{AMISH COMMUNITY NEWS} Vol. 5 No.13
October 2, 2013
Autumn Adventures
I Scared My Little Self!
Corn Husking in the Fall
By Jacquie Foote
By Mrs. Rudy Kathryn Detweiler
Our barn pasture is six acres and rolling. One day in early autumn a few years ago, three of our horses looked up from their grazing and were astounded to see a hot air balloon descending into the lowest part of their pasture. They did what any self respecting horse would do … they ran for the barn. Once safe in the barn’s shadow, they turned and discovered that they could not see the strangely shaped intruder. So, they did what any horse would do … they slowly walked to the top of a hill so they could get a good view of the lower pasture. Yep, there it was … and there was a person running around down there, too! Scary! So … off to the barn they ran again. Of course, once at the barn, they couldn’t see what was going on down there … and back they crept. One look and they whirled around and, heads tossing, tails waving, back to the barn they ran! We watched what seemed to quickly become a game. They would go to the pasture’s tallest hill … lean forward for a good look … then one would snort and they would all turn and high tail it to the barn. In their horsy way they were obviously saying … “ Oh, look at that!” “What is it?” “Oh! It’s too weird! It scares my little self!!” “Let’s run for it!” And off they’d go. Once back at the barn, the conversation seemed to go … “Whew! It didn’t follow us!’“Did you see it!”“What was it anyway?” “Do you think it is still there?” “Maybe we should go see!”” And back they’d go. The game lasted quite a while and didn’t stop until they were too winded to
My memory often goes back to the old fashion days when life was lived in simple ways … especially on the old John Shetler Farm my Dad bought when I was 7 years old. It was on Donley Road and our fields stretched way down to Girdle Road. Dad would hitch up the team and we would ride the big wagon to the cornfields for husking corn. Sometimes it was freezing temperatures and we’d be wearing heavy gloves. Those long rows seemed to never end. We’d take about four rows at a time, husking all by hand and sometimes having to duck so the ears wouldn’t hit us on the head. That wagon had to be good and full by noon. There were no snacks and – oh – Mom’s dinner tasted so good on our hungry tummies! We’d take a little break and then head right back to those cornfields for another load by choretime. The barn was full of cows waiting to be milked by hand. I usually milked four to six cows. One time I milked 12 cows! I can still feel the warmth of the barn when all the cows and horses were in. A tired girl, I’d lay on the piles of hay and straw to rest … so quiet and peaceful. I can imagine the warmth and peace in the manger when Jesus was born.
care. It was a lovely game!
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