My father had a small farm. It was about 5 acres, about 2 acres were wetland and the rest dry land. The wetland was irrigated by water from a small dam my father had built. The dam trapped sizable amount of water due to the nature of the terrain. The rocky bottom held water for months. The wetland were fine, but there was something terribly wrong with our dry lands where we primarily grew peanuts. We grew rice in the wetland.
One activity I remember we always did unceasingly was picking up stones in our dry land and throwing them outside the cultivated part. My oldest brother whenever he came to the village was doing just this - picking up stones. And, we joined him. For several hours a day we did this.
The dry land seemed to have infinite collection of stones coming in the way of peanut growth. But, we were unstoppable. It was like a fight with nature. We must have literally picked tons of stones over the years.
If we had stayed back in the village and never left the village, I am sure we would have won complete victory and got rid of all the stones!
One activity I remember we always did unceasingly was picking up stones in our dry land and throwing them outside the cultivated part. My oldest brother whenever he came to the village was doing just this - picking up stones. And, we joined him. For several hours a day we did this.
The dry land seemed to have infinite collection of stones coming in the way of peanut growth. But, we were unstoppable. It was like a fight with nature. We must have literally picked tons of stones over the years.
If we had stayed back in the village and never left the village, I am sure we would have won complete victory and got rid of all the stones!
I cannot imagine our stone picking zeal yielded more than one or two pennies worth for each hour of labor but it must have resulted in some enormous learning from the experience. I am sure it made us physically stronger, mentally able to focus, disciplined in execution and brought the brothers closer.
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