Country Kids

I stumbled upon a blog that got me thinking about my childhood raised on a farm. I was inspired by Urban Farmgirl (who is having an awesome Pottery Barn Giveaway this week by the way...check it out!) to share some of those experiences. Perhaps it will even be a weekly feature? I know, it's more fun for me than for you, but  indulge me, won't you?

My brother and sister with their new lambs

It occurred to me last night that I never see any of the neighbors here in the suburbs outside in their yards, except maybe to mow the lawn. There are swing sets and tree houses that go untouched. How is it possible? Doesn't anyone spend time outside anymore? Growing up, in the summer we were always outside. It seems like we were outside from dawn to dusk in the summer. There were animals to play with, frogs to catch, eggs to collect, forts to build, raspberries to pick, hide and seek to play, bikes to ride, flowers to pick. The list goes on.

Another brother with pigs

I grew up in upstate New York on an animal farm. On two sides of our property were streams that ran to a pond in the corner. Every summer my older brother and I would be outside catching tadpoles and frogs during the summer. We'd put them all in a bucket and see how many we could collect. I'm sure we would let them go eventually, but I seem to remember the cats getting their fair share of frog legs for dinner.

Another brother with new kittens

We used to have this huge barn that seemed to be a hundred years old, and it was the most awesome barn ever! It had three levels; in the bottom level were the animal's stalls, the 2nd level housed the hay with a hay shoot going down to the horse stall below (a pretty scary make-shift slide for courageous kids), and then there was a storage room that had a loft-type area above it that was a third level. I seem to remember that loft was very unstable and dangerous. I don't know if it really was, or if my siblings just told me that to keep me off of it. I don’t think I ever went up there, but I seem to remember my brothers climbing up there and swinging off of it on the rope swing. That’s right, we had rope swings in that old barn! After the hay was delivered and stacked up, my brothers would rearrange it into forts and stacks and swing from one pile of hay to another. Ever play man hunt in a barn full of piles and piles of hay? We did, it was a blast!

When I was about 8 years old we had a big ice storm. The power was out for a week, we camped out in the living room and ate canned food cooked over our wood burning stove. Among all the damage to trees, buildings, and power lines, was our big old barn, whose roof caved in under all the ice and snow. It was a sad day. At some point after that, the fire department came over and burned down our big old wood barn for us. It was a sad day when we no longer had that barn to play in. The new metal one just didn't compare.