Dating a country boy isn’t always what it chalks up to be: lunch becomes non-existent, you can never truly make plans in advance, and you have a late night. Every. Single. Night. But, even though it doesn’t always seem like the country songs, it’s something that is worth pursuing. Dating a farmer is worth losing lunch, scrambling around last minute to figure out whether you’ll make it to that birthday party (or not) and even crawling into bed at a ridiculous time at night.
Many people might ask, “What could possibly be worth losing lunch over?” Well, here are a few reasons why dating a farmer is worth all of your heart and time (and yes, even your lunch!):
Farmers know how to appreciate the little things in life:
Farmers know how to appreciate the little things in life – whether that be waiting for a calf to drop, watching the progress of the crops growing or just simply knowing the little things to make you feel special and important in their lives. When you date a farmer you start to also appreciate the smaller things in life because it rubs off on you. You begin to appreciate every single time they find a window of free time to take you out to eat. You begin to appreciate and get excited as you watch their crops grow with each given week. After dating them for a while their passions become your passions – you start getting excited about the progress of a machinery and you even start checking the weather daily to see what kind of issues could possibly pop-up for your farmer. Before I started dating a farmer I was convinced that I already completely appreciated the little things in life; but, when you enter a farmer’s life you realize that there are so many more “little things” to appreciate from a different point of view.
They help you discover the world through a different type of lens:
On top of learning to appreciate (different) “little things,” dating a farmer opens a huge door of discovery and thought-provoking knowledge and ideas. Before dating my farmer I never really thought I would learn how to drive a tractor or learn the different types of “grass” and why knowing that would even be slightly important. I have always been hungry for knowledge – I need to know absolutely everything I can and if I cannot figure something out, I fret on it until I actually do figure it out. Luckily, I have a country boy who appreciates my desire to learn and seems eager and proud to share every piece of knowledge he has. His patience is unending – no matter how many questions I ask, he takes every single one of them as serious as he can. I hope you have a farmer who is eager to share their knowledge as well (or, if you are looking for one, that you find one as open as mine). I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had someone say to me, “Why would you want to learn all of that? Then you’ll be expected to do it.” Or, “Don’t you just want to be on the outskirts of the farm?” My answer to those questions is: When you date a farmer your passions slightly change to add room for everything they are passionate about. You learn the importance of the farm work and why, many times, the farm work is more important than anything else. So, if the farm, and everything on the farm, is something that is extremely important to your country boy, then you’ll find yourself having a desire to help in every way that you can. Besides, with more hands on deck the farm work gets done faster. Once the farm work is done then you can finally leave the farm and get food, hang out or simply just pass out in bed after a long day of hard work. In the end, if someone asks you those questions and you do not have an answer, then dating a farmer will probably not be a good thing for you to do. There is a lot of giving when you date a farmer: you give up free time, lunch, sleep, normal dates, plans and consistency. Even though you give up a lot, you get a lot more in return (if you can accept their way of life).
Every single day is a new adventure:
Going on dates when you’re dating a farmer will rarely ever be simply going to the movies or going out to dance. Instead, dates tend to be 4-wheeler rides to check on the growth of crops, quick rides in a tractor to feed hay or even a run into town for parts at the local Tractor Supply store. When you wake up in the morning, you never really truly know how the day will go – you could try to set a list of things that need completed but chances are, by the end of the day, that list would have been completely altered. Life on a farm is never consistent (well, some things are like feeding the animals) and so, when you date a farmer you have to learn how to roll with the punches. Your plans can quickly change in a matter of minutes for many different wild reasons: a piece of machinery could have broken down, an issue with an animal could arise, or a neighbor could need a helping hand. You see, farmers are extremely helpful and hard-working; if a neighbor calls up for help with something, they will rarely ever not give their input or their physical help. When you date a farmer, you enter a community that is hard to see when you are looking from the outside in.
They have many positive attributes:
Dating a farmer is amazing because they are unequivocally amazing human beings (at least mine is). Farmers are hard-working, helpful, persistent, gentle, loyal, protective and they are usually family guys. Farmers always have a lot of responsibilities that are extremely important to complete every single day. When you date a farmer you have to realize and accept that you cannot always be their very first priority. Sometimes getting a huge piece of machinery up and running before it’s time to harvest is more important than taking you out on a date or even more important than going to family get-togethers. I make this sound like this realization and acceptance is easy, it’s not. When I first started dating my farmer this was probably the hardest thing I had to figure out (and it still is sometimes). In the end, if you truly love your farmer, you need to weigh their responsibilities and try to look at things through their eyes. This responsibility isn’t always only on you though – a relationship takes two people working together and giving-up equally. The farmer has to try to find quality time with you off the farm – sometimes this is impossible but if you already know what is going on at the farm, then you shouldn’t be surprised if he says no to leaving early enough to make it to an actually sit-down restaurant for supper. But, if your farmer doesn’t seem to even try to spend time with you off the farm or get to know your passions and family, then you have an issue and you need to step back and evaluate what you are doing with your life and if this lifestyle is truly for you.
And lastly, dating a farmer will completely and utterly change your life:
To me, change is extremely terrifying. I needed consistency in absolutely everything that I did – I am slowly starting to accept some changes, especially in terms of consistency. It is important to realize that not all changes are negative – many were either needed or positive. For example, I had to change my definition of what a date is. I used to think a date was only going out and physically doing something together but now I have changed my definition to literally include anything we do alone (tractor rides, 4-wheeler rides, working on a piece of machinery together, etc). Dating a farmer has also changed my outlook on life and has expanded my appreciation for family. Lastly, again, when you date a farmer you enter a community which is completely and utterly different from your original community which opens your eyes to a different form of how people live and the different ways to appreciate things. It is never a bad thing to be more open-minded and understanding.
Even though dating a farmer is not always the easiest thing in the world to do, ultimately it is worth every missed lunch, every stained shirt, lost hours of sleep and accepting the back-seat of “importance” every once in a while. Dating my farmer is probably the best thing I could have ever decided to do and if you can handle everything I pointed out then perhaps dating a farmer is something you should do, too.
All the best,
HCXO <3
*All photos owned by writer