The
years when I was growing up are often referred to as “The Good Old Days.” Maybe some of time, but not when it came to
shoveling snow.
I’ve
just finished plowing the driveway at my farm.
Six inches of new snow fell, but it was no challenge for the box grader
and the front end loader I have on my John Deere Tractor. In a little over an hour, the driveway was
clear, as was a path from my cabin to the woodshed. No fuss, no muss. My tractor is four-wheel drive, with
power-steering. And I must say, compared
to handling a snow shovel, driving my little John Deere is easy, and dare I
say, fun.
Back to
“The Good Old Days.” My dad, two
brothers and I, following a snowstorm, spent hours shoveling the various paths:
from the house to the barn, from the house to the chicken house, from the house
to pump house, from the pump house to the barn, from the barn to the straw
stack, from the barn to the granary—and of course, from the house to the outhouse. And worst of all, the driveway from the
country road to the pump house—so the milk man could make his daily rounds.
It was a
miserable job. And just about the time
we finished shoveling all the paths, it would snow once more. And it was back to the shovels.
What a
difference a tractor and a front end loader would have made. But in those days we didn’t have a tractor,
but depended on horses to do the heavy work.
Clearing paths was not part of what they did.
THE OLD
TIMER SAYS: Not all of “The Good Old Days” were that good.
UPCOMING
EVENTS.
February
2 and 3, Great Wisconsin Farm Expo 11:00 a.m. (Farm Memories). and 1:00 p.m.
(History of Wis. Agriculture). Central
Wisconsin Convention and Expo Center, 10101 Market Street, Rothschild, WI. One talk at 11:00 on February 3.
February
13-14. Garden Expo. Alliant Center, Madison.
February 13, 2:15:Wild Flowers, Butterflies, and Other Stories From the
Land. February 14, 1:00 p.m. Film: The
Land With Jerry Apps plus discussion.
February
23, 7:00 p.m. Phillips Center for the Arts, 109 Locust Street, Hudson, WI. Part
of Wisconsin Historical Society Tour program.
Stories From the Land.
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial
Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them):
The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs,
Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter
with Jerry Apps and Jerry
Apps a Farm Story.
Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including The
Quiet Season (on which the
DVD A Farm Winter is based), as well as Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old
Farm, (which are related to the DVD Jerry
Apps a Farm Story).Also available is Jerry’s new novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames
County as well as Whispers and Shadows and his newest nonfiction book, Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.
Contact the library for prices and special package deals.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
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