The Rural Voice, 1983-07, Page 51GISELE IRELAND
The days that
the rains came down
At the end of May, most farmers have
the planting behind them and are looking
forward to a rest before haying. Not this
year. Unless you happened to have a
helicopter with pontoons or had planned
on a rice crop, the planting is still ahead.
Around here, the month of May has
been anything but amusing. Super
Wrench gets this strange itch to sit on a
tractor seat from around the end of March
until the seeding starts. He sits at the
table eating his meals in the traditional
"Tractor Hunch" with his clenched hands
around the wheel and his neck craned
back to see what he is doing.
This year he has had lots of practice at
the table but few hours of actual time in
the field. The equipment is all hauled out
with the accompanying tanks and para-
phernalia and gets two hours of working
time before retreating after another
downpour. The first week it wasn't too
bad, he would just go to the shop and fix
whatever needed it when he couldn't
work outside. He ran out of work in the
shop and came to join me in the barn. I
was having trouble enough finding
indoor jobs for myself without him
joining me. We drew the line at putting
pink and blue bows on the piggies tails.
We then tackled the house.
In the house, we were joined by four
bored kids. The only thing they do well
on a rainy day is fight. A month of this
and you can imagine what the tempers
are like. A den of rattlesnakes. Their
rooms have never been so clean and
orderly. Their summer clothes are neatly
stacked in the drawers waiting to be worn
yet. They do get out for a baseball game
between showers, but usually only make
it to third base before rain drives them
inside again.
The washing machine is chugging its
little heart out with all the mud and extra
clothes. They actually looked forward to
exams at the end of May just to have
something to do. They studied diligently
to the point where I was tempted to take
their temperatures and see if they were
all right.
The house even feels unfriendly. Sort
of damp and cool. When you heat with
wood you don't have much of a
temperature choice. If you stoke the
furnace, it gets so hot in a couple of
hours that you suffer from heat exhaus-
tion and if you don't, you go around
doing your housework in a windbreaker.
Just to relieve the boredom we kind of
alternate between Florida and Alaska
temperatures.
The last thirty days have certainly
tested the compatability of families. You
have to referee constantly. The other
night the kids decided to auction off their
eldest sister and emulated an auctioneer
at a livestock sale. The bidding was brisk
and the comments on the animal in the
ring anything but complimentary. The
"auction victim" finally fled to her room
to get some peace and quiet.
Having Super Wrench around all day
looking for worthwhile tasks must be a
lot like a guy retiring before he's ready. I
know that if there is even a slight
possibility that his temper will resemble
what he has displayed the last few weeks
when his retirement time comes, I will
urge him to work indefinitely. There just
isn't enough room for two of us,
competing for the same jobs, in the
house and in the barn. G
Gisele Ireland is a pork producer from
Bruce county and has a regular column in
The Rural Voice.
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Drying
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Location:
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R.R. 3,
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519-395-3300
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Sunimer
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Box 10, Blyth
519 - 523-9300
519 - 523-9225
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THE TOMORROW BOX
Aug. 23 - Sept. 14
THE RURAL VOICE, JULY 1983 PG 49