The thread on Paul McCartney has me thinking about the way most of us on the 'fire were raised. Eating home grown tomatoes, shooting cap pistols, , then BB guns. Riding horses, driving at an early age.


I fear we are a drying breed. I don't like those cityfied ways.

good post. yes, we have seen and are going through unprecedented changes. it's difficult to know what to drag along with us, and what to leave behind.

information is flooding the world, hardly any time to assess what's good and what's less good. and then there's more info to take into account.

the old folks use to have a chance to live with the seasons. now, it's change 24/7.

we likely reached the tipping point some time ago, and nobody knew.

Wabigoon,

ImVho, both genders here in TX (outside of a few BIG cities) were generally raised in that way. And YEP, I fear that you are correct.

yours, tex

It's interesting but kind of weird-funny at the same time to hear different generations reminisce about the 'Good Ol' Days' remembrances of growing up and daily life of their generation.

when i was 40 years old, some new hire kid brought a computer and set it down on my desk. i didn't even know how to turn the beast on.

my grandfather plowed with a team of mules to maintain his fifty acre self-reliant farm.

when cotton was king, they did well. otherwise it was off to the woods.

nowadays my Grands can tell you all about their I-phones.

My kids are growing up just like I did.

Its VERY expensive to do that though.

What we generally miss is the blissful ignorance and innocence of our youth. No matter how you try to get those days back, they are gone forever.

That be fact.

This be fact, too.

having kids in general, and raising them to follow whatever way has become very expensive.

somebody always pays, either the parent, community or the state & fed. gov'ts.

kids are no longer an economic advantage like when they were raised back on the farm.

now days everything associated with them is a cost item. tough to understand but true.

but a lot of folks are still choosing to have big families. sure, it's a choice but costly to somebody.

I'm of the same generation too. But I grew up in Chicago, not on the ranch or farm. So here is how a "city Boy" grew up on the south side of Chicago.

In the winter I shoveled snow and made money. Come summer, I cut grass and ran errands, more money.
Every saturday, I took the family laundry in my "Radio Flyer" to the laundromat,- I was around 12- Mom let me keep the change.

I walked to school, grammer and High. Thought nothing of it.

If I wanted to go fishing, there were parks with lagoons full of bluegill and bass. Hop on the bike, gone for the whole day, no one bothered me.

Two miles away was a park district park with a lagoon, golf course,swimming pool, and archery range. That snow shoveling and errand money came in real handy.

I could take a CTA buss to the lakeshore for .25 cents and spend the whole day at The Museam of Science and Industry. Go on the captured German U - 505 Submarine. Check out the WW2 warplanes hanging from the ceiling. Go down to the "Coal Mine" in the basement. Or walk over to Lake Michigan and fish for perch and later, salmon.

Rode the bus by myself. Black or white areas, no body bothered you. The cops were your friend. Hang out on the beach, listen to guys playing music along the seawall.

Now a days I wouldn't feel safe anywhere where I grew up. Things change.

Went in the Army in '68, Got out in '71. Already Chicago was changing. Not for the good either. In '74, bought a house in the burbs, Fishe, Hunted, Played golf, Rode my motorcycle, and shot a lot of trap and skeet. All with in 40 miles of the big city.

Grew up to be able to take care of myself, respect others, and mind my own business. Like to think that the majority of Americans still hold to those values.

I guess we are 50 years behind up here.

That might be true. It might also be good.

I don't have to go very far to find some places where people still live much like they did when I was growing up. Harrison County Kentucky still has teenagers cruising the town square on summer evenings. Young guys still shoot guns and pick up money doing farm work.

It's not too hard to pretend that it's still the mid 60's in a lot of rural Ky.

Fubar old as fugk!

I grew up in the country, the city has moved out to us

yes, pretty much my story as well. and also many other folks.

have hunted many tracts in many different counties in georgia.

what has happened is that those tracts & others have been developed.

they're full of people now. the tax base has gone up for sure.

kids in those developments cannot hunt out the back door.

they turn to other activities, such as computer games.

and guess what? the city ain't stopping either.

observing how it plays out is fun or not.

Earlier this year, my grandmother was laid to rest at 101yrs of age. She was a great lady, and a schoolteacher professionally for most of her adult life, but she started out as any other farm girl, a hundred years ago.
One of the best conversations I've ever had with her (and there were legion) was about all the changes she has seen in her life, from the first sighting of an airplane while plowing with a mule (her brother thought it was aliens) to her first plane ride. Slate chalk boards to computers that she showed her the world. Walking to church and a one room schoolhouse to touring the battle sites of Normandy and many others, and to see the Aurora Borialis for herself on a cruise ship.
After college she taught others about the world, and as a geriatric she got to see it for herself. She never stopped learning,
I miss her.

