The Work Behind The Beauty

Many times, we go through life with our personal routine and general expectations.  If we need something to eat, we can go to the market, if we need clothes, we can buy clothes at a store.  We expect whatever we need to be there when we need it. Even for large purchases such as a home, car, or those of you who are lucky enough, an Airstream trailer.

There are stories everywhere.  Farmers dedicate their lives to work on a crop so you are able to go to a store and purchase instantly what you are hungry for.  Many times, you don't think about where the crop was grown, who grew it, how it got to the store, packaged and now, in your hands.

I was lucky enough to take a tour of the Airstream factory to see how each trailer is made.  They are all made by hand from dedicated workers and in some cases, generations of workers who spend their life building these beautiful silver trailers.  Each rivet is drilled in by hand as well as the insulation, woodwork, electric, paneling, and they even have people sewing on the spot.  As the tour group was taken through the factory, we were greeted by smiles briefly, then it was back to work.

Since the men and women on the team are on a time schedule, I couldn't talk to them on the tour, but I did briefly when they came out for a break during the day.  All were very polite and answered all of my questions about their work.

I was lucky enough to gain access to the rooftop to take some photographs and was escorted by Darrell.  He's been working at Airstream for eleven years and is an Ohio native.  A very sweet spoken man, he agreed to have me take his photograph on the roof top.

Being a witness to how much work goes into the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the vehicles you drive and even trailers you sleep in will give you a better appreciation for what you are paying for and the people who dedicate their lives to helping make yours a better one.

A Day In The Life On A Northern Arizona Ranch

This past weekend I joined the Sisters on The Fly to camp, relax and take a day trip to visit a working ranch.  This was my first time joining these ladies who's motto is, "we have more fun than anyone."  Oh yeah?  We'll just see about that!

I will write more about these wonderful ladies in an upcoming blog.  For now, I will talk about the day trip we took to a working ranch in Northern Arizona.  I knew that the plan was to visit a ranch, however I didn't know what was in store for us.  We were greeted by some amazing and welcoming people at the ranch house who were gracious and more than willing to take time out to pose for a photograph or two for me.  The kids were wonderful.  The scenery was unreal and everything was what you might imagine a ranch to be.

Being from California, I haven't had the opportunity to witness a working ranch and see how these folks live.  It's a life of hard work and love for what they do, since you won't get rich being a farmer.  It's a way of life that they love and for them, they wouldn't have it any other way.  We took a tour of the ranch, were able to pet some horses and at the end of the tour, it was time for all of us to watch as they branded several cows.  I am not a meat eater, but I do respect what they do for the people who do eat meat.  It was hard for me to watch at first, especially seeing how stressed the animals were to be put in the situation they were in. As far as treatment of the animals go, I know that there are much worse situations so I would consider these cows lucky to live on this particular ranch.

I am thankful to the family that allowed us to come to the ranch and witness what they do on a daily basis.  They are pretty proud of what they do, as they should be.  If it weren't for ranchers like these, you wouldn't get to enjoy many of the foods that you are able to purchase at the store.  I have great respect and admiration for the amount of work it takes to run a farm.  It was an education to see it first hand. I would recommend a visit to a local farm in your area if you get the chance.

I look forward to more experiences such as this one.  For more photographs of life on this ranch, click HERE.