SurfCutter
New member
My thoughts ramble tonight and got back to younger days happy and care free growing up on the farm. Well to be exact hay field and later corn field used for cow feed to the local big farm corporation Cumberland Farms during the early 70's....
Dad was very active in the 4H and one of my earliest memories of him was the meeting him on his return from a trip to El Salvidor for the Heifer Project caring for animal given to the needy by local farms during the trip down , he also did two trips to Germany after the war doing the same thing , and would enjoy the nights dad would get the projector and slides out and talk about the trip , the people he meet and the beautiful country. On his second trip over he would go visit the families that got a cow or goat from the first trip and how he and the others he travelled with would drive out in a rented VW to a small farm and knock on the door ,,,, it would open a small crack and dad would ask in his best heavy American accented German if this was were so in so lived and that this group of Americans have come to see their cow ....This would have the door open wide and soon would result in new friendships. Dad would always ask to get a picture if they had enough light to do so , and the proud farmer would either send one of the kids out to the small barn or shed to get the cow often the cow had better housing than the family and would be very well cared for . he would get a kick out of how they would bring out the and he would get the position he wanted . Often the cow would be aloud to put it's head down ... ,as the farmer or the whole family would stand smiling , Dad would ask them to bring the cows head up and hold it up and explain how it made for a better picture and show off at it's best ...this would add to the pride of the happy owners . ...
Another fond memory was the small dairy farm at the far end of our fields , it was here that I learn of roosters , and that not all slides are fun and the wonder of birth .....
From a young boy of 6 years the walk of just over 1000 feet to the next farm was a hike ,,,, funny how age and time changes our idea of distance .... It was across the wall that a new world of wonder be it at the next farm or in what was at that time the deep dark woods ,
a small patch of swamp wood of 5 acres .... But it is the farm I will ramble about tonight the farmer had a rooster and it did was rooster's all do... They like to chase little boys and this one was well equipped with a set of spurs that would do any lesser rooster proud , it seemed at the time the big white was as tall as me and be it a visit by just me to see and pat the cows and to watch the milking or tagging along with Dad when he went over to visit this rooster made it a point to try to run me down and rake me with those spurs .... This one afternoons visit the rooster was really out for blood and had me pinned good in the middle of the yard before my Dad and Mr. Azack , the owner could come to my aid . Well with luck I was able to get a hold of him but not before he laid in a couple of well placed spurs on my young tender legs .... Dad told me to bring him over and then showed me how to make a chicken sleep by taking it's head and putting it under it's wing then to do a little dance with it and if it was done right that you could place the chicken on it's back on the floor and it would stay their until you told it to move .....
...... To this day that little joke of the dance brings a smile to me ...
The feed for the cows was stored in the second story of a building that at the time was used as a garage to get the bales of hay down slide was built that divided the stairs up the side of the building in half . now at the bottom was a cement pad ...sometimes as little boys we see only part of what happen if we do something sliding looked like fun I did not think through to the stopping and what would happen at the bottom ..... that cement pad at the bottom was very very hard on my little bottom ...
It was when I was a couple of years older that I helped in the wonder of birth , I happen to go up to see the cows and to pat them this one day , it was with surprise and some worry that I saw one cow that looked like it was in trouble that a pink balloon was hang out of it back end .... well as fast as my little legs could run I went up to the house and knock on the door to Tell Mr. Azack of this trouble ... He came to the door and listened to me explain about one of his cows was in trouble and needed help , ..He just smiled and went and got a coat on and said follow him to the barn . he looked at the cow which had by now had laid down with it's rear end up against a pole that supported the roof . He then send he needed help that the cow was having a calf and it was stuck watch and he would be right back . To me things did not look good and Mr Azack soon returned with a length of hay bale twine which he doubled and doubled again . then tied a loop in the end which he slipped around part of this balloon ....
Then we each got a gripe on the twine and pulled , and pulled and pulled sure enough he was right there was a small cow in there and after what seem like all day we got the calf out much to the relief of both cow and Mr. Azack ..... but t was the praise I got later from both him and my dad for helping that I remember most ....
