Page 31 of Pete and His Precious

I don’t really get a chance to talk to Zoe again. I don’t want to take her away from the children. This is about them, and if she and I are whispering in the back all the time, we’re not really doing our jobs. As much as I could and would like to do that.

I like her a lot better than I thought I was going to. And it’s not just her voice. It’s...she seems nice. And she’s definitely funny.

I watch her with the kids, and even though she told me that she is uncomfortable with them, she’s good with them. Maybe it’s just a matter of practicing. I suppose lots of dads started out with no idea how to hold a baby, and eventually they getcompetent at it. If I ever have children, I’m sure I would learn how to take care of them. I suppose it would become natural. Maybe I’d even start to enjoy it.

I’ve never really thought like that. And I’m not sure what’s changed my thinking. Maybe just Zoe admitting that she wasn’t comfortable, but she is doing it anyway.

Not that I didn’t do things that I don’t like to do. Pretty much most of my day is made up of doing things I don’t like to do, like giving traffic tickets and responding to domestic disputes, and posing as a truant officer, trying to figure out why some parents aren’t making their kids go to school, and that usually isn’t a good situation.

Regardless, for some reason, overall, I would still say I love what I do. I just don’t always like it, I guess.

I love being on the farm though. In another life, I could have been a farmer. But anymore, it’s really hard to make a living on a farm. You almost have to have another job, and do the farming on the side.

I wonder how Zoe feels about farming.

That is an odd thought, and I kind of want to figure out why I even thought that. Just seems really out of line for me.

Regardless, I don’t have time, because soon all the kids have fed the goats, the geese, the ducks, and the pigs, and are piling into the tractor for the tractor ride.

My favorite part of farming is the equipment. I like animals, but I love running equipment. I’ve always loved riding in the tractor with my pap, and then with my uncle, and once I was old enough to drive myself, that was pretty much heaven for me. I did help milk cows until they sold them, but that was never as much fun. But, anytime I can get out on the tractor, even when it is freezing outside, I am all in.

Taking the kids for a wagon ride is my idea of a good time. Especially since I am sitting on the tractor, and don’t have to deal with the children at all.

I take them the whole way around the farm, show them the hay fields, where I baled hay last week. Bales are still sitting in the field. That’s what I would have been doing today, hauling bales in, and stacking them next to the barn. I’ll cover them with a tarp when I’m done, to try to keep them from getting any more wet. But, we don’t have enough room to put them all inside. Still, if I leave the bales of hay in the field, it’ll kill the grass underneath the bales. So it’s important to get them out. Some people let them sit alongside the field, but I find that even though I have less time in the summer, I’d rather do the work of bringing them into the barn, that way they’re there when I need to feed in the winter.

After the tractor ride, it’s been about two hours and I think the kids are ready to go home. Aunt Arley has made some refreshments, and the lady that accompanied the librarian and Zoe has everything set out on the table with my aunt.

The kids go running over, scarf the food down, and then run over to the barn where they try to pet the goats and play on the hay bales.

Zoe looks like she’s ready for a nap, as she tries to keep up with the kids, making sure that no one gets hurt, while allowing them a little bit of freedom to explore.

I think maybe we’ve deprived our kids a lot of that in our modern society. They’re not able to go have plain old fun, it’s always structured. I guess I might be partial to unstructured freedom to explore and play, since it’s how I grew up, and I feel like it’s a good thing. But, for better or for worse, it’s probably a thing of the past.

Zoe and Verity, along with the other lady, have the kids rounded up, and are shooing them into the bus.

I normally would just get in the tractor and drive away, but I mosey over to where Zoe is, grabbing a cookie from the table, as my aunt clears it off.

On my way back, I’ll carry everything into the house, but she’ll get it all packed up so all I have to do is pick the stuff up and carry it.

“It is nice to have you help,” I say, as the last kid gets on the bus and Verity says something to the entire load as the bus driver starts the motor.

“It was nice to be here. It was a pleasant surprise to see you.”

I don’t point out that it wasn’t too long ago that she would never have said that. She gives a little self-conscious smile, as though she was thinking it, too.

“I guess I’ll see you on Monday night?”

“After nine,” she says.

“That’s right.” I start my new job on Monday. I kind of forgot about it.

“Nice to see you,” I say, feeling a little bit lame. I already told her it was pleasant. Now I say nice. I seem to be the king of understatement, since obviously I’m hanging around talking to her.

“Same. I hope you have a good Lord’s Day,” she says, and I smile. I like the way she says that. Lord’s day. I know she doesn’t go to my church, but to the somewhat of a rival church across the street. The churches do some things together, but I think there was a split sometime in the last hundred years, and the rival faction from my church went over and built hers.

Regardless, a Christian is a Christian as long as they are down with the basic beliefs. And, I’m not going to split hairs. It is hard enough to find someone who believes the way I do, and there I am, having thoughts about Zoe that I don’t normally have about anyone.

“Enjoy the rest of your day farming,” she says as she puts up a hand and sets one foot on the bus step. “Thanks a lot. I know the kids had a good time and I did too.”

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