The Ja -ru Farm

A FAMILY FARM NOW IN DISREPAIR, NO LONGER USED....

Coming up to the cross roads at the  intersection where highway 25  turned south t'words Archer City, I waited as the east bound  traffic went by at a rather fast pace. turning the old Chevrolet  south  and driving just about a  half mile, was the old farm. It sure did not look the same with the pastures over grown with mesquite saplings, and the fences had been neglected and unkept. The wind mill in the south pasture by the stock pond was still standing, but was in the locked position. Someone had tied the wind blades to the frame work of the tower so it could not turn. the fields around the stock pond had not been mowed in a quite a while, they were overgrown with mesquite saplings, and rye grass and tumble weeds. This south pasture was used to grow hay for the cattle years earlier, and oats  had been sown here as well, When it came time to put the hay in the barn, The antique hay rake was used to pick up the wind rows, and dropped the bulk of the hay into the wagon that was towed behind an old 8n ford tractor . Then, when the hay was stacked in the wagon all the way past the side boards, The old farmer would send me up into the loft of the huge red barn, and tell me to drag the cast iron hay hook down along the overhead rail, and set it first, over the center of the loaded wagon, and tug on the release handle. the hay hook would drop quickly and set itself deep into the load of hay. the hard part was pulling up the one hundred plus, pounds of hay by hand, thirty feet up to where we stood in the loft. Manual labor at its finest, or roughest I should say.I  remember  where the garden used to be and drove along the back fence to see the rear part of the rock and mortar house, This was the house that Jack built, The old farmer would tell me,  as he would take me to the garden section to help him set the water line to irrigate the large garden with. they had the peach trees and plum trees , fully grown in the middle section of their garden. The smell of the blossoms on those trees was magical in the early spring every year...... The stock pond on the north side of the property was still a nice place to fish, so it seemed... the shade trees all along the tank dam and down near the pump house were a bit larger and thicker than what I had recalled from several years  back, It was peaceful , a place of solitude, the ripples on top of the water told me the sun perch and catfish  are still in abundance, they were catching  the may flies , that danced on top of the water. it was a frenzy of activity on top and below the water. The wind mill next to the barn had been in disrepair for years. the blades  were all twisted and the rod sections had been removed, from the gear box all the way down to ground level. The cattle used to drink from this water well  and it was used for irrigation to the garden. but not any more....It  seemed to be dry as a bone. I made my way across the garden and back to the road were the Chevrolet sedan was parked, Thirty years  had gone by since this place was last used as a working farm. It was now just a shadow of what this farm used to be, All of the usable acreage was over grown with trees and weeds,... the barn was in dire need of paint and repair,... and all of the fruit trees had disappeared, from disease,or dried up from no water, The Farm house was still in fair shape, the Rock and masonry style home had stood the test of time, the exterior seemed to be fine, and I assumed the interior was good as well. The whole place looked strange enough, or out of place,.. from what I could recall from years earlier. The farm house was isolated from the rest of the property, being taken over by  tall weeds and huge over growth, of dried Johnson grass and rye grass and weeds. I got back into my car and made the journey east to get some gas and a bite to eat, it would be several more years before I would make this trip again.....to see the old farm, and the memories it holds from the early years.......