Following a Christmas tradition followed since my childhood, I rattled the sleigh bells from my Grandparents farm this morning as was done by my parents when I was small. Though I no longer have family in my area, the sound of the bells conjures up memories of Christmas mornings past.
The three strings of bells, large, medium and small, were brought back from my Grandparent's farm in Tama County, Iowa in the early 1950s by my Mother. Born in 1915, my Mother told me that on a cold, quiet winter morning when she was small one could hear the sleigh coming across the fields from a mile or more.
The Tama County farm was homesteaded by my Great Grandfather after he mustered out of Grant's Army following the Civil War and is still owned by my first cousin. It has been a century farm since 1967.
In the not too distant future, I will pass on the bells to my son in Montana.
Dean
The three strings of bells, large, medium and small, were brought back from my Grandparent's farm in Tama County, Iowa in the early 1950s by my Mother. Born in 1915, my Mother told me that on a cold, quiet winter morning when she was small one could hear the sleigh coming across the fields from a mile or more.
The Tama County farm was homesteaded by my Great Grandfather after he mustered out of Grant's Army following the Civil War and is still owned by my first cousin. It has been a century farm since 1967.
In the not too distant future, I will pass on the bells to my son in Montana.
Dean
