Musings

“Yes, he is.”

By James Meeks

And on the many-billionth day or so God looked down and said, “This kid needs a hero.”  So God made The Farmer.  Well, God had already made The Farmer, so this kid was just lucky to get in line.

God said, “I need a guy willing to be patient with a 15-year-old kid who seems friendly at church and once fixed your tires at the gas station, but, was a bit lazy and only fixed one of the holes in the tires and gave a lame excuse saying you must have run over another nail, so, you were charged for another repair.” God encouraged The Farmer to be patient.  This kid needed some direction.

God said, “Farmer, you’re desperate, it is the fall of 1979 and you need help.  Are there any young people you would consider?”  Then, behind the east row of pews at the Presbyterian Church, The Farmer stopped a 15-year-old boy and asked him if he wanted to do some farm work.  The kid said, “Yes, thank you.”

The next Saturday, The Farmer put the kid on the tractor with a wide fork on the front and showed him how to pile cane feed.  The kid appeared to catch on and spent a glorious sunny, crisp, fall day on the west field clumsily stacking feed.  Likely, many of the piles eventually fell over, but maybe not.

All day long the kid fought the sticky transmission but ended up finishing the field. On the final drive home he got confused and dropped the front loader into the gravel road and mangled the forks. This was only the first of many damages to The Farmer’s equipment the kid would do over the next five summers, but now, on day one The Farmer had an expensive repair bill ahead!

Instead of getting mad at the kid, The Farmer put him to work painting corral fences to finish the day.  The kid thought he was going to be fired but The Farmer just put him to work on something else.

God, or possibly a “higher authority,” said, “Bring that kid out again.”  Modern theorists speculate it may have been The Farmer’s Wife encouraging The Farmer to give the kid another chance. 

The Farmer taught the kid how to clean sow farrowing pens – the kid thought he was an athlete but learned he had never been challenged until a sow with her babies got mad and turned her head and barked!  He had never been a hurdler but learned to drop the fork and jump out of that pen in less than a heart beat!

The Farmer taught the kid to shovel grain, load chopped cane, fill the feed wagon and take care of the cattle.  The Farmer and The Farmer’s Wife went to Taiwan to visit The Farmer’s Son and left the kid in charge for a few days.  As it happened, a gate was left open one night. That led to an all out mobilization of the neighbors the next day but, all the herd eventually got home—before The Farmer and The Farmer’s Wife did!

God said The Farmer was to use his humor to teach a lesson.  The kid thought he was some kind of high school basketball player. One Saturday morning he was haphazardly tossing expensive grain into and around the bunkers when The Farmer said, “I can see why you guys didn’t win last night if you were shooting and missing like that.”  Message heard!

God said The Farmer needs to teach this kid some economics. For countless hours in the blue Chevy pickup, The Farmer answered questions about production costs per acre; fuel costs; seed costs; rent costs; loans; risks; crop choices; rotations; and equipment. The kid got a graduate course from an expert while getting paid $4 per hour to listen to wisdom! 

God said The Farmer needed to stretch this kid’s experience a bit. So The Farmer gave the kid a chance to experience the risk/reward of renting 40 acres for wheat at the home place and to buy two calves and raise them to sell as feeders.  The kid made mistakes, but learned much, and made some profit at a time when it was needed most.

God said The Farmer should share his values by living them every day.  The kid noticed The Farmer always pulled out his checkbook and paid for everything immediately.  Whether it was payday each Saturday; parts at the implement dealer; visits from vets; or repairs at the tractor shop The Farmer always paid for everything immediately.  He asked The Farmer why he did this, when he could wait and pay after harvest for most things.  The Farmer explained, “I don’t expect these small businesses to be my bank.”

God said you need to eat together and enjoy the exchange of ideas.  The ultimate bonus of working with The Farmer was having lunch with The Farmer’s Wife and The Farmer’s Daughter (when she was home from college).  And the times The Farmer’s Son was home were extra special.

Lunch wasn’t just lunch.  The Farmer’s Wife prepared an elegant meal every day at noon and the kid looked forward to it every day.  It was never just sandwiches and such…always a meat-potatoes-vegetable variation that was exquisite.  The meatloaf and mashed potatoes and brown gravy were off the chart. As were all the other specials – especially the lasagna!  Beside the great food were the great conversations.  The curiosity and knowledge of The Farmer, The Farmer’s Wife and the Farmer’s Daughter were boundless and the issues of the times were bantered about and the kid soaked it all up. The best lesson was to not argue about facts.  Before there was Google, there was The Farmer or The Farmer’s Wife running to get the dictionary or encyclopedia to clear up any disputes about facts. Issues could be discussed, but not without real facts!

Even during the intensity of harvest many times it wasn’t going to be just sandwiches for lunch!  The best example of many may have been on the bottom grounds near the river. It was hot, the wheat needed to get cut, but, it was lunch time. The Farmer’s Wife and The Farmer’s Daughter arrived with glass plates, meat, potatoes, salads and tea. Then they conducted an elegant feast on a grassy knoll between the field and the river.

God said, “The Farmer’s Wife, you know the treat this kid likes best.”  On those days away on the tractor the kid would reach into the water jug about 4 p.m. to find a cold can of Pepsi. 

God said witnesses should speak up to give the kid a clue how fortunate he was to work for The Farmer.  From the first day till this day countless men have commented, “I bet The Farmer is a great guy to work for.”  At first the kid stammered, “Yeah, I guess so.”  But, it became so common the kid eventually learned to say without hesitation and with confidence, “Yes, he is.”

God said you need to keep nurturing this kid.  Then The Farmer and The Farmer’s Wife and The Farmer’s Son and The Farmer’s Daughter kept this kid in their hearts and prayers and blessings kept coming his way.  And the kid eventually understood that he and his family were blessed beyond measure by what The Farmer’s family had taught him.  All he can say is, “Thank you!”  And, “Yes, they are.”

I wrote this essay on the occasion of Ernie Kulich’s 90th birthday. It is directly inspired by the Paul Harvey essay “So God Made A Farmer” from 1978. It was published as an opinion piece by Holly Martin in the High Plains Journal on February 18, 2019. She wrote this intro to the essay…

Honoring the Ernies of the world

By Holly Martin

When people ask me what the best part of my job is I always say, without exception, telling the stories about the people of agriculture. It’s not necessarily talking about the latest technology, although that’s pretty fun. It’s not about traveling to the beautiful parts of rural America, although that’s a wonderful perk.

The best part of my job is uncovering humble, unassuming people that have done great things.

I don’t know Ernie and Dulcie Kulich, but James Meeks does.

When he was just 15 years old, Ernie found him after church one day and asked if he wanted a job on his farm. Little did James know at the time, but that request changed his life. He became one of “The Boys” that the Kulich family took under their collective wing and taught life lessons that have stuck with him for 40 years.

On the occasion of Ernie’s 90th birthday, James decided to do something special for his mentor. He wrote an essay to honor his hero. James shared that essay with us and we’re sharing it with you.

“They epitomize what a Christian couple and family should be,” James told me. While they would never say that about themselves, he said, it describes them. They’ve guided more than one young man at an age when young men need that kind of guidance in their life.

“It was living a life of integrity and honesty and caring for people and their animals and the land,” James said.

The Kulichs would say that they didn’t do anything special, but to James and the other young men affectionately called “The Boys,” it was special.

“I think the main message is the amazing amount of influence a person can have on somebody else without even realizing what they’re doing.”

And that’s what the “Yes, he is” essay is about —honoring the Ernies of the world.

Not every person has an Ernie. But everyone should.