Silage...Mondays With Mary

     When future generations look back to see what life was like on the farm in 1970, this is what they would find in Mary's calendar.

Monday, Sept. 28

frost again this morning
another nice day-started
on beans about 2:00 p.m. till 5 p.m.
Went to P. Happe's to make silage
home at 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 29

cool in morning
beautiful day.  We both
hauled silage at Happe's all day
Vern home at 8.  Gene's
 down this evening

Wednesday, September 30

Started hauling silage
at 6:45 done at 11 a.m.
Vern combining beans in afternoon
beautiful day in 80ties.  Gene's
down in evening - welded on combine

Thursday, October 1

another beautiful day-
unloaded beans in morning
finished the n field beans about 7:30
took Aunt Mae home - Gene's here for supper.

Friday, October 2

hot & dry  - Vern
started combining s of house
at 9:30 a.m.  finished about 7:30
got 2 big loads in bin  Folks out in afternoon
I disked n. of house  - Gene's here for supper.
.....................................................................................

Silage= corn and stocks cut to pile up for fermentation to use
later in the year for cattle feed.
....................................................................................

I enjoyed the "beautiful day" comments. Harvest time in the country is glorious. I love the amber waves of grain along with the hustle and bustle of fall activities.

Clarification on the Corn Crib

     Here is a picture of "the crib" about 13 years ago after Dad had
painted it in 1970.  See Painting-Mondays With Mary for more information.

 

Then

And now it looks like this.


Now

Time marches on!



Painting...Mondays With Mary

     It has been awhile since we have read anything from Mary's calendars. These entries are called Mondays With Mary and are resuming.
    The items I find to write about on this blog continue to intrigue me. Why do I find what I do when I do? How do these timely items cross paths with my current life?  Life continues to be a mystery. Let's just go with it.
     Here are some entries I came across after a week-end of working on the farmstead which my mother and father purchased in the fall of 1969.  These entries are from after a year of living on their "new to them" farm.
    
Saturday
August 29, 1970

Went to Jeff in morning for boots & paint
canned peach preserves - drove over to
Neva's in evening-Vern painted a while
on crib.

Sunday
August 30, 1970

Nice day   turning cooler- painted
 on crib & machine shed
drove to Boone for magnets at B.
Anderson's  -  Gene's rode along

Monday
August 31, 1970

Got hog feed this morning
canned tomato juice and apple
sauce  - went to Carroll in p.m.
with Cheryl   Got 5 gal red paint
Vern painting machine shed
Wayne Black got dirt in pick-up
Over to Gene's in evening

Tuesday
September 1, 1970

Went to Scranton in the morning
We both painted machine shed
in p.m.   drove into Scranton for
coffee in the evening

These entries stuck out to me for a couple of reasons. First, I didn't know my dad ever painted anything.  However, mostly reading that the corn crib was being painted made me sad. Why? Because just last week-end the corn crib was taken down

     The buildings of the farm are being demolished one by one.  The structures are too old to use and will no longer be used as they have been in the past.
      These are emotionally hard times. Moving away is one thing. Demolishing is quite another.

Thoughts for teachers

     A few days ago, I wrote about school starting again.  Some little ones have already returned while others are still practicing getting to bed early in order to answer that alarm clock which will soon seem to be going off in the middle of the night.

     I actually loved those days as an educator. However, I no longer have the energy to even get up let alone follow the day on a dead run. Teaching is like jumping on a treadmill in August and not getting off until late May or early June. Did I mention the treadmill is on full speed ahead.  If you have never taught, you might discredit this comparison. If you have taught or are teaching this year, I salute you. There is no better profession than making a difference in the lives of young people.

     I have a little calendar of thoughts for teachers.  Here are a few:


     A teacher affects eternity; no one can tell where his influence stops.  Henry Adams

     Every person is gifted in some area.  We just have to find out what. Evelyn Blose Holman

     The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. Mark Twain

     Fairness is not sameness.

    A good grade on the big exam is the result of a lot of work on the little assignments.

     Help your students find one thing they do extremely well.

     One of a student's biggest fears is not being listened to.

     What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.  Karl Menninger

     The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. Robert Maynard Hutchins

     Nothing helps a student more than knowing someone has faith in him.

     And my favorite...

     They won't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

    The credit for the collection of these thoughts comes from a calendar compiled by Mary Kay Shanley called Apple Seeds.

    

Found it!

This summer's sorting has a few high points.  I wrote about my great-grandmother's sister, Mae DeHart Corey a while back. I placed it in the Featured Article section for easy review.  In that article I mentioned that somewhere I had a picture of Aunt Mae at my wedding. Eureka. I found it. Aunt Mae would actually be my great-great Aunt. I remember her as a sweet and kind woman, a woman everyone seemed to love.





Aunt Mae talking to my cousin, Sue.

...that time of year...

     Yes, it is that time of year. In only a few weeks everyone will be back in school. Kids are shopping for clothes that fit better after their summer growth spurts. Supplies are being gathered. It is that time of year when I remember I only got a new 64 pack of crayons every other year. Times change.
     Teachers are preparing their classrooms, lessons and new incentive strategies to help their charges learn better.  It is a new beginning for everyone.

     Although everyone is certainly not accurate. I, for one, have not been back full time for many years. How can time pass so fast? Shouldn't the beginning of the school year be long gone out of my mind? No, I still have beginning of the school year anxiety dreams.

     Maybe it is because I still have papers.  It is interesting to me what turns up when sorting papers.  Yes, I still have school papers. Why? Some are lists of names which I don't want to forget. Others are notes or letters which give me joy. I have finally let go of some of the worksheets of which I realize my grandchildren have no interest. Occasionally I come across some joke or bit of wisdom which needs to be shared. This is today's post.

     You might be in education if...

           1.  You know that most educational experts never taught in a public school, and if they did, they got out because they couldn't stand it.
          2. Your personal life comes to a screeching halt a report card time.
          3.  You think caffeine should be available in IV form.
          4.  You can't have children because there is no name you could give a child that wouldn't bring on high pressure the moment you heard it uttered.
          5. You laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the faculty room as a lounge.
          6.  When out in public you feel the urge to snap your fingers at a child you do not know and correct his behavior.
          7. You have no time for a life from August to June.
          8.  You can tell if there is a full moon without ever looking outside.
          9. You believe that chocolate is a food group.
        10. You want to slap the next person who says " must be nice to work 7:30-3:00 and have summers free."
        11.  You've had your profession slammed by someone who would never DREAM of taking your job.
        12.  You believe "shallow gene pool" should be included in the report card comments.
        13. Giving everyone an " A" would make your life so much easier.
        14.  You believe that some unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, "Boy the kids are sure mellow today.

     Now, I ask you, "How could I throw away humor like this?"

     Best wishes for a great and productive school year for kids, teachers, staff, and parents.  And for all the retired teachers, have another cup of coffee and enjoy the memories.

Newspaper Find

A few years ago I was scanning the old newspaper reels of film looking for information about my classmates. I was preparing a booklet for our reunion, but was often side tracked by something else I read.  Imagine the fun I had when I came across this letter to the newspaper by a 1949 Scranton High School graduate. The newspaper was from 1952.

Marvin Grisso was my uncle, one of the younger brothers of my mother.  He was a sailor that seemed to always be at sea. I loved it when he would come and make a surprise visit to school. He returned to see his former teachers and administrators whenever he came home. And, of course, he came to see me.