Not your grandpa’s farming

March 9, 2009 AmeliaJake 2 Comments

One of my grandfathers was a farmer; he was born in 1877 and before he farmed a small place in Indiana, he travelled with a threshing crew. Somewhere there is a picture, which I need to scan into the computer, is of him on top of that machine with the crew gathered around it. Strangely enough, he was wearing a fedora.

One of my husband’s grandfathers was a farmer in Cathage, Illinois; he was born in 1893. I remember him well. Tall, lanky, with a limp and a Will Rodgers look to him, he would come into the kitchen at lunchtime, hang his hat by his wife’s and ask me with a wry grin, “Do you think they’ll fight?” That first lunch, he poured my iced tea and said, “Say when . . . say when . . . say when; finally, I undersood and yelled “When” and he chuckled.

LZP found this picture of them on their wedding day and I’ve posted it once before, but it is worth posting again – Lydia Akers and William A. Vance:

So what got me thinking about farming? Well, it was LZP himself who sent me these photos of some FUI incidents (Farming Under the Influence). He asked this question: What would Grandpa have thought?

2 thoughts on “Not your grandpa’s farming”

pottermom says:

March 9, 2009 at 1:41 pm

Makes me kind of glad nobody was around with a camera with some of our mishaps. We did get a tractor stuck up to it’s axel’s once….. that thing took two other tractors to pull it out…… after it had dried up a bit.

My favorite is when my sister put the gate on top of the truck because she turned to fast. Seems she was nervous because she was driving illegally on the highway (she was 14) and the state patrolman was right behind her. He rented a house from us so he knew her age. She was so scared he’d pull her over that she drove right into the gate post and flipped the gate up. He drove by laughing…

Or when we put the old truck in the cesspool….. I think my other sister was driving that time, she was about 12.

Or when I took out a mile of fence by driving over it while feeding cows. I was 12 and my brother laughed at me the whole way back to the house to get the tractor because I hung the truck up on a fence post and we had to get a tractor to pull it off….. He laughed at me the entire time I was putting the fence back up too. Older brothers can be quite a pain at times.

Or the time I sliced off the brand new center gate post for the hay corral with the front end loader. My dad and brother had just finished planting it and told me not to take it out while stacking hay…… five minutes later it was sliced cleanly off at ground level. My dad just handed me a bar and shovel and said… get digging.

Oh my, yes I can relate to “Farmer’s under the influence” but I think in my case it was usually stupidity and age…. not drink. Unless you count Dr. Pepper.
pottermom says:

March 9, 2009 at 1:41 pm

OH, and I personally like the triple stupidity one.. three tractors stuck… with a crane there to get them out. Just makes you wonder if the crane got stuck too. lol

Comments are closed.

***Jody Lynn Vance: 1985-2011***

Jody was born at sunrise on a bright, sunny, cold, snowy Groundhog’s Day and from Day One she was a gift to everyone around her. Her infectious laugh and rambunctious spirit made her the center of attention where ever she happened to be.

She and her Dad would watch Sesame Street and sing at the top of our voices (and quite out of key) all of the songs. She enjoyed having Mom fix her hair so it was fancy and just right.

As a toddler she had quite an impressive vocabulary and often had a lot to say. One time Dad was headed out the door to go to work and she pointed her finger and said, “No. No. No. Don’t go anywhere!“

Jody was very seldom crabby, always happy and she wasted no time in spreading that joy to everyone around her. Jody’s favorite place was to be perched on the lap of Mom or Dad or playing with her toys spread out all over the floor. Jody was always affectionate, wanting hugs and “moochies” as she called smooches on the cheek.

At around two, Jody’s illness began to attack her. It took a beautiful, innocent child and put her through untold pain and suffering,

I know that through all of that she was not afraid. She had the heart and spirit of lion. She never gave up; time after countless time, she would open her eyes and there would come that smile. Jody lost her speech, but never was at a loss for words. She could say more with a look or a half smile than most people do yakking all day long.

After numerous doctor, hospital, and specialist visits, we were given the news of her illness. I remember that moment frozen in time … it was as if the entire world stopped. It was in that brief moment we both knew that we must make the very most of the time we had remaining together and not dwell on the despair of all of the things that would never be.

Jody was not expected to live more than three or so - but she had too many things to do and stories to tell, so she cruised by that birthday and over two more decades of birthdays, Christmases and millions of smiles and hugs. Jody was well-liked by other kids; once when she was being wheeled into her classroom at Handicare, one of the children yelled, “Hey everybody, Jody’s here” and all the kids cheered.

Two of the biggest joys in her life were her two little brothers, Joey and Sammy. She would just beam with joy when they would sit next to her and when they began to get older she’d love to listen to them running through the house and playing together. The two of them would start laughing and Jody would laugh right along with them. She would listen intently to everything they did and they would include her as often as they could. The three of them loved watching Saturday morning cartoons and The Three Stooges.

Joe and Sam did without a lot of things that other kids had, did and took for granted … and they never once complained or were resentful of the way things were. That shows a special kind of love and a special kind of family.

As the years went by and the boys grew up into strong and healthy, Jody’s health slowly and steadily declined. She would have long stretches where she was fairly stable and then would become so very ill.

Many times we were sure the end was near and then she would open those sparkling blue eyes and stretch just like nothing had happened at all.

Once she was in the hospital with her usual bout of pneumonia and lapsed into a coma; this went on for 8 days. One Dr. came in, examined her and just shook his head. Later that night Jody’s eyes popped open and she was refreshed from her cat- nap.

People over the years have commented, ”I don’t know how you do it. ”This always struck me as odd. My thoughts would always be: How could you even think of turning your back on someone who needs you that much?

It was always our promise to Jody that she would always live at home with her family and I think she found comfort in knowing that.

But, no one person can take the credit for caring for this wonderful young woman. It has taken an army of doctors, nurses, teachers, aides, pharmacists, friends, and family over the years to maintain Jody at home, and we could never begin to thank you enough.

Jody always kept her head held high and never seemed to be afraid; she has truly been my inspiration on many occasions. When things were gloomy and seemed hopeless, just one smile and a hug was all I needed to go on. Jody will always be my hero. I love her and will treasure the time we had together.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Share this:

2 thoughts on “Not your grandpa’s farming”

Discover more from THE LEANING COW ................... Our musings & Our emoos