Happy Father’s Day, Rural Sprout Readers!
If you’ve ever read my author bio, you know I grew up spending the weekends on my dad’s off-the-grid homestead. It was an interesting childhood; with one foot in the modern world during the week and the other in a simpler life come the weekend.
So much of who I am today comes from my dad and those weekends together.
The slower pace of his life was a welcome respite in my own. My time with dad was an invitation to let go of the hustle and bustle that made up my weekdays and just be.
I spent countless hours in the woods, a place that felt more home to me than the streets of the little town I lived in with my mom.
Over the years, my love of a good story grew from all the books I read, as I lay sprawled across a large tree limb that grew over the stream behind the cabin. While most of my friends were at home playing video games on the weekend or going to the mall, I spent evenings playing countless hands of Pitch with my dad as we listened to the Prairie Home Companion on the radio, a great black box that took eight D batteries.
We kept a running score of our card games throughout the year, and the loser had to do dishes on our annual camping trip.
Early on in this tradition, my dad earned the nickname “Dishpan Hands.”
Of course, when you live on a homestead, there’s always work to be done. And often, the larger projects were saved for the weekend. My cousin, Raymond Kurt, would come out and help with the heavy lifting, and between the three of us, I learned a way of life that most folks had set aside in favor of modern convenience.
My dad is a bit of a tinkerer.
If he didn’t know how to do it, he would figure it out in the end through books, plans he bought from magazines or just trial and error. He built a crazy ragtag tractor from the ground up. He built a coal forge and started making knives in his small blacksmith shop. He decided we were going to tap our trees and learn how to make maple syrup.
I’ll never forget the year I got frostbite on my cheeks, tromping through late winter snows behind dad and my cousin Ray. I was carrying the bucket filled with metal spigots to be hammered into the maple trees.
I said to no one in particular, “My face feels funny; it feels kind of plasticky.”
Dad immediately turned around, looked at me and, with the wisdom of a seasoned outdoorsman, instructed, “You’re starting to get frostbite. Take your mittens off, put your hands on your cheeks and walk back to the cabin. Don’t take your hands off your cheeks!”
I dropped the metal pail and plodded through knee-deep snow back to the warm cabin at the bottom of the hill, my bare hands cupping purple-red cheeks. I even managed to open the door without taking my hands off my face, lifting the latch made in the blacksmith shop by my father with my elbow. I sat on the couch, thawing in the radiant heat of the woodstove.
An hour and a half later, my dad and my cousin came in, stamping the snow from their boots, ice melting in their beards. Dad looked over at me, sitting on the couch, still cupping my bare hands to my cheeks. He began to laugh, “You didn’t need to keep your hands on your cheeks once you got inside.” I can still hear the sound of my cousin’s deep, good-natured laugh joining in.
“I was afraid my cheeks would fall off!”
Today as we celebrate father’s everywhere, I’m grateful to mine for the gifts he gave me as a child. These gifts make up so much of my life today – an independent spirit, self-reliance, a curiosity to learn and try new things, the knowledge of how to treat minor frostbite.
How to Deal with Blossom End Rot In Tomatoes, Zucchini & More
|
Blossom end rot affects more than just tomatoes and puts a damper on your yield. Lindsey has everything you need to know to deal with this annoying problem, no matter which veggie it affects.
|
|
|
How To Water Your Garden Plants While You’re Away
|
Heading out for a family vacation? I’ve got a few ideas on how to keep your garden watered while you’re away.
|
|
|
How To Release Ladybugs Into Your Garden (& Why You Should)
|
Ladybugs are great for aphid control, but how exactly do you go about using them in your garden? Find out how in this article.
|
|
|
That's all for this week, Rural Sprout Readers.
|
|
