What shows up before the first Robin?

Farm machinery auctions.

     Yes before we will see the first robin in the yard, farmers will make their annual migration to farm auctions.  In fact this has been going on so long that it has now been perfected into a annual consignment auction.  Locally the Leland Lions Club will have one on March 21st.  For the town it means farmers are flocking into town from hours away for the one day event.  For the Lions Club it means several days of hard work and collecting a small amount of each sale to give back to the community to feather that nest.  For the farmer it gives the opportunity to sell some things he is not using and buy some things he thinks would help him for the next few years.
    At these events there is really everything and anything that is found on a farm.  They also have mud.  Yes just when the winter is leaving and the frozen ground is turning to mud, equipment is being hauled out of hibernation given a few quick repairs and put in a line of all the other farm equipment.  Each waking from their own machine sheds for this event.  All these farmers then put on their best mud boots, carhartt overalls, and gloves jump into the truck making sure he has some wagon pins and a tool box just in case.  He of course will arrive hours before the auctioneer begins to look at each piece of equipment and devise his best plan for acquisitions.  Some have so perfected this that they will buy something at one of these auctions if they think the price is low and sell it at the next auction within weeks that has a different flock of farmers descending on  a similar town.  Most often there will about 5 auctioneers selling at any one time.  Each will be surrounded by a swarm of farmers and at times some will break from the swarm just to join the swarm with one of the other auctioneers.  In the middle of this short journey he will buy a coffee, sandwich, or cookie from a 4 H or church group that set up a table at strategic locations.
    By night fall the event will be over and everyone will return to their own home some will be loaded with prize purchases but all will have about 5 lbs of mud on their boots they wear with a sense of pride because after all he is a farmer.

                                                                                                  Serving together, Dean