A Moment of Silence

I live in a tight knit farming community.  My county is #2 in the state for the highest acreage of preserved farmland.  Lots of the farms are generations old, original to the settlement of the county hundreds of years ago.

The farmers are hurrying to get their crops in, the combines are filling the fields and the farm hands are harvesting the crops that can't go through the combines.  Its actually an amazing sight to see 3 or 4 combines working in the same field, dancing around each other as they complete their lines.

This week, there was a tradgey involving two of the oldest farming families.  As they were manuvering the arm of the combine to empty it into a truck, the arm hit a high tension power line and the combine caught fire.  The operator of the combine jumped down to try and fight the fire, was electrocuted and died in the field.  Another farmer who was working in the same field ran over to help, he was electrocuted and died on the way to the hospital.  There was four men total in that field, the third man was electrocuted and suffered burns but is alive.  The fourth man was injured by the fire and smoke but didn't need to go to the hospital.   He was very lucky.  All of these men were related.

The men who died are among a long line of farmers in the county.  The vegetables they were harvesting were destined for Campbell's Soup Company.  This accident happened last Friday. 

Yesterday, the neighboring farmers rallied their equipment and their time to help get the rest of the field harvested.  That's the kind of wonderful comminuty we live in.  One that reaches out a helping hand when you need it most.

I am going to honor the farmers who died and their families as well as the farmers who gave of themselves to help these families with a moment of silence.  They certainly deserve it and much more.

Rest In Peace.