Have you ever flown into a big city? The tiny dots below scurry about like a colony of ants building their colossal ant pile. There is a different pace to a city … a certain energy. City folks scuttle about their offices and factories during the day and then have a panoply of restaurants, bars, theaters and clubs to energetically engage in their evening. If “slow-paced” describes rural life, “fast-paced” is an apt description of urban life.

We had a teacher at our little school who complained about the pace of our rural students. “The slow pace of this community extends to the children,” the teacher explained. “There is no urgency to their learning.”

I just smoked. I had spent the last three days preparing a field for the fertilizer and seed coming in the morning. We did about six days' worth of tillage in about three days. I couldn't identify the “slow pace of our community” that she described.

Then I realized there is a difference between “hectic” and “slow-paced.” There are times in rural America that are hectic. Have you ever baled hay with a rain cloud moving in? That is hectic. Have you ever herded cattle with 2 miles to go and the sun just dipped behind the horizon? No matter how urgent the situation, the tractor pulling the baler will max out at 4 miles per hour and the cattle will move at 2. These slow-paced aspects of agricultural life never bend to your urgency.

I learned most everything I know about cattle from my grandpa, either directly or indirectly. He would tell me, “The fastest way to move cattle is slow.”

This is the general feeling to rural living. An animal husbandryman who is fast-paced has facilities that are toothed, dinged and bent. I have studied several stockmanship clinicians, and they universally employ slow-paced techniques.

Spend any time in a city and you will quickly see some differences. Hesitate for a moment in any highway situation and someone will chastise you. I drove through New York City in my younger years, and I vividly remember entering the city from the Lincoln Tunnel. There is nothing gradual about the transition. From suburban New Jersey to a mile-and-a-half tunnel, then poured out into a scene from The Jetsons or some dystopian movie. I hesitated as I pondered my options of Exits 1A through 1H, and in that hesitation, I set off dozens of horns honking and drivers waving at me with a single finger.

Time is different in the city. City dwellers have watches, clocks and bell towers. We in rural America rely on the sun. If you arrive a second past an agreed-upon time in the city, you are late. If you arrive a second past an agreed-upon time in the country, you will wait on the other person. The pace of country living is just different, but are we losing that slower pace?

When was the last time you watched a sunrise or a sunset? Have you stepped out on your back porch to see a billion stars? You know that friend or neighbor you need to visit; can you just not find the time? I understand that life on a farm or ranch can be hectic, but why would we make it fast-paced too?

I'm not passing judgment on anyone here; I am describing my own fast-paced life. It is important to reflect on our priorities and the things we miss just out our back door.

We've all heard stories about a time in rural America before the internet, before television, before radio. What did country folk do to relax? Go fishing, take a hike, go on a picnic with your sweetheart, enjoy a family meal, go to a barn dance. I'm sure you have other slow-paced activities to add to your list. Maybe it's not our hectic life after all making life so fast-paced. Maybe it's our passive use of radio, television and social media that makes our lives feel fast-paced.

You shouldn't give up your screen time completely. There are some great, slow-paced magazines that are worth your time (Ag Proud – Idaho being one of them, obviously). When you look at how our forefathers lived, they spent more time working, more time with chores, so maybe it's something other than work, chores or family that makes life feel so hectic.

Sometimes I wonder what a city dweller thinks when they fly over our area and look out the window of their airplane. Do they see our slow-paced pivots or our slow-paced dairies? Maybe they see a whole lotta nothing. Most likely they are watching hair and nail tutorials on the TikTok. No time to slow down and look out the window.

In our zeal to mimic the rest of the world, have we forgotten how to live a slow-paced, country-style life? We can wring our hands and agonize how to reclaim our rural living. But the answer is so simple … just slow down.