Down on the Farm Ch. 03

To Trish, today had been a date. For me, it was an enjoyable time with someone I thought of as a 'kid sister'.

We return home and we catch the few hours sleep before we begin milking.

The 'dog days' of summer arrived, and before I realized it fall would come. There had been a lot of hard work and everyone had pitched in. Edith still had not decided what to do with the dairy and as things were operating smoothly she was in no hurry to make a decision. We put in 4 other crops of hay before school started that fall. That summer, mucking the barn was one of the dirtiest jobs, but everyone worked at it. Most of the cows had calved, so production was high for the summer months. Edith and I discussed what the best course of action would be after I returned to school. Most classes I could schedule in the morning, leaving the afternoons and evenings to do milking and other work. Edith would do the morning milking during the week. The girls would help me when they arrived home from school. Weekends would be on a rotational basis. We talked about this arrangement and everyone was in agreement, it was the best for now. The summer holiday was over, the girls returned to high school and I started classes. It was quicker to catch the noon meal at the school cafeteria before heading out to the farm.

The corn crop still stood in the field. Bud had planted it. I would harvest it as silage. By mid October the silo was empty. I spent a lot of time scraping the walls, cleaning out the rotted remainder and sealing the joints. Having never done this before, Edith became the teacher. As the lower rings were prepared, a load or two of silage was cut and blown in. Then we moved higher to seal the next set of rings, followed by additional loads blown in. Slowly the silo was filled. The last load was blown in and Sam and I spent 3 hours tromping it down tight. Anything touched by air would spoil, the rest would cure. We wanted it to cure. Until then, hay was the roughage of choice.

I was becoming exhausted from the daily routine. There was no let up. Classes in the mornings, farm work in the afternoon, followed by chores, more work, and late nights doing assignments. About Thanksgiving, I wanted a break. The last football game was our 'Homecoming' and we were playing our arch-rivals. Traditional activities included the parade of floats down Main Street in the afternoon; the football game was scheduled early in the evening, followed by a huge formal banquet and dance. Win or loose, we always invited the opposing school. All announcements which I had seen, indicated this was to be the largest 'Homecoming' ever. I wanted to take the afternoon and evening off. I arrived at the farm and discussed the possibility with Edith. "Do you have a date?" she asked.

Edith had never questioned my social life, so this question took me a bit by surprise. "No. I don't have a girlfriend. Just figured to go with some of the guys, and have a good time."

Before she spoke again, she paused and I waited. She had something on her mind. "Mark, take Trish. Make it a date, a real date." She sensed my hesitation; then added. "The two of you had fun on the 4th, didn't you?"

Taking a girl on a date had never entered my thinking, let alone Trish. "Yes, we did have fun." I responded, thinking back to that time.

"She's told you, hasn't she, that no one has ever asked her out? Make her wish come true." Edith was watching, waiting.

I thought 'Ya, know, a date to Homecoming with Trish would be fun.'

"Sure, I'll ask her."

Edith smiled and slowly expelled the breath she had been holding. I was too caught up in thoughts to notice.

Finishing up our conversation, I head to the barn. I was working in the mow, when the girls arrived home from school. They changed into their working clothes and Sam and Becky took off down the lane to bring the cows in. Trish came looking for me, asking what I wanted her to do. "Let's go feed the calves. I want to check on the 'big one'. She's off her feed and has the 'trots'. May have to call the vet."

Together we walked down the ladder, through the door and into the pen. All the calves moved around us, looking to be fed. The 'big one' stood off from the rest and we cornered her for closer examination. While checking her out, I casually shared with Trish about Homecoming at school and that Edith had allowed me to take the time off. I explained about the parade, the ball game, banquet and the dance.

"Are you going with somebody?" she asked. I wasn't looking at her, but did hear a wistfulness in her tone.

"Originally I thought about going 'stag', but changed my mind. There's a girl I'm going to ask."

"Oh." The disappointment hung heavy in her voice.

I turn to face her, she is looking downwards. "Trish?" I ask.

She raises her eyes to mine.

"Would you be my date to Homecoming?"

It took a second for my question to register, then the light in her eyes turned on and a smile spread across her face. "Yes, I will." Was her reply. "Gladly, I will."