My morning started in Tampa.  I hadn’t needed to hitchhike for nearly a week, so as I arrived at the on-ramp I analyzed the best way to position myself to get rides and what kind of message I should display.  I decided to set up in between the forks of the on-ramp’s Y and display my sign to each side as vehicles passed.  I also went with a simple “75-N” sign because I just wanted to go north.  As I stood there the time slowly passed and I had terrible fortune.  Two hours went by and I decided to take a break.  I changed my strategy a little bit and wrote “OCALA” on the other side of my sign.  It was the next bigger town an hour up 75.  Another hour went by and I had feelings of defeat and pointlessness creeping up in my mind.  I started to think about just giving up and going home and that I’d only been lucky to hitchhike to Miami.  Time continued to pass and finally as the fourth hour of standing at this spot came near – someone stopped.

The gentleman who stopped was named Bill.  He was a nice guy and he was able to take me about a half hour up 75 to Brooksville, FL to a much better intersection.  We had a short conversation and most of the ride was pretty quiet.  I was exhausted from, yes, standing for the past for hours.  When we arrived we exchanged business cards and he went on his way.  I walked down to the gas station to use the bathroom and wash up a bit.

After I was done there I decided to walk over to a McDonald’s across the street and use their Wi-Fi and charge my phone for a bit.  When I got there I sat my pack down and started to look for an outlet.  Within a minute someone was asking me about what I was doing and where I was heading.  I explained to them about my intentions and they offered me their extra grilled chicken wrap.  I was feeling pretty hungry so I gladly accepted.  I sat down and started talking to them.  There were three people in their group: Jonathan, Laurie, and Laurie’s daughter Savannah.  They were going back home to Tampa from the Lakeland area (where I was the night before for a bit) after Savannah’s bowling tournament.  Savannah had bowled really well and I could see how proud they were of her.  As we continued to talk Jonathan offered me a ride up to Lake City two hours up I-75.  I was happy to accept.

The ride there we talked about this and that, and I started looking for a couch to surf on when we arrived to the town.  I learned that Jonathan was a cattle farmer and that the family had gone to not eating meat because it was more healthy.  I thought this was a bit ironic since Jonathan was raising cows for beef, but soon learned he would wander off down the road to get dinner with other friends so he could eat some meat from time to time.

As we got close to Lake City Jonathan offered for me to stay at his farm for the evening.  I was very glad to hear that because how Jonathan talked about his farm, I was very interested in seeing it and learning more about this family.  They told me they couldn’t offer me a bed because they were currently living in a small trailer because they were still building their house, but I was more than welcome to set up camp on their lawn.  That was fine with me!

We soon arrived and I instantly felt at home here.  There was a small house that appeared to be pretty well along in its construction and a short distance away was a barn with a cement patio in front with a small camping trailer across from it.  Next to the barn was an open air shower and inside the barn was a bathroom and small kitchen area.  Dotting the property were trees with Spanish moss hanging from them and beyond that sat 100 acres of well-maintained farmland.

Jonathan offered me some wine and we sat down and relaxed for a bit.  Jonathan needed to go check on a new calf that had been born the night before while he was away and Laurie wanted him to go pick some squash from her garden, so when we were done I asked if I could join him and help.  We jumped on his ATV and went to pick some squash first.  As we picked squash Jonathan explained to me all sorts of interesting information about farming.  I learned that tomato farming was no longer a profitable business for the average farmer because of regulations that didn’t allow you to sell more than 3 crates of tomatoes to any one person in a day.  He told me about his feelings with money and that he doesn’t really care for it and doesn’t live his life to acquire it.  He told me about the extremely intelligent men he was fortunate enough to interact with while he was in college for horticulture.  I could tell her didn’t think of himself as one of these men, but I knew I’d be telling people about my good fortune in being able to interact with this extremely intelligent man.

We soon finished picking a shopping bag full of squash and headed off to check on the cattle.  As we rode Jonathan picked up a piece of squash we’d dropped and told me he had a donkey among the cattle who liked treats like this.  We arrived and he started pointing to various cattle and telling me about them and their successes in bearing calves.  We found the donkey and Jonathan fed him the squash.  The donkey was a little skittish, but he eventually took the squash.

