After doing my morning chores yesterday, I decided to go exploring back on the farm. We referred to this part of the property as “back on the hill”. There was an old road that we took up there for years but it’s hardly even passable in an ATV. Pop-Pop had converted an old Model A into a farm truck and he’d take us back on the hill in it. That road was so steep we had to lay down in the bed of the truck with our feet on the tailgate to keep from getting tossed out. Amazing that we didn’t get killed!
I drove back the old oil and gas well road. I stopped at an old country church and looked around then headed for the familiar road leading into the back of the farm. I searched everywhere. Turned around and took another road but before long I realized that wasn’t the right one. Turned around again and was heading out when I ran into a fella that lives down the road. I asked him if he knew how to get to the road I was looking for. He was very kind and went to get his four wheeler to show me.
The ground is so grown up back there now, I almost didn’t recognize it. It’s amazing how quickly the woods will take over land. There’s nothing but the roof left of the old home place. And this is me in the doorway of the Strawberry Shed. This farm produced the finest strawberries in three counties. We had quite a production going. My great grandfather built this shed. The workers would bring the flats of strawberries to the big window in the front (on the wall to my left). Women would take the flats, sort and cull the berries, and hand them off to be loaded onto the back of my Pop-Pop’s truck for the ride into Parkersburg to the Farmer’s Market. I had two favorite parts of the day…being alone with my Pop-Pop on that ride into town and being alone in the kitchen with my grandma cooking lunch for the berry pickers.
I look back now at what a huge amount of work it was to grow and sell those strawberries. After paying for supplies, gas, and hired help, they couldn’t possibly have made much money. But any little bit helped in those days. Now that I’m the “farm keeper”, I needed to get back here and see what’s what. The ground is posted “No Hunting” but there is evidence that hunters have stayed in that shed. I’ll go back up in the fall when the colors are awesome and post pictures. Maybe I’ll mount a game camera up there and see what kind of critters show up. It turned out to be an absolutely glorious day and I feel tremendously blessed!
❤️
“How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”
Psalm 104:24 NIV