Farm Accident!

       The farm on which I grew up wasn't very mechanized. There was a tractor on it and eventually two. These were used, almost exclusively, for pulling. Neither was equipped with a loader. This meant that much of haying required manual labor. Mowing was done with a tractor mower, once the second tractor arrived to replace the horse mower. After the mown hay had cured it was raked into piles using a horse rake modified to be pulled by a tractor. It was a two person job, one driving the tractor and the other riding the rake to operate it. Then the fun began!

     The hay, alfalfa, was destined for the haymow in the barn. Here there was a modicum of mechanization. A sling, consisting of 2"X 2" boards, almost as wide as the hayrack. and connected by ropes, was laid on the floor of the hayrack. The ropes came together at the ends of the hayrack ending in a metal ring. Hay was loaded into the hayrack via men or boys using pitch forks. Once the hay on the sling was about three feet deep, a second sling was lad over it and the pitching continued.

   A full hayrack was pulled next to the barn and below the big open barn door. The tractor was unhitched from the hayrack and connected to the hay rope, This was a large rope that ran over a series of pulleys to the far end of the barn and back to the big door. It was then fastened to the top sling. When the tractor pulled the rope the sling bunched up lifting the hay that had been placed upon it. It climbed to the peak of the barn. At the peak it engaged a metal trolley that was on a track just below the roof. When the sling reached that trolley a mechanism in it released and allowed the sling, filled with hay, to move into the barn. At a place determined by someone in the barn he pulled a trip rope and the sling split in two and the hay spilled out. The empty sling was pulled back through the barn door, the trolley tripped a mechanism and the sling descended to the hayrack, put aside and the second sling put in the barn.

    One day Dad and I were haying alone. Being the nimble one I was in charge of the process with the slings. Dad drove the tractor attached to the hay rope. In my adolescent wisdom I decided that if I stood on the threshold of the open hay door I could both, signal Dad, and drop the hay where I wanted in the haymow. That meant less forking the hay to get it where it was wanted.

   Standing in the barn door I signaled Dad to stop and gave the trip rope a good pull. The rope broke and I fell backwards out the door and down, landing on the side of the hayrack. Perhaps it was a good thing that the top slat of the hayrack broke as I was only scratched and bruised. The slat was a 1"X 6" board.

Takk for alt,

Al

Notice the horses hooked to the hayrack and the woman driving mules to lift the hay. This barn has an elevated hayloft, i.e., on the second floor. Our barn was not that style. The haymow was on the ground level, with the horse barn on one side and the cow barn on the other. Therefore, the door, from which I feel was lower than the one pictured.

Using this rake the first task was to rake the hay into long windrows. When the rider approached the windrow, with hay in the rake, he'd kick a lever. That activated a lifting mechanism in the wheels that the tines raking the hay would life allowing the hay to remain, then the tines would return to the ground to continue raking. After raking the field into long windrows then the rake was pulled down those rows to bunch the hay. When the hay was being pitched into the wagon the wagon would stop by the bunch, haycock, to facilitate pitching it into the wagon.

No good deed goes unpunished!

    Here's what's on the internet about the saying about punishing good deeds.

"No good deed goes unpunished" is a cynical idiom likely originating from 12th-century Latin writings, though frequently misattributed to Oscar Wilde. It implies that acts of kindness often lead to negative consequences for the doer, popularized in the 20th century by figures like Clare Boothe Luce."

    When the new educational wing was added to the last church I served the lawn needed reconstruction. It needed several yards of black dirt. The property committee located a source of black dirt about twenty miles west of the church, through Crystal, New Hope, Plymouth and beyond. With my dump truck in town I volunteered to haul the dirt. 

     After delivering several loads and driving through Plymouth I was pulled over by a state trooper. Turns out I wasn't quite legal. The dirt was heaped above the box, courtesy of the driver of the front end loader at the dirt pile. There should have been a tarp over the load. The trooper said he was doing me a favor by charging me under state law. Had he used the federal statute the fine would have been much higher. If memory serves me right the fine was about $135.00 but don't hold me to that.

   Perhaps the church council might reimburse me. After all I was using my truck and my gas for the church, but they declined. No good deed goes unpunished, after all.

Takk for alt,

A

The "new" addition is the octagon building nearest.

Church Humor!

      Once upon a time I was at a church that had four pastors. One a Sunday morning, the senior pastor was greeting parishioners at the door as they left church after the morning service. Busily shaking hands and conversing a woman approached, took his hand and said "Don't you remember me? You visited me in the hospital." The pastor blurted out "Oh, I didn't recognize you with your clothes on!"

    The last congregation of my ministry had an annual lutefisk dinner. It was a huge deal serving 100s. When diners arrived they were given a number and waited their turn upstairs until their number was called to go downstairs to the dining room for dinner. While they waited they sat in the sanctuary where a band was playing. In the library an artist was demonstrating rosemaling painting. At a table in the narthex pickled herring was on sale.

