I Will Get to the Farm

by Sean Dengler

Photo: Danny Carman

Today, Emerging Voices is spotlighting a story by Sean Dengler that he performed at the Practical Farmers Conference in the winter of 2024. Dengler, is a beginning farmer who commutes over 91 miles one way to farm and sit down to a lunch of Tater Tot casserole and soap operas with his parents. Usually, the drive from Urbandale, Iowa, goes smoothly, but on this dreadful day, everything thing that could happen did happen.

Listen to Sean Dengler’s whole story on Mary Swander’s Buggy Land podcast here:

Read an excerpt from Dengler’s story here:

. . .Now as I’m rounding this curve, telling myself, I will get to the farm, I will get to the farm today. I will get to the farm that my grandpa lived on almost his entire life until 2017 when he passed away later that year at the age of 95 after moving into the nursing home. I keep telling myself, I will get there. And then I experienced a sound whomp, whomp, whomp. It felt like I was driving over the worse kept gravel road. At the exact moment this bumpiness started, a light came on the dashboard. What light specifically?  I don’t know. But not a good one. I thought, Great, the day could not go worse. It was another issue keeping me from getting to the farm.

At this point, I pulled off the interstate at the nearest exit. I did what anyone would do in this situation. I performed the universal fixing technique. I turned the car off. And I turned it back on. It did not work. The light was still on. The ride was still bumpy. And at this point, I was worried I was going to miss The Bold and the Beautiful. What were Ridge, Brooke and Taylor going to do about that serial killer Sheila? Or was Hope going to pick her ex-lover Thomas or her current husband Liam? I needed to know.

I get it. It sounds pretty weird, a farmer talking about The Bold and the Beautiful all of a sudden. But just so you know, outside of working in the field, one of the reasons I like doing this, is I get to spend time with my parents. Now a big portion of the show comes when we eat lunch together. We usually start about noon with the T.V. on in the background with my dad watching his favorite soap opera: Gunsmoke. With Marshall Dillon, Miss Kitty, and others saving the West. And about 12:30, my mom and I turn on our favorite show, The Bold and the Beautiful, where none of these people are saving the West, let alone themselves.

Now, I view this time as a way of giving back. I saw what my parents did for my grandparents Vernon and Mildred so that they could live on the farm for over 50 years. While it isn’t the same situation, it’s the best that I can do. Now my grandma outlasted my grandpa on the farm by a few years until she was 98 years old before moving to assisted living in late 2021. She passed away in September of 2022, a couple of weeks shy of her 99^th birthday. And this whole time, I saw my parents always helping her, making her feel as comfortable as possible. So, if my parents could take care of my grandparents that long, the least I could do was bond over soaps with my mom and my dad.

Then back to the interstate. At this moment, the car is feeling like the world’s worst roller coaster. . .

Photo by Nathaniel Hutcheson on Unsplash

Sean Dengler Bio:

Sean Dengler shares his life experiences through comedy with audiences across the country. He’s performed at Teehee's Comedy Club in Des Moines, Paul Bunyan Comedy Festival in Michigan, San Diego Comedy Festival, and the Del Close Marathon in New York City. Find out more about Dengler here:

Proceeds from this page go to AgArts, a non-profit designed to imagine and promote healthy food systems through the arts. Make a donation of any amount to AgArts:

I am pleased to be a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative, organized by the wild and wonderful Julie Gammack. Check out our latest writing on the Sunday Round-Up and read the likes of Art Cullen, Chris Jones, Laura Belen, Beth Hoffman, and Ty Rushing.

Biden, Cars & Iowa Politics reporters join IWC, Abortion...