Do You Play?

hehehe
I couldn't resist!

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Good Morning All;
It has been rainy since yesterday- Building up those water tables!  More on the way today too!
A big "hooray" for the farmers around here- Their crops needing this rain so badly!

The trees need it too- Some more than others.

About 8 years ago, I found this itty bitty willow tree; just a sapling, no taller than my forearm is long...
I planted it at the bottom of the hill.  It has thrived in it's new home. (And only that first year did I ever carry water to it).

I remember being happily surprised when it lived through that first nasty winter.
As I walked a few days ago, I found it hard to believe that such a tiny thing could be like this in such a short amount of time.
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As it makes the old garage almost shrink by comparison!

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Even from the top of the hill,
filling out the back yard so nicely!

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Tired of being cooped up, I went for a little ride on Wednesday afternoon. To the store for a bit of parmesan peppercorn salad. Mmmmmmmmm.  Then stopped at Kelli's on the way home.
She was just beginning to do her evening chores. And even brought me a chair! (Evening chores being a spectator sport now). hehehe


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The horses allowed to graze for a while, while she prepared their grain.
My apologies that I wasn't sat enough to really get good shots of them
 once she called them up front!

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While they ate, I took this picture-
Between the pasture and the pond- & such a pretty color...
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I don't know what kind of plant it is either...
Know that this was abut 30 yards away from me-
About 5+ feet tall
Do any of you know what it is?

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* And now the question of the day...
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.Do you play an instrument?

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Being that Punk is 3 (and a half), Casey thought it high time that she would teach the pup how to enjoy her music...
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First, to point out "Middle C"
♫ "Let's start at the very beginning..." ♫

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And then to show her how it's done...

Although I don't believe that Vanessa Carlton's "Ordinary Day"
was the most simplistic choice for a beginner...
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That dog sure tried to keep up!
hehehe

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After taking piano lessons from the time I was 4, I joined band in 8th grade. (One of my original piano teachers was even Miss Wisconsin)!

I played B~flat clarinet. Not badly- Not good either.

So I stuck to Chorus, Music Theory, and singing. Easy credits for me, especially since I loved music!
I $aved my allowance, (not hard to do, I was never into frilly teeny~bopper things). Thi$ money went for my guitar.
Self taught. I didn't play well, but at least I could carry a tune (mostly). And had such fun with it too.

There had been a talent show at school one evening- One of the guys played his own guitar and sang "House of The Rising Sun" so well that it brought tears to my eyes.

That was the first song I taught myself to play.
I am still partial to it, and even if I am in the middle of uptown traffic, my Sirius gets turned way up to enjoy it should it ever come on...

• There were fun songs, "Me and You, and a Dog named Boo".
  
  
• Timely songs, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (from the height of the Vietnam War).
  
  
• Songs that were supposed to make you think... "Teach Your Children Well." "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" "Harper Valley PTA"
  
  
• And there were always songs like "Black Water" "Morning Has Broken" to fall back on to harmonize, etc.
  
  
  Mind you, those are just to name a very few...
  

I wonder how our parents ever put up with us?!? (At least I didn't choose percussion)!



So... What's your pleasure?

Do you play? Sing? Enjoy?  ♫    Are you singing yet? 

Have a "wunnaful" weekend!

XOXO
Me

Hello! - Is Loneliness An Emergency??? I thought it was....

http://edbdkcn.multiply.com/journal/item/122


Click the link!
Too funny.
And TRUE too! (I should know, I was there...) *kinda*

"Kids today!"


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

XOXO
Me

Plain or Peanut. (Memories).

 

Oh well.

Sorry.
I looked all over...
There were no other Easter colors anywhere.

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Good Morning All,
And a belated Happy Easter to everyone. Hope yours was joyous!

We are home.

Greg set up my desktop computer as we got back home. (He neglected to tell me the new password to get into it, and I am not going to call there). I am using my laptop once more. Kind of used to it anyway.

Casey made the return trip not without pain, but stoic as she always is. We stopped about 3 times- and I believe Miss Punk was more tuckered out than either one of us.
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And I honestly think she had a bit of pain herself.

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Once upon a time, there was a little family that lived in Flintville, Wisconsin...

The daddy was a dairy farmer, tending his fields and his cattle.

The mama always worked hard tending to her own crops in the garden.
They both tended the two 2~legged female "crops" they had adopted.

When the Autumn weather was right, there were crops to be harvested from the woods too.

Namely, walnuts.

