Well, you might think from my previous posts, that the farm was always a sunny and warm place, good for growing crops, and for playing. Far from it. There were plenty of cool, rainy summer days when we visited. We still found ways to have fun. There were cards to play, Chinese checkers, checkers, and if we got tired of those games, there was always the Sunday funnies from the news paper. I don’t think we ever got bored on a farm visit. Plus, if we were stuck in the house, then the home baked cookies were always close at hand.

If it got too cool, Jim would fire up the stove, not too much, just enough to take the chill out of the air. A warm living room, warm, fresh bake cookies, a checker board and maybe something on the old radio or if the reception was good that day, we could watch Chet Huntley and David Brinkley do the news (back then we had REAL journalist).

Once Aunt Millie finished with her chores in the kitchen, she would often challenge us to a game of Chinese checkers or regular checkers. There were no holds barred when we played her, she played to win, and we often times did not walk away victors. (We were part of the “if you don’t win, you don’t get a trophy” generation. How DID we survive?

Uncle Jim would be sitting in his rocking chair, corn cob pipe ablaze, listening to the news, (tv or radio) enjoying the moment and talking with Mom and Dad, discussing the news coming over the talk boxes. We were all happy. Life was good, at the farm……