Our Grandparents' Farm

When my sisters and I lived on the farm with our grandparents we enjoyed many activities that would not be available to city children. When I look back I think of "Little House on the Prairie". We had fields to play in as well as the woods. We liked to watch our grandparents milk the cows and to help gather eggs. There were also pigs and an old farm horse.

The house was warmed by an old wood heater and sometimes we used the fireplace. Meals were prepared on a wood stove too. I remember helping Grandma bring the wood inside and pile it in a deep wood box in the kitchen. The bathroom had minimal use, as the toilet never was usable during my years there. We had to use the little house out back. It was a two seater with a deep hole in the ground. I remember when they dug a new hole and built a new outhouse. That was a big deal. And toilet paper was a luxury. Old catalogs did the job. I don't know if there ever was a working water heater as I remember the grown ups boiling water on the stove.

I can picture cold winters with icicles hanging on the eaves outside the windows. Inside the house we would have been enjoying conversation and doing little tasks Grandma instructed us to do. Christmas was a time to hear the story of baby Jesus and to try to remember a small verse for the Sunday School program at the Laurel Baptist Church. We had a tall tree from our nearby woods and there was something small for each of us under the tree. I remember trying to spot Santa Claus. And one of the songs we sang was "O Little Town of Bethlehem".  Our mail was addressed to Bellingham the closest big city near our farm. My mom and I were both born in Bellingham. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

We enjoyed riding on the back of the tractor, standing behind our grandfather. And I recall many a hay ride on the wagon behind the tractor. It was fun to be out in the fields with our grandparents while they were doing their many farm chores. One day when I came home from school I heard about my little sister Donna and her mishap of the day. She had been riding on the back of the tractor while Granddad was plowing the field. She had been holding on tight but must have lost her grip and fell off the tractor into the path of the plow. Granddad  immediately knew she had fallen and was able to stop the tractor before she was injured by the sharp blades of the plow. She may have had a scratch or two but it was a miracle that was all. When they got back to the house Granddad was in no condition to go back to plowing that day. That was the first thing I heard about when I walked in the house after school.

My mother was a farm girl all of her growing up years, but Donna, Betty and I only had a few years of growing up on our grandparents' farm. I treasure the memories and the love our grandparents showed us.