What IS a Good Price for Semen?

Years from now, when we're possibly living and serving some place else, I will remember and tell the story of the Livestock Auction when anyone asks what our previous call was like. This yearly event is so indicative of the place we live, I thought it was about time I blogged it for our memories. A group of farmers from our church host this annual Livestock Auction at our town's Livestock Market to raise funds for our local Christian school. The items up for auction made our jaws drop the first year we lived here and attended: actual livestock, tubes of bull semen, walnut hulling, hours of almond shaking and long lists of feed and medicines and farm supplies and services I don't even understand. There are some fun things too: Disneyland and Hawaii vacations, golf outings, tools, flats of strawberries, hanging flower baskets, gift certificates to restaurants, cases of wine and wheels of cheese, to name just a few. Today, we briefly got in the action a few times and, for the second year now, drove the price up on the pink pedal tractor, but had to bow out of the bidding when it went past our limit. Big bucks are made and a fun morning is had by all!

.The girls are starting to get into this tradition too. Though it's hard for them to see all the fun merchandise and come home empty-handed, there are still some treats. Like walking above all the livestock stalls on the catwalk, hearing "the silly guy who talks really really fast" and playing with friends.

We come home from the auction stuffed from the tri-tip lunch and with a clean car, thanks to the high-schoolers washing them in the lot. We also leave thankful for the insanely generous people in our community and full of realization that we may be full-on country folk now (though we didn't buy or even bid on any semen).