Milking

I've been doing a relief milking course this week. It's been thoroughly enjoyable, despite getting a taste of cow poo (yuck!): I've been learning a lot about the details of milk treatment, as well as learning to use the tools of the trade - riding all-terain vehicles (4 wheelers) and so on.

But why?

We have a couple of farmers in our congregation, and I'd like to be able to fill in for them in an emergency, or perhaps even just give them a weekend off occasionally. Relief milkers are apparently pretty hard to come by; good ones even rarer. If I can be a reliable, trustworthy fill-in, they have less stress in an emergency or when away on a break. Besides, from my point of view, it makes a welcome change of pace and focus.