Rear-View Mirrors and Other Off-Farm Luxuries

By Reiden Gustafson

This past week I drove two different farm vehicles to Eugene for our farmers markets on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. On Sunday when I got back into my own car to run errands, I was relieved and excited to once again have a working rear-view mirror. The rear-view mirror is such a seemingly insignificant part of my daily life that I don’t remember ever being particularly grateful for it until now. As I drove to Eugene, I couldn’t help but make a mental list of the other luxuries I had previously taken for granted.

1. Warm morning showers. Our barn’s outdoor wooden shower is beautifully constructed and overall functions very well. However, warm water in the mornings has been all but a rare occurrence.
2. Sleeping in on the weekends. While the apprentices do technically get weekends off, there is still the bi-monthly scheduled farmers market shift which we are told will soon be moving to a 4:30am start time. Then there’s the morning farm chores. The chickens and greenhouses need tending to in the AM, regardless of it being a Sunday or a Tuesday.
3. Hands that look clean after washing them. I almost remember what my hands looked liked without the cracks and the constant rings of dirt around my nails and cuticles.
4. Indoor flush toilets when it’s cold and rainy.
5. Cell phone service.
6. Internet that can be accessed from the convenience of my bedroom, the couch, or the kitchen. What’s the weather forecast for tomorrow? And was it 3 teaspoons or tablespoons of baking powder that online recipe called for?
7. Sharing a kitchen with someone who intimately knows the perils of gluten. I deeply appreciate my barnmates for taking extra precautions to keep their wheat/barley/rye goods away from me. Despite their careful efforts, I still have a occasional moments of complete paranoia. Is that a rogue death crumb that just crept its way into my food? Ridiculous as it sounds, this is also the recurring nightmare that wakes me up at night.
8. Not having to constantly decide between the farmer’s tan, reapplying sunblock every 2 hours, or dealing with the waterfall of sweat as I cloak myself in long layers. The ankle line from wearing shorts and hiking boots in the field and the slight raccoon eyes from use of sunglasses are my personal favorites.

On a more serious note, I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be an apprentice and learning from Horton. The message of the rear-view mirror for me was simply a discovery that none of the above luxuries are absolutely essential. Did they make my life easier before? Sure. Will I die without them? No. In fact, I expect that by the end of the farming season, I may even be better at backing up and parallel parking without the rear-view mirror… And for the anticipated improvement in driving skills and many other life lessons which are surely in store, I say thank you to the entire Horton experience.

Reiden is a first year apprentice at Horton. Having been born on the Oregon coast and then spending most of her life living elsewhere, Reiden is happy to once again be back in the familiar and beautiful coastal range.