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Lots and lots and lots of walnuts-
By the bushel baskets full!
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They would store the walnuts in the attic of the garage, (where the two little females were forbidden to go).

They would then use those walnuts as needed for snacks -or for baking.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...

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Pics from here.
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BUT.........

Every now and then, maybe bored, or a bit hungry for a mid~afternoon snack; the youngest female would carefully crawl up the ladder to the attic of the old shed; and bringing a hammer and a screwdriver, would happily sit and eat walnuts until someone missed her.
Sometimes she got a bellyful, and sometimes only one little nut before she heard her name.
She would sneak right back down the ladder, replace the tools, and wipe her mouth on her sleeve.

She had to "borrow" the tools because to remove anything from the mama's kitchen would be spied immediately.

Cracking the nuts was tough for those little hands; but sometimes she could even do it with her teeth, 'specially if the daddy was using all the tools and he might miss the ones she took to use. Sometimes she just put the nuts between the boards and jumped on the boards. (This was sorta dangerous though as it made much noise and she had to make sure that there was no one around to hear).

And every now and then she would get caught- Receiving a lecture on the dangers of the ladder, the shed, etc etc etc.

But oh, those walnuts were so delicious! And any reprimand, or spanking, was well worth it to the little girl.

One day in summertime, the mama was tending to her BIG garden.

The little girls also had to be outside with their mama; (perhaps because to leave them indoors, even taking their naps, always resulted in something or 'nother gone wrong).

And so the little girls helped pull weeds. Sometimes they pulled out a "real" plant, and sometimes they were told to leave the garden because of this.
But even then, the little girls were always told to stay within eyesight of their mama; (because if this wasn't done something or 'nother was sorta guaranteed to go wrong).

Not always getting along, sometimes the little girls would not be seen together. (OK, truth be told, this was more often than not).

The little girl went exploring, within Mama's sight too.
Much later, Mama was done working in the garden. She gathered her food, and went to the hose to clean her hands and her food before going in the house to make dinner for the family.

The littlest girl (3 or 4 years old), went to her mama, and was crying a bit. Her face was filthy. (This was normal, along with the rest of herself too), but the little tears made her look even more dirty.

The mama asked 'what the dickens' was wrong?!? Maybe the mama had had a really bad day.

While pulling something out of her mouth to show her mama, the little girl said, "Mama, I can't crack this nut."

Suddenly, in a flash, the mama went absolutely berserk.

The mama swung, clipping the little hand, and the nut went flying far far away from the hungry and sad little girl.

"That's rabbit dirt!" the mama exclaimed.

The little girl got her mouth and her face cleaned out/off real good; and never, ever, ever, forgot about this incident.
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BUT,
the little girl thought there was some resemblance.
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Somewhere along the line, the little girl lost her taste for walnuts, (and bunny dung).

And back in the day when M & M's only came in brown and light brown colors, she also lost her taste for those.
To this day that little girl will not eat brown M~&~M's.
Not for love or money.
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Plain... or ....peanut

Doesn't matter.
No brown M & M's for this little girl.

'specially when they are brought by The Easter "Bunny"!

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Additionally, this little girl found NO humor

when she received this in her inbox.

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Love to all.

Ph-tooey. ~I gotta go brush my teeth.

Have a "wunnaful" Monday!

XOXO
Me

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posted to my Y! 360, Monday April 13, 2009 - 08:09am (CDT)

GRRRRRRRRRR.... Mea Culpa!

Good morning Everyone!

Did you miss me? I have had tons of problems with my e-mail, and a with remaining online... I believe that I have those issues fixed now; at least I hope so!

I have been able to visit blogs, and to be able to read but a few before getting disconnected. I have also been able to leave but a few comments on your blogs. Some still will not show up. To add insult to injury, my e-mail has been so screwed up that I could not send anything out, either. Unca BoBBie has called twice now just to check on me...

Anyway, at about three o'clock yesterday (Friday) morning (as in A.M.), I spent over an hour on the phone with Yahoo, and tried to at least get my e-mail fixed. The CD I had was not working, and I had to download new software from online. (Guess this Yahoo CD was absolutely prehistoric)! hehehe (I know people like that)!!!

Now you guys know that I have dial-up service (coupled with these ancient telephone lines); so this process alone took well over 2 hours. After that was done, and after restarting my computer, damn, it still refused to work right! And so I spent almost all day trying to fix this darned thing... (Knock on wood, I believe everything is working fine now). Hopefully, anyway!

