Yep, last time ever.
This weekend was the last time ever that I will ever sleep at the farm. We went down friday night for the auction. Granny has sold the place. I do realize that this is a good thing for her, but there are a lot of memories for me there. There are a lot of memories for most of us there, whether you are family or not, most of us have been there at least once. And, if you have been there, you have probably spent the night there, or at least eaten a meal or two there. I will miss it greatly, more than most people think I am capable of, but I will. I took a final walk around the pasture with Matthew today, and it was overwhelming the things that came back to me. The hog pen, no not that one, the big hog pen, that is no longer there, about an acre that I helped daddy and papa build. All the times that I hunted doves at the pond, with so many people that it would be its own blog just to list them, but Bill and Bobby to be specific. Carrie and I loading wood from the fence post pile to burn on the campfire. Shooting Jason's 50 caliber sniper rifle with Bill, Bobby, Dave and Jason. Angie hunting rats and hitting me above the eye with a richochet. Me killing 22 blackbirds with 15 12 guage shells. All the coveys of quail that I scared up when I didn't have a gun along the south fence. The coyotes that I called up with Bobby and Denny and Wes Tibbets in the field just to the south of all the old cars, when it was so cold that you could hear our teeth chattering a hundred feet away. Killing the emu with Dave, when I first got my bow. Wondering, God I don't know how many times, "Where the hell did all these cars come from?" Bathing in the pond with Bill, because we were there and why not. And my all time favorite, hearing Angie yelling at the top of her lungs, when we were putting the top on the big shop, because she had caught a big catfish, and needed someone to take it off the line. I could go on and on, but I won't. Maybe tommorrow.
Saturday was the auction, and it was depressing, until I decided to take part. There were three trailers in the big shop. I did not bid on anything on the first two, but I had walked around and found something that I wanted. Beside all of Papa's old creepers was a roll around seat with a tray for tools under it. I have used it I don't know how many times, and I wanted it. So when they started on the third trailer, I got up on the trailer beside it and waited. When they came to my seat, they included the creepers with it in the bidding. Well, it was mine, so I was determined to get them all. The bidding started at 2 dollars, I started in at about 6 dollars, and after I made my 10 dollar bid, I slid my jacket back so the guy I was bidding against could read my last name, and he took a dive. I think at that point, he understood he would not win. I was not going to leave there without that. I won it for the ten dollar bid, but would have paid much more, just for the seat.
Later in the auction, I saw someone so determined to win something that I was amazed what he did. I worked for Wayne Rowan for years hauling wheat. He is the most laid back and softspoken person in the world, but he saw something that he wanted and he went after it. It was just a pair of shears, but he wanted them. He ended up bidding against a guy I went to highschool with and would have graduated with if I would have stayed in school at Knox City, named Fred Ledesma. Fred had told me earlier that he wanted those shears and would get them. But when it came down to it, it was just Wayne and Fred. Fred would bid, then Wayne, then at one point around 30 dollars, Wayne just leaned over on the trailer, and with his other hand, started signaling Fred with the universal "COME ON" sign, you know, the reverse wave, and Wayne didn't move until Fred quit bidding. I have no idea what was so special about those shears, but Wayne and Fred did. Wayne bought them for 55 dollars. WOW!
That's all for now, I will have more tommorrow.
See ya then,
Jim
