I’m waking up to a Sunny, possibly 104-degree day with a predicted heat advisory! We will probably have a windy breeze, sometimes as much as 18 to 25 miles an hour. Do we even need to talk about Global Warming? I thought so—next subject.
Let’s talk about “The Good Old Days!”
Back home, in Maine, living the rural lifestyle was fun as a child but not so much as an adult! As a kid, there were bar-b-ques, horseshoes (played with real horseshoes), Ice Fishing, and Skating on the frozen pond at night with old tires set on fire for light. We also skied with skis held on our feet with one strap over the foot and sticks for ski poles.
Our 15-acre farm with a 100-year-old house, a huge barn, and a chicken house was a blast for us kids—I suspect not so much for our parents.
It sounds like we had a carefree life, but the truth was a little different. The wood-burning cookstove had to be fed wood before it would give heat or food! And it was my job to have potatoes cooked for dinner. It didn’t matter that the stove was stone-cold. I had to be stoked potatoes peeled and cooked ready for dinner when the folks arrived home from work.
I know what you are thinking, “How hard could that be?” I will share a short story with you about one of my adventures with that blasted stove!
When I arrived home, I searched the shed for kindling wood. I got it arranged with an old newspaper under the kindling, but it just wouldn’t start. I desperately searched and found some Kerosene, I thought! Unfortunately, it was Gasoline. You may not know this, but Gasoline does not ignite easily, so being the brilliant kid, I put my face close to the opening and blew on the small spark. That did the trick much better than I knew. I burned my face and most of my hair around my face.
I ran out to the well and, priming it, pumped water to cool my skin, and by the time my parents arrived, my face was cooler but still burnt. Later, I learned that it was the right thing to do and not to put butter on it as I was advised. I was lucky; I didn’t blister, and eventually, the hair grew back.
Life on the farm was a DIY (do it yourself) way of life.
I will save more farm life fun to share for later.
If you get bored and are looking for something to do, go to www.brendacolbathbooks.com and look at my books. You might find one that suits your fancy. They are available in eBook and paperback at Smashwords.com, Books2read.com, and Barnes & Noble. I had fun writing them, and many of the characters are from real life; of course, I changed the names to protect the guilty!
I hope you had a fun, safe Labor Day and are looking forward to a fun, safe Halloween.