Beacon- December 2021
Regional Reach. Community Commitment. Covering Dearborn, Franklin, Ohio, and Ripley Counties in Southeast Indiana and Southwest Ohio.
Regional Reach. Community Commitment. Covering Dearborn, Franklin, Ohio, and Ripley Counties in Southeast Indiana and Southwest Ohio.
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Page 12A THE BEACON <strong>December</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
By<br />
Doris<br />
Butt<br />
Community<br />
Correspondent<br />
goodolddays@goBEACONnews.com<br />
Memories of the Farm<br />
Those of you that have<br />
passed the farmstead since we<br />
sold it have noticed there is a<br />
big change.<br />
First, the house has been<br />
redone. The little bedroom<br />
that had to be made out of a<br />
porch when I could no longer<br />
go to the upstairs bedroom<br />
was removed. That was a<br />
plus since it was kind of a<br />
distraction. The house still<br />
had wooden siding. My siding<br />
survey noted that was rare<br />
for most have long ago been<br />
replaced with vinyl siding.<br />
Soon after our selling, the<br />
house had a new look. The<br />
little bedroom returned to a<br />
porch. The yellow siding was<br />
put on, with accents of red by<br />
the windows. The hundredplus-year-old<br />
beauty now can<br />
compete with the new homes<br />
in the subdivision (once our<br />
land) across the road.<br />
The barn has been changed.<br />
New siding has styled the<br />
exterior in a whole new look.<br />
Now I admit I had to think<br />
about that for a while.<br />
The barn was always special<br />
to me. Even in its previous<br />
appearance, it made quite<br />
an impression. As a child, I<br />
was proud of it.<br />
I have written some of my<br />
favorite words about the barn.<br />
I feel like sharing them.<br />
“My earliest memory is sitting<br />
on a rock in front of the<br />
barn and playing with a makebelieve<br />
miniature village with<br />
houses made of mower teeth<br />
and stick soldiers.<br />
I was about the same age<br />
when something special happened<br />
once a year. No child<br />
who has lived the experience<br />
of seeing and hearing that giant<br />
threshing machine pulled<br />
by a puffing steam engine will<br />
ever forget it. The harmonious<br />
sounds of the chugging<br />
thresher and snorting engine<br />
are still very much in my<br />
memories. I can still see the<br />
neighbor men arriving with<br />
their teams and wagons. The<br />
ladies helped my mother cook<br />
a special dinner that would,<br />
although never a spoken<br />
word said so, outdo all other<br />
meals served. I can smell the<br />
worker’s sweat, see them<br />
washing their faces in the pan<br />
on a bench, and drying off<br />
with feed sack cloth towels. (I<br />
still have the bench and some<br />
of the towels.) A crew of men<br />
carried bags of wheat into the<br />
granary and up the stairs. I<br />
would sit in the bin, and they<br />
would pour the grain over me.<br />
I liked that. It was a wonderful<br />
day.<br />
I have only to enter the barn<br />
to see my mother milking the<br />
cows named after neighbors<br />
while Dad did other chores. I<br />
can see the horses, Fannie and<br />
Barney. I remember slipping<br />
them ears of corn and enjoying<br />
their chomping noises as<br />
they ate. Their noses felt so<br />
soft. Later there was another<br />
team, Sam and Bob. They<br />
were sold when they were of<br />
no more use. My father did<br />
not ask what would become<br />
of them.”<br />
These are my favorite paragraphs<br />
of all my writing.<br />
“I hear the business of the<br />
barn: the squeak of the hay<br />
wagon and hollow sound of<br />
horse’s hoofs as they walk<br />
across the wooden floor,<br />
the creak of that loaded hay<br />
fork as it struggles along the<br />
track of the barn and rattle<br />
of impatient horses shaking<br />
their harness. I hear the sound<br />
of machinery: the slap of the<br />
drive belt as it powers the<br />
feed grinder, the pulsations<br />
of the tractor as each grain<br />
bundle is received into that<br />
noisy thresher or the corn<br />
shredder. I can hear the talk of<br />
horses, bellowing bulls, mooing<br />
cows crying for weaned<br />
calves, cats with kittens, and<br />
chickens clucking in nests in<br />
the hay. I definitely will not<br />
forget the hissing of geese<br />
as they chased me. They are<br />
