Threshing Days

About this time in August, when I was a kid, the threshing crew came by our farm. What a great time going from farm to farm in our neighborhood. Teams of horses hauled the grain bundles from the fields to the enormous machine that shaked and shuddered and sent a stream of golden yellow oat straw onto an ever growing straw stack. Oat kernels trickled down the grain pipe and men, sturdy men, carried sacks of oats on their shoulders to the farmer's grain bins in his granary.

When I was 13 or 14, I made the rounds with the threshing crew. Working hard, but eating well. Oh those threshing meals. Never to be forgotten. A great social event it was as well with storytelling, practical jokes and one more way for neighbors to get to know each other well.

The Old Timer Says: "Know your history, but avoid being stuck there."


Coming Events:

September 1: Paperback edition of IN A PICKLE available.

September 10, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing, Borders West, Madison. In A Pickle.

September 11, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing. Mineral Point Historical Society, Opera House, Mineral Point, WI. "Stories From the Land."

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

September 20, Saturday, 2:00 PM Monroe Cheese Days. Presentation and Book Signing.