In some ways, my kids are growing up better than I did. Some ways not. Overall, we are keeping them rural and keeping them in church. They are exposed to tremendous church leadership.

It's been my experience that those folks raised up many years ago, and especially those with a farm background, , were brought up with much different values than 99% of those who weren't.

You can tell that by what you see on here.

JamesJr,

EXACTLY SO.

yours, tex

Farm backgrounds make you lazy, racist, ass holes?

No that'd be urban. And lesser extent suburban. 99 problems......

Yep. Suburban/Urban folk are salt of the earth...….

Says the lazy ass hole.

(I don't consider you racist)

Whatever you say, ass hole!

Personally, I think all farmers/ranchers/cattlemen ought to strike like a Union, burn all sundry except for their own consumption....just so all can be sure of the term "[bleep]".....maybe the term racist too.

Would be hilarious!

Caucasians who use the term "racist" are chit fer brains. That's a Commie term,...invented by Commies and continued by Commies.

Commies are obviously chitheads. That's a given. But people who consider themselves conservative and *still* insist on using that Commie term are a special variant of chithead.

Why thank you. None that know me would.

I could tell a story about bucking bales......

Not all rural types are what they used to be, lots of meth and welfare scum. That lot ought to be moved to the projects where they belong. And not all urban types are clueless lazy fools. But many are. The era of the small farm and farm families is dying fast. Incredibly fast. Urban sprawl is killing this country.

I had to get that in the Army.

Leadership is an amazing thing. Our Chaplains were the best in the service.

But I grew up in the4 shadow of San Francisco. I can't recognize most of it. Wealthy foreign born have made equity refugees out of my older siblings. The Country is changing. I am an anomoly at work.

I hear that all the time.

From people that refuse to live in town.

I always say that if i won the Powerball, I would be rich enough
to live like poor people used to.(buy a farm and raise my own food)

Flesh it out, I'm not tracking. Are you referring to some white bread cheese dick on a 1/2 acre lot in a subdivision that used to be a cornfield? 'cause yeah that'd be hypocrisy.

You weren't raised.

A crow schidt on a stump,
and the sun hatched you out!

I'm referring to every ass hole that insists he is incapable of living in town so buys a (insert acreage #) tract so he can pretend he's a country boy.

Some of these people are in fact "country" but most are simply reducing rural landscape so they can pretend they're... whatever it is they think they are. Which is rarely "country."

I take that as a compliment.

That is in fact true.

I was thinking about that a church this morning when upon seeing two teenagers come in wearing shorts and T-shirts. I commented to an usher that at that age (not today) I was wearing a suit to church. But we were also smoking in the lobby. Times have changed.

When your view of history is defined by You Tube you probably wouldn't know a racist or communist if one bit you on the nutsack.


mike r

If you live on 5 acres on a paved road you have to be up on your 'Fieldcraft' and have a tractor before you understand values.


mike r

Ain't that the truth. I live in a city in a rural area by choice. Everyone wants to move out into the woods, but that is impossible. Once you move into the woods it isn't the woods anymore.

The notion that tractors equal values storyboards like every congressional ad campaign run in a non-urban district.

Odd that folks GAF how others choose to live. Well, not really. Nothing like this place...

Is that a threat to my nutsack, Chebornik?

You wasn't using it much anyway.

Bullshit!

It comes in handy for laying out bean rows in my garden.

It doesn't make enough sense for someone to conclude that it's either true or false.

It's "Flave babblin".

Anybody who wants to establish themselves as an idiot can do no better than to follow Flave around when he's in babblin' mode and proclaim, "That's right!,....that's right!"

,...and Flave is in babblin' mode 98.6% of the time.

Kellory, I call that a lesson In aging gracefully. Should we all do likewise.

Insecure.

Google it.

Too secure,.....my primary fault.

So, just that we are clear, no more linking the internet as source material?

Trotsky, a Jew, killed by Commies.


Life and history gets downright hilarious at times.
Youve babbled, Ive babbled, Flave babbles. Doesnt mean we dont know WTF is going on, just means that we are serious but its a damned joke at the same time.

Dont get all Ron Paul on us. Smile and collect your Social Security....

I guess you must really have a "thing" for me...right?

So, according to what other posters have told me about you, you're something of a "camp follower"......following your wife from one of her good jobs to another. In other words, you're a "kept" man.......a Mr. Mom type, who sits at home changing dirty diapers, washing the dishes, and getting fat eating all those donuts and not getting any exercise. Your one and only source of letting off steam is to come on an internet forum and find people that you can pick on and try to provoke.......and it's an outdoor forum at that, one where people who actually hunt and shoot things.......not lizards with a pellet gun like you do......come to discuss whatever is on their mind. It's pretty obvious you don't come from much of a background, most likely you were one of those little dicked fatazz kids who were picked on, and now that you're little dicked fatazz grownup, who is lucky enough to know how to type, you can try and get some payback. So, go ahead, cause if you think it's going to bother me, think again. Those on here who despise you will keep me informed about you via PM, and don't worry, I'm not going to tell the rest of the forum what they tell me.......things such as what went on in Harve. Don't worry punk, your secret's are safe with me.


