As Norma and Paul and I approached our discussion of “overalls,” my appreciation grew for the smelly, dingy, ragged overalls our father used to wear as farmer’s garb.

As a child, I always assumed the darker blue, crisper “going-to-town” overalls were Daddy’s “fancier” uniform. Today I see his work bibs in a whole new light. As we prepare to sell and profit from the family farm, Dad’s overalls have become tangible evidence of the investment he made in our property and in our family.

Maybe I could have put this concept into the words of a poem or essay; but the image of overalls made of money kept appearing in my brain. So I stretched some of my software skills a bit to generate the image at left. It is almost exactly as it first appeared in my mind’s eye.

I do not mean for this to be a greedy, materialistic view of our father and our farm. Just an illustration that sometimes there is financial means where it’s not expected or readily apparent.