When I was thirteen, my parents loaned me to my Uncle Fred for the summer. Uncle Fred was my mom’s brother who took over the family dairy farm in a beautiful farming community in central Pennsylvania. For him every day was Labor Day until he was 70 years old. There were cows to milk (morning and evening) and fields to get ready for planting and harvesting. Since he only had two girls, he needed summer help. This is where I spent five summers during my teen years.
A farmer’s work is
a lifetime commitment
Labor intensive
Looking back, I believe it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Growing up a “husky” child, I was always big for my age. I was, as many children are, self-conscious about my weight. Working on the farm during these developing years helped me slim down and lose that unwanted weight. I believe it set my body system in sync to remain healthy all these years later. It taught me the value of work, family, and an appreciation for the land. I loved working on the farm.
Hard work
develops strong muscles
Health for a lifetime
Now in my seventies, I look back and treasure those memories of driving Red Farmall tractors, baling hay, combining wheat, going to the mill to get feed ground, cutting timber in the mountain, rebuilding a hay wagon, and cultivating corn. Most of all I enjoyed working with Uncle Fred. He was like a second father to me. We spent every day together and I listened to his stories and his hearty laugh as he patiently taught me what I needed to know.
Great memories
float through aged brain cells
Lasting treasures
Today is Haibun Monday at d’Verse. On this Labor Day, Frank Tassone asked us to write about labor. When I think of labor, I think of farmers who labor tirelessly to provide us with what we all take for granted. Few know where their food really comes from, but they always expect it to be there. It concerns me to see so much farmland being turned into developments as populations increase. My years working on the farm were some of the best years of my life!
I wrote a memoir of my interesting summers on the farm. It can be found on Amazon Kindle, entitled Farm Stories. If you have Kindle Unlimited you can read it for free!
Dwight Roth grew up in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He taught elementary school in Eastern North Carolina before retiring after 29 years. Now he lives with his wife Ruth near Monroe, NC, and spends his time painting and writing. He has self-published several books that are found on Amazon Kindle. He is also published in past Old Mountain Press Anthologies. A book of poems called Ebb and Flow and a children’s book on Alzheimer’s called Grandpa Has Holes in His Head are his latest creations. Ebb and Flow is only available in hard copy from the author at [email protected] ,
Featured Image by Land O’Lakes, Inc. on Unsplash
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