How is everything?” he asked.
Randy shrugged. “Boringly fine,” he said. “Jackie’s at work, kids are with Mom at your house… but then you know that since you just came from there… ”
“Indeed,” said Andrew. “That’s why I just came from there.”
Randy laughed again. “I hear ya,” he said. “It’s quiet here on Mondays and Thursdays when Jackie’s at work. I get more stuff done. Sometimes. Sometimes I don’t get anything done. Last Thursday Brady took the day off and came over and we played video games all day. Because I’m a farmer, and that’s how I roll.”
“Well everybody needs a day off now and then,” said Andrew. “That’s what rainy Thursdays are for I guess.”
“Sure was nice to hang out with Brady for a day. I can’t remember the last time I did that,” said Randy.
“I should do that,” said Andrew. “I don’t see enough of Brady.”
“That’ll change soon enough,” said Randy. “Next month he’ll have a baby and you’ll be down here to see him every other day.”
Andrew smiled. “They grow up so fast,” he said.
“Brady not as fast as some,” said Randy grinning.
“Fast enough,” said Andrew. “Still fast enough.”
