Down on the Farm

This morning I took the cyber highway out to Billie Gail's Farm on Facebook. Crops were not quite ready to harvest, so I checked to see if any "neighbors" needed help on their farms, but none were online. So I went up the road to the Market Place, where I was quickly hired by Corinna to harvest pumpkins and to plow. I've been considering expanding my farm, so when I finished up at Corinna's I headed to the Realty Office and bought 80 more acres.

Back at my farm I see that the onions and watermelon are ripe, but still no neighbors online. I could go to the Market Place and pick up laborers, but I'd rather give the work to family and friends so they can earn coins and pick up experience points, which they need to take them to the next level. A farmer's level determines what can bought at the Store. The store sells everything: seed, fences, building, flowers, trees, animals - heck, you can even buy a river to run through your farm - I can't wait to reach that level.

While I wait for neighbors to arrive I set about incorporating the extra acreage. A fence and the mailbox need to be moved to the outer edges of my new property line. I plow the new expanse of green grass. I move trees and flowers. I sell the goat, but decide to keep both cows. The decision has less to do with animal preference than it does with the artists who drew them. The cows are cute, but those goats just ain't right.

Farming is at its best when several neighbors are online at the same time. We take turns working at each other's farms. All of my neighbors are people I know in real time, and this is a great way to stay in touch. We chat as we plow. We meet friends of our friends who drop by.

When we can't find a neighbor, some of us send a text request for help with harvesting. Are we offended when we're accused of being addicted? We farmers just smile and nod, Excuse me I have potatoes to get in before they go to waste in the ground.