... As of about 3 a.m. today, I believe I can post, maybe leave more than a few comments before I choose to go offline, (and whoa, perhaps even forward an e-mail or two)! ...Oooh; do wish me luck!!! We shall see.

It is currently 12° (f) on the farm here, with the wind chill near to ZERO or below.

( CLICK HERE for the windchill chart. info on blizzards, and winter in general).

We have been so very spoiled by the weather, but I guess winter is finally here. There is at least a quarter inch of ice covering everything this morning. I shall have to spray de~icer on Millys kennel door and latch too.

But my little Miss Punk knows what to do when the weather gets like this...

and yes, she snores too!

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I have not yet begun to scrape or salt anything; and had to take baby~steps just to get out to that kennel; (and to cross the road to get my mail)! It is always so darned icy on the road in front of my house as the trees block any sunlight warmth that would possibly dry the road. As such, there have been winters that have put many cars into the ditch here... Although thankfully nobody's been killed or hurt seriously outside our home. ...(Only the deer! So many trees to hide in, and so many cars flying by to spook them out and into danger).

Back when we were little, each year there were accidents at the top of the hill by The Ryan Family home, (and not only in the wintertime)... There was a bit of an imperfection in the road as you drove eastward, and if you were not familiar with the road you would be hurt... (badly). I remember one accident that left a mother of four little ones dead. She was from DePere and had never been on our road before. She had a tiny Volkswagen BUG, which provided little safety for her in the event of an accident. But I remember that day because mom and dad had to call the police, and the ambulance; (and tried very hard not to let us kids know what had really happened). After that, I remember being very scared every time we would come home from Pulaski.

I can remember another time that we had gone to go visit my Aunt Lu. She lived next to the Mountain Bay railroad tracks in Kunesh, and her road at that time was under construction. When we were done visiting, my mom took another way home. About 20 minutes after we were all home, the phone rang. It was my Aunt Lu, and she was so very near to hysteria. Apparently there had been a terrible car accident on the next road over, (the very same detour mom had taken). A mother and her two children had all been killed when they had been struck by a oncoming train. The car was a white Ford. At that time, we also had a white Ford, and so my aunt had thought this accident had killed her sister and her two nieces...

Back then, very few railroad crossings were marked with anything more than the white 'Stop Look and Listen' "X's". Driving into Pulaski, there was the railroad track right before the stop sign; (and many sumac trees that obscured the view). I remember one time that Mom had just crossed those tracks when a speeding train crossed right behind us, literally by only a few split~seconds... She remained at that stop sign for many minutes, (I believe thanking God for sparing our lives)...

But back to my blog here, and the weather. It is the ice today that will cause many accidents. I just wish everyone would remember to drive slowly and carefully; but they never seem to do so- (at least most of them seem to forget how to drive carefully in winter). Unfortunately it is those same drivers that kill or maim those of us who ARE traveling cautiously.

Knowing yesterday morning that the ice storm was headed our way, Miss Punk and I had to run into town to get a few things. This did not take long, but the roads sure were slick by the time we got home. Thank goodness we don't have to go anywhere today.

I see that there are many weather warnings out for almost every place in the United States. If you are traveling this weekend, anywhere; please be ever so careful. And DO keep an eye on the other guy as well.

Even the river has funally begun to freeze over...

but it does look beautiful!

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The weatherman still predicting a blast of Arctic air for many of us. Please stay warm!

I hope you all are having a grand weekend. I 'should' be able to be around more now... Errrrrr, (and "GRRRRRR"), like I said above, at least I hope so!

XOXO

Anna-Anna

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The Day My Big Sister Lost Her Mind!

 

First of all, I MUST caution you all-

(The blog ahead, and the pictures enclosed, should carry a Parental Warning)!!!

Good Morning!

I have been up for so very long already and am only now getting to my own blog here- And I haven't even gotten in the shower yet- just reading and reading and reading...

(You guys are all too very interesting for me to have to put the proverbial book down)!

And so I shall begin speaking of the weather... hehehe... But it is noteworthy (yesterday and today)... Not enough sun, but was almost 70 degrees outside- Punk, Milly and I 'played' for quite a while. (OK OK, so the dogs played while I dug out my flower bed).

Jenne and Isaiah came out last night, and if I would have planned ahead, I would have made some supper for them. (But there is little cooking when I am outside too)... But such a wonderful evening out there as we sat and talked a bit. My Little Man Isaiah played with the dogs, and then took to showing his mama and myself how to do exercises.

First, you put your right foot in... you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in...

...(Because yes, the hokey-pokey IS what it's all about)!...

