The Farm

Why is it always Grandma’s house, not Grandpa’s? Grandpa lived there too.

It was always fun to visit Grandma. There were so many wonderful things to explore and discover. Outside in a bucket in the barn were beans and their dried up pods. I don’t know if they were used for food or seed for the next year’s planting. Next to the bucket was a box of photographic equipment. It was very old when I found it. Someone long ago had processed film plates and printed photographs. The barn was two buildings with a pathway between them. The cows were milked and fed in the other building.

The plum tree was just off the back of the house. It was a good tree for climbing. There was a boxelder tree at the corner of the barn that we could climb to get on the barn roof to see what was happening around the yard. It was a good place to stretch out and lay in the sun. It was a popular place to hide when playing hide and seek.

The fields were irrigated and the ditches bordered the property except for the ditch in front that divided the lawn from the apple trees. Just outside the front fence and across a footpath was a gate for the irrigation. Care was needed to switch the water because there was a patch of poison ivy nearby.

My cousin Ralph and I loved to sail boats in the ditch running along the south side of the property. Pea pods made great canoes when propped open with a small twig.

Next to the ditch was an outdoor fireplace with a stovepipe chimney and a plate on the top for cooking. I only remember roasting hot dogs in the fireplace. Perhaps the cooking griddle was too rusted or dirty for cooking. The fireplace was made of stone and cement mortar. The stovepipe was so black and corroded that there were holes all over near the top. The hot dogs sure tasted good.