Monday, July 19, 2010

A brief repast

I'll be writing the last part of Fractured Fairy Tales for this week. In the meantime, I was feeling nostalgic about my time on the farm. So I decided to do a photo post of a few things I found from those childhood days. Some photos a few long-time readers will recognize. Please just sit back and enjoy.

First off, let me set the scene with a photo of the farmland. This photo was after the raising of livestock. The lower building is the cottage house. My parents had built it in the hopes my great-grandmother would come live with us back in the early 90's. She decided to stay in her long-time home in Long Island, New York. During my childhood, the land was pasture where the cottage sits, with barbed wire and an electric fence running along the edge of property up to the building on the far left, which is the separate garage. The back building, of course, is the barn. My parents still own and live on the property.



This is a photo of the isolated valley I lived in. It was taken from the second story window of the house. Those lines at the bottom are reflections of light on the glass.



The top photo shows more of the farmland. The bottom photo shows one of our large trees downed by a summer windstorm.  It shows only half of the tree with my very tall sister standing in front just to show the width of the tree (my sister is 5'11).



Of course living on a farm meant raising livestock. Here were our pigs ready for their photo op right after wallowing in their mud pit.




Our regular pets: one of the many feral farm cats that adopted the humans on the farm and my sister's rabbit. Yes, he was that big, even with his fur trimmed back. This bunny could eat Pomeranian dogs for breakfast.



A photo collection couldn't be complete without showing the electric fence box. Oh, we kids had shocking fun playing tricks on each other with this.



Here is a winter photo of the back of the property past the barn. It has always been disputed whether our family owned the land beyond the trees or not. In the end, all the property owners just decided to share it between them.




And here's a bit of something from my school days. I don't know how I came upon these, but I was rewarded with these certificates while attending James H. Metzgar Elementary School - if you can read my name, the school's name, and the dates past the fuzziness. The last photos are of myself as a child: winning a basketball trophy, asleep in front of the fireplace, wrestling with my older brother, and in a red dress.






Thanks for spending some time with me during this brief repast! I'll be back with the final Jack and the Beanstalk story.

16 comments:

  1. Thanks for this, Michelle!

    Always a pleasure to get a peek into a friend's life, that you haven't had before. . .

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  2. Thanks for sharing these photos, Michelle. It's really neat to see where you came from. And wow, that landscape looks truly beautiful. No wonder you grew up inspired to write.

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  3. Love the pictures! What beautiful country you lived in. And you were such an adorable child.

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  4. Wow, such a wonderful look into your past. I can see where your inspiration comes from.

    Were you always taller than most? Did everyone think that you must play basketball or be really good at basketball just because of your height?

    I think it is clear you have so many other talents as well. I've been venturing back and reading your twisted fairy tales. They're outstanding!

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  5. J.L. Stratton: Actually, I'm not tall at all. My brother and sister are. But I'm a short person.

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  6. Great to see the photos and your reminiscences of youth. Love the pun! It's a true repast, in that you gave us some food (for thought) and also a REturn to your past. Nice.

    (Also love the photo of you asleep in front of the fireplace. Very cute.)

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  7. Beautiful pictures. As much as I can't imagine me living in a rural landscape I love to drive through and admire it and the people who make a living where I imagine I would wither. Thanks for sharing. Have you gone back since you moved?

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  8. Whalehead King: No, I haven't visited in some time.

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  9. Thanks for sharing that look into what makes you tick.

    Pigs is good stuff!

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  10. Beautiful piece of property Michelle. I am in serious need of some out in the country time. Will have to wait until after Cross Country season. We light the fuse in 3 weeks. Hope the rest of the summer goes good for you.
    Coach O

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  11. did that bunny have a role in the film "monty python and the holy grail?"

    ah, the electric fence, has any kid who ever spent time on a farm every NOt played tricks with each other using the fence? my brother and i certainly did and we were only weekend farm kids.

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  12. Oh my God, you are tooooo cute for words (that one of you all curled up asleep is just adorable)! What a great collection of pic's, the pigs made me laugh!

    Looking forward to the final Jack installment..

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  13. It looks like an idyllic life. I love the pictures of you, especially with the trophy that looks almost as big as you. LOL

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  14. Hi Michelle, Lime recommended your blog to me. I enjoyed seeing your childhood photos and that is one heck of a bunny!

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  15. Always enjoy your posts that give us a glimpse into your past Michelle. Love those awards, Marvelous Multiplier & Divine Divider. Oh, that bunny! Too cute! :o)

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  16. I love to look at older photos...and it was so nice to see the ones you posted of the farm. Your bunny LOOKS like my pomeranian (well...I used to have a pomeranian...she was stolen...sigh....At least, she wasn't eaten by a bunny! :)))
    Your walk back in time was a lovely reminder for me, too....as I grew up on a farm. Thank you, Michelle.
    Hugs and smiles from Jackie

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