Every day at the beginning of lunch I wash my hands before
preparing a meal. Recently, I laughed with the realization that for me, this
action has become something closer to a vague gesture towards hand-washing: I
use soap, and rub my hands together under the cold water, but truth be told I’m
satisfied after the loose dirt has fallen from the tips of my thumb and first
finger. The soap serves to sanitize whatever is left behind.
Pretty obviously, farm life demands certain adjustments to
my accustomed hygiene regiment. As probably everyone who has ever lived or
traveled in close proximity to me has realized, I keep clean pretty devotedly.
In the absence of a shower, I minimally find a way to wash my hair under a sink
every day. Even taking a shower at night rather than in the morning always
seems a hardship, as my thin hair easily becomes oily overnight. My go-to study
break is simply to wash my hands.
The problems with these habits on a farm is the sheer
amount of dirt and sweating inherent in the work. Clean hands are nice, but if
I’m going to head back out to plunge them into the ground in an hour, I have
little motivation to get all the dirt off. Furthermore, there are types of dirt
on types of skin that really just aren’t going to come off (have you ever
pruned tomatoes? The green stuff really just doesn’t come off).
One week in, my meek confession to the other apprentices
that I have showered every day was met with a laugh. “That will change soon.” The
average amount of showers per week among apprentices was something like 2.5.
Granted, the weather was much cooler then, but I was still pretty surprised.
At first I tried intentionally to take fewer showers. If no
one else minds that I’m grungy, why not save the water? Avid cleanliness is
surely only a sign of urban vanity. However, when unshowered I would feel
myself become withdrawn and short-tempered, invariably requiring that I
sacrifice my lunch break to clean up instead of waiting until after work.
A couple months later, I’m still finding a new balance. My
hands, feet, and knees have patches of more permanent dirt, while I keep my face
and ears entirely clean. I always shower after milking the cow, but sometimes
let it slide in the evening if I don’t feel too sweaty and it’s already getting
dark. I re-wear shirts for days in a row, but typically change underwear.
As it turns out, the goal is not to lower one’s standards
for cleanliness, but change them. There are types of dirt that you want to get
off and other types in which you can comfortably feel at home. I went to a
family reunion this weekend found with amusement how much I enjoyed showing off
and defending my farmer hands. At least for a recent farmer, it’s funny how the
dirt you choose to keep in a way becomes integral to your farmer identity.
