Janice
Brenda, Tina
on the farm
1. You've Made Me So Very Happy by Blood, Sweat & Tears
2. Grazing in the Grass by the Friends of Distinction
3. Good Morning Starshine by Oliver
4. The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel
5. Na Na Hey Hey by Steam
6. A Boy Names Sue by Johnny Cash
7. Put A Little Love In Your Heart by Jackie DeShannon
8. Gitarzan by Ray Stevens
9. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
10.Oh Happy Day by The Edwin Hawkins Singers
11. Goodbye by Mary Hopkin
12. Love theme from "Romeo & Juliet" by Henry Mancini
13. These Eyes by The Guess Who
14. Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
15. Hawaii Five-O by The Ventures
Sometime towards the end of my third grade year we moved out of the house on Fourth & Liberty and up to my Grandpa and Grandma Ristau's farm which was out towards Russell. This is the farm I stayed at awaiting to hear about the arrival of my sister, Brenda. Grandpa and Grandma spent much of their summers up there. It perched on the top of a hill and you could see for what seemed forever out the kitchen window - looking right down on Eisenhower High School far below. The road approaching from the Warren side was densely forested. It seemed like you were climbing up inside of a leafy tube as you drove up the unpaved road to get there. But, once you were up on the top, it opened right up and there was the farm on the right side of the road. They had around 80 acres but I think that that's probably a very modest estimation. The farmhouse was small but they had a large barn and a grainary and another building which I'm not sure what it would be called. It was all used pretty much for storage. There was a large portion of cleared land directly behind the barn but it went to dense forest immediately where the clearing stopped.
The house, as I said, was quite small, but it was okay because, if you were on the farm you didn't spend much time inside anyway! We spent hours exploring. By the time we moved up there they had finally installed indoor plumbing. I remember clearly staying up there in the days of the outhouse. Boy, you made sure you didn't drink much after dinner and certainly emptied your bladder good before going to bed because NOBODY wanted to have to go out there at night! The kitchen was small and I'm sure the dining room was too, however, we always had enough room for family gatherings. I don't remember there being a TV at all. There were two bedrooms downstairs that I remember - one right off of the living room and the other in the back of the house at the foot of the stairs. There were more upstairs. There was one very small bathroom.
My grandparents were big teasers. I can't think of either of their homes without remembering all the funny signs and gag items sitting around. You could never be quite sure about things you found there. It could be real food or a spongey imitation just waiting for someone to come along and get tricked into trying to take a bite. There were humorous signs by the toilet inviting you to take careful aim and suggestions of what to do in case you found yourself without toilet paper. There were wacky souvenirs brought back from vacations mixed in with family portraits. Having lived through the depression they were firm believers in not throwing anything out - anything! What would happen if one day you might need that lid from the sour cream container? Or that rubber band from the newspaper? Or the foam tray the meat sat on from the butcher? All things were kept and hoarded - just in case....
So we came to live at the farm. Since we were still in school we'd walk from Market Street School over to Aunt Barb's house on the south side for lunch and then back over again after school where my mom would pick us all up and take us back up to the farm. The walk to Aunt Barb's house took us over the Allegheny River on the beautiful Hickory Street bridge - a cement structure which I personally think rivals many I've seen in Europe. It was a pain to have to do all the walking but I loved that bridge! It was so much better than the Glade Bridge which was a steel trestle sort of bridge with a wooden walking path which had boards missing here and there. It shook when cars went over and something about the steel grid made your car do little hops and jiggles as you drove. Yes, the Hickory Street Bridge was all about being stately and solid.
Up at the farm there were blueberries which grew wild just off the back of the clearing. When we'd go up and visit, first thing in the morning my grandfather would hook a little wagon up to the back of his tractor and us kids would pile in the back with our little buckets and he'd drive way out to the edge of the clearing. We'd follow him in to the blueberry bushes and we'd set to picking blueberries. They were delicious, wild, and sweet! When we got all that we needed we'd pile back in to the wagon and head back to the house. We'd talk about what we were going to do with our berries. Some of us wanted some on our cereal, others wanted them cooked into pancakes or muffins. It was great fun and one of the things I regret my kids not being able to experience. There are certain moments for which I wish I had a time machine. I could take my kids and grandkids back so they can experience some of the most exquisite memories of my childhood. And this would be one of them. Living on the farm was different from visiting the farm - my mom didn't always have the time to be driving us out to the blueberry patch in the mornings - but the farm was great. Later my grandparents would plant a huge blueberry patch up closer to the house and they'd grow enough blueberries so as to be able to provide the local grocers with them. These blueberries were huge - almost like grapes - and very sweet. *sigh*
One day my mother decided she was going to clean out and organize one of the out buildings. She corralled us kids as her helpers and out we went. She went in to the second story area which had some doors that opened out to the outside. She would pick things up and throw them down to us with instructions as to what should go where. We were making some pretty good headway when she found these old rugs. She dragged them over and threw them onto the ground and as they fell the rolls opened up. It soon became apparent to those of us on the ground that these rugs had become home to a lively group of bees - and these bees were not too happy about having to move! They swarmed out of that rug and searched for targets on which they could express their unhappiness - namely us kids! We all started running and squealing. We got stung a bit but it ended up not being as bad as it could have been. To this day I approach things that have been stored awhile with a degree of wariness.
The farmhouse had a great patio area which is where most of the socializing took place when the family gathered. My grandfather (and later my uncles as well) was a magnificent barbecuer. He had developed a recipe for a seasoned rub which he used primarily on chickens. He would lace these herb-rubbed whole chickens up onto a spit with string and roast them over the coals until they were about to fall right off. When they were done we'd all line up waiting to get the strings as he cut the chickens off the spit. We'd take those strings and suck on them until they were as dry as bone, trying to get every bit of that delicious juice. They'd have mounds of the chicken and piles of fresh corn on the cob with delicious butter in which to roll your corn. Potato salad was a staple as well as pickled beets and a green salad. I'm telling you now, it was the absolute best food ever. And to sit in that partially enclosed patio area and eat that food and hear all that conversation was just heaven. When our bellies were full, my siblings and cousins and I would go and begin our round up of the fireflies. Since my grandparents saved everything it was never too hard to find a clear jar and lid. We'd run around out there capturing fireflies until somebody decided it was time to play hide and seek. There's just no better place to play hide and seek than out in the country on a farm.
I don't know exactly how long we lived up there on the farm - not too long - but by the summer we found ourselves on the way to Arizona. Arizona!! You couldn't possibly find a place more unlike Pennsylvania than Arizona. My father got a job there in Mesa and so off we went. Goodbye green grass. Goodbye cool nights. Goodbye cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents.....
Posts