For the time being anyway.

At age 57, I've experienced at least a little of what...six "generations"? One thing they all had in common was the fear for the future of coming generations. One thing that is a little unnerving is something that you see now, that I never saw in the past is the belief by many that they are as good as it gets and that it's all downhill from here.

I was born in 1960 and lived in Ky until 1968 when we moved to Columbus Ohio so my Dad could work for my Grandad in construction. Lived right on the edge of the city limits with a 25 acre field next door. We chased pheasants and learned to shoot fiberglass recurve at bags of leaves. Played baseball with the neighbor kids in our 1 acre front yard. We had a few duke outjs with neighbor boys but we're friends again a day later. Got sent from our neighborhood to the black neighborhood for High School to a school that was 55% black and 45% white. That made us tough, but also learned that their were a lot of decent black folk too. Columbus has really gone down hill since my youth (like most big cities). I moved my kids 30 miles away to a farming community for school. I agree with Steelhead. The days of innocence from our youth are gone forever. It makes me sad. At least my kids grew up to be Conservative Christians with Dad's work ethic. Son is an Aeronautical Engineer, and Daughter is a 2nd grade teacher. By the way, the 25 acre field where we used to live and chased rabbits and pheasants is a section 8 housing community for minorities.
.
Ron

Oh my.

LMFAO.

Clearly.

Actually, it’s impossible for kids to grow up like we did in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Money aside, the world as we knew it has changed drastically and there’s no going back....

The basic principals have not changed.

Well said Steelhead. I totally agree.

As my grandfather said once, "Go see what ,(wabigoon), is doing, and tell him to stop it".

The world today is flooded with information but lacking in wisdom.
All this technology has dulled the brains of people. I’m not saying I am super good at math but I can add, subtract, multiply huge numbers all in my head without written down a things. A lot of youngster knows absolutely nothing, no aim, no purpose. MTV music, wrong choice of role model, expensive toys just to show off. Money is everything.

Like it or not, things change. I graduated in 1980. Dad was a carpenter by trade, and while he was an excellent tradesman, work wasn't always good. We lived outside of Youngstown, Ohio, and the steel industry down there was on it's last legs as mills closed up one after another. If I wanted money for anything, I had to earn it on my own, as Mom and Dad struggled just to keep the bills paid and food on the table. From the time I was 10 years old I worked to earn money for my self and to help the family. We raked leaves, shoveled snow, and did whatever else we could scrape up through the neighbors. I ran a trap line, even at that young age. My brother would set the traps at home, as I wasn't strong enough to set a 110 Connibear, or a 1 1/2 longspring yet. He'd wire the jaws open and once I had the trap set, I'd cut the wires. We were doing stuff to earn money all the time, and if we weren't doing that we were hunting or fishing to put meat on the table. While the other kids were out running around having fun, I was filleting crappies, or skinning squirrels. We used to save up our squirrel tails and sell them to Mepps every couple years.

I don't know that many kids come up this way any more. When you are doing this mainly for the good of the whole family, it takes on a different kind of significance. We never had much, but we never went hungry, and Mom and Dad always managed to make the house payment. I well remember the mortgage burning. That was a big day for Mom and Dad.

Nowadays, its seems like all the kids focus on is their "need" to have the latest cell phone or gaming system. My how times have changed.

A couple of observations.

First off, this place is full of angry [bleep] that feel the need to be right or first or better or poorer, more noble, most patriotic, more America, more apple pie on the farm with a cane pole and no shoes or what ever.

Sit here and discuss how things aint worth a chit these days because iphones and what ever else. The landscape changes, technology, trends, politics, methods, architecture, it all evolves around us as it has since the good ole days back in the cave before "fire" came along.

It's really simple, we are in control. We mold our youth, we all have our respective responsibilities, our own individual opportunities to adapt to our evolving surroundings and provide leadership. Engage, do not simply observe and post about how bad things are "these days" on the campfire. Engage and contribute to what ever activities and adventures that will shape these current childhoods. Values, respect, work ethic, etc. Inspire someone, fuel the youthful enthusiasm.

Or, observe and bitch about it on the internet.

"you aint real country" "oh yeah? well I was poorer" "yeah? well I raked leaves"

[bleep].

Time have changed but God has not. He accepts kids in shorts and T-shirts as well as smokers in cheap suits....you should consider the same.

That could be one of the funniest, and pure bullsh it things I've read in a long time. You sound like a Yankee.

MTV music? LMFAO. Nailed it. That has been the downfall of 'Merica.

