The Rural Voice, 1986-06, Page 83Travel Agencies Present
a
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Twin $269.00
Triple $249.00
Quad $239.00
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82 THE RURAL VOICE
r
Some people start from
the same place and end up in
significantly different places with
significantly different attitudes.
Consider two farm families, both
faced with the challenges of
agriculture; one family becomes
bitter because of the unfair treat-
ment society deals them, while the
other family, enduring the same
circumstances, can still muster a
positive attitude. The troubles can
be compared to boiling water and
the people can be compared to
either eggs or potatoes. Some peo-
ple, like eggs, become "hard-
boiled" when immersed in
troubles. While others are like
potatoes put in boiling water; they
become softer, flexible and adap-
table to change.
People are neither completely
eggs nor completely potatoes
personality -wise. There's a little bit
of both in everyone. To me, that is
illustrated most clearly in a story
about the painter Leonardo da
Vinci.
When creating his famous paint-
ing, "The Last Supper," da Vinci
needed two models to complete the
work. He needed a model for the
face of Christ and one for the face
of Judas. He searched for years
until he found a suitable face for
Christ. He chose a gentle, young
man with kind features he had
spotted, coming from a cathedral.
The search for a model for Judas
took longer. For more than two
decades, the painting stood un-
finished. Then finally, after 25
years of searching, da Vinci found
a man with a tortured face, perfect
for Judas. The stranger agreed to
act as a model. When he entered da
Vinci's studio, he hadn't been
there for 25 years. Yes. It was the
same man who posed for the face
of Christ. His life over 25 years
changed his gentle face.
Some farmers today have tor-
tured faces from "enduring" 25
years of farming, while others have
enjoyed farming and maintain gen-
tle faces and gentle hearts.
With all the gloom and doom
around us in agriculture today,
EGGS AND POTATOES
along with rising input costs and
declining commodity prices, it's
easy to wonder how many tortured
faces there will be 25 years from
now.
Will farm associations be merely
egg cartons, holders of the hard
boiled?
Or will the perpetual cycles in
agriculture rotate people into bet-
ter times? Will changes in the
economy combined with the
(almost) eternal optimism of
farmers, make farm groups a field
of potatoes where people are flexi-
ble to change?
Although farmers must be flexi-
ble today, as an industry they also
must remain strong as individuals.
(Too many potatoes can simply be
mashed.) This dilemma is being ex-
perienced by farm organizations.
They can become militant gaining
little and temporary media atten-
tion and perhaps if they are lucky,
limited action on one specific
issue. On the other hand, a soft ap-
proach can also be ignored by
politicians. The Ontario Federa-
tion of Agriculture (OFA) has been
criticized for practically sharing
the same bed as government.
However, not so long ago, OFA
was criticized (by some) for "back
stabbing" the government which
could help them when the
organization called for the resigna-
tion of the then Minister of
Agriculture and Food Dennis Tim-
brell.
Thus, organizations need both
"potato and egg" members.
Individual farmers also require a
mixture of gentleness and stead-
fastness in making production
decisions, farm financial and
banking decisions, as well as in
their personal attitudes towards
the career they have chosen. It's
the measure of each characteristic
used that creates a different recipe,
and makes it possible for similar
people to start with the same
resources and end with different
results. ❑
Phyllis Coulter is a regular con-
tributor from Perth County.