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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-03-21, Page 16. ,• to l4—Lw Sentinel, Wedneedity, March 21, 1979 On these cold, sometimes dreary winter days, our thoughts are sure to turn to spring, usually spring just around the corner, but often spring as we remember it away back when. I was rather a 'tomboy in those days, so many f my spring memories are of outdoor activities. We had a pond behind the barn where we skated in winter and then had glorious fun in the springtime. (Thanks to underground -tile drainage, the child- ren on that farm•clo not have that kind of fun now.) We built rafts of poles or rails and old boards, We poled them all over the pon,d and caught dozens of frogs. expect we went to the house soaked to • the skin but we had fun in the fresh • spring air. I remember one day our grandfather was at our house and he took our 'catch' of frogs home with him to have frogs' • legs for his supper - a great delicacy! We did not see it that way! There were many other ponds and little streams or t.surface drains in the community and one day there was a near .tragedy in The Hollow as we were coming home from school. There was a , deep hole by the side of the road which was full of water.. One of the- girls got too near the hole and fell in. We were sure she would .be drowned but someone had the bright idea of picking up a pole and stretching it across the water to the 'drowning' friend and she was rescued safely. But we were a very scared group of girls the rest of the way home. One of the early spring chores was tapping the maple trees. We had a row • of maples along the road fence and we • tapped thent for a few years. We had a few spiles and pails and we boiled the sap in the back kitchen. How good that fresh maple syrup tasted! that is the first spring joy and still is for one of my brothers'. Before long the first' rhubarb came up and rhubarb sauce 'was a favourite spring food. It used to be considered a spring tonic too, But thank goodness our Mother did not inflict some of the I rem,ernber spring other spring tonics on us. We had „a- smoke house where our pork was smoked each spring. We raked damp leaves to burn in the smoke house p• to make a slow smoke for the hams, shoulders and sideangat 'or bacon.. That • meat was almost food for the gods and I wish I could get some now. The smoke preserved the meat also and the meat was left hanging in the smoke house alt summer and rarely spoiled. How long would commercially processed ham or bacon keep now with refrigeration? Besides raking leaves for the smoke- house, we always raked leaves from the - lawn and often had bonfires. The coming of the first spring birds was a wonderful event. When we heard the 'Cheer -up', • cheer -up, cheerily, cheerily, cheer -up' of the first robin, we were sure winter was gone. There were hundreds of robins, bluebirds, kildeers and many other kinds in those days. Over the years heir nesting places in hollow posts, rail fences, orchards and other trees have disappeared and so have the birds. • I remember one poem in school which • mentioned 'the hang -bird and wren' 'and I was thrilled when I actually found a Tanager's nest really hanging from a branch of an apple tree. Other birds which' thrilled me because of their colour were the Baltimore Oriole and Red -Winged Blackbird - 0 -Kee -Lee, 0 -Kee -Lee, 0 -Kee -Lee. • The bush behind our farm was wonderful in the spring with so many wild flowers. We had at least one trip to , the bush on a Sunday afternoon,. That was permissible on Sunday. Sometimes we went .the day before Mothers' Sunday and had wild flowers to wear too • church. We did not know the proper names for all the flowers but we enjoyed • seeing and,picking such as Mayflowers and Lillies. Later we learned the real names of the flowers and also learned • • poems about some of them. was a secret at that time but one of my young nieces said "I think that is Aunt Margaret because that is the way she talks when she takes us to the bush." Then came the apple blossimns. We have never, seen an 'English apple orchard' in the poem but I am sure ours were just as beautiful with .`the colour, beauty, wonder of the spring' with hundreds of birds busy with their nests and young. We also thought of the wealth of luscious eatini we would have in a few months. The apples became valuable trade goods at school. Spring brought a couple of special • days at school'too. The First or Second Friday of May was Arbour Day. The girls went to school armed with pails, brushes, soap, scrub brushes and • dusters, and the boys took rakes, etc. It was clean up day, and what a hive of • activity the school became. And the transformation was wonderful after the long shut-in stuffy winter. If the day permifted, we had a trip to the bush and sometimes brought back a maple seedling to plant, along the school fence. Most of the boys managed to find a patch of leeks and they had a 'good • feeir and were not fit fOr human society until the next day. Frequently they would do the same thing at noon hour. The other special May day was the • Twenty -Fourth. We knew it was the Queen's birthday and our threat was .a 'holiday or we would all run away'. • Probably more important to us was that it was the offlcial day foi shedding our., long-legged, , long-sleeved woollen underwear and long woollen stockings; What a relief that was, especially tot the • people who were allergic to wool. As soon as the ground was a bit dry, we must have a swing and hammock up. We did not have a fancy, painted, metal swing with a plastic seat. Ours was a rope swing hanging from a level limb of • an. apple tree in the front yard and the seat was . a piece of board. We , spent hours on the swing, swinging high or ., swinging low, in ones or twos, or just • We usually had a harniziock whkh • 1 remember years later I wrote a Mouse letter to the Little Mice in which Tquoted some of the verses: My identity • swung between that- same tree and a Cherry tree. Another good place for , dreaming or reading, But I suppose there is always a snake in the grass or a moSquito in the air, and we had both. The snakes frightened us and the mosquitoes loyed us.. • There Was one bit 'Of Spring work which was not so pleasant for the perion responsible. Like all farms in those days, there was. that very necessary small building out at the back. Unlike some people, we had a smaller 2-holer at the back of the woodshed so we did not have to go right outside. There was a large box which rested on the ground, As soon as winter was gone, that box had to be removed and it was taken to the back 'field and emptied into a pond there; It was left all summer amongst ••the weeds and water plants. It was known as the "Moses box' as reference to the story of Moses; in the bulnishes, I • suppose.... Near that same pond, there was a legend that,a lot of copper kettles had been buried when they were discarded, with the advent of enamel • kettles or what we called granite. dile year, Dad lost his watch when he was working in that field. As f remember, it was on old key winder - may have, been his father's watch. I should finish the story by saying that he found it the next spring an it was still going! I know he always kept his eyes on the ground after he lost the watch, • but I do not remeinber for sure if he ever found it. ••- As soon as the ground was reasonably dry in spring the ball season began for us and all the kids in the neighbour- • hood. We did not have regulation balls and bats. The boys made flat bats out of • boards and I made balls by ravelling out old socks and winding the yarn around a cork,: Of Contge, as we got older we were ,not Satisfied with homemade things like . that and we graduated to rubber • balls and better bats. Our ball 'park' was the 'Little Field between the house and the barn CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 .0,k • ff,.J.V4 • .t; \*IN. \ jf 4,'410411'' "*.„ • • , 10, • ••••••"''');a7-: In most cases, filling out your own income tax return is easier than you may think. It's largely a matter of simple arithmetic. You don't have to pay someone to do something you can do yourself. Just follow the six basic steps in the Guide you received with your income tax return. Don't forget to attach altihe proper receipts, and double check your return befor• e mailing it. It's that easy. So go ahead. • Surprise yourself. • wean do it! • 410 Revenue Canada Revenu Canada Taxation Imp& • Hon. Anthony C. Abbott L'hon. 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