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Farm Exercising

July 15, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

Exercising on the farm is a challenge. Turnrows replace smooth concrete sidewalks.
As kids we powered our John Deere 5-speeds up and down the chunky gravel driveway and traversed across the clumpy front yard while the pedals dug into our bare feet. Momma exercised by forcing the push mower through the overgrown dog pen and around every tree on the property. Underneath her cutoffs and t-shirt Momma wrapped her thighs and waist with Saran Wrap to wring every drop of water  from her fat cells. 
Now that the field behind our house has been leveled and irrigated, we have our own walking trail the size of the horse track at Oaklawn Park. Yesterday morning, with an unseasonably cool breeze, we set off for our morning hike around vivid green rice fields. 
But a tractor got there first. 
Disking the weeds along the far ditch corner and around the field, he kicked up a cloud of dirt and pollen. Shrill birds mocked our efforts, circling overhead like buzzards. We looped twice trekking through tractor ruts, dirt clods and brittle weeds.
When we returned home, our legs were coated in grime, but maybe we walked off a lake beer or two.
talya

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Filed Under: Farm Tagged With: home, John Deere, Mississippi County, Mississippi Delta, rice

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Comments

  1. Tim Hardin says

    July 15, 2013 at 10:59 am

    Cool beans!=)

  2. Kathy says

    July 15, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    Bet you did get a lot of exercise walking off all that land!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

  3. Bryan Jones says

    July 15, 2013 at 3:19 pm

    good one!

  4. Dorothy Latimer Johnson says

    July 16, 2013 at 7:06 am

    I remember spending the weekend with a friend at her grandparents’ farm near Des Arc. The high pont was her driving around on that tractor.

  5. Patricia A. Laster says

    July 16, 2013 at 8:25 am

    No, thank you. I’ll just dip my feet in the washtub and pretend it’s a pond.

  6. Lana88 says

    July 17, 2013 at 7:17 am

    That is one thing about exercising outside. The grime on anything exposed is inevitable when it gets this dry outside!

  7. Tim Hardin says

    July 17, 2013 at 10:10 am

    “The Farm Club”=)


Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book
  • Sunday Letter: November 9, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 26, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 5, 2025

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