When I was growing up on the farm we had few urban friends. At least I didn’t. My acquaintances, mostly school mates, were,of course, all farm kids. So the only non-farm adults I ever knew were few and far between. One summer day a distant cousin of my mother’s came to our farm for a short visit. Her husband Frank Watson, a business man from the city, accompanied her. I was only 7 or 8 (1938 or 39) and accompanied my dad and Mr. Watson as they talked and we walked about the farm yard. Dad had some small task to do – I can’t recall what it was – but it required a fair bit of physical work so Mr. Watson said he would like to help. But he was dressed in “town clothes, the ones he wore every day, I suspect. So dad offered him a pair of bib overalls to wear for the job. Mr. Watson peeled down to his underwear shirt and shorts to don the overalls . By today’s standards he was anything but obese but he had a paunch ! Not a big one , but definitely a paunch ! I had NEVER seen that before in my young life. All the men I knew were hard working, hands-on, lean-muscled farmers without an ounce of fat on them. I never said a word but I was dumb struck. Funny how that brief moment remains etched in my brain some 75 years later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was growing up on the farm we had few urban friends. At least I didn’t. My acquaintances, mostly school mates, were,of course, all farm kids. So the only non-farm adults I ever knew were few and far between. … Continue reading