DITTO


Especially the part about how this place is overrun with guys that are really pretty damn miserable and are looking for an outlet to spew that misery. Whether it be one-upmanship or tearing down another guy to make themselves feel better.

Times, they are a'changin'.

And not for the best, but for the worst!

End times are upon us.

My neighbor, now deceased who was a very wise man once told me that ,”TV ruined America”.

[/quote]

Times, they are a'changin'.

And not for the best, but for the worst!

End times are upon us. [/quote]

You got a timeframe on the end times. Just wondering how long I have.

Chebornik? I thought I was Murray. Are you turning Polish, you social climber?


mike r

Being Polish would be a climb for you for sure.

,..and for all this talk about "insecurity" directed at a 62 year old man,...that's about as stupid as anything I've ever heard.

Maybe a teen is insecure,...maybe even into their early 20's. But a 62 year old man doesn't give enough of a chit about what anybody thinks to even ponder his personal emotional security.

I long ago reached the MPAI (most people are idiots) stage considering the human condition.

But Flave operates under the mistaken impression that it's an art form. He goes for weeks pecking out crap that's not worth the wear and tear on his keyboard.

One liner after another that he thinks is humorous, yet don't mean chit.

I've been watching it for several years, now. I keep waiting for it to end, but it never does. I suspect he'll be laying in a nursing home someday and still be quacking out this type of nonsense to the nurses,......who will nod their head then stick his daily suppository up his ass,...before walking away and ignoring him until the next one is due in 24 hours.

But honestly,..I have no fellings about Flave one way or another. He's just Flave.

I will admit to feeling a bit of animosity towards the person who entrusted a nice Chocolate Labrador to him,....which he's fattened up to such an extent that it's going to suffer from hip failure before it reaches 8 years old.

People need to be held accountable for who they sell a fine dog to.

Maybe there's some. But for myself, I've bounced from extremely rural to urban,...back to rural again. I have a little 5 acre patch that feels like an island to me after spending 40 years of my mid life in the city. If there's anything to be said about it, it's that I'm trying to relive my childhood. Insecurity or its opposite doesn't figure into it. It's been a long time since I gave a fug about being insecure,...and soon upon arriving as an adult, I found out that I had no reason to be. I was readily accepted into covens of people who appreciated tattoos as well as those who appreciated fine red wines. Not long after that I made the decision on who *I* accepted. And it turned out to be a very small, select crew.

This patch I bought is a toy. The mower I bought to keep it in shape is a toy. The antique tractor I bought is a toy.

The guns,..the motorcycles, the tractor,..even the women,.. can all be listed under the heading of "toys".

It's been a long, long time since I gave a flyin' fug what any idiot thought about any of them.

In fact,..this conversation has given me a thought. A good tombstone for me would say:

BRISTOE

HE RECOGNIZED THE VALUE OF TOYS AND ACQUIRED THE BEST OF THEM

,....maybe I'll get on that.

,..so,..that's the Alpha and the Omega of this conversation as it regards *me*.

It shouldn't need to be said at this point. But some people on here aren't particularly observant.

So out of the goodness of my heart, I've taken the time to spell it out for them.

If it makes Flave launch into a babblin' fit,..well,...maybe it's time for his suppository again and the nurse has forgotten it.

That's all I can figure.

He's fulla chit and will be until the nurse shows up.

Very well put.

Clearly.

I'd like to know how somebody incapable of setting a 110 conibear could run a fuggin' trapline.

Couldn't agree more. My wife works hard for all our cash and I'm proud of her for doing so.

Clearly.

The floor will now be silent as Flave engages in another round of his own special variant of babblin'.

Quite please.

Well worth quoting. The only thing you left out is that some of angry old men are crazy. Like an old man one minute, a little girl the next creepy crazy.

My interstate pizza is better than your interstate pizza

Like I said earlier....my kids are being raised just like I was.

Its my responsibility. Not some stupid shcool board or "village".

Maybe so,.....but my interstate pizza place has a better bar than yours,....drunk ass truck drivers from one wall to the other.

You've got to shake hands and holler out MAGA 14 times to get to the carry out station.

I hope they're not going to the same one that you did.

Mmmn?

pot calling kettle black?

Geno

PS, for 'flave. I have about 7 acres, surrounded by public land (sure to piss a few here off) quite a ways outside "town", and somehow a couple of years back the county found funds to pave our road. Am I "country"?

lol,...you got me,..

"Quiet"

Not to change the subject, but, Flave? Have you seen any Pheasant down here?

9 posts in the last hour, yet other people are babbling. Your insecurities are showing along w/ your azz.


mike r

MENSES candidates do their best to keep that nose high in the sky. Typically.

I don't know if you're country or not. Can you do country schit for 30 days without asking for advice on 30 different fugkin' subjects?

