On the farm with the Grandparents

As a child I would spend a couple of weeks every summer with my grandparents. One week with Grandpa and Grandma H and one week with Grandpa and Grandma L. The weeks would happen back to back and, one might think they would be fairly similar. My grandparents both lived on farms in Eastern South Dakota that weren't all that far apart. They were roughly the same age. Grandma H and Grandpa L were in the same class in school!

With the Hs, my memories are much more focused indoors. Singing along with "Big, Bad, LeRoy Brown," using a tape recorder to do my own play-by-play to football games on TV. I remember being in the house on a hot summer day. There was no central air. Grandma had all the windows and doors open as she tried to coax a breeze through the screens using old box fans. She and I were doing something when she asked me if I could spell the word quarter. "Q-U-A-R-T-E-R" I quickly rattled off. Grandma expressed amazement that someone my age could spell that word, especially with a q-u in it. I told her I couldn't imagine not being able to spell it – after all you can't spell Quarterback if you can't spell quarter!

Outdoor memories at the H's involve riding horses and bailing hay, doing chores, playing with my Uncle Mark, Aunt Cindy and Aunt Margo. Not a bad life.

With the L's, the memories are different but that's probably mostly due to my relationship with my cousins on that side of the family.

One of my earliest memories with the Ls is watching a horse race on TV at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We had a ticket from Hy-Vee, I think, that listed the number of a horse and if that horse won the race then we could cash our ticket in for $100. Our horse started slow but closed fast as they came down the stretch. In the end it was a photo finish. I was excited as I could be. My horse lost by a nose.

I remember going fishing at the river and catching a bullhead, taking it home and cleaning it and finding out it was pregnant. Grandpa showed me the fish eggs and I was fascinated.

I remember playing with Pete, Sean and Chris with home made rubber-band guns Grandpa had made out of clothes pins, wood and the cut up inner tube from a tire.

I remember coffee cans filled with feed for pigs. And I remember the time grandpa asked me if I wanted to do chores with him. I said yes and raced out the door as he got his boots on. "Don't go in with the hogs until I get there," he said. "Okay," was my reply.

I, of course, went down and got my coffee can, filled it with feed, climbed the fence and jumped into the middle of a bunch of hungry hogs. I held the coffee can full of feed above my head. The pigs, being unable to jump decided to take me down.

Now grandpa was a master at working with dogs. His dogs were well trained and protective. Grandpa was still up at the house. His dog, I don't remember which one, jumped the fence and bit pig ankles, moving them out of the way until she got to me. Then she stood right over the top of me, refused to let me up and let go with a torrent of high pitched barks signaling danger until Grandpa came to get me out of there.

Now I was grateful to the dog for saving me but scared as could be about what might happen when Grandpa got me out from underneath the dog. I think that's the most trouble I ever got in with a grandparent.

I remember setting off fireworks, bailing hay, separating lambs from their tails, painting buildings, learning to drive tractors, football games, baseball games, country music, Christmas mornings, ping-pong, dominos, Coca-cola, rodeo on tv, baseball and football in the yard, bottle-feeding calves and lambs, coin collections and visits to the casino.

Either way you cut it you can't beat those memories. It was a good way for a kid to spend some time in the summer.