Dot`sThoughts

I remember many times when this bro who is in the hosp and I did things together while we were growing up, and not all good safe things to do. Like the time we saw those huge wild strawberries out in the neighbors farmland where he kept his bull. There was this deep ravine in one place which extended onto both my Aunt and uncles farm land and the neighbors land. The fence was still hanging across one side, but the sand had caved into the ravine leaving a small section for climbing under the fence. That end of the ravine was steep down, while the other side where the bull was had a little more slope down to the bottom. There was this old tree that had fallen across the top of the deep pit. We found that we could climb onto the tree log, shimmy across it till we were under the fence. Then we would drop down, hanging onto the tree log with our hands and go hand over hand all the way across the deep pit till we reached the other side. Then we would run and pick some strawberries. Whenever we saw the bull heading our way, we would hop onto the tree and go hand over hand back safely to the other side. There came a day when we climb under the fence at a different place and when the bull showed up, we again ran for the tree to get across, but the tree had fallen into the pit. Boy! Was that scarry for us. I finally sat down and slid down into the pit and my Bro followed me. There we were, and our only way out was to find a way of climbing up that steep other bank. While we stood there looking up, trying to figure a way back up out onto the other side of the fence, that darn bull was snorting and running back and forth around the top bank on his side of the fence. Most of the pit was on that side of the fence. We finally started using our hands and feet making indentations for our feet so we were able to climb up and end on the other side of the fence. With our handy tree not handy anymore, we never again went picking those big tasty wild strawberries and settled for the smaller wild ones on our Aunts property. The family farm land also had plenty of blueberry bushes at the edge of the woods, sweet delicious grapes growing up one of the trees, a small apple orchard out in the other pasture, and blackberry bushes near the farmhouse at the edge of the vegetable garden. So us kids never wanted for these fresh fruit while growing up. Today, most are gone as other people who lived there after, removed them. But the blueberry bushes are still there, just less of them. I remember all the delicious jams and jellys my Mother and Aunt used to make from these fruits. I even made some during the couple years we lived there. We still lived there when our twins were born back in 1955.

Another time we had been down swimming in the canal that was on the other side of the large wooded area. One our way home I was walking ahead a ways when I came upon a rattle snake who suddenlt stood on end with his tongue shooting in and out and his tail making the rattle sound. I just froze in one place and couldn`t move. My bro saw the snake. Near us was a large stone and small rocks pile. My bro started tossing rocks at the snake, one after another as fast as he could. Suddenly one of the rocks hit another rock making a huge noise. The loud noise was all I needed to come out of that trance and be able to move again. While my bro was hitting the snake with the rocks, it stopped watching me and was watching him. That gave me the chance to run off where it couldn`t reach me and then I started helping my bro tossing the rocks. We had that snake so covered we could no longer see it and we headed for home. Never thought of it back then, but wonder today if the Aunt and Uncles ever knew how their rock pile ended up in another area.

Then there was another time with that bull. It had broken their fence and came onto our families fenced in farmland. My younger sister and I had been down in the woods and were heading up the lowerlot road on our way home. Suddenly my oldest bro and his friend came running around the curve down the road towards us. They picked up my sister and myself and instead of running up the road, they ran down over the bank off the side of the road, across the lower tree covered area and up the other side of the wooded area where they lifted us over the fence near our parents land where we lived. They told us to run home and get into the house and stay there. My sis and I were real young at the time. We had no idea what was going on till we got in the house. Then our Mother told us the bull was lose and heading down the same road in the woods that we were walking up and she sent the boys after us.
I still remember the owner of the bull showing up with his large closed in truck to pick up his bull and take it back home. I can still picture my two Uncles, my father and the owner all holding pitchforks to make the bull go onto the truck`s back animal carrier section. That bull was one mean son-of-a gun. Thank goodness no one got hurt. That bull got lose onto my relatives property a few other times.
Years later after my younger bro and I were both married, we went together and bought a young bull. We had intended on raising it for meat. We owned it for a little over a year when one day, it suddenly took off on a fast run and the chain it was staked up with broke it`s neck. The vet said the bull was stung by a bee and thats why it took off so fast. So, that was a lot of money down the drain. My bro and my Husband had split the cost of the bull and the cost of feeding it for over a year. We never tried again. At the time my younger bro was living on the family farm. Over the years- first my Husband and I rented the farm from the Aunt, then we moved when two of the girls got burnt with acid they found in one of the old buildings. Then a younger sis and her husband rented the farmhouse . The younger bro moved in when they moved out. Today, my oldest bro owns the farm with all it`s property. This farm started out with my grandparents owning it and my father and his 2 sisters and 2 brothers growing up there. After the grand parents died, an Uncle and his wife lived there. His wife died when their daughter was born, and one of the sisters had just lost her husband, so she moved back to the farmhouse to help her bro raise his new baby. Years later the other Uncle lost his wife and also moved back to the homeplace. Thats how my father`s 2 bros and one sister ended up living back on their parents farm. I never knew the grandparents or the ones the Aunt and Uncles married as it all happened before I was born. But I did grow up knowing all my Fathers sisters and brothers. They were all so very good to us kids. I remember times when the Aunt would make us picnic baskets to eat out under the trees in the white birch grove. I remember one Uncle giving us rides on the Horses after the plowing was finished. I remember the time when the other Uncle lost the mother sow and had all those new baby pigs to feed with a bottle. He would line us and our friends -sitting along the long farmhouse porch. Then he gave each of us a baby squeeling pig and a baby bottle to feed them with. We were all real small- probable from about 4 years to 8 years at the time. I remember us hurrying home from grade school so we could feed the baby pigs with the real baby bottles. Such wiggling squeeling pigs. Looking back, I am glad that Uncle kept the baby pigs so clean. Then there was that huge very mean boar who was in a fenced in area beside an apple tree. One time one of the horses came and started to reach over the fence for a fallen apple and that mean boar grabbed the horses throat leaving a huge gash that the vet had to sow up. I was surprised that Horse lived, it looked that bad.
Just a few more old time growing up memories. I did have a great time during my growing up years.