Autobiography Part 3

Originally Posted: August 21, 2006

Current mood:lazy

Back when my Grandparents (Mother's Parents) were still alive, I used to visit their farm all the time. I think one of the strongest memories I retained from my childhood about that house was not some of the things inside, like the preserved wasp nest, the old time popcorn maker or nutcracker collection, but was the design of the bricks on the back porch... which I think was on the front porch as well. The brick was as rough as sandpaper on the sides... but what made it so distinct was the pattern it was laid in. There were large gaps between the bricks resembling a checkerboard. Me and Jonathan used to try and catch the granddaddy long-legs that would make the holes of the bricks their home; That of course was when we weren't throwing those red berries, which grew on the plants surrounding the house, at each other. We were scolded every time we picked those "berries"... but we still did it. It was too much fun to pass up on.
The farm was a great place for 4 things.... Hide and Seek, Fishing, Shooting BB Guns..... and I guess when It rained... playing in the drainage ditch.
Hide and Seek really wasnt that hard... b/c there were more or less only a handful of spots that we hid. Two of them were rings of bushes surrounding large oaks, then there was the barn itself (the bathroom and the attic), the boathouse (inside the boat or motorhome was off limits.. b/c we'd get in trouble), the woods, between the 2 large stacks of firewood (if you could handle the cow ants and/or bees), or the front/back porch. It was still alot of fun though.
We only got to enjoy the drainage ditch a couple times we were there... b/c it was only fun when it rained REALLY hard. The water was just rainwater... not like run-off from city streets... just rain water flowing down a stream. If you sat just right.... a fast flow could slide you across the grass bottom from one end of the yard to the other, where you would get up and try and walk back up against the water if you could.
We were able to fish at the farm b/c there was a pond you could get to by following a trail through the woods. You had to pay attention to which path you took... b/c a couple led to Bee Hives (the kind in boxes... made for collecting honey). When I was younger ... I though the pond was enormous... but in reality it was about the size of about 10 - 12 standard size backyard swimming pools. It was not stocked... but it might as well have been... the bass were nearly jumping out into your bucket. It was at the farm that I learned to fish... with rod and cane pole, lure and worm on a hook. I'm sure that was the same for Jonathan... we used to compete on who could catch the most fish... and I think more times than I would like to admit... he beat me. The pond was the first place I had ever camped out.... It was awesome... and I think thats why I still enjoy camping, hiking and fishing.
* Side Note(s): 1: On one side of the pond... A bass once rolled while i was trying to get a trebble hook out of its mouth and one of the hooks went through my thumb... then it wiggled again and the hook ripped out.... I nearly fainted... it was not pleasant
2: On the opposite side of the pond I was fly fishing with Matt T. on a "back-stroke"... i placed a small fly hook through his left eye brow. He claims he never felt anything but the tug... which I beleive b/c it was a pretty small hook... but still humorous.
There's not much to say about the BB Guns... Jonathan and I shot alot of stuff in the woods... It was the only place we could shoot BB Guns at the time.

An event that wasn't quite as fun, but was a good learning experience was the picking of crops in my grandfathers field. It was were I learned to pick all kinds of beans, potatoes, corn, and peaches and plums from trees. I also learned how to shell peas and beans.... that was actually fun and it made your thumbs smell like beans for the day.

Christmas at the farm was always interesting. We went to the farm after we had opened our presents at our house. It was funny b/c Me and Jonathan would always try and act civilized while we were opening presents... we would grab one of ours and rip the wrapping apart to get to whatever was inside... then we would calmly hand out presents to other people so we could go grab another of ours as quickly as we could.... Maybe so we could get to the one "good" present as soon as possible. There was never a shortage of flannel clothing or alarm-clocks and pencil holders and such. I never liked them at the time... but its kind of endearing now.

Thats all I have for now