|
Books About Life on a Farm Written Especially for People Who Like to Read! "Highly recommended reading." The Midwest Book Review Reviews & Readers' Comments |
LeAnn R. Ralph Rural Route 2 Author E6689 970th Ave. Colfax, WI 54730 (715) 308-6336 |
| |||
| |
|
by LeAnn R. Ralph When I was a little girl growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, I thought everyone lived on a farm. But you know how children are, their experiences with the world are so limited they think their experiences encompass the whole world - that their experiences are the whole world. Still, many of my kindergarten classmates lived on farms, too, so I suppose my view wasn't really so limited. As I progressed through elementary school, though, it gradually dawned on me some of the other kids did not live on farms. Some of them actually lived in town. They didn't have to go out to the barn for chores before school or after supper. They didn't know the first thing about helping a calf be born. They'd never lifted a hay bale or gazed with awe at a week-old kitten cradled tenderly in the work-roughed palm of their father. On the other hand, I did have enough company from fellow farm kids in school so I did not think my background was all that unusual. However, after I graduated from high school, left my hometown and started traveling around the United States, I was hard-pressed to meet anyone who had ever been on a farm - much less lived on one. And as I traveled through other states, people would ask me where I was from. I'd tell them "Wisconsin". And often they'd say "I suppose you lived on a dairy farm". After a while, it became clear to me for people in other states "Wisconsin" and "dairy farm" were synonymous. I'd find myself explaining not everyone who lives in Wisconsin lives on a dairy farm. And then I'd find myself answering questions about what it was like growing up on a farm. It's hard to explain about growing up on a farm with a father who worked from sunup to sunset, seven days a week, tied to a schedule of chores and crops. How do you explain what it was like to have a father, who, under those circumstances, was always available? I remember as a little girl, I'd walk around the farm buildings yelling for my father at the top of my lungs. I'd wait, listening for an answering "Hi!!", and then I'd go in the direction of the sound. Dad was always doing something interesting, like fixing machinery. Sometimes he'd even let me help. One time when I was about four or five, Dad was greasing the hay baler. I ended up with grease all over myself, from my hands up to my elbows, on my clothes and on my face. My mother was furious. Another time, when I was somewhat older, Dad was building a hay rack. He drew lines where he wanted the nails to go, made sure I knew how to drive a nail in straight, and then he gave me the hammer and a bunch of nails. I went to work pounding nails. When we were finished building the hay rack, Dad let me help paint it, too. A nice bright red. While the bed of the rack was still wet, we threw sand on it. "The sand will stick and keep it from being so slippery", Dad explained. My father let me help with a lot of things. Cows in labor sometimes needed help having their calves. Dad showed me how to apply gentle tension on a rope tied to the calf's front feet to help it into the world. For a time, nothing would happen, and then all of a sudden, with a whoosh, there'd be the calf - all wet and shaking its head as if to say "what happened?" As I grew older still, Dad taught me how to drive a tractor and how to stack hay bales. He taught me how to change oil and how to turn a wrench. Farming demands total dedication, not just from one person, but from the whole family. Neighbors of mine when I lived in the southern part of the state used to take their young daughter on vacations to Florida during spring break. In the summer, they'd be gone for two or three weeks at a time, on vacation to Canada, or out West, or down South. My parents never took a vacation - there was too much work for them to be gone for even a day, much less for weeks at a time. But along with the hard work and dedication farming requires comes other advantages. I was lucky to have a father who was so willing to let me help. Who was so willing to teach me. Who was so willing to spend time with me. To let me experience the wonder in the birth of a living creature. To let me get my hands dirty. To let me learn from my mistakes. I'm not sure I would have learned nearly so much from a vacation to Florida during spring break - or from any other vacation, for that matter. |
|
 Home Books Preserve Your Family History Sample Chapters Articles Free Recipes Biography More True Stories Newsletter LeAnn's Blog Links Photo Album Reviews & Comments |
|
Privacy Policy: Any information you provide to Rural Route 2 will be kept strictly confidential and will not be not given to any third parties. Telephone number is requested in case LeAnn needs to contact you about your order. E-mail address is requested so LeAnn can confirm your order. This Web Site and All Its Contents are Copyright © 2008 LeAnn R. Ralph. All Rights Reserved |
