Last Sunday afternoon my husband and I went to our previous home town for the Veteran's Day lunch, and to present a Quilt of Valor - and of course we did a bit of exploring too while there. The town is really tiny with only about 150 people there anymore. The school building where he and his 3 siblings all attended K-12 and where I taught for 18 years stands empty and sad looking. His mother and her 11 siblings, plus our girls and their 16 cousins also all attended that school.
We drove around town taking note of houses recently getting updates, and houses falling into decay. Main Street only has a bank, the post office, a bar, and a seed company remaining. And then we drove out past the farm he grew up on, where we lived for 10 years too. That big old house is gone now, and the young family farming that land has built a new house. That was bittersweet. But it was an old house when we lived there, so I'm sure it was time.
And then we drove a few miles south past his uncle's farm. The aunt and uncle have been gone a long time of course, but one of his cousins has farmed it for decades. This cousin just retired this fall and rented the land out to some younger farmers. And look at what filled the pasture across from his house!! I haven't seen a big herd of sheep in this area in many many years. And those llamas were so curious - doing their job as the herd guardians. If I had approached the fence I'm sure those guardians would have taken notice.
We lived on and farmed my husband's family farm from 1978 to 1988 following the sudden death of his dad. I was a city girl so that was a definite culture shock to me, but I loved it. We raised cattle and sheep, having a herd of 700-750 ewes. And we had a few horses. My father-in-law was a horseman, even training horses for other people. He loved horses.
This old photo is my husband and his dad with Lady. She was the last horse remaining during our farming years. She was a really big quarter horse and we always used her to sort off calves and to move cattle from pasture to pasture, or home for the winter. She was the horse my husband grew up with, and rode the most often as a kid. I had to step on an overturned 5 gallon pail to get a foot in the stirrup when I rode her because she was so big. But she was very gentle.
No hogs or chickens for us like his folks had, but we did raise pheasants a few years. Back in the 70s and 80s there were a lot of big sheep herds in this area, along with the usual cattle. But about the time we left the farm, most of our neighbors were getting rid of their sheep. So we were quite excited to see this big herd. My nephew's wife is a local veterinarian, and she recently told us that due to the drought the cattle herds are shrinking too. Hopefully that will cycle back.
It was a beautiful day, and I'm really glad we took the time to explore and reminisce.
