The Barn
You probably know that a barn consists
of a stable, where the horses are kept on one side; the cows were
tied in stalls in another section, and there was a large stall
at the back which housed a scary-looking bull. He had a big ring
through his nose and was not my favourite animal. There was also
a place for straw and grain. Near the milking stalls, you would
always find the kittens, awaiting their portion of milk.
Outside the stable was a fenced-in 'stye'
for the pigs. How they loved to roll in the mud and get dirty.
The other part of the barn was the hayloft
where hay was thrown up from a hay wagon, below, and mowed aroud
in layers until it reached the top windows near the roof. Between
each layer, salt was put down. This was supposed to prevent fire,
as I understood it. That was my job!
I will never forget the first summer that
I was entrusted to work up in the loft. I thought it would be
"a piece of cake" (easy) but I didn't notice how far
up from the main floor I was getting with each layer that I salted.
When it was time to get down, the only way was to jump and I was
terrified. If it had not been for my patient and understanding
brother looking out for his kid sister, I think that I would have
been there all winter. He coiled a big pile of hay down below
and coaxed and promised to catch me. Well, I trusted him and jumped
into the soft mound of hay that he had put down for me. Everyone
else had gone to the big house-of-many-rooms for dinner but the
two of us; we both worked to clean up the pile that was "out
of place".
That is an introduction to the barn, as
I remember it. ~Joan Adams Burchell~ (copyright)
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