Another tip toe down memory lane

I want to thank Don and the others for the good old days post. I was all set to spend the day being po'd and talking to myself as I drove when I read that post, now I'm taking a walk down memory lane instead. That post got me to thinking about how I played as a kid and some of my best memories are of the toys I built. Lol I know my mom had a pic, but I don't know where it went, of a corn picker I built out of wood to go on my Radio Flyer wagon. It had snoots that hung off the side and an elevator that went up in the back and a hitch to pull my brother's wagon behind for the corn. The picture mom had was of me pulling it with my bicycle and picking the front lawn. My brother was following behind to get the full wagon and take it to unload. I remember that day like it was yesterday.

I also built a sprayer for it by putting a valve, T and cross pipes on a 15 gal. barrel. I remember not having caps for the pipe ends so I crushed them and welded them shut, the drilled holes in the pipe for nozzles. My folks thought it was very cute til I decided I needed real weed killer and filled the barrel with 1/2 water 1/2 gas because I knew gas killed weeds. I remember dad thinking it was funny that my brother Bruce was the tank agitator by sloshing the tank back and forth. He didn't figure out that was to keep the gas mixed with the water till the grass in the back yard died in strips.

Thanks for the trip guys, you made my day.

I know what you mean. The whole post kinda got me choked up and misty eyed remembering things.
The gas in the sprayer got me remembering. Dad had some paint in the basement in one gallon glass jugs. Orange and pink as I recall it. I told Ma that Dad said I could have some of that pink paint in an old soup can. She went and poured it for me. I painted my Oliver 88 pedal tractor pink. I can still remember Dad sitting me down on his knee and having a talk with me about lying to my mother and destroying my stuff. He didn't yell,but I sure got the message. I had to live with that pink paintjob for a few years too until I wore it off. That was the worst punishment of all. lol

Had a memory flash yesterday when for some reason I thought of my Dad and one of his friends.

They were both early birds and sometimes would try to catch the other one still in bed, so they could razz him about sleeping in when there was work to be done. Both of them would be up and doing things at 4:00 a.m.

We worked together often on an exchange of work basis and they kept track mentally. If one thought there was an imbalance, they would write the other one a check - which the receiver would promptly tear up! It was almost comical to watch them writing checks and tearing them up.

When my Dad passed away too early at 61, his friend was devastated.

Your welcome Jon, I spent most of the day thinking about all of my youthful farming adventures, too. Bet you never knocked over a single stalk of corn picking corn with that bicycle, did you?

And I LOVE your sprayer idea. Hey, it worked!ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!


Those Radio Flyers were kinda like the NI Uni-System, weren't they?

I put near as many miles on the wagon as on my bike. Lol