sounds so alive and gratifying<br />
to my ears.<br />
One of my jobs as a child<br />
was pulling the hay rope back.<br />
Of all the jobs my parents did<br />
I remember harvesting hay the<br />
most. My dad pitched hay to<br />
my mother who arranged it on<br />
the wagon. Later in the barn,<br />
she ran the hayfork while my<br />
father worked in the mow.<br />
M<br />
DEAR<br />
ARIE<br />
By<br />
Marie<br />
Segale<br />
marie@goBEACONnews.com<br />
Dear Marie,<br />
I need some help! I will<br />
have company coming over<br />
starting in November and<br />
throughout the holidays.<br />
Some of my company will<br />
be coming from out of town<br />
several hours away, and some<br />
visitors only live an hour<br />
away.<br />
Marie, is it acceptable for<br />
The barn that was lovingly restored on our farm.<br />
guests to bring their uninvited<br />
pets to my house any time<br />
they come to visit?<br />
I can’t imagine bringing my<br />
dogs or cats to anyone’s home<br />
when I go to visit. In fact, I<br />
think my pets would not be<br />
welcomed.<br />
When I have company, I<br />
make sure to put the dogs in<br />
a different part of the house<br />
where they won’t bother my<br />
guests.<br />
Marie, am I wrong to think<br />
that showing up at anyone’s<br />
home and bringing your uninvited<br />
pet is rude?<br />
Abigail in Bright<br />
The tractor driven by my sister<br />
pulled the rope that pulled<br />
the fork with the hay into the<br />
loft. I pulled it back. It always<br />
seemed to be a very hot day.<br />
“Some changes do not come<br />
easy, but they are for the<br />
best.”<br />
Oh, there are no hollyhocks<br />
or scarecrows at the farmstead.<br />
They were just my<br />
accents I enjoyed. Ray and I<br />
spent much time and money<br />
to see that the barn would be<br />
preserved. We are pleased<br />
that the new owners share that<br />
concern and have dressed the<br />
barn and also the house so<br />
that it will be bright and alive<br />
for all to see for many years.<br />
Dear Abigail,<br />
You most certainly are correct<br />
in thinking that bringing<br />
a pet that has not been invited<br />
to another person’s house is<br />
rude. I have a personal example<br />
regarding this situation.<br />
One of my guests brought<br />
a small dog to my home, I<br />
was not happy about that at<br />
all. While the dog was at my<br />
home, another guest started<br />
playing vigorously with the<br />
little dog. During their rough<br />
play, the dog’s toenail got<br />
caught on my Berber carpet,<br />
pulling it into a snag. So do<br />
you think my guest arranged<br />
to have my carpet repaired?<br />
Of course not! I called the<br />
repairman whom I had to pay<br />
to fix the carpet.<br />
Bringing a pet who has<br />
not been invited to another<br />
person’s home is unthinkable<br />
to me. Choose your adjectiverude,<br />
showing bad manners,<br />
inconsiderate- all will apply.<br />
Have a pressing issue?<br />
Contact Marie@goBEACON<br />
news.com<br />
Downtown Lawrenceburg’s<br />
Nov. 13<br />
Ice Rink<br />
Opens<br />
Nov. 13<br />
Merchant<br />
Open<br />
Houses<br />
Nov. 27, 28<br />
Small Business<br />
Saturday, Mayor's<br />
Reception &<br />
Tree Lighting<br />
Dec. 4<br />
Winter<br />
Wonderland<br />
Parade<br />
Winter Wonderland<br />
Ice Rink Opens<br />
Located at Todd Creech Park,<br />
305 W. Tate St.<br />
November 13 - January 9, 2022<br />
Hello Holidays<br />
Merchant Open Houses<br />
11:00-4:00<br />
Carriage rides downtown, special<br />
discounts, prize giveaways, live music,<br />
and Snowman Scavenger Hunt w/<br />
Cookie Prizes. Lawrenceburg Event<br />
Center – Celebrity Chef Robert Irvine<br />
3 & 7P.<br />
NOVEMBER 27<br />
Small Business Saturday<br />
Over a dozen businesses downtown<br />
will be offering special discounts<br />
for holiday shoppers!<br />
NOVEMBER 28<br />
5:30P Mayor’s Reception<br />
at the Lawrenceburg Event Center<br />
7:00P Official Tree Lighting<br />
Ceremony at the Civic Park<br />
DECEMBER 4<br />
Breakfast with Santa<br />
Lawrenceburg Community Center<br />
Santa’s Workshop Craft Activities<br />
Winter Wonderland<br />
Parade<br />
Santa and Mrs. Claus Arrive<br />
Big Prize Giveaway<br />
DECEMBER 11<br />
Santa arrives at Ice Rink<br />
www.DowntownLawrenceburg.com<br />
Get it All at www.goBEACONnews.com
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