A Different View

I do have a few gentlemen callers, husbands of my milk and egg customers who have been drafted into service to make the pick up once in awhile.  I might run into Joel at the fence line.  Tree Guy or Go-To always stop to talk when they come to work.  Same-sex conversations are comfortable and affirmative; there is a base of common knowledge regardless of background or education.  It is, however, talking with the opposite sex that gives an opportunity to stretch conversational muscles and gain a different point of view.  Speaking only from my own experience (and from a woman's standpoint), men deal in absolutes.  Joel and I most frequently discuss weather and the effects on his vineyard and my animals.  With Tree Guy, depending on the season, talk may turn to hunting or the building of a dream barn or engines.  If we were only asked, Tom and I have solved the nation's economic problems.  Yesterday's conversation with Guy (no adjective, that's his name) was most enlightening.  He shared a lot of knowledge about the attributes of various manures; cow, pig, chicken, goat, and the best type of poop to use for different applications.  I did know that goat droppings are great for soil amendment in the local decomposed granite, but had no idea that pig manure is best used for growing root vegetables, chicken for the leafy varieties, etc.  Guy raises all sorts of livestock on his farm and knows whereof he speaks.  Still talking, we drifted out to the old tractor; he has had his eye on the spring harrow and the spike harrow, but I really want to keep all of the implements to sell as a package.  Digging around in the weeds, he found a small snow plow that would attach to the front of a Jeep or four-wheel drive truck.  I didn't even know we had such a thing, and mentioned I would put it in the pile of scrap metal I've accumulated for the ironmonger whenever he shows up.  Ha!  Guy's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.  I recognized the signs of a scrounge and his avarice for acquisition.  "Well," he mused, "if you're just going to give it away...."  Happy as a clam, Guy drove off with the plow in the back of his pickup.  Sarah will probably be happier with the milk and eggs.  It's all in one's viewpoint.