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Issue #1125
Including:

Russ

Olivia

Kyra

Nova Scotia Sus

Wayne & Sylvia

Howdy…..

I’m going to indulge myself one last time and touch on one more aspect of life on the farm as a kid. Because of the isolation, there was a need for some sort of social interaction and that’s where the good old kitchen parties came in. They didn’t happen very often but we sure looked forward to them. Somehow, the word would go out the some local friends and a few relatives that everyone should ‘drop on by’ the old farm on a given Saturday evening. I know that some would have an hour or longer drive down the narrow rural roads to get there but they would turn up ready to party. Now, by ‘party’ I mean talking, eating, and catching up on gossip, and some singing. There was very little alcohol in use that I was aware of because most of those farmers and their families simply could not afford that kind of thing.

People would turn up late in the evening. They, like everyone on the farms, had to do their evening chores before heading out. Greetings would go around as it may have been a year or more since some of them had seen each other. Conversations about their field crops and the weather and livestock prices would strike up. Kids would run around chasing each other and so on. As darkness fell (fairly late because it was summer), our uncle Carman would get out his old Harmony hollow body electric guitar and start to play. This is where my siblings and myself got our exposer to real, home grown, country and ‘rural’ music. Grandma would ofter pick up one of the smaller kids and dance around the living room with it in her arms, or sing along at the top of her lungs. It was here that we learned to sing some of those country songs we had heard on CKNX because that’s what Carman would be playing, as well as music much, much older that had come up through the family generations.

Darkness would have set in and some of us kids would go back outside and head toward the swamp where the fireflies would be displaying their little lights. They were so cool looking in the dark but ugly in the daylight. They are actually very ugly looking bugs. The stars would of course be brilliant. A low summer night-fog would start to form along the swamps and lower ends of the fields so we’d head back inside to where the party would be slowing down. It was at this point where the table would be set and a full blown meal would be served. The farmers in those times ate 4 meals per day. They had to because the amount of manual labour they did required a lot of food to fuel their bodies, and pretty well everything on the farm required hard manual labor. Party or not, there was always a pre-bedtime meal because of course you had to get up before the crack of dawn and do the morning chores before breakfast. You needed that on-board fuel.

People had to head home, a very sad situation because we all knew it could be a long time before we’s see each other again, if ever. I’ve always admired Carol for here ability to keep track of many of those members of the Hockridge extended family. I was never good at that kind of thing and have lost track of most if not all of those people I’d chased fireflies with. But, that’s life. And like I just said, people had to head home because mornings on the farms came early and those chores would not wait.

And, as I said in my earlier episode, if your memory of these events is different from mine, that’s ok because I probably wasn’t paying very close attention anyway.

If you are a weather watcher, you’d be interested to know that winter has not yet set in on the west coast. We’ve had lots of rain but no real cold and no snow at all. We’ve had several major winter storms that were supposed to include big dumps of snow forecasted for our area but in every case the temperature went up, not down. This time last year we have been enjoying a winter wonderland for over a month. Go figure. And, if you are not a weather watcher, then don’t bother to read this last paragraph.

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From Russ

The Little, Red Lie (Conclusion)

It's about a Christmas in the late 30's that I'll never forget, because I lied, and that was a sin.

Finally, it's Christmas Eve and Santa will be making his visit soon! Mom herded us excited kids into the living/dining room, away from the kitchen and back door. Santa always left our gifts in the kitchen, as he could enter and leave without being seen. We waited impatiently - listening for the bells on Santa's sled - suddenly we heard them - nothing could stop the stampede into the kitchen to try to see Santa and the gifts he had left for us. Clawing through the wicker basket (Mom's wash-basket) we each found the toy with our name (written in Mom's handwriting), and as usual, we boys got a wind-up tin car, or truck, while Evelyn got a new doll.

Pop, who was always absent until after Santa left, was just as happy to see us as were we to show him our gifts.

"Did you see Santa?" asked Pop (suspecting he may not have made his get-away quick enough)

"I did! I saw him!" I shouted proudly.

"You did?" asked Pop "What did he look like?"

"Um....well...I didn't see all of him....just part of his red coat as he dashed out the door".

Pop wore nothing red, so he knew his little, 10 year-old boy was lying.

That little, red lie still haunts me some 85 years later.

Uncle Russ

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OLIVIA’S TRIP TO MEXICO

I HAD A LOT OF FUN IN MEXICO, BUT MY FAVOURITE THING WAS THE MONKEYS AND THE COATIS, THEY WERE SO CUTE AND OUR RESORT HAD FREE FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEHE.

BUT THE ROOM WAS NOT AS NICE AS MY BED AT HOME BUT I HAD TO GO HOME TOO SOON, I MEAN IT FELT LIKE TWO SECONDS.

I EVEN SAW STRAY DOGS POOR DOGS. BUT THE PLANE WAS SO MUCH FUN! WE GOT HOT RAGS THAT I PUT ON MY FACE LOL, BUT NOW IM HERE AT HOME, WHO KNOWS WHERE I WILL GO NEXT. THE COATIS TOOK A PIECE OF MY FAVOURITE GOGGLES AND YES AM MAD BUT AT LEAST IT WAS NOT MY SHOES RIGHT. WELL, THAT’S ALL I HAVE RIGHT NOW MY SISTER IS GOING TO WRITE SOON I HOPE YOU HAVE MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! THE END.

OLIVIA

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KYRA’S TRIP TO MEXICO

My trip to Mexico was super fun and exciting! My sister had lots of fun too! When I got home, I walked outside and said, “Canada’s depressing!” lol (lol means laughing out loud) Mexico wasn’t that hot, I was quite surprised about the weather it was kind of rainy some days though. My cousin got married in Mexico, Congratulations to the now Alicia Jackson!!! She used to be a Strever but Strever or not she’s still my favorite cousin! (don’t tell Kristen! (my other cousin) anyway that’s it, so….

KYRA SIGNING OFF

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From Nova Scotia Sus

We have had quite a week! Monday the wind blew fairly hard but we still went to town to do our shopping. Our last stop was the Whistleberry Mennonite store. When I shut off the car I could feel the wind moving and shaking the car. The trip home from there was even more gusty with rain pelting down.

We decided to stay on the pavement for home instead of a shorter route on a gravel road. As I passed the short cut I saw trees down blocking the road. The paved road wasn't much better but I was able to drive around the flattened trees. Home was not far away now. As we turned into our driveway we saw more trees down. It was Fiona all over again.

The power stayed off until last night (Wednesday). It felt like a week. Power Trucks were everywhere checking for more lines down before giving the okay to turn the power back on. Luckily the pond hadn't froze over yet and we could get water for chickens and flushing toilets. We are fairly prepared for outages with our generators but it is amazing how much you miss the power.

Well thats our excitement for this week.

Sus

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From Wayne & Sylvia

Hi Squids:

Some readers will have heard that a powerful windstorm was hitting the Maritime Provinces. You heard correctly. I'm sure Sue will have a more spectacular report because storms always seem to hit that area.

Nevertheless we had about 32 hours without power following a day of short interruptions so, having lived some of my life with coal-oil lamps, it was not hard to improvise while Kenny worked at getting the generator to supply power to critical appliances. Because it was Christmas time and the place was decorated, it was not all that bad. Our air-tight stove provided enough heat so, in a way, it was kind of nice, reminiscent of days long ago when lamps were our lights.

Wayne & Sylvia

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Have a Good One
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