Thursday, March 08, 2007
That is the first time I have seen the farm since 1984. I was amazed at the changes. There are a lot of trees that have grown up along the waterway. Adam and I used to have a blast catching crawdads there. We also used to have boat races on the waterway. Especially that last summer we were in NE. There was a lot of rain that year and there seemed to always be water running down the water way. I really feel sorry for those of you that didn't get to grow up there. I have memories attached to nearly every square foot of that farm. The shop (the small isolated building just north of the abandoned sow lot) is where Adam nearly killed me. He had put a round of bird shot in the vise and with an awl and hammer, punched the primer. It just so happened that I was walking in the front doors at the precise moment the round went off - about two feet in front of me from the left to the right. Of course Adam was only doing what I had shown him how to do. I thought Dad was going to kill me. Just to the east of the shop is the Grain barn. That building was a blast. I learned that if you are going to jump into the grain, make sure that you jump into corn, not milo. Milo make you itch like crazy. Also, try to avoid the soy beans. They compact too much and your landing is rather hard. Finally, watch out for wires that your father hung from the ceiling so that he could hang bags of riboflavin and so forth. One day I jumped from about 20 feet up one of the cement dividers into some corn and didn't notice the wires. Since Dad didn't usually have grain in that bin, we obviously didn't jump there and therefore didn't have to worry about the wires. This time I jumped but didn't see the wire. As I fell through the air, my right arm got tangled in one of the wires. The wire nearly stopped my descent and my landing in the grain was somewhat less than graceful. Luckily, no permanant damage was done. I did have a nice wound show for awhile though. I could go on forever. One last memory. That little finger of land just south of the Feeding barn was created by an Earth Mover during the construction of the farm. In the spring it was a mud pit and would suck the boots right off your feet - I lost several that way - but in the winter, we would sled off the southwest slope. The top of the slope was a good 30-50 feet higher than the sow lot and you could really pick up some speed. It was even more fun after a good ice storm. The slope would be one gigantic sheet of ice. Again, I could go on forever. Ask Dad about his pot plot just below the lagoon or the tornado that ripped the roof off the finishing barn. Ask him to tell you about Houdini and Gwen and Grizzly. Don't forget about Gotcha boards, homemade donuts, and the Chronicles of Narnia. All great memories. I probably had the best childhood of anyone living today.
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3 comments:
I didn't know dad was such the irresponsible pyromaniac. Well, I guess I should have known since he likes to tell a story about how he and Ron Dunn (I think) burned down a barn or something in their childhood.
My memories are somewhat limited of the farm, but I do remember dad using the bobcat to clear snow from the pond so we could ice skate.
I remember Jason shooting me with a BB gun in the leg.
I remember walking on the tops of crusty snow and every once in a while I'd break through in snow up to my waist.
I remember getting on the bus for school (I only attended kindergarten in NE) and heading north on the road west of the farm.
Fun times.
Jess, do you remember your kindergarten teacher? You were as tall as she was! She was the tiniest woman I had ever seen that wasn't a midget. And you were a big boy!
I don't remember the fire incident. Was I gone with Dad??
Do any of you remember when we ran around the carpet in our stocking feet and would then try to shock each other? That was fun! I remember playing ball with the boys outside. I remember the smell of the Russian olive trees behind the pigeon loft. The photo brought lots of memories.
I don't think I've seen the farm since we left either. It was pretty cool to see it-- so thanks for the memories Jess. I remember the great sledding and trying to follow Jason and Adam around so I wouldn't be left out. Do you guys remember waiting for the school bus in the little building at the end of the driveway -- the one with all the dead pigs in it? We stayed out of there unless it was too cold to breathe outside. It is pretty neat to see how many trees there are now. I used to like to watch dad opening the boxes of trees when they were shipped to us for planting. Jason and Adam -- do you remember chasing me into a pile of mud (or crap -- I don't really want to remember which it was)and laughing at me because I couldn't get out? My precious red boots got sucked into the pile and I had to loose them forever. I think mom had to come pull me out. She wasn't too pleased with you two! Nor was I, since you had to have boots to play on the grass at school. What a weird memory to have, huh!
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