A few years ago, I wrote a series of articles called “The seven bank accounts of a farmer.” Everyone, including farmers, have these seven bank accounts. An important one of the seven bank accounts is neighbours. An old farmer once told me; “You may get along okay without some of your relatives but you can’t get along without your neighbours.”
Being a good . . .
neighbour means waving hi and stopping to give a neighbour a lift if you see them walking on the road; asking if there is a party for a wedding before you stink up the air spreading manure, stopping with the loader for a few seconds to move a snow bank at the end of their driveway in the winter; taking a few minutes to explain why you are building a new barn or cutting hay on a Sunday evening; or some other small gesture which may seem insignificant to you but can be a lot more important to a neighbour.
Just lately, when we couldn’t get oversize lumber to repair an old house, it was a small local sawmill and they came to the rescue and sawed a few bigger boards that fit into the older building. This summer, when many sizes of lumber were unavailable, it was the same local mill that sawed us some oversize squares.
When a few truss rafters were unavailable and over double priced this summer, it again was a small local supplier who made us up some trusses in only a few days and at a reasonable price.
A few days ago, when floods in BC washed out roads, causing some towns to evacuate and flooded 80 percent of the provinces dairy farms it was a couple of small, local dairies in a dry valley, not flooded and dairy supplies from neighbouring provinces that kept the citizens in dairy supplies.
When some major highways were flooded in lower BC, cutting off needed deliveries from eastern provinces, it was our big neighbour to the south that eased border restrictions allowing much needed supplies to pass from Canada to USA and back to Canada again using some US routes that were not flooded. This kept some essential supplies flowing to Canada’s most westerly cities.
Recently, it was reported that our own province was making it difficult for foreign students to attend university in our province but immediately Alberta offered open arms to foreign students who wished to attend university in their province. Needless to say, this would also open the door for Alberta to encourage those same young people when they graduate from university to stay in Alberta and pay taxes.
Quebec’s religious and language laws are also making it difficult for professionals like teachers, nurses and doctors to work in Quebec causing a brain drain from Quebec to other provinces and states.
A very close French friend of mine once said, “Language is like a car. Some people drive a Chev, some a Ford, some a Dodge, some a Toyota, etc. Don’t try to tell one that they should drive another kind. Some people speak French, some English, some Italian, some Cantonese, etc. Don’t tell people that they should speak the other language. A car is only a mode of transportation, language is a mode of communication.”
I think that it’s an advantage to be able to drive any car. I also think it would be wonderful to speak many different languages.
Be good to your neighbours. They are a very valuable assets and friends.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
