I have borrowed this photo from Dwight's archives. Just as his photo of the lilacs brought to remembrance the sweet perfume, so does the picture of cleaning the barnyard remind me of a certain smell. How I would love a good load of this stuff for my garden!Addition by Dwight: Oh my gosh, what a wonder the manure loader was. For all of those years before, each load of manure was hand forked into the manure spreader--backbreaking work. But look at that contraption: It took forever to attach that complicated maze of equipment to that poor old anemic John Deere. And note the combination of tractor power and horse power with Pet and Babe. One of the first loads was typically spread on the garden which ensured another bountiful harvest so the bog clods would produce enough for another year. And the Penrose church is in the background. I can smell it all now. I don't think any of us ever understood or fully appreciated just how hard Dad worked and how much backbreaking manual labor he did to make it possible for all of us to survive.
3 comments:
What a job that was. Ah, the smell of spring! I do remember how low the barn yard would seem after Dad had cleaned it out. Yes, our attempts at growing stuff would be much more successful with a little dose of the good stuff.
I can remember that after Louise and Dwight left home, sometimes the bus would let us off at the Shumway's corner so that we could walk home and not have to go the rounds up to Kellers. The willows at Emmy's would be turning that filmy green, and the pungent smell of the newly spread manure over the fields would waft through the breeze. Ah, sweet spring!
I had forgotten the years of hand shoveling to clean the barnyard.
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