My farm house was the only place I have loved enough to call a home. I loved driving down that gravel road with the windows down and radio up. You could smell the fresh country air as you started the long winding trek up the gravel driveway. There is the shade tree, perfect for a tire swing I always thought. At the top of the hill, you had to get out and open the cattle gate. The huge year was perfect for playing in. The barns were always a good hiding spot to get away from the siblings. Especially in the hay loft.
You can smell the fresh cut grass. The smell of the cattle, though sometimes overwhelming, always lingered in the air. You could smell the rich mud after it rains and in the basement it smelled of mildew and was infested with spiders but that never stopped us from convincing people to go down there. Summer nights you could sleep with the windows open and wake up to the scent of the morning dew. Mom would sometimes have the house smelling like breakfast. My favorite was waking up to the smell of bacon in the frying pan.
At night the coyotes come up to the back field and whine at the moon. The cows make little noise at night except for the sporadic lost calf. The river runs through the lower field and you can hear it loud on days it was full. The occasional four wheeler drives by, or a tractor putts along the gravel. Sometimes you can even hear the neighbor kids playing down in the low water creek.
The old walls were rough and easily crumbled under pressure. The carpet had years of wear on it. The basement was made of stone and carried somewhat of a dungeon-like atmosphere. Some of the wallpaper was peeling off from us kids running our hands on the walls up and down the stairs. Cold mornings were a shock when my feet would hit the kitchen floor shocking me awake.
Tasting the fresh air on a brand new morning was quite exhilarating on the farm. You could wake up and open the window, climb out onto the roof and just breathe and appreciate the clarity. In the attic the dust was so thick that it was hard to breathe but upon doing so you could taste the grit.
The most beautiful view was right from the front porch. The house was on a huge hill and you could see for miles. The river at the bottom of the hill. The corn fields to the left. The shed and barn to the right. In the spring when the river would flood the fields we would be stuck on the hill because we couldn’t get out, but it looked as if we lived on an island in the ocean and were surrounded by water with only the tops of trees sticking out. The bluff that ran alongside of the house was my favorite part. It stood about 30 ft. high and even had a little cave hidden in it.
So many events took place out there on the farm but the one that sticks out the most is my 16th birthday. You could smell the smoke from the huge bon-fire I was having. I had invited everyone I knew. I was anxious to get the night started and I had butterflies in my belly. People that I didn’t even know came out that night for the party. My mom left so she wasn’t a part of the drinking that was going on and that’s when the party really got started. We had people around the fire, people riding the landlord’s four-wheeler. There was a group in the shed listening to music and a group in the barn, swinging on the rope back and forth between lofts. I was outside on top of the hay bales. I had just met Laci that night. Oh boy was I nervous. We sat on top of the bails and talked and talked and looked at the stars and admired their beauty. We played football on the hay bales jumping the gaps between each one and tackling each other into the crevices. We soon went inside and up to my room. I opened the window and we climbed out and sat on the roof and watched everybody below running around the farm. I still remember looking up at the stars and telling Laci about the constellations I knew, then shyly looked over at her. She was smiling at me and the moon shined in her eyes. I remember my heart skipping beats as we made eye contact. My ears turned red and my face got hot as I had to look away to catch my breath. As far as I was concerned at the time, I had just had the most amazing sweet sixteen
So many events took place out there on the farm but the one that sticks out the most is my 16th birthday. You could smell the smoke from the huge bon-fire I was having all the way down the old gravel road. I had invited everyone I knew from my small town. I was anxious to get the night started and I had butterflies in my belly. People that I didn’t even know came out that night for the party. Cars started coming up the long winding driveway, past the shade-tree that I wanted to put a swing in. At the top of the drive everyone had to get out and open the cattle gate, giving me opportunity to see who it was before they saw me. My mom left so she wasn’t a part of the “activities” that were likely to occur that night. Soon there was dozens of people around the blazing fire. There were kids riding the landlord’s four-wheeler and you could hear the buzz of the muffler coming and going in the field. There was a group in the shed listening to music and a group in the barn, swinging on the rope back and forth between lofts that always made me sneeze from the odor of the stale hay. The smell of the cattle, though sometimes overwhelming, always lingered in the air and every few seconds you could hear them calling out to each other at the bottom of the hill. I was outside breathing in the chilly night air that had just set in. I had just met Laci that night. Oh boy was I nervous. We sat on top of the itchy hay bales and talked and talked and looked at the stars and admired their beauty. The farm was perfect for star-gazing because there were no city lights. We played football on the bales, jumping the gaps between each one and tackling each other into the crevices. We had to stop often to pick hay out of our clothes or hair, making quite the humorous sight. We soon went inside and up to my room. The ugly scent of cigarettes clung to my walls, but I was used to it. I opened the stiff window and we climbed out and sat on the roof and watched everybody below running around the farm. I still remember looking up at the stars and telling Laci about the constellations I knew, then shyly looked over at her. She was smiling at me and the moon shined in her eyes. I remember my heart skipping beats as we made eye contact. My ears turned red and my face got hot as I had to look away to catch my breath. As far as I was concerned at the time, I had just had the most amazing sweet sixteen
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