Working on the farm

Dear Louise,

One story that I loved to hear about was the time my Dad decided that he didn't want to stay at home in Price with his sister, Bernice. Grandpa Tom and Grandma Ruth had gone south so Grandpa could work on a construction project. They left Dad (Howard) and Bernice home to look after the vegetable garden and the domestic animals (a cow and pig). After a couple of days, Dad decided he had had enough of that and decided that Bernice could take care of things around the house without him. So he hitchhiked with a guy from Price who drove freight back and forth to and from the Unitah Valley. It was late in the day when Dad got there, to the Edwards grandparent's home, and everyone was glad to see him. BUT, the next morning, Vernon woke him up at the crack of dawn. They worked all that day and for a couple of others from sunup to sundown getting the hay in. Finally, Dad said, he thought they were done and was so happy. After supper, Vernon told Dad he might want to turn in because they had a big day ahead of them the next day. "I thought we were done," said Dad. Vernon told him that they had more hay to get in on another part of the farm. "When we got done there, it was time to start over. I never worked so hard in my life!" Dad said. They kept mowing and stacking and the hay kept growing. Dad said he was about 14 or so and was, most likely, a big help by the end of the summer after he had developed some muscle from the experience. At the end of the summer, his Grandmother Edwards gave him a very small amount of money as pay. However, the money did buy some overalls and a few things for school that fall. Right then, my Dad said he decided that he was NOT going to be like Vernon. He was not going to be a farmer. He started tinkering around with cars and fixing them for people and started buying trucks while he was still a teenager so he never did work as hard as Vernon, he said.