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Family
Life
on
the Farm |
My
father grew up
on a little
farm and, in his heart, never left it. He passed that gift on
to
me, through patient years spent as close to the land as he could
manage.
He eventually settled down on a little farm in Ohio, and it is that
place
that often calls to my own heart now. Visiting has been
particularly
special these last few years, as my kids and nieces and nephews have
grown
old enough to explore some of the adventures of rural life.
| Tossing
acorns in and waiting
for them to pop, poking at the big embers, waiting for it to be time to
cook the hotdogs or the marshmallows. That smell of woodsmoke
that
stays in your clothes, no matter how carefully you try to stay on the
downwind
side. |
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| Did
you ever
fill a paper
cup with water and use tongs or something to place it carefully upright
in the fire, then sit and watch while the wax melted off the outside of
the cup and the water bubbled and boiled, but that paper just wouldn't
burn until the water evaporated? |
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My son,
then four years
old, helping his
granddad replace the roof on the chicken house. Hat, hammer,
overalls,
real work to do...what a great life. My
daughter picking out a
pumpkin from
the ones we'd already brought into the barn, in October 1996. |
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My son
"driving" the
Super M and wearing one of his John Deere shirts. Since this
picture
was taken, he's settled on Minneapolis
Moline as his brand of choice...guess I'll just have to get a
nice
little BF or Z or something for him. |
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My nephew,
son, and daughter
enjoying themselves in front of the barn. Even these kids,
born
in
the 90s, can find a lot of fun in the simple things. My
daughter
can already click a mouse, but on this particular day all she needed
was
that five-gallon bucket.
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The
two-year-olds learning
to wash the
tires on my tractor (the bottom third or so, anyway). At right,
pie pumpkins cover the picnic table on a great October afternoon. |
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Gabriel,
our pet Jersey, was one of many beloved animals on the farm. I hope my children can
experience
the wonder of newborn animals at some point...one of the many things
about
farm life that I miss. |
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