Haibun Monday and we’re asked to take a “walk down memory lane” and share some of our memories, I tried to restrain myself, but I could have written pages and pages about life as it was then in our part of middle Illinois. Submitted to dVerse, March 1, 2021
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My memories centered around the little farm which was home until I left for business college. In the middle of the vast flat corn belt of Illinois, our little farm consisted of a red barn, a corn crib, a machine shed, a chicken house, and a garage. My father was a tenant farmer on the 80 acres that comprised the farm. Our nearest neighbors were all half a mile away. Mother raised chickens and sold eggs, we had a half dozen milk cows and sold milk. Mother’s large garden provided virtually all our needs. Trips to the grocery were for sugar, flour, coffee and little else,
The downstairs was divided into four room. In the kitchen, Mother‘s cob-burning cook stove stood at one end, a cabinet, a sink with a hand pump which pumped water from the cistern which was used only for washing dishes, and bathing. Water for cooking was brought in from the well in the front yard. There was barely room for a small table. Next was the dining room which had a large table for company, a stove, a console radio, and a rocking chair for each of my parents. The other two rooms consisted of a guest bedroom, which was rarely used, and a parlor, which was used only when we had guests.
There were two bedrooms upstairs and no heat! In winter, mother would heat flat irons on the stove, wrap them in a piece of old blanket and put them in the foot of our beds. Going to bed was a quick trip up the cold stairs, climbing under a mountain of covers, and placing my feet on the warm spot provided by the wrapped iron. Should nature call, there was a chamber pot under the bed. I guess we were poor, but all our neighbors lived in like circumstance. Social life centered around our one-room school and the little country Methodist church about a mile away. Life was much as described by Laura Ingalls Wilder in “Little House on the Prairie”. I have fond memories of being loved and happy.
ReplyDeleteThis is just beautiful to read. "I guess we were poor, but all our neighbors lived in like circumstance." and then the last line say all was well in your household. And oh yes.....the haiku tells the truism right? Little was necessary, life was so simple. I do know there was a lot of work in the rural life. It was sometimes backbreaking work....work that calloused hands. But it was for the family's livlihood....work that was good and of value. Interesting detail that it was a cob stove. And oh my....only once have I tasted mild directly from the cow. Being a "city" girl, I'd gone to my college roomate's house for a weekend. She lived on a farm in Olney, Illinois and they too had milk cows. I used to love the have a glass of cold mile with cookies at home. That was milk that was bought in the store (at my Uncle Howie's store). So I took a big gulp of that mile...not realizing it was right from the cow. What a shock! Smiling I am....you've provided me with a memory I haven't thought about in a long time. In our early years of marriage, the first house we bought was on 30 acres of land and you could see cornfields for miles. You could see the dust rising on the road far away in the summer, long before you heard or saw the car approaching near the house. I learned to can....apple sauce, catsup, beets, stewed tomatoes, green beans, corn, pickles....Also froze sweet corn in butter sauce, tons of zucchini bread. I taught high school English in a small rural school that had just 32 kids to a graduating senior class. I absolutely treasure those days....and oh yes....it was a much simpler life...not as much so as you describe. But so very special!
Oh my! Olney is about 180 miles south of Pontiac, where I'm from!
DeleteYou remember well the crop rows stretching into infinity. There were 36 in my graduating highschool class -- the largest ever to graduate! You know me well, Lillian!!
Thanks for sharing your trip down memory lane. Happy to hsve visited the farm with you
ReplyDeleteMuch💜love
I appreciate your description of what life was like on the farm for you. The unheated upstairs where you slept is probably the most shocking part of it. Guessing you had feather ticks on the bed? The best part of course is that you felt loved and were happy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story. The memories just come pouring out once we prime the pump. You had a great childhood.
ReplyDeleteMy childhood friend Tommy shared your exact circumstances. I tried never to sleep over in Winter; always invited him to stay with us (our circumstances vastly different).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder.
Great description of farm life
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderful memory Bev. Love is a wealth not always known to a child, so you were not poor. You had happiness and sll that you needed to grow. Thank you for sharing this Bev, it was special!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful memories! Yes, life did seem simpler in those days and not so rushed.
ReplyDeleteBev,
ReplyDeleteit's hard for me to explain exactly what I mean by this, but I feel that your poem suits the haibun form perfectly. It's like haibun was made for this poem.
Yours,
David
Thank you so much, David. The little farms as they were then are fading into anonimity. I've so many memories of that time it was difficult to know which to include.
DeleteWhat an idyllic childhood, Bev, full of love and fond memories in the making. Growing up in the city, I had no idea that this was reality for some people, until I left home and travelled, lived that kind of life myself, although I did find it hard.
ReplyDeleteSuch vivid memories Beverly!
ReplyDeleteWhat a simple life it was, but maybe it was harder on the grown-ups... children has their own way of finding the best in everything.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to imply it was easy, Bjorn. It was work from sun-up to sundown. I learned to drive a truck in the fields when I was 9 years old! Hard work was just a fact of life.
DeletePerfection in your memories of life in Illinois, mine was Illinois as well but your descriptions and memories are more in line with my grandparents’ homes! And those memories could keep me warm for many wintry years to come.
ReplyDeletesuch a vivid share of simplicity, comfort and care ... a happy childhood indeed!
ReplyDeleteI like your haiku. Simple memories of joy and feel so satisfying.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this wonderful memory of childhood!
ReplyDelete