Having Fun Yet?

by Michele Boy | July 8, 2021

Have you heard that saying, “No one ever said on their deathbed ‘I wish I’d spent more time working”?

Well I am guessing they never met a farmer. I am pretty sure there have been some death bed thoughts that went something like “But I need to get to that field to till the weeds.”

Summertime when I was a kid was going to beaches, riding bikes, playing with friends and swimming.

In rural western Kansas where harvest is in full swing, fun and play are on the back burner. In fact most of the time it is hard to get a farmer to leave his fields. You practically have to drag them only with the promise to return quickly.

Well today we aren’t going anywhere and the weight of bills to pay, will the wheat get out of the field, and how many bushels will it make are heavy on many farm families minds. But I can’t do much about that. And as much as I would like to take a week at a beach and go fishing and swimming, that won’t happen soon either. 

But I heard a fun song yesterday, saw there was a new dance out and it made me happier. And it reminded me about having fun right where we are at. 

I am not the best at fun. I like to have all my work done first. But adulting is realizing there is always work to be done. 

With just a  little over a week until fair and about a month until school starts, time is flying! And the work that needs done is overwhelming. But sometimes I think we need to stop and have fun anyway. 

There will always be cleaning and work and bills to pay and they need to be handled. 

So  let’s have some fun. Let’s laugh a little, kick up our heels even if its in our own backyard or living room. 

When was the last time you got silly? You are your husband or wife danced?

I admit to you when dishes fill my sink I have zero ability to laugh or dance. Yet every day the dishes pile up again.

It’s sad for me to say that I need to work on having fun but that is the truth. It’s time to find some joy. 

Can you find a song to dance to? Have you heard the Walker Hayes song, “Fancy Like”?

It’s just a fun light song about him and a girl.  And if you look it up online there are videos of the dance. Single people, families, couples, are all getting silly. And it’s exactly what I need right now.

You can’t go on without food or water. You need love and joy. 

In Ecclesiastes 3 it says, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens:a time to be be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot...a time to mourn and a time to dance.”

When I get this column finished and the paper sent out, I am going to learn that dance. Tonight I hope to teach my husband and daughter the dance too. And I hope we dance and laugh and remember the moments that bring joy because hardship happens. Right now there are people praying for a loved one to live or wishing they had one more day with their loved one. 

I hope we can make today count with some love and laughter. And like the dishes, a field will always need worked.