 

 

 

Then there are the push-ups...

UGH~ (I had all I could do to lift the darned camera)!

 

 

 

Later, you must be able to reach for the moon and the stars...

...(with your feet)!

 

 

 

 

And you always, always have to be ready and able to pick Mama up when she gets stuck...

(and that's a LOT)!!!

 

 

It made my day to romp around a bit after dark...

 

...And you have yet NOT even been enlightened as to how my day began...

 

CLOSE YOUR EYES NOW IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH!!!

 

 

(This IS where the CAUTION FLAG goes up)...

This is how my day began!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hehehe

 

Going down to the basement a few days ago, and KNOWING I had 'company' of some sort; I opted to put the mousetrap out again. I put Peanut Butter in it.  (Since this is Punkies most favorite treat in the whole world, I have to put that trap out of her reach)... And so, I chose one of the two crawlspaces/shelves.

Being overly concerned about the pup, never for one minute did I think about "what if I trap one?"
And even MORE importantly "Where WILL that trap, and its contents, BE in direct proportion to my face???"

As I went downstairs yesterday morning- (having forgotten ALL about the trap), I came almost face-to-face with the above picture- A mere 9" away...  And I am not afraid of mice, and most especially NOT afraid of a little old dead one...
...But they startle me, (most especially when there is a dead one IN MY FACE)!

Dead mice--- Hmmmmmmmmm  

Gets me to thinking back...

 

(Oh no, here I go again)!!!

 

When we were kids, Mary and I did NOT get along one teeny tiny bit, (unless there was some real juicy blackmail involved)...

And another thing that I had neglected to write about yesterday was that 'on the side' Dad had sold new and used machinery-
The machinery field was behind the barn, about the size of a football field.

Now you are really going to have to stay with me on this...

One morning I was particularly mad at Mary (I think just for being here and all- Who knows)?  And I went about my chores at the speed of sound... While pitching the hay down, I had 'company' in the hay mow too- A cat, owned by Jim Peters, would always come around in search of mice- (and female cats). He was a very skittish cat- We called him "Blackie" ...(Guess why).

I turned and saw Blackie behind me, having caught a mouse, and he tortured it while I was doing my work. When I was done, I closed the door to the barn- This scared Blackie off, and he left his mouse behind- (it was, for the most part, UN-eaten)... Devious little hellraiser that I might have been in those days, I got to thinking, and when my chores were done I collected that mouse and deposited it right into the pocket of Marys barn coat...

What else may/may not have happened that day escapes me now. I only know that, by the time our evening chores rolled around I had plum forgot all about that little bitty deceased mouse in the pocket of the snippy elder sister...

As we were doing chores that night, Dad had a customer that had come to check out a plow... Mary agreed to do the milking while he was in the upper field with that man- and I went up to the haymow. Mom was in the kitchen still doing the supper dishes...

ALL OF A DAMNED SUDDEN, I hear the biggest, loudest most desperate scream/screech that I have EVER heard in my life (before and since), coming from the barn under my feet. I ran across the hay mow, to peek out between the barn boards... At this point, I see my sister, dancing around the yard, still screeching... (Even at that point it still hadn't jogged my memory)...

When she became a bit more coherent, (still dancing around the yard, trying desperately to remove all of her clothing without undoing any of the zippers and buttons)...   

I could not know what she was shrieking-  The fearful word(s) spewing from her piehole, consisted of a two-syllable word...

"MOW-ISS" "MOW-ISS" "MOW-ISS" "MOW-ISS"

(C'mon, what the heck is "mow-iss" anyway)????

On and on and on she danced and shrieked...
Meanwhile the awful moment of truth strikes me when I decipher her noise...
...to be a ONE-SYLLABLE WORD = 'mouse'.  

...And just to cover my 10 year old butt, I go running down to the yard-
Just as Mom is trying to comfort Mary- (and just as Pa is rounding the corner of the machinery field, with that perspective customer right on his heels)!!!

Everyone is bewildered as Mary still is attempting to strip naked in front of God, her family, the customer, the cats, the dog, the cows etc etc etc...
She does NOT stop this dance until the coat is physically removed from herself, and from her sight...
Taking a breath as her eyeballs are now almost popped out opf her head, matching the artery in her neck,  she threatens my life about 10 times in as many seconds..  

And she is so overwrought that she is allowed to be dismissed from the barn as soon as the customer left- (Which wasn't very long after that display of "WACKY" Mary behavior)!!!   
...Oooh, Pa was MAD!

