Thank God I'm a Country Boy!

So, my roots are primarily rural.

My family had a farm, basically until I was about 13 or 14, the age by which the entire side of my father's family had passed away. We mostly grew potatoes as well as some other cash crops and vegetables. I really enjoyed my time on the farm, now that I look back at it. There's definitely something satisfying about planting something, watching it grow, tending to it, and then harvesting it. I think my family must have taken great pride in it as well, as now that I'm older, I know they didn't do it for financial benefit-- if anything, the farm made finances worse. I think it made me appreciate how hard people work in order for us to have the luxury of food on our tables.

As a side note, my favourite farm activity was irrigating. We'd spend a morning laying pipe from the pond, up the path, and then down the rows of potatoes. My father or uncle would hook up the sprayer and then we'd give the signal to whomever had the somewhat difficult task of opening the water valve, and then we'd run like hell so we didn't get wet. Half of the fun, however, was getting completely drenched by the irrigation "gun" as we called it.

People don't think I come from a farming background. I'm a pretty urban guy I'd say, even though the majority of my life hasn't been spent in the city (other than my five years of university). I'm a definite urban tourist, I love spending time in the city, and I'd say and moderately up to date on urban trends and follow these. But I'm proud of my roots and my upbringing and the sense of community it taught me.

Perhaps that's why I enjoy Farmville so damn much. Maybe I feel it connects me a bit to those first 13 years of my life which were filled with early mornings, sunburns, driving (even tipping-- eek) tractors, planting, weeding, harvesting... Or, it could simply be that I just enjoy the competition of it all. But Farmville is one game which I check fairly religiously... and I plan my crops around what I'll be doing to minimize my risk of withering...

If I could only keep the plants in my house and garden alive... :)