One More Memory

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This is my Uncle Clifford, the oldest of the sons, who stayed to farm the homestead after my Grandmother moved to town. (Erie) He always looked older and weather beaten, I suppose from all the hard physical work. He did have 3 boys to help and 2 brothers in town. They were very devout Christians. He was a quiet man. He would always take us for tractor rides when we were little : ))

Spring in the orchard.

Thinking about the Wickersham Homestead this past week dredged up lots of memories. Mostly all good of course but I had forgotten about the times in the spring when the blossoms were on the apple trees and there was a frost coming! I remember my Uncle Clifford calling my dad to come and help light the smudge pots and watch them all night. I'm sure many other came to help too. My dad would come home with lots of soot on him. Most of the time it saved the crop but I do remember that they lost almost whole crops a couple years. Yes, farmers are at the mercy of the weather, that's for sure, (especially back then.)

You can read about smudge pots here if you've never heard of them.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/pots-226935-growers-smudging.html

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smudge_pot

Shirley