Did you mean other than that time your neighbors "No Fishing" sign had you all worked up so you needed a thread about it?

You misspelled COCK!

And no, I have not. But I think I have gator season figured out for next year and I think I got a good place to keep a boat nailed down.

And getting more common every day.

Maybe it's just me[or the WWW] but I sure as hell don't remember all of the pissin matches while growing up.

Travis,

I have learned not to ask for much advice here................I just wait a few days and my questions will be answered.

It seems every week we get a new set of the same questions/answers.

As a matter of fact my chainsaw question was just answered this morning......................by slumlord of all people




Geno

PS, you're wife might be the breadwinner in your family, but I think from certain "clues" in some of your posts I might just be possible to figure out you might be employed also.

You're just pissed because you can't be from Poland,...or damn near anywhere else in Europe.

Don't come around here spouting the truth Dave.

Kidding of course.....that was perfect......although I will point out that you make a living resurrecting the "good ol days"....lol

I had kids late in life, and I'm old school, small town KY raised. I think my kids are starting to understand where I come from better as they get a bit older. My parents grew up in the Great Depression, and my Grandparents who were born in the mid 1890s had a big influence on me. At times I feel like a living fossil, but sometimes when I get my kids to understand something that is important to me, I feel much better. Common sense never goes out of style, even though there's not much used in today's world.

The “grouchy old farts” r getting quiet plentiful around here.

Don't you have some 100 pound propane bottle to fret over, HopAlong Homeowner?

If you had any gumption you'd be too busy doing a rain dance to fug around on the internet.

Schit no....all it does now is rain.....now that my wheat crop is ready to cut.


I am starting to think the Jeebus dont like me.

This thread is hilarious!

Geno,

A saw is a saw.

Unless you're one of those worker types.

He'd fit in great at the 'Fire.

"Mr. Perfect...."



Clark

Lil' James is down on the farm swinging his machete.

"That black lovin', sumbitchin' 'flave."

I'd say you're damn lucky country.

County won't re-pave or repair ours in NC mountains and neighbors along it who also benefit from it don't want to chip in. Are they country?

Kids today: video games
We: horse back riding

Kids today: dad I need some money
We: dad I need a job/ can I come work with you

Kids today: 16 and they want s car
We: we took the bus/rode bicycles, I bought my first car with my own savings.

Kids today: needed a tutor to explain “The Godfather” movie
We: love the old school gangster flick and we knew every scene and line of the movie

Kids today: can’t live without internet and computer
We: depended on our brains and sent letters which helped us become good writer.

Everything is different now and liberalism/capitalism is the cause of it all.

at it's core it's a population issue, but everyone has the right to breed to their hearts content, no?

somebody around here walk outside with a gun and the local SWAT will be there pronto.

growing up, i walked out the back door and was in the field and nearby forest.

rabbits, squirrels, maybe a fox, or even a hungry fox hound.

we're not in the same world as before johnson man.

will it ever come back? no, not at current populations.

If only they'd get quiet........

Are we to the point yet where everybody tries to convince everybody else how much they don't care?

I couldnt give less of a schit.....

I'm to the point of telling anyone who thinks I do how ridiculous they are.

I consider it a public service,....my gift to humanity.

I was gonna start talking chit until I remembered we live in town.

It's the 'net. You can say anything on here dude!

The best part of the freakshow is the story lines and posts I am able to remember, and reading that same poster later in the month, year, year later, and comparing mentally what was said when. If the search function was better on here it'd almost be worth it to compile a bunch and make a thread out of it.

Yes....Schitt away Sam.

Small towns are a far cry from a city.

I’m at the Marlin’s game.

Wife’s treat.

Funny....

I know a HUGE movie star that lives in the middle of nowhere East Texas. The closest Dairy Queen and lumber store is 40 miles away. Is he country?

Why thank you. None that know me would.

I could tell a story about bucking bales......

Not all rural types are what they used to be, lots of meth and welfare scum. That lot ought to be moved to the projects where they belong. And not all urban types are clueless lazy fools. But many are. The era of the small farm and farm families is dying fast. Incredibly fast. Urban sprawl is killing this country.


Also encouraged by the powers that be as people in city/urban areas are easier to control as opposed to those that live in a rural area who be more independent. Just saying Cheers NC

Half the farm is just a couple miles from town which saves a lot of time and fuel for break downs! Nearest Walmart is around 100 miles away. Been over 20 years since the last time I was there.

I'm more rezzy than country. You gotta be street smart to survive around hear......

FORTY MILES????


LMAO.

Hell I walked that far to school, uphill both ways, we were to poor to rake leaves......

Gopher walked that one way with his pre-loaded 110 conibears.

We didn't have a fancy store bought rake so my brother and I raked leaves by hand.



I remember more than one year when the tractor would break down and instead of plowing we'd be out pulling weeds by hand. From sun up to sun down weeks at a time. Pull weeds until your hands bled.


