9.28.11
Sunny, 82 degrees
Humidity 27%
Dew Point 44 degrees
Wind E @ 5-10 mph
Forecast: Sunny, high 70’s

The Time Between the Sun
Hilary Green

I believe in a place where the essence of time is crafted by the natural flow of the earth, where the sunrise and sunset are the rhythm of life.  I believe in milking cows. On our family farm, my Uncle Bruce and I gather all 52 cows in the milking herd, twice a day, every day.  Just before the Kansas sun rises and again just before it sets, we meet in the milking parlor.

At the beginning of every milking my uncle brings the cows in the parlor in two sets, four on each side.  I stand in a pit between the two lines of cows.  As soon as the cows are in the parlor I go down each line sanitizing all of the cows.  At this point Uncle Bruce is also down in the pit and as I make another round to dry the cows, he closely follows, putting on the “milkers.”  The process involved in milking is a lot like the sunrise and sunset, there is a repetitive natural flow.  But this flow is not without change.  Just as the earth moves varying the time and place of the sun’s rise and set, our system of milking can be altered if a cow kicks off her “milkers” or if someone joins us in the pit.  But, despite any inconsistencies, the cows are milked.  Once the cows have given us their milk, Bruce removes the “milkers” and I sanitize them again.  The cows then go on their way, until their return just before sunset.

On a dairy farm, time isn’t defined by a day of the week, the movement of hands on a clock, or a due date for a school paper.  Farm time is defined by the natural flow of light; sunrise and sunset.  On the farm, my life’s time flows with the sun and the cows, I don’t have to worry about anything else.  Milking cows has taught me to accept and appreciate life’s basic simplicity, instead of being overwhelmed by an artificial time that creates the stress and anxiousness of school.  Milking gives my life a change of pace; a sense of freedom and rest from my usual world.

However, the farm doesn’t ignore the modern world’s demands; there’s just enough time to get cleaned up from the morning milking to get to church.  Neither the farm nor I are caught in the past.  Cows are milked by machine and the tractors have GPS auto-steering.

When I wake up I am splashed with darkness.  Then, the sun, miles away on the horizon, streaks the earth with light.  I make my way to the milking parlor, accepting the flow of nature. The meaning of time on our dairy farm is to live with the earth in the present moment and the present moment always asks; where is the sun and where are the cows?  I believe in the essence of time as a continual process; not monotonous or static, but evolving.  I believe that time moves with a natural flow.  I believe in milking cows.

Hilary & Millie