I noticed a small calf with its umbilical cord still hanging and asked if that was the one we were looking for.  He told me that one was born four or five days prior in a really remarkable way.  The calf was ready to come out and he saw it’s front hooves and nose sticking out of the mother.  From how it looked it appeared the calf had died.  Jonathan told me about how he worked the calf out of the mom and that it was the first time he ever birthed a calf standing up (dead or alive).  When the calf was finally out of the mother it laid motionless on the ground.  He checked to make sure it was in fact dead and could feel a slight pulse.  He thought to himself “this calf if going to make it” and not a moment later the calf took in a deep gasp of breathe that brought life into its body.  It was alive.  I could tell how important these creatures were to Jonathan by the way he told this story.  He wanted to be good to them and treat them with dignity and respect for what they offered.  That’s when I decided that not only was this man intelligent, but had a good heart too.

We continued on in search of the new calf and Jonathan continued to explain how he moved the cattle around and would work their manure back into the fields to fertilize them.  I really enjoyed learning about the farming process.  We drove into the small cypress marshland in search of the calf and I saw the skeleton of one of the cows that had lived it’s whole life through on this farm.  We were soon back into the field and finally found the calf hiding in some bushes.  He looked it over and it appeared healthy, so we were on our way.

As we rode back he showed me his crop land for the year.  It was three varieties of peas and they were all extremely green and healthy looking.  He said it looked like they were going to yield a high volume this year.  We soon returned and Laurie had made dinner.  It was all very good and included some squash from last season.  I sat in the family’s camper with them and joined them in a home cooked meal.  I felt so fortunate to have met these kind people.  After dinner, their big lovable dog named Tater took care of clean up.  They told me about how much they spoiled him and that he probably ate more human food than dog food.  I could tell how happy Tater was to be part of this family.

That evening it rained quite a bit and Jonathan and Laurie didn’t want me out in the rain.  Jonathan moved some equipment around in his barn and set up an extra sofa bed they had in the barn.  Jonathan kept apologizing that he couldn’t offer me a real bed, but this was more than enough for me.  I told him about how I was perfectly satisfied with the arrangements and how it reminded me of my fond memories at summer camp sleeping in open-air Adirondack cabins.

That night I slept quite well and in the morning Laurie prepared a tasty breakfast for Jonathan and I after Savannah was off to her second to last day of school for the year.  I asked Jonathan if he minded if I stayed another day and helped him out on his farm.  He told me he didn’t have anything fun to do, but that I was more than welcome.  So that morning I helped him change and rotate the tires on Laurie’s jeep, and then we went out to replace some fence posts for one of his gates.

Working on the fence posts was pretty labor intensive.  The day was very warm getting close to 100 degrees and we needed to dig out one of the posts because it had broken in the ground.  I dug the post out after much effort and we worked the new post in.  Jonathan taught me the proper method for setting the posts and packing the dirt back into place.  After awhile I needed to take a break so I didn’t get a headache (which I so easily do).  We ended up returning to the barn for awhile because a good rain came down.  After the rain we went back out and replaced a second post which went by much more quickly since it hadn’t broken.  We replaced the barbed wire on the fence and called it a day.  It didn’t seem like we got a lot done, but I know I felt satisfied with our accomplishment and we called it a day.

Afterwards we took showers and Laurie prepared dinner for all of us.  We had stove top stuffing, okra, some not-meat (but would have fooled me) beef tips, and a squash casserole made from the squash we picked the night before.  Jonathan wasn’t quite hungry yet so Laurie and I sat and ate together for awhile.  It was nice having the opportunity to learn more about her.  Laurie told me about the area and the nice springs and parks one could go to nearby.  Eventually Jonathan came in for dinner and we all ate together. When we were done we sat in the barn for a few hours and relaxed before heading to bed.

In the morning it was time for me to get moving again.  I really wanted to stay longer, as well as Jonathan and Laurie, but I wanted to get to Arkansas to see a friend of mine before he moved in a week.  Laurie again cooked a delicious breakfast and she made some cheesy grits so I could try them.  I’d imagine she made the to the limits of grits tastiness, but I decided grits just weren’t for me.  Jonathan and Laurie drove me into town and dropped me off at the best location they could think of.  I thanked them so much for how good they were to me, and they told me they hoped I’d come back in the future and stay with them again.

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have met these great people, and I know if I’m ever in the area again, I’m going to be sure to see them.