 

And then they ALL had the nerve to try to blame ME!!!! ???

(I even got 'swored at')...

And so I said the only thing I could say at that moment in time...

"Yeah right- I know that stupid mouse just must have crawled in there, realized it was Marys coat, (because SHE stinks), and then he died from it."

That was my story and I stuck to it!!!

Up until about 10 years ago anyway, when I could no longer keep my secret.... (It was simply burning a hole in my halo and I couldn't take it anymore)!

For some strange reason,  Mary still doesn't 'feel the love' or see the humor in that situation...
(KillJoy)!!!  
Even Mom laughed then...

Yes, Mom was still alive at that point- (If she laughed NOW, I would be a little freaked)...
hehehe ... And I would just have to get going on that deja vu, and paranormal entry I have promised to you all...

 

I will get to it SOON...

XOXO

Anne

 

PS~ to Miss Splurk6K... No need for that danged snowdancing- we will have 3-4" of new snow by tomorrow night...

If I Could Turn Back Time...

Good Morning!

You had better grab a cup of coffee- (it's a windy one)!

I thought I would, at the suggestion of a very good friend, go back to when times were harder-( yet so simpler and easier)- for everyone.   Just to go back to my childhood, if only for a few minutes here...

 

the sign hangs in my entrance... (A gift from my sister, Barbara)

 

 

Having been adopted so young, the memories I have of my childhood are only of this place I now call home...

 

 XOXO  

...We had a dairy farm.

 

 

 

That said, here is a sidenote for anybody that has no idea of the work involved...  That meant there were no other involvements. Not even a vacation; as cows need to be milked twice a day, and it is not something you can just hire somebody else for.

We didn't travel far from home on any given day- Even a trip to my mothers homeplace in Sidnaw, Michigan meant rising way early to get the 'bossies' milked and fed, and get the barns cleaned so we could get away... We then came back later in the afternoon to do the chores all over again. Tired, but having spent a beautiful day in 'Copper Country' too.

Upon rising in the early morning, the first thing we did was to change into our 'barn clothes'- Usually quite a casual attire, and not the warmest- (When you are working in a barn with about 100 head +/- of cattle, you do not need any extra body heat)...

We wore these same barn clothes for our work in the barn, until Saturday- At that point Mary and I would go into town with Mom and do the laundry for the week. Getting those old pinstripe overalls off of Dad to wash them was kind of tough sometimes- (After all, he had just gotten them comfortable once again)!

He was a deservedly proud man. Once he had been offered $50.00 for his very worn denim jacket... He always had the dark blue jackets- ($10.00 apiece at Kmart). But HIS had a few tears, patched elbows, and were worn in places that there was no blue left. When this offer came up, he declined the money, telling the guy, "I 'earned' this jacket- Go buy one and EARN your own."

He also wore brown leather boots- The kind that lace up and then tied over in a criss-cross pattern. When they got old and needed fixin' he would bring them in to the shoe repair man; it was too expensive to go out and buy a new pair (again, he had 'just gotten them broken in')... They didn't have lined boots in those days- That was a 'do-it-yourself' job.  In winter he would wear sometimes TWO pair of wool socks. When summer came, no matter the heat, he would still wear those boots each day...

ANYWAY... After Mary and I woke up and changed into our barn clothes, we would then go out to the barn. (Mom and Dad rose earlier by about an hour, and so the cattle were already in the barn, and the milkers were already going). We did not have a pipeline, and so carried the two buckets that we had, to the milkhouse, dump the milk in the strainer to the bulk tank, clean the teatcups and put them on another pair of cows.. (Having only two milkers, the milking took nearly 3 hours morning and night). During the milk time, the hay and straw was pitched down from the mow, cows were fed, the barn cleaner run, the calves fed- Mary did the grain, and I usually pitched from the mows... For practical reasons there was no electricity in the haymow, and so for half a year, I did this by flashlight. (Brave, huh)?!

Dad always pitched the silage down too, saying it was too dangerous for anyone else to do so- We were allowed to do this only when the silo had been emptied of about 3/4 of its contents. We would not have to climb so far then- (or maybe would not have so far to fall if we missed a rung on the way down)!

In the mornings after the chores were done, Mary and I would take fast showers, get redressed and head out to catch the bus for school. In the evenings we did our homework BEFORE watching any television, and still had to be in bed by 9 or 10, depending upon the night of the week, and whether we had school the next day.