Didn't have a baler so we'd make little hand tied bundles of weeds and stack them away for winter feed.

I can't believe you could afford your own tree, leaves and all........lucky bastards !

Rich people in town had the trees.


We burned firewood from the last of our trees years ago.

Was the movie star George Bush??

I was gonna guess Matthew Muhonnahey.

"Wooooo Big Sexy!"

Laffin!

Your house was heated ? Wow !

I left Texas in 1982 so it's not me.

LMFAO

That girl in the video is barefooted, that's incredible in itself if you've ever walked in a freshly made hayfield.

That model baler is loaded with incredible features.

Those are the funniest commercials of the last 2-3 years!





Jim, believe it or not they played that one on on the local radio here a week or two ago!




Gruff, heard you had some bear(raccoon?) trouble in the urban sprawl hen house. Time to swallow your pride and get Ace over there to show you how to homestead.

Pfffftttt.

Least you had a brother.

Or perhaps unless it's a see-saw?

Or an old saw?

Enjoy the BB game. Wife's treat is the best way to go. She buyin' the hot dogs and beer?

Geno

Worthless, lazy-assed dog!

Pffffftttt


Least she had feet.

If'n she kin make bizkits, she be a keeper fer shore!

Geno

PS, she ain't too brite from my perspective. If'n she walked to the other side a thet feeld and pushed alla thet hay to the midle, she woodn't hef ta' tote it so fer t' the pickemup truk.

I lived in an outer borough of NYC until I was nine. Mom didn't drive so we had to take the bus to the subway station..................after walking 3 whole blocks to the bus stop. It sucked out there in the outer boroughs, we had to walk to the delicatessen, the bakery, church and school, on concrete sidewalks even. Rarely saw a cab out there. No elevator in our 3 story apartment building, just a dumb waiter (we couldn't even afford a smart one we were so poor and far away from civilization) The pizzas were OK, the Chinese food too................but not like in Manhattan or Chinatown. It was so hot and humid and we were so poor there was no A/C so we had to take light blankets down to the park along side the East River (do you KNOW what went into that river? Does seementa shoes mean anything to you? ) so we could get some sleep. We had a goodly number of kids in our family so we had to wear hand me downs and mom had to darn our socks and s**t we were so poor. I think I only had one suit for going to church in and it too was likely a threadbare hand me down.

I tell you, I was in high country heaven when we moved to the suburbs of San Diego CA. Ground squirrels, lizards, and even road runners on our retaining wall. A "ditch" out front the house, actually a creek that was kinda channelized, with crawdads, frogs (even African Clawed frogs), bats in the culverts so the roads could pass over, herons and egrets, barn owls in the palm trees. But we were still poor. I had to earn money to buy my own genuine Levis or mom and dad would buy us Penney's, or worse, K-Mart jeans. I went to parochial school thru 8th grade, but we got even poorer and my three younger siblings had to go to the Public Schools. I had to purchase my own 18 year old car with my own hard earned paper route money, and mean ol' dad made me pay for the insurance and everything too.

I realized I wanted to live in the "real country" on our first visit to "Uncle" Bill's place, about 35 miles out in the backcountry of San Diego county. (It's now a suburb) Commercial chicken barns across the road from his place, coyotes and raccoons and critters, tarantulas, horned toads. His was a three and half acre RANCH, or maybe it was a FARM. He had a Ford tractor, a water tank on top of the barn, fruit trees, vegetable garden, made his own adobe bricks, his kids raised pigs and calves and had ponies. We trapped rabbits in box traps (Still legal in San Diego county) or he shot them with an old single shot .410 with a big ol' 5 D cell flashlight taped on the barrel. We went up for a few weeks every summer, got dropped off to work on the FARM. I don't think Bill was as poor as we were though as there were only 4 kids and he was a Ma Bell lineman. Good money back then, His wife (who just passed, bless her soul) used to can and freeze veggies from the garden and fruit from the orchard. I thought that was the best.................no more Bird's Eye or Green Giant or overcooked Del Monte canned veggies while I up there for the summer. We could never convince mom to do the home canning thing, she had a deathly fear of the dreaded ptomaine which she thought came from home canned goods, as good NYC girls learned in their NYC school system Home Economics classes. Country folks got the ptomaine, Del Monte would never allow the ptomaine into their canned goods...........modern science and materials you know.

Now I live a 20 minute drive from the butter. If I forget it because it's not on the list when we're in town, we're SOL especially after 10PM as there's no 24 hr Safeway or Kroger's within a hundred miles. I tell you, this country livin' is tough.


But nowhere near as tough as those walks to the bus stops to get to the subway so I could go be on Romper Room WAY BACK in the dark ages of the 1950's.

Geno

GPS and Autopilot aren’t available on this model.

