“I worked more in my childhood than some people do in their lives. When I was 13, I was already in the fields with a tractor,” said Ove Musting, and gave the example of a winter day, when in the morning before To go to school you had to milk the cows, throw the manure and push the silo in front of the animals.
“Then go into the room, wash yourself, and pray to God you don’t stink,” he described his thoughts as he left the stable and headed to school. “Then you finish your homework for the day, you go home – to the stable, you sleep in the evening and at 2 in the morning you go to see if any cows have given birth. And it was a pleasant time in the winter, in the summer there was more work in the fields and other work.”
Even school holidays were spent in the stable or in the fields. “While others traveled abroad, we traveled between camps,” Ove smiles now.
He admitted that he simply had to help his parents because it was to the detriment of their family’s lifestyle. “But I got tired of this job until I vomited. Coming to school in Tallinn was an escape in that sense. It was really great when you could sleep soundly until seven and then go to school at eight. Like a crazy life!”
A clip from the farmer’s father
However, in his childhood, Ovel divided time between work and school to observe his father’s hobby and soon to experiment. Ove’s father, Raivo Musting, who has been raising dairy cattle in Põlvamaa for over 30 years and was awarded Farmer of the Year for his outstanding work, made films as a hobby as a young man.
Secretly, Ove began making sketches and films with his father’s VHS camcorder alongside his neighbor and future (Winnie the Pooh) bandmate Indrek Nõmme. “The camera was sacred and you couldn’t touch it, but what you can’t do is the most intense thing. I don’t know what I overrecorded, anyway I had to erase something every time so my father wouldn’t see. Don’t take it,” he recalled.
“We played all sorts of characters, characters and all sorts of nonsense – it was a lot of fun. That’s why this little one, he’s 100% a father, there’s no doubt about it,” said Ove, who preferred to film the his father’s hobby. of his work. In Ove’s place, his younger brother Ole manages the farm.
There is no less work on the farm, Ove admitted that even on his most difficult days, of 15-16 hours of filming, he knows that when he thinks of his brother or his parents, his work is joy and a flower festival .
Children don’t have to fulfill their parents’ dreams
Although Raivo Musting handed the farm over to his younger son Ole, he still visits the barns every day to “keep an eye on the owner”. Not that he doesn’t trust his son, but to help him identify animals in trouble as soon as possible.
“We have 250 dairy cows plus a young herd, five stables in total – there is still something to look at,” Raivo smiled and continued: “I make sure that everything works and is in order. The animal notices from his face when there is a problem and behaves differently than usual.”
Raivo is obviously pleased that one of his children is continuing his life’s work, but he doesn’t think that children should fulfill their parents’ dreams. “The thing I’m happy about is that I haven’t dictated to any child what they should learn.”
Raivo said that even if Ole decides he can’t or doesn’t want to run the farm anymore, he won’t be disappointed by this thorn: “If you force, nothing will come of it.”
In addition to Ove and Ole, Raivo has a daughter, Triin Katre. “If there is anything to be proud of in this world, I am proud of my children: all of them graduated from college and are the best in their fields.”
Child savings
Ove, who now has three children, said he sees many of his father’s traits in himself. “You can’t beat DNA,” he chuckled and gave an example: “there’s no candle, but on the other hand I think the balance came with time.”
Although Ove also experienced his father’s tyranny and dictatorship, as he called it, in his childhood, he says there are many things he only began to appreciate later. “For example, the relationship between father and mother, their warmth, which I have seen all my life, their care for each other, and this warmth is very, very important.”
He also praised his father’s intelligence and reading, the fact that he can talk to him about anything in the world
Since childhood, in addition to his great working ability, Ove has brought with him a love for smoked mutton, a passion for fishing and bright memories of home cooking. “The smells and tastes of my childhood: how much I need them again and again. Maybe it’s that childhood memory that makes you want to go back to that feeling.”
“The cone doesn’t fall…” is on Vikerradio on Sundays at 10.10am. Presented by Sten Teppan.
2023-12-18 09:40:00
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