New Blog from Lauren LaGrande: Christmas in Rice Country

By Lauren LaGrande

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! (Lucky for you all, I can type better than I can sing.) Winter jackets are being brought out, festive lights are dangling from houses, and flocks of geese can be heard across the skies.

December is here, along with my senior year! Time sure does fly and I can’t believe that the rice harvest, Thanksgiving, and junior year are over.

It felt like our harvest was a bit later this year; this could be because I was looking forward to it or the fact that the rice was a little late maturing throughout the valley.

Although our yields were less this year, we were able to complete harvest in a somewhat timely fashion, just in time for Halloween and the FFA haunted Ag barn.

During the busy month of October I had the privilege of flying to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 2012 FFA National Convention. Blue corduroy FFA jackets flooded the streets, as 53,000 members entered the expo building for opening ceremonies, group sessions, and FFA National Talent and boy can they sing!

Our FFA chapter also met new friends from Iowa who were from the awesome town of Riceville, which happens to not only be an imaginary land where I think my dad disappears to sometimes, but an actual FFA chapter.

The national officers chose a theme for the conference, which was “Grow.” I really liked this year’s theme and I think that everyone apply it somehow in their lives and can better from it. So much emphasis was put on the simple word grow, which ironically means so much.  Not only is grow defined as “to increase gradually in size” but to develop, learn, and prosper. Not only can you grow your crops, you can grow as an individual, grow as a team, grow from past experiences, or grow together, but no matter what… just grow.

Then November hit and so did the rain and college application deadlines. The cold weather didn’t stop our annual FFA pheasant hunter’s breakfast we put on for the hunters at the elementary school so they can have a quick bite before heading out on the opening day. It also didn’t stop our family tradition of going pheasant hunting with family friends. So far we have recorded six inches of rain, which means many the rice fields are now filled with standing water and migrating waterfowl from our northern states. Ducks and geese sprinkled with shorebirds inhabit our rice fields. My absolute favorites are the beautiful mallards. I enjoy the view every morning; however I could do without the geese waking me up every morning at 5am to notify me of their arrival. Some people on the other hand live for it! These would include my dad, family friends, classmates, and members of the community. Sometimes here in Maxwell a few boys are missing from first period class because they are still out duck hunting. Local restaurants, diners, hunting stores, and hardware stores are happy to see migrating hunters help out our local economy.

When the town Christmas tree lit up our tiny community, I realized December snuck up on me, which meant so did pesky finals. But luckily, that meant our usual family traditions would be commencing. These traditions include (attempting to) sing old Christmas songs while decorating our house and Christmas tree, hunting for our favorite ornaments, and of course decorating, but mostly, eating sugar cookies.

It’s times like these when I feel truly blessed to live in the community I do and thankful for the family I have. So this holiday, be sure to count your blessings and to make your blessings count! I hope everyone has a happy and safe Christmas!

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Lauren LaGrande is the latest in a family farming tradition that began nearly 100 years ago. She is a sophomore at Maxwell High School and is active in FFA, Future Business Leaders of America, volleyball, basketball and softball. When she’s on the farm, you’ll often see her with her trusted companion, Hank, the family dog. Lauren’s great-grandfather grew his first rice crop in the Sacramento Valley in 1916 and the family has continued this tradition ever since.