To All,

Her bare feet tell me that she isn't really in a new-mown hayfield, as I've NEVER seen a new-mown field that didn't have numerous venomous snakes, who would happily bite her feet/legs.

yours, tex

Still, she looked like she might ride real nice.

All that pushin' and liftin' on that fork makes for good core muscles!

Geno

I noticed that mah-self.

I could watch her work all day!

Yes sir no sir . Yes mam no Mam .

You seriously haven't cut wheat yet? Wheat has been off around here for close to a month now. Soybeans are coming off now.

Well, Travis, I ran a "fuggin" trapline with the help of my brother who'd set the traps an wire them open for me. Being's your questioning me on this, here's how we did it. I ran mostly 1 1/2 long springs, and 110 Connibears. I could get away with the 1 1/2's for rats or coon, although 2's would have been better for the coons. I did lose a few. My brother would run a wire through the rings on the end of the spring, set the trap, and tie off the wire. I'd make the set, and cut the wire with a pair of sidecutters. On the connibears, he'd do a couple wraps around the spring while the trap was set, and tie it if off and I'd set the dog, cut the wire and set the trap. I could carry about 10-12 traps in a pack. We had a stream, three ponds, and two flooded farm fields within walking distance of the house, as well as lots of hollow beech trees that always had coons in them. I'd leave at about 4:30 in the morning and be back by about 7:30 which left me time for school. Friday nights I'd take about 6 more traps, or move some sets to a small swamp off the end of this run, as I didn't have to be to school in the morning. I'd wire the jaws open for transport, then cut the wire once I reset them. These sets got pulled on Sunday morning. Any sprung traps, or traps with fur in them were brought home and my brother would remove the fur. I skinned any fur the night after I brought it home. Even with just a small line like this, I'd take enough rats, coons, and the occasional mink to make it worthwhile.

Takes a long time to pull the wheat and make little bales by hand...😎

I understand the process but I've never heard of someone doing that with traps that size. 220's or 330's yes because they have the hooks and it makes things faster at times. But if you couldn't smoosh the spring on a 1 1/2 I don't know how your scrawny ass was bringing back a basket full of steel and fur in the round.

Travis-I was 10 years old at the time. Maybe I wasn't as strong as I should have been. A dozen traps in the pack was about all I could handle.

Great post. We have things in common.

Well, laundry and dishes are done.

Guess I'll get schitfaced.

CHEERS!

I have some cut.

The people who got rain have their wheat cut, mostly.

The people who did not get any rain are still waiting. Lots of wheat left to cut in the area. All dark northern spring of course.

Soybeans dont grow here.

Are you guys a no till operation? We hear about some of that and I find it interesting.

It just surprised me because we're up by the border, all wheat is off around us and up past winnepeg.

Sort of a low till type of operation.

I did try the straight no till for a few years and it did not turn out for me. Not because its a bad system, but because I was not good at it.

I am no good at spraying fields when I cant see any green!


Now we do a mixture of spraying, tillage and cover crops.

Trying to work the soil as little as possible.

We try not to fallow any land.

Spring wheat?

The winter wheat came off here starting in July.

Not uncommon to harvest spring wheat up here through September.



We were late this year waiting for the snow to melt and the fields to dry out. Delayed later still by the ground conditions.....it was too hard to get the drill into the ground. A rain then would have helped.


Our crop was slow to ripen because of the drought. Just the opposite of what you would think!

It burnt up a month and a half ago and I thought I would be done early.....then it just quit ripening.


Been a crazy year.

Spring wheat. all crops were in super early this year, like risky early for frost that's still possible in june but it worked out well.

I don't farm but I live in farm country and have farmer friends so I speak a little farmer. It's interesting to me, all the strategy that's in play. Interesting business.

Maybe that field isn’t in Texas....

Kingston,

Maybe NOT but there are PLENTY of rattle-tails in WI, NY State & everywhere else that I was ever stationed in the Army from east to west coast. ====> Pit vipers like to hunt for rodents in hay fields.

On our farm, we have often "baled up" both rattlers & copperheads. = It pays to LOOK before bucking each bale. - Saves quick trips to the ER, as snakes don't enjoy being reaped/baled.

yours, tex

I’d have to burn the field if there was snakes.

tzone,

IF we burned our hayfields because of the snakes that are ALWAYS therein, we would NEVER have GREAT Coastal Bermuda hay for sale to the horseracing industry.

BTW, this year because of plenty of rain we will get a THIRD CUTTING. = WOO HOO.

yours, tex

Snake fed horses are the fastest horses.

northern dave,

Chicken-fried rattler-fed Texicans are HAPPY TEXICANS.

yours, tex

Negatron, not yet. Mine so far have been unmolested, but neighbor had his wiped out. Haven't seen any coons here in my immediate vicinity, thankfully. I've Ace on speed dial to left-jab any mofo comes in to get my flock o egg birds.

