A bit about me

My Childhood

My childhood was spent on the family farm in North Central Kansas. We raised the usual farm crops, corn, wheat, alfalfa, milo and other assorted crops as the need arose. We had hogs, cattle, mostly hereford and angus, with a few Jerseys here and there.

After school each day, my sister and brother and I changed into our chore clothes, had a quick snack and headed out to the barn to begin our chores.

I remember watering the livestock and feeding them either grain or hay and in the winter, the cattle got stinky ensilage. I loved the fresh smell of ensilage in the early fall when it was first put into the silo, but after it had fermented for a couple of months, it sometimes smelled pretty rank.

We'd load it into baskets and carry it to the feeding trough by hand. It usually involved maneuvering around an obstacle course of cowpies and icy patches. The sibling that fell on the ice the least amount of times won the daily lotto, which meant the least bruises on the backside and legs.

Once the animals were fed and watered, we'd race for the warmth of the house. If there was a school activity scheduled for that evening, we'd shower and change clothes again and try to keep my dad from getting too settled in his easy chair and on the track to get ready. We usually were late, but once there, that was quickly forgotten in the hubbub of activity.

After we returned home, we had homework to do, supper, and off to bed.

It wasn't all drudgery though. I remember singing as I did my work, usually one of my favorite tunes from the Top 40 hit parade, but sometimes I'd get creative and make up a tune and lyrics of my own. I never wrote any of them down, so they are lost forever, much to the gratitude of a lucky public.

I was the oldest of the four children in our family. My sister was three years younger than I, and the two boys were five and fourteen years younger than myself. Being the oldest had its advantages. My parents trusted me for the most part, and I never had a curfew. I'd often go to the drive in movies with my sister or my friends, and we came home about 3 a.m. after the last show was over, and the all night diner had served us up some delicious supper.

Even when we did come home that late, we were still expected to get up early in the morning and do our morning chores, so we quickly learned that staying up all night wasn't worth the exhaustion the next day.
Sometimes lessons are best retained from learning the hard way.

I hope to include old family photos, and other photos on this site, but will need to get them scanned first, so please be patient.

Comments are welcome.  If you have an old memory, I'd love to hear it.