Hey, maeve:

What a wonderful post! It brings back all sorts of memories of visiting my Uncles on their farms when I was a kid. Along the line, my mother's memories have been mixed in. They're just memories, now.

"Old Uncle Jim he said, said to his son he said
Wake up Howard 'cause it's almost dawn
The snow drifts have covered up the old hay wagon
Gonna have to dig our way out to the barn
The cows will all be waiting for the old milk pail
And it won't be long before the rooster crows
So we better hop to it, 'cause there's no one else to do it
And the sky is turning cloudy and it looks like snow"

                   Uncle Jim, by Jerry Rasmussen

My songs are full of references to the hardness, and joys of farming.

"When you're working five to nine, and you hear that highway whine
Makes you think the road can set you free"

I have a wonderful letter my mother wrote about her childhood on my Grandpa Holliday's dairy farm.

Thanks for bringing back a lot of good memories.

Jerry