Good news. This afternoon I went over to Ed and Carol Gulley’s Bejosh Farm, I had just read three short stories Ed had written about the life of a dairy farmers=, and I wanted to sit down with him and go over the pieces. The Gulley kitchen is an amazing place to be, there are dogs and rescue cats and goats everywhere and just outside the door.

Just tell it to my straight, he said. Don’t worry, I said, I will. Sometimes that gets me into trouble, but not with Ed. He is on fire to learn.

The cows and peacocks and chickens are outside in the barns. Ed is making an exciting turn in his life, he wants to start a bog with his wife Carol and write about the real life of the farmer, a story he believes has not been fully and honesty told. And from what I have seen, Ed has plenty of good stories to pass along. So does Carol.

Ed loves every day of his life, but he also believes Americans have lost touch with the people who grow their food and till their land. He is determined to write honestly of the farmer’s life. So is his wife Carol.

I love his writing voice, his style and energy. One of the stories he gave me  was from nearly 30 years ago, it was inspired by Elf, the Gulley’s Brown Swiss, who decided to calve in the cold and and early hours of the morning this past Sunday – this was Ice Cube, who weighed 130 pounds.

The birth reminded Ed of another time 30 years ago when a different cow was trying to give birth. A new heifer who hadn’t quite gotten the routine was about four weeks from her due date, and she didn’t come into the milking parlor with the others.

They waited until after milking to go bring her into the  barn and looked and looked and finally found her hours later in a distant part of the pasture “you would consider swamp in bushes and thorns and mud,” trying to calve.

“Not going to happen,” decided Ed. At two in the morning 30 years ago getting a vet is not going to happen fast enough either, wrote Ed.   He had to make some very quick decisions, or the cow would die. So Ed decided  not to sit and wait and risk losing her, she was suffering. He checked on the calf to see if it was in the right position and discovered it was dead and all twisted inside of her.

“So I duck taped part of a hacksaw blade to my index finger and double-checked the calf again before i reached in and starting cutting up the calf to get it out of her, or she would die from this difficult calving. No way was she going to have it on her own. And that is what I did just like the Johnny Cash song “One Piece At A Time.” I got the calf out in pieces. I had seen a vet do it before and I was also certified in meat cutting and butchering. It was just a really hard-assed location to be doing it in the middle of the night. The heifer got up and even though we never tried to breed her again she lived.”

The story  this week had a happier ending. “Just like Elf to have this big 130 lb on her own, Both Mom and baby are doing just fine. Just goes to show that failing isn’t the end; sometimes it is a new beginning.”

Ed bounces back from the many disappointments and hardships of farming, his attitude towards life is exhilarating and contagious. Hardship is just another bridge to cross, and he and Carol have known plenty of hardship. They never complain about their lives.

Ed’s story is a typical Gulley story, intense and compelling.

Ed lives in a world where life and death are present almost every day. Like many farmers, he loves the animals he lives and works with, they are, along with his family, his life.  He is an emotionally complex man, he can cut up a calf inside the mother’s womb, but he cannot euthanize a dog for any reason. “I have to leave that to Carol,” he says, “I just can’t do it.”

The creative spark is burning brightly in Ed, it is especially strong as he nears age 65 and wants to give rebirth to his life. He is making his art, working on his sculptures, getting ready to write on his blog. I will be there with him as much as he wants me there.

I admire Ed, he will work hard and succeed. I’m not much for nostalgia, but when we talk about the values that built the country, I have to think of him, and the men and women like him. I don’t know anyone who works harder than these two.  I think the writing universe is about to get a vigorous new voice.

Ed is passionate about farming, and also ambitious about writing. He and Carol will write together on the blog, and share the rich tapestry of stories from their lives. I am very happy to have these two in my writing class. They are eager to learn and share their lives on their new blog.  I have the most amazing class of creative, gifted and supported people. They will be comfortable there.

I will also be  honest, and say it is wonderful to have a farmer in the class. I’ve never found one that wanted to start  a blog, and they could be among the world’s best and most natural bloggers. Nobody has richer tales to tell, every single day.

Farmers are busy,  they work hard, and often disdain new information technology. Ed doesn’t have a cell phone. Few are inclined to share their stories as openly and articulately as Ed. He is an artist and a creative, a thoughtful observer of his own life. He is open and self-aware,  and I bet he will bring us deeply into a world we all knew of of but few of us see.

I can’t wait for class.