   My role was general host, meeting and greeting, ushering and helping out where needed. Much of the time I was at the front door to meet guests and direct them as appropriate. While at the door one night I greeted a woman whom I knew, though she was not a member of the congregation. She seemed unsettled so I asked if she was okay. She replied, "Oh, I'm really frazzled. My husband just died an hour ago."  Perhaps she just didn't want the tickets, purchased in advance, to go to waste.

Takk for alt,

Al

Joanne with her friend, Niki, at a lutefisk dinner. Niki was trying lutefisk for the first time. Joanne loved lutefisk but I'm not allowed to eat it.

Shades of Joanne.

    Joanne's college roommate and good friend, the late Jenine Jordahl, lived in Decorah, IA. When they wanted face to face conversation they'd meet for lunch. The meeting place was a restaurant in a small town half way between Decorah and Minneapolis. On one of these occasions they had their lunch and continued the conversation. Eventually they noticed the restaurant was refilling with people. They discovered, to their surprise, that this was the dinner crowd assembling for dinner. Conversation had carried on through the afternoon.

   Reprise today: M came to join mefor breakfast at 8:30. As the conversation continued, Jim, the food services manager appeared with lunch menus. It was 11:30 and the beginning of the lunch hour. 😀Obviously we had a lot so say. As M left I went downstairs and had my lunch in the Bistro.

   Some more data on Dad's camera. It was sold between 1912-15. The film is #122, and no longer produced. There was some film for sale online for $200. a toll! The pictures produced were post card size. It's not functional because the cable for the trip wire is split. 

Takk for alt,

Al

Someone has attempted to repair the cord housing the wire that trips the shutter, see the white tape.

It Takes a Woman...

        Of course it was never talked about!  But, piecing together it appears that my Dad was quite progressive and probably relatively wealthy until the financial crash in 1929.  His money in the bank was lost but he kept the farm through the Depression. 

     He bought his first car in 1914, an Overland. It must have been one of the first cars in rural Brooking County, S.D. But, this post is about another of his early purchases; a Kodak Camera.

    That camera is in my possession. (It's pictured below.) Open the case, slide the focus lens out, peer down through the aperture and squeeze the plunger on the cord to take the picture. Recently I was looking at the camera and puzzled over how it opened. After a bit of trial and error I decided to wait for Tom, my cribbage partner. Tom has a definite mechanical bent. When Tom and Anita came to play cribbage I presented the camera, with its dilemma, to Tom. Immediately intrigued he rose to the challenge of opening it.

   As Tom and I puzzled, maneuvered, wondered, tried this and that with no success Anita went online. She soon discovered that there was a secret button on the side that opened it. It takes a woman.

   This was long prelude to what I am going to write about. Because Dad was the owner of an early camera he's seldom on any pictures. One of summer's favorite times for me was when the relatives would gather at our farm on a Sunday afternoon. Uncle Oscar and Aunt Julia came with several of their eight children, Uncle John and Aunt Susie came with their family, Uncle Alfred and Ragna with theirs and Holters came with six kids. Before the afternoon was over they all lined up for Dad to take a picture. Day would say "Smile." When the picture was taken he'd say "Now resume your previous expression.." 😀

    Every year, on our birthday, Dad would take a picture of each of his four children. Very often we'd be in front the large cottonwood tree in the yard. Both the child's and tree's growth was recorded.

Takk for alt,

Al

Dad's camera in which the latest patent date is 1909.

The first birthday photo, I've always been cute.

Unscheduled Day!

     One of the gifts of the OFH is laundry apparatus in the apartments. The washers and dryers are very large. Very short persons complain that they can't reach the bottom of the washer. Not a problem for me. So, an unscheduled day like this is a good day to catch up on laundry,  The only down side is that the dryer spooks Kaia. Consequently, we stay as far as we can from the dryer when it's running. That means the bedroom but,. because it's where the computer resides, there is activity for me. Two closed doors, the laundry room and the bedroom, helps her a bit.

   Here's an OFH story. Bob, an inmate told this at men's coffee. When he was being considered for the position of president of the University of Texas, there were 9 men on the University's selection committee. He was chosen on a 5 to 4 vote. Later one of the nine men said that he voted for Bob because he was tall.  

   Mostly I've liked being tall but there's been exceptions. Airplane seats are not designed for tall people and I've flown a lot. Then there was boot camp. One of the most trying exercises involved doing calisthenics with utility poles. Lined up by height by the poles I always was on the heavy end. Ed is convinced that many recruits weren't really doing their part. These exercises were done in loose sand which added to the difficulty. Do not try lifting utility poles over your head at home!😀   

Takk for alt.

Al

An old four wheel drive Fiat tractor spotted in Greece. Random enough?

Minnesota Women Win!

      It was a nail biter but the Minnesota Gophers won with a basket at the buzzer. They beat Ole Miss 65-63, and go to Sacramento for the Sweet Sixteen!  Makes me glad!

Takk for alt,

Al

Amiya Battle, number 3, made the basket at the buzzer!