Day #24: The Farm

6/20/18

#24: The farm…

The family farm my dad grew up on, and continued to farm with my uncle until about five years ago, is just outside of town. It was one of my favorite place to be growing up. When someone’s car stopped working, they would take it out to the farm. I would explore these old vehicles, aka dig through them to see if I could find anything cool, and sometimes I did. Since I couldn’t have a pet growing up due to my mother being so scared of animals, I loved it at the farm. It was full of cats and dogs who just wanted some attention. Behind the house were two cherry trees. My grandma used to always say, if I’d pick the cherries, she would make a pie, and she always did it the same day. Seriously, it was so good; I can still remember the taste. My grandma also had a garden which grew tomatoes, lettuce, etc. The best part about Grandma’s, is she always had tons of candy and snacks. My grandma was a killer cook, and she believed in getting your meat. I remember sometimes she would try a new recipe and say this needs more meat and put in double what it called for. I was a pretty fat kid for a while, and she used to always tell me I needed to eat more. I never left her house hungry. Basically, I would spend every day of summer at the farm growing up. My uncle Dean currently lives in the house. I don’t go out near as much anymore, but I still do from time to time. One of the coolest things I ever got to do was help Dean deliver a calf. It was coming out the wrong way, hind legs first, and we saved it’s life. Seriously, it was a beautiful thing to see because not to long after the birth, the calf was up and walking around. My grandpa was confined to a bed for the last 10 years of his life. He never got depressed about it. I think it was due to the fact that everyday he would see my dad and uncle. My aunt and cousin would visit often, as well as myself and his brother-in-law, Merlin. I honestly think that this made the difference, keeping him from going mad. To me, he seemed happy, even though he was in pain. I miss those days out at the farm.

Everyday I will be posting an entry in my writing challenge 100 Days which has been collected into a print collection. If you are interested in purchasing a print collection: http://www.lulu.com/shop/austin-hamblin/100-days/paperback/product-23916414.html

Kayla and I have also started a weekly podcast. You can check it out here: https://anchor.fm/austin-allen-hamblin It's called In the Bed with Austin and Kayla because we literally record it as we lay in bed!