Most of us enjoy various things.

I used to collect baseball cards as a kid. I’m a big fan of the University of Oregon football team and I enjoy movies, which I quote often.

But having a hobby or liking a certain type of music is different than having a pure passion for those things.

I always admire those people who live and breathe something they are good at. It goes way beyond a career or an activity. It encompasses who they are, and their drive and determination is why they’re good at it. It’s simply something that doesn’t stop on weekends or on holidays.

For Michael Phelps, it’s swimming.

He spends his days shattering world records, capturing gold medals and scarfing down fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

For Joe Paterno, it’s coaching college football.

The Penn State University legend has been coaching football there since 1950, before televisions were in color and before direct dial coast-to-coast telephone service.

And for Lisa Leslie, it’s basketball.

On July 30, 2002, she became the first player in the WNBA to perform a slam dunk.

But passion goes beyond sports and fame.

I once knew a man in a small-town in California who was fascinated with HAM radios and scanners. He used to walk around town for hours with a hand-held radio pressed up against his ear. When an accident or fire would happen, he would offer to help anyway he could. Whenever we bought a new scanner at the paper, I always had him stop by and program it. He also tipped us off if there were any accidents or fires that happened after hours.

Doing all of that was simply his passion. Every morning, he would get up and do it all again.

This past week, I met a couple in Mower County who have a passion like that.

Most of you probably know them.

Their names are John and Jan Ulland, who run a popular pumpkin patch outside of Austin during the fall.

I stopped by his farm this week for a story I’m preparing for one of our special sections and was able to spend some time with John and Jan, who will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year.

John plays the part of a farmer well. While his days of raising cattle are long gone, he still drives around in a John Deere utility vehicle, still owns a barn and some silos, and still grows crops, lots and lots of crops.

As I walked up to the door, I was greeted by Jan, who was making salsa and then by John, who had spent his morning picking wild blackberries.

John and Jan are worker-bee busy from the middle of April until the end of November. They farm everything from onions, green beans, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes and, of course, pumpkins.

John, at the age of 71, would like to do some fishing some day, but for now, his days are spent.

The couple’s summers are taken over by farmer’s markets and all the preparation that goes into the, and the fall seasons go by in the company of pumpkins and kids who want to play in the hay.

Growing fruits and vegetables and running a pumpkin patch may seem like a chore to some people, but for John and Jan, it’s just part of their life, a huge part. And, you can see they love what they do.

Just ask John.

“You should come out sometime when I have a bus load of kids and see the fun I have and the fun the kids have,” he said, while navigating his John Deere through his acreage. “We just try to be here and let them have fun.”

Farmer John and Jan aren’t world famous that I know of. They haven’t won a gold medal, or won a college football game or slammed dunked a basketball with screaming fans cheering them on.

But their passion for what they do is on the same level as our most famous athletes because their put their hearts and spend countless hours making sure what they do is done right.

I’m glad I met them.