Mama Bear Moxie: Neighborly love in rural communities

It is no secret that my husband and I moved to our little hobby farm from the city. We don’t have anyone in our family who has lived in a rural area and are the first ones to chase the dream of farm life. This has led to some comical lessons that have been learned the hard way, like how a sump pump works and the fine art of mowing a large property.

Here in the Midwest, storms are not uncommon. We have a weather radio in our kitchen that alerts us to impending weather conditions. Even with the use of cellphone technology, this weather radio has been a life line for us with the closest neighbor being about a half mile away. We’ve been in our house six years now and have had to run down to the basement only a handful of times during a bad storm. We’ve had tree limbs fall down, a trampoline that blew into a car and over the house, as well as many chicken coops that have seen better days.

We recently had a bad storm that arrived yet again in the middle of the night. Our power usually stays on, but this night it went out for about 10 hours. There was a tornado warning, which is usual, and alerts to high winds which is also not uncommon in our neck of the woods. The storm came and went, and although we had to move around by candlelight, it was pretty uneventful for us.

The next morning my husband reported that a dairy farm a few miles down the road had been damaged by the storm. Not only did their grain bin topple over but the barn had been hit and some cows had died or were too injured to save. School was canceled because of the power outage, so he took our oldest son and a chain saw to help clean up.

Word got around quickly that the farm had been badly damaged and soon enough there were over 100 neighbors joining in to help clean up. Neighbors from far and wide arrived with their work gloves on and parked their cars on the side of the busy rural road. Keys were left in the ignitions, which is common for a rural community, so that cars could be moved aside as the clean up machinery maneuvered.

A washing station had been set up in the driveway just a few hours after sunrise, complete with 5-gallon buckets of warm soapy water. Coffee was hot and set up on a makeshift table along with bologna sandwiches and other food items for the workers.

It was amazing to see the community come together to help our neighbor. Friends, family, and even those who didn’t know the dairy owners very well all showed up to help out. There was no hesitation or question. The farm was badly damaged and there is an old saying that I have found myself telling me own kids, “Many hands make light work.”

It would have taken the owners weeks to finish all that the community did in just a few hours. I think that is what I love the most about living in a rural community. If there is a need, it will be met. Not because anyone is keeping tabs on who needs help but because helping others is the right thing to do.

It could have been any of our farms that were hit by those high winds or possible tornado. Any one of us could have woken up to a yard full of debris and blown down buildings. One thing is always for sure, when the next storm comes through and damages property, there will always be those who stop to help in the country.