The Frost is on the Pumpkin

October!

Where did the summer go? I left my car in the driveway the other night and when I went out to go to work, I had to first remove the frost from the back window. Now the weatherman said it was 38, but on the north side of my house it obviously had gotten down to at least 32 the night before!

Alot of my neighbors have pumpkins and colored corn and ghosts and goblins around the front of their homes, reminding me of the "old days" when I was a kid at home on the farm.

I remember in the fall when the corn would be picked and taken to the barn to be shelled with the "BearCat" corn grinder, which was hooked to the fly wheel on the Minneapolis Moline tractor. there was an elevator tube that lifted the ground corn into the grain room. This ground corn was fed to the cows and horses all winter long.

Then there was the hay that was cut and hauled to haystacks with the "farmhand" my dad had made out of an old truck frame. A seat had been mounted on the frame and the motor was in the back with a hydrolic hay fork mounted toward the front of the frame. It was a challenge to steer since the "front" wheels that turned were in the back. We always begged for a ride which was better than the rides at an amusement park.

Dad also grew cane, which was stacked into "shocks" that looked like Indian tepees. The cane was not quite "dry" so you could still chew on it and taste the sweetness of it. When we "helped" shock cane, I'm sure we played more than we worked!! (The picture is of Garry and Melvin Fisher "helping" their dad shock cane).

This time of the year teases us with remaining warm days of summer and chilly nights of winter. It isn't long now until it will be time for all cold blooded creatures (like me) to fly south for the winter. (and that is exactly what I will do once I can retire from my J O B).

Have a great weekend!!
-- Sherri