Written by Gary Wonning
One day, while carrying the milk cans, dad slipped on some mud. As a result, he injured his back and he became bedfast for a year.
Suddenly the task of doing all the farming fell on my shoulders. This included putting out the crops, cultivating, putting up the hay, harvesting them and milking thirty head of cattle morning and night, as well as getting feed for them from the feed mill.
There wasn’t much choice but to jump in and do it. I didn’t mind too much, my parents needed help and I considered it a challenge to see if I could do it. All things considered, everything went as well as could be expected. I somehow managed to get the work done, have a social life, and lead the life a normal sixteen year old would and should have.
At times it was a struggle making it all work, but all in all I learned a lot and enjoyed the challenge. Actually we had too many cattle for the acreage we had. With over thirty head of cattle on sixty-five acres of farmland, it was hard to raise enough food for them, as time went on, we found ourselves buying more and more feed for them. This cut into the profits more and more, every day and we struggled to make ends meet.
The rest of the story!
Life was a lot slower and simpler in the fifties and sixties.
Gary has been a writer/photographer for over thirty years. Specializing in nature and landscape photography, as well as studying native cultures.
His travels have taken him to most of the United States, as well as Australia, Belize, Egypt and the Canary Islands.
He has studied the Mayan culture of Central America as well as the aborigines of Australia. Photography has given him the opportunity to observe life in various parts of the world.
He has published several books about his adventures.
For more information, please consult his website,www.journeysthrulife.com.
Your comments are welcome
Thinking Between the Lines 