Water, water everywhere, and no drought in sight

Looking back to last year at about this time, we would have been happy to have had about half as much rain as we have been getting now. I am not going to start a rant about the rain but the farmers are the ones who will ultimately suffer. We are now in the age of farmers renting or buying up more land to make it pay. When I was a kid I wonder if there was such a thing as crop insurance. A farmer back then usually had enough land to feed his livestock with enough left over to sell to the elevator. I knew many farmers that farmed from 180-300 acres and 300 was considered a lot of land back in the 50’s. Every farmer had a few cattle, hogs, chickens and ducks. They were pretty much self-sufficient.

 

I can remember going to my cousin Richard’s parents place west of Emmons for a couple of weeks each summer. Richard had daily chores to do, and I would help him. I told him that this was really a lot of fun and he told me that I wouldn’t think that way if I had to do it every day. There were times when I got in on baling hay, but he and I got put in the haybarn stacking bales when a fresh wagon showed up. If you have ever baled hay on a hot summer day you know the feeling of the chaff getting inside your shirt and scratching your arms. The only relief was drinking cold well water out of the dipper. At the end of the day we would go down in the basement and take a cool shower. Overall it was actually a rewarding experience and it made me feel like I was becoming a grownup.

 

My dad had horses for as long as I could remember. Having horses meant finding hay to feed them. When I was fourteen, I got in on the baling thing. My dad and a friend of his named Vern Olson had borrowed my Uncle Orville’s hay baler and tractor. I helped them bale hay in a field that stood where Harmony Road is today. Vern drove the tractor and Dad and I threw and stacked the bales.

 

After we had finished with the last load my dad went to town and bought some cold beer. I still remember that to this day, when he came back and they opened a beer and Vern asked where is his? My dad said, he’s only 14, that’s too young. Vern told him I don’t care, if he can work like a man you can reward him for it. My dad reluctantly handed me a beer. I was hot and thirsty and nothing has ever tasted as good as that beer did at that time.

 

I never did mention that to my mother or anyone else for that matter. It Was mine and my dad’s secret but it made me feel like I was no longer a kid and had been accepted into the adult world. I guess that I have Vern to thank for that. He was a character, and from time to time he pulled a few pranks on me, but that was just how he was.

 

One instance happened when I was about 15. My dad had purchased a beautiful Shetland pony with a long mane and tail for my sister, Judy. It wasn’t broke so someone needed to get on it and get him used to having a rider. Vern told my dad, have Dick come up to the barn and I will lead him around on the pony. I was already suspicious but I got on and Vern started leading me around on said pony. Then Vern stepped back, slapped the pony on the rump and I was off to the races. That pony took me along the fence and through the evergreen trees trying to get me off it’s back. After what seemed like an eternity, the pony slowed down and Vern took it by the halter as I dismounted. I was scratched and bruised from rubbing against the fence and going through the evergreens. Even that wouldn’t have been so bad if Vern would have stopped laughing.

 

Until next time: After driving around part of Fountain and Albert Lea Lakes I was surprised by the amount of flooding. It is not the first time that I have seen the water that high but it is just a little too much of a good thing.

 

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