We didn't get summers off as so many of our classmates did- There was moms garden (about 1/4 of an acre) that needed hoeing and weeding. There was 3/4 acre of pickles to be picked and sorted each day for the pickle company-

Earlier in the summer there were strawberries that needed picking. People would buy them a case at a time for their own freezers, and every now and then a few of moms friends would come help pick the darned things. (This was never true of the cucumbers; we were on our own)...

In mid-summer came the raspberries- Both the raspberries and the strawberries were everbearing, and we didn't like much when they would produce the smaller berries at the end of the season because it took too long to pick. (As if we really had any other stuff to do)? Um yeah, we did...

...Near the end of June there was haying- Usually we chopped it, but in later years, Pa had bought a baler. (Truth be told, I wasn't impressed with either one).  When it was chopped, it was my job to run the tractor that was attached to the blower, and Dad and Mary would remove the hay from the wagon into the blower. I watched for clogs, and even got hit by a broken belt once. (While it hurt like heck and left a huge welt, it was NOT a good enough reason to retire for the day). Again, in later years, dad had purchased a self-unloading wagon- they didn't have to remove it then, but I still had to man the blower! (Not fair)! Oh we were SO abused!    ...Not.

There were the quiet days of summer too when Mary and I would jack a few inner tubes from the garage and take them down the river. REAL inner tubes, patched by Pa, (and we had to look out for the valves too or they would embed themselves in our backs). We also had to look out for the bloodsuckers- Mary wound up with more than a few each summer, I never did get one. Lucky me!   

Maybe on a rare occasion, we would go fishing at the little lake on County C- Only dad and I ever went, (and that was only if I would dig the worms)! But it was so nice to just sit there for a couple hours, shoot the bull, and catch the bullfish just to throw 'em back.

There was an old man that lived in a house not too far away. His name was George Weslosky. His home had neither electricity, nor indoor plumbing; and he would make the rounds in Flintville to those families that would offer him supper and a night of television every now and then.

George would come to our home on Saturday nights, and after the chores were done it was an evening of Mannix and Mission Impossible. (Remember those)?   Sometimes we would fall asleep on the couch, and in those days that was a big 'no-no' ...Mom would wake us, seemingly abruptly, and send us straight upstairs.

We said our prayers every night as a family too. On our knees and with the family rosary. Most nights we would only get through the 1st Decade- Usually Mom 'led' the prayers and the rest of us responded. Then it was up to bed.

Winter always brought more than its share of problems due to the weather. As soon as time permitted during chores, Dad would plow the yard out after the snows came. This had to be done to allow the milk truck to get in/out each day. Our milk was sold to Fairmont in those days, and the drivers name was Bernard Young. A funny man too.

Anyway, Dad had finally broken down one year and bought a brand new Leyland tractor with all the necessities- a front end loader to plow the snow- with chains and weights on it to make it safer. We still shoveled out the barn and the house, doorways and such. During the winter, the cows were stanchioned in the barn, and so the barn cleaner was run morning and night. When pulling a heavy load, it would undoubtedly break a link and the only way to repair it then was outside on the slide. Dad worked many, many times in subzero temps to repair that darned thing. And had to do so without gloves because he needed to be able to grasp things...

He retired in 1973- After chores were done that morning, we had an auction to sell the cattle and the leftover machinery... While I do not remember too much of the auction itself, I do remember that cars were parked up and down the road as far as we could see- and further too.

I remember having the snack stand parked in the yard- and the burgers were like 30 cents!

I remember the following day though- rising at the same time as I always did, coming downstairs and finding Mom in the kitchen- (In my 'still-asleep' mode, the events of the day before were not on my mind, and I was still of a "chore" mind).

Seeing her in the kitchen, looking out the window with tears in her eyes, I chose to stand with her for a time...

... As I saw what she had been focused on, I too began fighting the lump in my throat. Looking out, my father was walking in the yard, hands in the pockets of his overalls;  kicking a little stone around... and looking much like a little boy whose puppy had just died... 
The farm was all he ever knew...

But it didn't end there for him- He would still rise early, and either go down to Vickery's Store in Suamico for a cup of coffee with the guys (by the old pot-belly stove), or he would go fishing- either at Kewaunee or Shawano Lake too.
Come to think of it, I haven't been fishin' since Pa died in '84.
Maybe someday again I will.

My apologies as I have rambled and rambled on here- Mom, Dad, Mary and I. And while we were NOT abused like we wanted to believe in those days, we learned how to work, how to sweat, how to deal with the living and the dying-

We WERE, oh SO LOVED...

And in the end, that is all that matters, isn't it?

XOXO
Anne