Our theme this round is to tell something about ourselves people may not know. And I suggested we reach back to our childhoods to do that. Here's me and my older brother:
I grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. If you don't know anything about dairy farming, here are the basics:
1. There are cows.
2. Those cows need to be milked twice a day. Always. 365 days a year. No days off.
3. Those cows also need to be fed and watered and cleaned up after, because what goes into a cow always comes out, in a much bigger and smellier quantity than it went in. And, trust me, they don't clean up after themselves.
4. Did I mention the cows?
When I was in third grade, my job was to feed the calves. Sounds simple, yes? Hold on. We kept our calves in hutches, small wooden calf-size sheds, up on a hill. I had to carry grain and water up that hill, two buckets at a time. Ever thought about how much a calf can drink? Trust me, on a hot day in summer, a lot. I have no idea how many hundreds of trips I made up that hill and back down by the time I turned ten.
Speaking of age ten, here's me at the Jackson County Fair with my calf Popcorn:
(No, I didn't win a blue ribbon. Or even a red. I got a white ribbon, one of those "Thanks for coming, I'm sure you'll find something else you're good at...")
As I got older, I did more chores. I fed the cows, which meant I progressed from buckets full of grain to wheelbarrows full of silage. ( chopped-up hay from the silo) Those puppies are heavy, trust me. And one filled while you pushed with the other one, so if you dawdled at all, it would overflow and then you'd have to shovel. Which I did a lot. Not just silage. I remember coming home for Thanksgiving my sophomore year of college. The barn cleaner, the thing that cleans all the gutters out, had broken. And I stood there for hours, knee deep in cow manure, shoveling.
Milking cows was another chore I did for years. But I digress. This is not all about the work. I meant for this to be about the cows, and that, even though they were tons of work, I loved them. And I named them. Most were named for characters out of books I had read. And I was constantly out in the barn playing with them, so by the time they had grown up to be milking cows in the barn, they were so friendly and gentle.
My parents no longer have cows. Now, if I want to pet a cow, I have to call upon rancher friends out here where we live. And in the spring when the fields are full of calves, I stop by the road and get out and walk over to the fence, hoping one will stray my way so I can pet them....
11 comments:
Stephanie, you MUST write a cow book. Perhaps a story based on you and your relationship with Popcorn--a middle grade sweet, sweet story. This gives me new insights into how your Tanzanian experience must have felt familiar in some ways--those trips to the well. Love this post!
Oh I have:) Some of my first ever picture books when I was a kid were about "Calf Hutch Hill." And I did submit a middle grade to a few publishers. I probably should just get it out and rework it now that I've learned a bit more about writing. Still a dream, to have a cow book...
Yes, do it! You will have all sorts of new insights when you go back to it. I want a Bodeen cow book!
Oh, yes, definitely a cow book. It could even be another dystopian novel in which the cows take over the world...
How about a book about how writing is like taking care of cows? I can already imagine some of the chapter titles you could come up with Stephanie.
Stephanie, just reading this post felt like reading a wonderful middle grade story about a girl growing up with cows. You sure know cows! I did not know this about you! I love it!
Stephanie, It is so interesting to me how different all of our backgrounds are. Like, cows, for instance. For me a cow is something you point to on a long drive. I've never known one up close and personal, nonetheless a calf. It fascinates me.
Ah Betsy. I've known many cows up close and personal...
My dad grew up on a farm and he was determined to get a job in the city when he grew up!! I always loved our visits to the family farm, even though the cows and horses were gone by the time I got there. There was plenty of fun stuff to do, and NO work duties for the grandchildren thank goodness.
I agree that you need to get a Bodeen cow book out there!
This was fascinating, Stephanie. If I hadn't know of your Strawberry Queen title, I wouldn't have thought of you as growing up on a farm. Have you ever read "Dairy Queen," about a high school girl growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin? And yes, I think you should write your own middle grade cow book.
David, who grew up firmly in the suburbs but has his own cow picture book coming out in 2013
The judges handing out those ribbons, long ago, were right about one thing: you DID find something else you're good at! And thank goodness it no longer involves mucking stalls!
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