The Lucknow Sentinel, 1996-03-13, Page 60Pao 4A -Finn progros
Sproul
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Winter farming is fun...not!
by Mile O'Neal
was awakened by the
singer on, the radio hitting a
note that would pierce armour
plating. It seemed to reverber-
ate within my skull and set my
teeth non edge. 1 knocked my
glasses off the night table and
Under the bed. Once retrieved,.
they enhanced my vision
momentarily and then.. fogged
up,
The ,news was on and the
smart aleck announcer was
'cheerfully telling roe that 4"
"Siberian Pipeline" was ,influ-
encing . the temperature down-
ward. ..
I looked: out the window.
Down below me, my ancient
pick7up stood .piled high with
bags of grain. The yard light
revealeda flat tire. The spare
would be under the bags:
Downs'tairs. I went° and
revived the stove and let the cat
and dog into a slightly warmer ..
environment. Soon my wife
showed up and we shared the
morning routine. My wife is not
a 'morning person. That is
enough said.
After breakfast I' went to do
chores and my, wife got ready
for work. When I opened the
door the cold hit me like a fist,
crystallizing any surface mois-
ture and seeping through Mitts;
and boots. I had volunteered to
start nutty wife's car. It a good
car. I do think, however, its
tiosigIlers: figured it was to be
sold ain Tahiti. A new battery,
block heater and some verbal
coaxing combined to initiate
internal combustion and the car
started.. Raggedly, but it started.
Off l went to the barn. The
dog, handling the cold°`Inuch
better than. I, was bouncing
along side and playfully swip-
in g mymitt
right off my hand
..1
made it:tothe chicken barn.
Upon entering my glasses
fogged up.
The..barn had to be kept
warm and the heaters were
maintaining a 100 Fahrenheit
degree difference between
inside and outside.. `Everything
was fine but not long into the
chores, despite ,shedding' outer
ck thing,. f was perspiring
freely.You can imagine what
what
happened when I carne back
outside.
Next were the cattle to_look
look:.
after; r keep a few around as a
tax dodge. ,They're very,°very
effective.
Upon entering the . barn my
glasses fogged up. Both exhaust
fans were working away against
„frozen louvers, so the air' was
laden with carbon dioxide and;
ammonia. It didn't take long to
free the louvers and soon the air
cleared.
My hands and feet were
numb'. by the tune I had ted the
hay and rolled8.
rain to the cater
tie and discovered the heated
waterbowl was frozen
Checked the: breaker and sure
enough it was thrown. I re -set it
and it popped again.
Back to the house I went
(my glasses fogged up) to get
some hot water to thaw the ice
oOfff��e■the bowl to'get to(the ''prob-,
fern. insurance company
l My Pay
won't let me use a propane
torch in my'new barn.
The water' thawed the bowl
to the point where opening It.
allowed the to sere an over -
worked. element that :had
expired; It made it compulsory
-
to get to ,town. s ,
When.' stepped out of the
barn I quickly discovered where
I had spilled, waterin° my haste
:to return to the `: barn, Otie
minute all;is°well, the next my
feet . and head have. swapped
places and stars, are spinning in
•Any .brain. I mighty have been
hurt butmy fall was'cusbioned'
by the cement yard..
• .I had to move a *bunch of
,bags, of grain 'to get to the spare
..tire. Handling bags', with mitts
on is bad at best; but when they
artesold enough to slide off the
pile and onto the ground it
tends :to make orae frown.
In a while I had the tire
changed, the loadreTstaeked
and fingers and toes that
seemed ready to break off.
After warming them inside and
enjoying a hot drink I headed to:.
town for a yew element and to
leave the grain at the rill to be
rolled.,
guess farmers aren't the,
only ones to enjoy the Canadian
winter. When. I arrived at the
mill the guys were busy squirt-
ing ether into the breather on
the feed truck that was blocking'
the receiving pit. I could do
nothing butsupervise supervise and offer
sage advice that wasn't consid-
ered funny, .
They gave up for a few min-
utes . and helped me set the bags
onto the dock to be dumped
later. One of them was pushing
his boss to move the mill to
Phoenix in the winter, and I said
I wouldn't drive all the ; way
there to get my grain' rolled and
he said that I' wasn't the only:
fanner.. around and maybe we
could` have a vote. It was decid-
ed we'd wait for six months and
then make a decision:
Back home I, went, axed the
waterbow,went to the house.
My glasses fogged up.
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