How lucky I am

Went to the local cattle auction barn yesterday for a few hours and enjoyed the time spent watching the auction. Its the only place I can go and speak with the older farmers who gather there every week.Most of the visitors who are not engaged in the selling or buying are from my Dads generation and are happy to sit and chat about the ole days of farming. As I get older I miss those days and realize how lucky I was to have lived in that era at least for some time. Soon all those ole fellows will be gone and the young ones will never know how good things really were.On my way home I stopped at a old farm and found a old combine parked in the woods.Hmm maybe its gonna find a new home.

I am one of those older fellows. This afternoon my son is taking me the Brown Swiss sale being held in our town. It is my chance to visit with other dairy cattle breeders of the past. It is great to remember things of the past. It is especially nice to visit with younger people who are interested in how it use be. If we do not talk to them the past would be lost. About 4 years ago I was able to go to the Iowa State fair for it 150th year. It was amazing. It was not planned but five breeders who had won the state 4-H dairy award for five consecitive years from 1946 to 1951 were with there families herds still showing. When we old timers get together someone needs to have a recorder. gitrib

yup, i miss them secret farmer meetings too. we had neighbors down the road, 3 brothers, did trucking and had the only corn sheller in the area. they had an old chicken coop that was converted to a shop, slant roof, low ceiling, old pot belly stove with a coffee pot on it. farmers would meet there around daybreak for coffee and discuss any kind of topic. and if something was broke, you brought it there and it got fixed.

What bothers me is the knowledge that is lost with the passing of the old timers. We had a group of the older generation that could weld, tinker, and fix anything. My uncles and others formed the Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Assn. in the mid 60's. My uncle at one time had 3 steam engines, and loved the old steam trains. When they got together around the pot bellied stove in one of the old guys shop, man the stuff they talked about!! Now they are all gone. I re-joined the Steam engine Assn. a few years ago. Went to the annual meeting, there were about 50 folks there, not one of the original guys. I think one or two of the founders are left. Again, the knowledge they had. Some of it got passed on, but much was lost.


Gene

I always say,that's why I go to auctions. It's my social life.

I know dern well what your saying, Sometimes it's only after an obituary do you wish you may have talked to someone to get to know something of their past. [ You may have knew of them but didn,t know them] I today at 63, wonder how they did what they did, without the technics we have now.
I just found out about a year ago that it was possible to weld with a fordge and anvil.

My brothers, Father in law was a blacksmith, He even made a model of the 20 muelteam Borax wagons, compleate with harness. Wooden wheels were so detailed that they had the hub bands, and steel tires.He also made the buckles on the harness, and the chain links. [I was 14 when He died, now I wish I would have talked to hin more]

Even the people I didn't know, I miss because a lot of forgotten history is now locked in a coffin.
The real sad thing though, the newer generation is living so fast they don't even care how we got here, It is a boring history lesson that the old folks did, [In the old days]

My grandfather was born in 1898. He saw us go from horses & buggies to a man on the moon. He worked many jobs in his life and had a wealth of knowledge. He died in May of 2000, just short of his 102nd birthday. As others have said, a lot of knowledge lost.

on the way home from welding shop tuesday i saw an older retired farmer i know. we got to talking about government bailout he said "where were they in they 80s. we got in trouble and banker kicked us off of my grandfather's farm. it really pizzes me off." "nobody came along to bail me out".

I always look to bend the ear of a elder states person...I am the oldest of 26 grand=children and not one of the others had any intrest in any of the familys heritige or recipies...exept me...my great grand mother (bushi, I am of polish decent on my moms' side)and grand mother passed on numorus recipies for Kielbasa , pirogies, pickeled beets, and many others. I am the sole repository for that part of my familys heritige.sadly only one of my uncles has asked for a recipie...Before my great grandmother passed , I was asking her questions about how they did things during the war and fed them selves living in town ( Hamtramic MI) where their lots were 50'x75',and they ate pretty good, but the best part of the whole deal was seeing the gleam in their eyes and the joy in their smile, of someone being interested in the sacrifices and lessons learned, and passed on.those things to me are the family jewels, the really important things that most people overlook in todays society. Every time I make somthing with one of their recipies I can see them smiling with approval. That has sort of carried over to my tinkerin with the farming as well..I like to talk to other farmers at Auctions ,and other gathering places in the community, as well as a few that have accepted me in the community as I am not from a true farming background.... but they field my sometimes dumb questions...with a chuckle at times with some of my escapades, with sage old advice, which I now heed more carefully and often before I go off and do something foolish.Even though I have been at farming for 10 years now , I still have lots of questions, and I simply cant read enough books , and their is no replacement for OJT....some of the people I consult with have been farming for 60 plus years...their is a lot of knowlege to be gleaned...you just have to listen, I plan on listneing for quite some time...Shawn