LMAO.

Everything's more dangerous when you're a Texan.

deflave,

Fyi, ONE of the best means that my late Uncle fixed his son (my 1st cousin) & I was precipitated by a "buzzing haybale. = Randy heard the buzz, went to investigate & returned with a 5.5 foot rattle-tail that was dressed-out at about 10#.

When we got close to the farmhouse, the AROMA drifting out the door literally made my mouth water. = Chicken-fried rattler, fried potatoes, baked yellow squash casserole, home made cornbread muffins & iced tea ====> YUMMY.

yours, tex

That's the way I was raised not too far from you in Madison County, 4 miles southeast of Winterset on 46 acres and half the County to explore on a Sunday afternoon on our ponies. Unfortunately, Mom, Dad and my youngest brother are gone. One brother lives in Utah and one is still at the house on the farm. I'm trying to keep the farm for my kids (the only grand kids) so they can get a piece of what I grew up with.

I rent out the farm ground we used to keep milk cows and grew hay and corn on. The old barn and corn crib is gone. My kids will never know what it's like to have a corn cob fight with their brothers and the neighbor kids or ride them ornery ponies bareback. We used to go to town every Saturday night. It was a big event for us. We stayed until Tim's Club Cafe' on the east side of the square closed at 11:00 p.m. and then went home tired and ready for bed. We couldn't go to town until Dad got to watch Hee Haw on TV. When we came home we watched the Porter Waggoner Show before going to bed.

I live in Ankeny now (60,000 souls) with a Walmart 1.7 miles away. I'd trade it all for 1969 and another Saturday night at Tim's Club Cafe' with Martha and Whitey McDonald and one more glass of fountain Coca Cola before getting into the Ford station wagon and making that drive 4 miles home. Was it Steelie who said we can't go back?? Unfortunately, he is right. That's the real heart breaker.

kwg

KWG, how far from Peru, Iowa are you?

Peru is in Madison county. From Winterset to Peru is around 11 miles.

kwg

If you wanted something, you’d get a job and save for it. No one is giving you money to buy whatever you want. Better luck looking for a genie.

For some reason I thought you had bear trouble.

My dogs have been going apesheet all night the last couple nights. I have cameras set up on the corners of my place and I had a pic of what appears to be a grizzly from night before last. But so far (knock on wood) my dogs and electric fence have kept them out.

If I ever meet a Texas waddie that didn't find a hay bale full of rattlers I believe I'll shake their hand or buy 'em a Daniel Webster cigar.

Bullschit.

My wife gives me plenty of her money.

Does he have a coal-burn stove or natural gas?

All the wheat here was off by 1 July.

deflave,

Come down & buck some bales on our place. - You'll see.

NOBODY on our farm goes ANYWHERE on the place unarmed; between the hogs/rattlers/cottonmouths/copperheads, it's just NOT smart to do so.

My nearest neighbor to the farm recently spent some time up a pin-oak tree, due to a pair of BIG hogs, until his son came looking for him.
(Everybody later, including him, thought that that was funny.- Johnny said that he didn't realize that he could climb a tree that fast & that it was NOT too funny at the time.)
I'd bet that he's learned his lesson.

Btw, your comment is a rip-off of a famous John Wayne line from TRUE GRIT.
(NOT a bad person to paraphrase, IF you aren't clever enough to come up with your own.)

yours, tex

Not bear trouble, Beer, he had beer trouble.

I gots beer trouble too.


I am getting to be a happy drunk as I age though.

EthanEdwards,

In northeast TX, most every rural family uses propane, supplemented with wood, for heat & cooking. = NO coal & mostly NO natural gas either.
(When we finally got "farmer's CO-OP water" near our farm, it cost me >1800.oo for the pipe to run to the nearest "hook-up".)

Btw, there are 4 families on our phone's party line.

yours, tex

Coal burning stove, no natural gas....if'n that aint country I'll kiss your ass.

Speaking of beer....


We are taking the rare rain day here.

And it is almost noon........

Schit.....you are way late.

You manimal!


What are you drinking?

Still processing last nights Budweiser.

Might start again after bit.

You guys get any rain out of this last storm?

Right at an inch here so I'm celebrating with some fancy Cold Smoke Scotch Ale.


It's halfway chilly outside.
(but nice and warm inside the house)

Got an inch last night and this morning.

Suns out now.

Glad to hear it!


Radar shows a little more green for us and then it blows away.

We have had a wet September.

Probably 3 inches.

Glad to get the rain(said through clenched teeth).

It's been a long time since I've read something this good. Thanks Dave.

Jim,

Can we send you say, 4-6" of rain?? =- It's been flooding here for a week or more,.

yours, tex

I have accepted that. Just making an observation on how things change.