Gearing up the whole team

Oh man, I’m almost giddy: I just looked at the calendar and saw that there are really only 2.5 weeks left in our kids soccer season! Does that mean I’m not a true soccer dad? So be it. Much as I love watching them play it is safe to say that the 5 day a week practices + games (both kids play/practice at least half an hour away from here, BTW) adds a time management component to all of our lives that none of us — and I’m very much including the boys in that statement — will miss much come November 1st. I will say that where Sam and Max are concerned it’s been a real opportunity for them to learn how to budget their time between their teams’ practices, academics, and those oh-so-precious moments of true free time. We’ve certainly gone through our share of frustrated moments and even the odd meltdown surrounding homework and fatigue but in the end the guys have really rallied through what has been a challenging first 40 or so days of the school year. Chins have been kept mostly up, and noses have certainly  stayed at the grindstone when circumstances have called for it.

For the next couple of weekends though the guys are actually stepping away from the soccer pitch and doing something they haven’t done regularly in several years: joining Jen and I on the road for the fall shows. Granted, it’s only two weekends, one right here in VT coming up in a couple of days and then the other the following week in Syracuse, NY at the Empire show. Because of our distaste for setting up show displays at 9PM, the kids will even get to miss a day of school next week, with all of us leaving early on Friday morning. As you may have already guessed, there aren’t many tears being shed over that plan. Unlike in years gone by though, this time around Sam and Max are actually coming to the shows to help out, not just to hang out, eat candy, and watch DVDs with their friends (not that there’s anything wrong with that mind you, it sounds like fun). Sam in particular has been helping out a lot around the farm for the past year and half and is pretty psyched to get into the show ring for the first time since he was dragged around an obstacle course at the age of 4. Having helped us recently do everything from handle breeding Herdsires, to holding full grown animals on herd health days when we were trimming toe nails, we feel like the time is right. Maxy for his part has made us swear that we won’t make him go into the show ring proper though he’s more than happy to help around the animal pens as well as play the role of 10-year-old hitching post when we have critters going into back to back classes. From a purely selfish point of view I know we’re both looking forward to having the boys with us. Sort of the best of both worlds.

Before we pull up to the fair grounds in Essex on Friday morning though there are lots of things that need doing. Over these past few days the reality of the upcoming shows has started to make itself felt. While getting our collective butts in gear is not nearly as taxing when talking about shows here in Vermont or New York vs. the likes of Salt Lake City, UT or Louisville, KY, we do nonetheless still have to go through the motions of getting all of our show gear out of mothballs. Not least of which is our large trailer which otherwise sits chocked in place here on the farm. You know…the same large trailer which as of this morning also contained a fair chunk of our 2011 fiber clip! Show banners, PVC piping (oh joy), stall mats, hay bags, buckets, fans, extension cords, our trusty folding table, our pop-up farm display, and the ever needed supply of zip ties are amongst the many things that need accounting for. Thankfully I have Jennifer in my life who is kind of an organizational nazi when it comes to that stuff. All necessary supplies and equipment will be loaded and packed on the trailer before the end of the day tomorrow thanks to my better half. Where that part of the operation is concerned I’ve learned over the years to just get out of her way. It’s best for the marriage, trust me. For my part, I’ll be in charge tomorrow of chasing down food, drink, and any other supplies needed for our human crew of four. I guess our kids are about to learn first hand just how much junk food their parents consume during a show weekend! The scary thing of course is that compared to a few years ago we’ve even moderated a little bit.

There are also three new animals making their debuts (show debutantes?) in the ring this weekend that have needed training of late. Why wait until 72 hours before the show to start training them? Come now, you know it just wouldn’t be any fun training them during the relaxed days of summer when we have nothing else going but 60 to 70 births and the day to day management of a herd of 240+. Oh. One, Bellagio, was a relatively quick study and was walking the length of the hill down from the Main Barn yesterday as though he was born knowing how to lead, even though he’d never seen a halter before until 9AM or so. The other two rookies not so much though we thankfully still have 48 hours and a dirty trick or two up our sleeves. It will all work out in the end. Or not. Quite frankly, at this point in time we just don’t get too worked up about that stuff anymore. If only training the humans were so easy…