Here we are at July 3rd and ready for the fireworks tomorrow!

 TERRY

I would say Terry is doing fine today as she reads the Sunday paper this morning.  She has the TV on but mostly has her face in the huge Sunday paper.  All is good for now.

There has  been much rain in FL but not here.  Well actually we did have a couple inches a few days ago but not in the last while.  We have clear skies and sun so it looks like no rain at least in the early hours today.

I did get in some tennis yesterday.  Usually I do not play on Saturday but I had not played for a couple of days so went over to the courts and there were 6 guys there.  On Saturday it is a just show up and who comes plays.  Four guys play and then after 4 points we rotated two out and two in.  I am thinking I played for an hour out of the hour and a half.  At this point I am not concerned who I play with as my mind is often not so much on the court as it is with home things as one could guess.  So with the guys I usually play with there are NO 4 star players if you get my point but then I am not a 4 star player either so!!!

I think I am going to the grocery store to pick up some things for a meal.  I will do that later in the morning.  

I am tired today.  I woke up several times last night to take care of things that needed to be done.  The good thing is in our relaxed life style I should be able to take a nap today.  I remember growing up how I absolutely hated it when Dad would take a nap Sunday afternoon.  Of course I do not have any kids wanting me to hit fly balls to so it is a bit different I would say.

Sundays are a good time to relax and think about what was way back so here is a story about that.

There were cats looking for a treat

It was sometime in the winter of 1958.  There was much snow on the ground and the temp seemed to be close to zero or below but as was the everyday happening we needed to milk the cows in the evening.  I kind of liked to in some ways.  By milking time which was 5:30 or so it was dark.  So before going out to milk the 5 cows I would take the kerosene lantern off of the nail in the entrance and light it before going out to milk.  Tramping through the snow the crunch of my overshoes in the snow almost sounded like music as I made my way out to the barn.  When I opened the barn door the warmth of the cattle and hay made it seem like not so much work.  Before I got down to milking the cows I opened the door to the hay barn which was the north third of the barn.  Our barn was one story as opposed to most farms that had two story barns.  I took a big fork full of hay and threw it over the pen to the calves in the first pen.  They were calves that I had played with in the summer after they were born but I knew they were headed for the sale barn in the spring.  It almost made me sad as I looked at each one and felt I was kind of responsible for where they were headed.  After feeding the calves I gave each cow some hay and a hand full of oats that I had in the pail.  We had a steel bin full of oats that would be sold in the spring but for now a handful of oats for each cow was their treat.  Finally after feeding the calves, feeding the cows and checking the water tank to make sure it was full of water I begin to get to my main chore, milking.  I hung the lantern on a nail on the west wall and settled in to milk the cows.  I started with Betsy and I knew she was not all that good for much milk so it went pretty fast.  They I milked lumpy as she had a lump on her jaw so our name for here was not all that creative.  Of course with the first two cows I had to fill the dish for the cats. I did not see them until I filled the bowl with milk and then they seemed to come out of the wall but of course they were in the shadows waiting for their treat.  My last cow was my least favorite as she often tried to fuss and kick.  So I would put the kickers on.  The kickers were a short chain with a cup on each end.  You would put one end on the leg and then bring the chain around and put the other end on the other leg.  If she tried to kick she could only move her leg a short ways and I make sure I keep the milk pail far enough from her legs so the kick would not reach the pail.  We had Shorthorn cattle and they were beef cattle so by the time I finished milking I probably had a pail and a half only.  Well I would have had more if there were not cats around!  So with the lantern and half a pail of milk in one hand and the other pail in the other hand I headed to the house.  I would leave the milk in the entrance as that was where our milk separator was.  I knew Mom would have things ready so all I had to do was pour the milk into the separator and turn it on.  The cream would come out of one spout and the milk would come out of the other.  The cream was used for cooking and for breakfast food and we would sell the milk in 5 gallon cans as we would bring it into Cayuga to Benny Flash.  We also brought our eggs to sell to Benny Flash.  

As the years went by there were major changes.  Dave went off to work in the summer and then off for good when he graduated.  There came a time when we did not milk any more.  I remember Mom would go over to a neighbor and buy cream that actually was thicker and better than the cream we got.  I know because when I ate cream and bread it was so so good.   

I suppose one could call those days "the good old days" and really they pretty much were.  I know we did not have much money BUT we seemed to get by and for the most part us kids did not go without anything we needed.  Oh of course we could have had newer clothes but that was not so bad.  We could have had fancy meals but we had good meals.  I am sure when I was in high school I felt I could have been a better person with more things but actually that probably was not true.  Really the only thing that I really wanted and never got was a nicer car!  OK so our car was old but it was pretty well kept up and only failed me once when I was dating.  I perhaps have written about that and it was not a great story.  But still I was aware that driving a 1952 or 53 Ford in the early or mid 60s did not impress the girls in the lest way!  As us kids grew and left home Mom and Dad were able to have better cars and that was good.  

So I close a chapter of my life that in many ways was a good chapter.  Of course at the time I felt I had less than most kids but really back then there were many with less for sure.  

I close today with somewhat of an anxious spirit.  I am not sure.  Maybe it is health but I do not think so.  I think it may be just the fact that our family of 8 is now down to 3 and that is sad.  But what is one to expect?  Time marches on, we all get old, right!  I am hoping all the grandkids have a fun holiday as we celebrate July 4th and give thanks for the wonderful country we life in.  May the month of July bring good things to all.