Bill G.
Dad was very active in the 4H and one of my earliest memories of him was the meeting him on his return from a trip to El Salvidor for the Heifer Project caring for animal given to the needy by local farms during the trip down , he also did two trips to Germany after the war doing the same thing , and would enjoy the nights dad would get the projector and slides out and talk about the trip , the people he meet and the beautiful country. On his second trip over he would go visit the families that got a cow or goat from the first trip and how he and the others he travelled with would drive out in a rented VW to a small farm and knock on the door ,,,, it would open a small crack and dad would ask in his best heavy American accented German if this was were so in so lived and that this group of Americans have come to see their cow ....This would have the door open wide and soon would result in new friendships. Dad would always ask to get a picture if they had enough light to do so , and the proud farmer would either send one of the kids out to the small barn or shed to get the cow often the cow had better housing than the family and would be very well cared for . he would get a kick out of how they would bring out the and he would get the position he wanted . Often the cow would be aloud to put it's head down ... ,as the farmer or the whole family would stand smiling , Dad would ask them to bring the cows head up and hold it up and explain how it made for a better picture and show off at it's best ...this would add to the pride of the happy owners . ...
Another fond memory was the small dairy farm at the far end of our fields , it was here that I learn of roosters , and that not all slides are fun and the wonder of birth .....
From a young boy of 6 years the walk of just over 1000 feet to the next farm was a hike ,,,, funny how age and time changes our idea of distance .... It was across the wall that a new world of wonder be it at the next farm or in what was at that time the deep dark woods ,
a small patch of swamp wood of 5 acres .... But it is the farm I will ramble about tonight the farmer had a rooster and it did was rooster's all do... They like to chase little boys and this one was well equipped with a set of spurs that would do any lesser rooster proud , it seemed at the time the big white was as tall as me and be it a visit by just me to see and pat the cows and to watch the milking or tagging along with Dad when he went over to visit this rooster made it a point to try to run me down and rake me with those spurs .... This one afternoons visit the rooster was really out for blood and had me pinned good in the middle of the yard before my Dad and Mr. Azack , the owner could come to my aid . Well with luck I was able to get a hold of him but not before he laid in a couple of well placed spurs on my young tender legs .... Dad told me to bring him over and then showed me how to make a chicken sleep by taking it's head and putting it under it's wing then to do a little dance with it and if it was done right that you could place the chicken on it's back on the floor and it would stay their until you told it to move ........... To this day that little joke of the dance brings a smile to me ...The feed for the cows was stored in the second story of a building that at the time was used as a garage to get the bales of hay down slide was built that divided the stairs up the side of the building in half . now at the bottom was a cement pad ...sometimes as little boys we see only part of what happen if we do something sliding looked like fun I did not think through to the stopping and what would happen at the bottom ..... that cement pad at the bottom was very very hard on my little bottom ...
It was when I was a couple of years older that I helped in the wonder of birth , I happen to go up to see the cows and to pat them this one day , it was with surprise and some worry that I saw one cow that looked like it was in trouble that a pink balloon was hang out of it back end .... well as fast as my little legs could run I went up to the house and knock on the door to Tell Mr. Azack of this trouble ... He came to the door and listened to me explain about one of his cows was in trouble and needed help , ..He just smiled and went and got a coat on and said follow him to the barn . he looked at the cow which had by now had laid down with it's rear end up against a pole that supported the roof . He then send he needed help that the cow was having a calf and it was stuck watch and he would be right back . To me things did not look good and Mr Azack soon returned with a length of hay bale twine which he doubled and doubled again . then tied a loop in the end which he slipped around part of this balloon ....
Then we each got a gripe on the twine and pulled , and pulled and pulled sure enough he was right there was a small cow in there
and after what seem like all day we got the calf out much to the relief of both cow and Mr. Azack ..... but t was the praise I got later from both him and my dad for helping that I remember most ....Bill G.
This was a great story, thanks for sharing it with us. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas) 
