Lessons on the Farm

I can't say that I grew up on a farm......

But what I can say is that I grew up in a one red light town with rabbits caged in hutches out in my back yard. Mama had a garden full of Swiss chard and there were black berries as big as our thumbs out behind the old garage that no longer stands.

I can tell you that I spent many a weekend riding hay wagons and walking dirt roads. And my sister and I just couldn't get enough of chasing them old Muscovy Ducks up on my Grandmother's farm.

We would walk the pasture afraid of that old bull Because Uncle Ponch and Uncle Dave would tell us stories of how that old bull charges at the sight of red. And me? My favorite pair of jeans were red bell bottoms. I wore them all the time.

Daddy had a tractor named Susie and she would pull a creaky old manure spreader turned wood wagon behind her up oak hill every Saturday. The 50 acre lot needed clearing and we needed fire wood for the winter.

Living in the Country taught me hard work and responsibility.  Taught me about life and death.

I learned never to go near an untamed bull with red bell bottom pants. To stay clear of an electric fence, because girls with long hair can get tangled up trying to crawl under.

I learned the simple life was and is the better life.

I learned that chasing Muscovy ducks can get you in a world of trouble!

Picking wild berries and Black eyed Susans just seem to go together. You can't pick one with out the other.

I learned that old dogs named Woody, really aren't that scary.........really.

I learned that the heat from a wood stove is like no other. So worth all those hours piling wood down cellar. I even learned that you can create happy memories doing something you really never cared doing.

I learned that small town churches can plant seeds. And that those churches should never close their doors because some seeds can lay dormant for a while before they start to grow and produce fruit......I was one of those dormant seeds......

I learned all about playing in creeks and catching minnows. That staying outside was a given. My Mama had to beg us girls to come in.

I learned that there is world of things to do outside if you just unleash your God given imagination. Oh how I long for the kids of this generation to live what we have lived.

I learned that Farms are only as dirty as their farmer. That Raw milk isn't scary. And Fresh eggs are beautiful. I learned that being self sufficient is knowing stability.

I could go on and on........And maybe I will just have to say......

To be continued...........