On The Farm with Suzie

The Waiting

Is the Hardest Part

by Suzie Jones

Ilion Wine & Spirits

10 East Main St., Ilion • (315) 894-8142 Local Artisan Cheese Curd

Our Cows, Our Milk, Our Cheese

Farm store open daily- aged cheese, ground beef, eggs and more. (315) 831-3276 9628 Prospect Rd., Remsen www.grassycowdairy.com

Suzie and Harper March 2002

Nineteen years ago, in early March, I was on an airplane circling O’Hare, waiting to land in Chicago. I had 4-month-old baby Harper in my lap, traveling home alone to see my very sick grandmother. The weather in the Midwest, much like here in Upstate New York, can be finicky. And that night, it was downright terrible. The runways were icing up; the crosswinds were not helpful. There was a backup of other incoming flights waiting their turn to land. The pilot assured us that there was no danger, we just had to circle (and circle, and circle) until it was our time.

My memory of that night is pretty foggy, except for the excruciating wait. I was a new mother, traveling with a baby, conscious that every noise she made echoed throughout the cabin. Baby Harper had been a stellar traveler, sleeping nearly the entire flight from Boston. But she was beginning to stir and my biggest worry—the changing cabin pressure as we descended and its effects on her little ears—was about to be put to the test.

Still…we circled. The brilliant lights of Chicago seemed so close, but then we would turn toward Lake Michigan and over its utter blackness. This was well before I ever owned a cell phone, so I had no way to communicate with my dad, who was undoubtedly waiting for me at the terminal. Concerned as I was about my baby’s comfort (and the very real possibility she would start crying and aggravating the other anxious passengers), my thoughts went to my grandmother and how very little time she had left. The event may have in actuality only lasted 20 or 30 minutes, but it felt like an eternity.

Here we are in March 2021, and I again feel we are circling in an enormous holding pattern. Like so many others, my husband and I are patiently waiting and hopeful to get vaccinated soon, and are always happy to hear when friends and family have gotten theirs. Every time another plane lands, I feel we are one step closer to landing ourselves!

On the farm, March is always a bit of a waiting game. We plan for spring, ordering baby chicks and preparing brooders, while farmer friends are starting seeds in their greenhouses. Some days give us brilliant hints of what is to come: Birds singing, warmer and brighter mornings, mud puddles. But then we circle back around to frigid overnight temperatures, plunging us back into the depths of winter. Hopes rise and fall with the mercury in the thermometer.

Lack of control—combined with the stress of

GET 0% ON SELECT MODELS* DURING MAHINDRA’S RED TAG SALES EVENT!

SMITH TRACTOR 0000 Street Name.Town Name 000.000.0000.dealersite.com Hobby Hill Farm Sales 6310 Elmer Hill Road (Corner of Turin & Elmer) Rome • 315-571-5398

*Available 0% APR financing on purchases of selected new Mahindra tractor models from participating dealers’ inventory on qualified purchases through Mahindra Finance US LLC. A down-payment may be required for selected tractor models. Subject to credit review and approval and other terms and conditions. All financing is in Mahindra Finance USA LLC’s sole discretion. Offer available for a limited time only and subject to change without notice. MahindraUSA.com © 2020 Mahindra USA Inc.

potentially bad outcomes—makes any waiting period all the more difficult. As spring approaches, our hay supply for the goats and sheep starts to dwindle, so we count the remaining bales and check the calendar, worrying with every cold snap that green grasses will not come in time. If grazing is delayed, we will have to buy hay and adjust any expectation of a return on our winter animal raising efforts. Dairy farmers must wait year-round for the milk check to come twice each month, not entirely sure what price they will be paid or whether it will cover their expenses. All we can do is plan and hope for the best, and be constantly reminded that patience is indeed a virtue.

In September 1995, my then-fiancée Peter and I went to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, MN. We had the nose-bleed seats with “partially obstructed views”. Enormous speakers hung from the ceiling, just above the performance space, blocking much of our view from our seats at the tip-top of the venue. All we could see was the stage floor and its patchwork of oriental rugs; there were no megatron-type screens. Throughout the concert, we could see Tom Petty’s feet and sometimes his legs, when he would strut up to the very front of the stage. We waited the entire concert, thinking we surely would see the top half of him at some point! Sadly, we never did. I guess sometimes patience does not pay off, so be sure to pay for the unobstructed view next time—when we can all go to concerts again, that is! •

Located in Munnsville, Custom Woodcraft has been handcrafting wood furniture and designing beautiful cabinetry since 1979. You’re not just buying cabinets, you’re investing in a tradition.

Custom Woodcraft

Quality Cabinetry & Furniture Crafted exclusively for you

2509 Perry Shumaker Road Munnsville (315) 843-4234 1-800-843-3202

CLINTON COLLISION 24 HOUR TOWING 315.853.5665

PO Box 292, McBride Ave. Clinton, NY Fax: 315.853.4751

Suzie Jones and her husband,

Peter, own Jones Family Farm in Herkimer. Together, with their children, they produce specialty goat cheeses and gelato. Find them at local farmers’ markets and online at www.anotherjonesfamilyfarm.com