Many weeks go by,
sometimes,
before I get out of town
and into the country for a ride.
I hate to think that I'm turning into a "town kid"
...more on that later.
Recently,
we went home
to help celebrate my parents 85th birthdays,
they were born just 3 days apart.
The road trip home took us through
rural Iowa and southern Minnesota,
beautiful rural countryside...
The fields look like big patchwork quilts of
soybean greens and corn silk yellows.
The hometown 4-H county fair
was just coming to an end,
a county fair that I participated in
in my youth.
Summertime leading up to the fair
was consumed with getting projects finished.
Cookies & breads recipes
to practice baking
for Foods,
coats of stain to be put on
the Home Improvement projects,
and a pig
out in that barn,
that needed to be trained to walk beside me...
and bathed a time or two,
as well.
I also participated in Sewing,
these garments got judged at an earlier date,
and then were worn/modeled
in the Fashion Review at the fair,
this is when they chose the state fair winners.
This is what "farm kids" did in the summer.
We worked with our hands...
Pictured above is a fair project that earned my first purple ribbon,
and a trip to the state fair.
It has spent all these years in my hope chest
and
I just got it out to snap this photo,
think I'll find a spot and hang it.
I like it more now,
then I did
then...
Nothing too special,
however,
the judge really loved the frame.
With the help of Dad,
I cut down an old chair back for the frame,
leaving just two of the spindles
to nicely frame the photo.
This was way before re-purposing was cool...
circa 1970!
I was cool,
and
didn't even know it!
The picture of the ringlet-haired girl
was one that Mom had saved from a calendar
from years past,
would be my best guess.
We used what we had,
I guess you could say,
we made-do!
Coats and coats of varnish
and then many hours of sanding
with sandpaper,
and then steel wool
went into that picture.
It had to meet my Mom's
touch of approval.
When it was as smooth as a baby's butt,
it meet her approval. ;)
My mom always taught us
to strive for perfection...
I see that now,
as I am an adult...
didn't much like it
in my youth.
But,
first,
before the fair,
came bean walking...
The goal was always to have this done before "fair time".
For those unfamiliar with this task,
you simply
(no, it wasn't simply...it was hard work)
walk the rows of the bean fields
and pull out the weeds.
Dad would hire "town kids" to help us.
He would go to town early in the morning
to pick up the "town kids",
load them all into the back of his pickup,
and then
bring them to the farm,
to help us "farm kids".
The task itself was not fun...
it meant getting up at
the crack of dawn
to beat the Minnesota heat and humidity,
and walking through wet & dewy beans.
The only fun in it was
being re-united with our "town friends",
got to work on your suntan,
and
eat Mom's homemade caramel pecan cinnamon rolls
for lunch break...
they were the best!
There were incidents of sick kids,
lying in the end rows,
due to eating too many
of Mom's caramel rolls!
The money earned from bean walking
was then used to buy our school clothes.
It meant a road trip
to the mall in Sioux Falls SD
for shopping,
and this was a BIG deal.
What kind of weeds grow in a bean field,
you are wondering?
There were sunflowers,
pig weed (not sure if that is its scientific name, it's what dad called them...),
cockle burr, black night shade, thistles (hated those),
milkweed (those scared me because there were always these reddish beetles on them)
and
button weeds (pulling these made your hands stink for weeks)...
Hated.button.weeds.
They not only stunk,
button weeds were tricky to find.
Their leaves,
in their smaller state,
were similar to those of the beans.
If the button weeds had seed pods,
we picked the pods
and put them in our pockets.
If you got to the end of the row
and Dad spotted a button weed
in your row,
it was back down the row you would run to pull it,
while all the other kids hung out in the end rows
and waited for you.
If you missed a buttonweed,
Dad would be in the row next to you,
in the next round, guaranteed.
It was never cool to have Dad walking the row beside you,
it just wasn't a good sign...
So,
it is with these good old youthful memories
that I sat with paper and pencil,
upon my return to "city life",
and sketched out
a future Halloween punch needle release...
I still had button weeds on my mind
from my trip home,
or to the "farm",
as we call home...
(yes, my 85 year old parents still live on the farm
and plant a garden the size of a small field)
"Button Weeds & Bittersweet"
and
I promise...
these button weeds don't have pods,
and
they don't stink!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Leaving you with the 4-H pledge...
I pledge my head to clearer thinking,
my heart to greater loyalty,
my hands to larger service, and
my health to better living,
for my club, my community, my country
and
my world.
It was during my time,
as a 4-Her,
that they added the last line,
~and to my world~
to the pledge.
The original pledge was worded by Otis Hall,
who hailed from Kansas,
and re-written in 1973 to include the "and my world".
The 4-H colors are green and white.
Green represents nature's most common color
(yes, even those green button weeds),
life & growth.
The white symbolizes
purity & high ideals.
Enjoy your weekend,
Brenda
