Dang. It was good

I had a favorite Uncle when I was a kid ~ my Uncle Martin. As I look back, why he was my favorite was so obvious. He treated me as an equal. I don't believe he ever looked at people through the lens of time. He didn't see age. He saw ability, heart, experience, etc. I remember at the age of 12 being informed that he needed me to drive a tractor pushing a "buck-rake". I wasn't so sure that I could do it. But he had no doubt. I couldn't reach the clutch and brake pedals so we rigged-up some wooden extension blocks that we attached to the pedals so I could reach them! I had driven tractors before but I always had to stand on the transmission platform and lean back against the seat to push down the pedal to shift. Now I was able to drive the tractor in a normal manner, albeit it in a slightly uncomfortable way. I was now a dues paying member of the summer hay crew. Uncle Martin was the stacker, i.e. the poor guy who had to be on the top of the hay stack using a hand held pitchfork to move the hay around forming a perfect stack. His was a dirty, dusty, hot, and unforgiving job ~ make a wrong move and you could fall off of the stack. My older cousin Bob drove the farmhand, i.e. a tractor rigged with an implement that had the ability to raise the hay up to the top of the stack. My cousin Roy and I drove the buck rakes. The buck rakes gathered the hay from the windrows of hay in the field and pushed the gathered loads to the rising haystack. The farmhand driven by Bob would then pick up the buck rake loads and lift them up to my Uncle on the top of the stack where he formed the final stack. I remember my Uncle Martin, occasionally, excitedly sliding off of the stack when one of the lifted loads contained a rattlesnake or two. It was our entertainment for the day! I also remember my cousin Roy and I having races back to the stack driving our hay loaded buck rakes. I would hold on tight to the steering wheel ~ not to steer but to avoid being thrown off of the tractor!! I don't recall ever coming "loose", but I sure came close a couple of times. That first summer we put up over 50 stacks of hay! We worked from about 7 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon.

So what does this have to do with "dang. it was good"? I remember the large lunches that my Aunt Julia packed for us during haying season. The lunches were large and they were tasty. I remember teasing my Uncle Martin about his love of peanut butter and bacon sandwiches (occasionally, containing jelly as well). Aunt Julia made them especially for him. We kids had the traditional ham, roast beef, cheese, etc. sandwiches. But Uncle Martin almost always had his PB&B sandwich. We thought he was so weird.

I had a PB&B sandwich this morning for breakfast. Why? I'm not sure. But. Dang. It was good. I may start having them for lunch occasionally! I guess he is still a part of me. :-)

Gordon, et.al.

p.s. Uncle Martin was also the guy who got me "hooked" on pickled herring! Love it. :-)

p.s.s. I also remember him telling me, after my observing him heap several tablespoons of jam on his buttered piece of bread, "Skip, remember the bread only holds what you are really after ~ your Aunt Julia's preserves." I must have been "bug-eyed" with excitement. He just made "legit" what I always wanted to do. Even though I told my mom what Uncle Martin said, she just never would buy into it!

p.s.s.s. The above picture was taken of a ranch just outside of Belgrade Montana. I like the way it looks, i.e. old buildings, brown hay field, broken down fences, etc. I just reminds me of Uncle Martin's hay ranch which he always referred to as the "other place". He had two ranches, the home place and the "other place".