Growing Up
Our cousins, several families, who lived in or near Pasadena California came out to the dairy regularly. It’s about an hour drive.
They came to visit us much more often than we went to see them. The cows don’t take off on weekends. A family dairy farm is run and managed by the family, 24/7.
I had 5 brothers and 4 sisters, a good Catholic family. There were three cousins from Uncle Frank and across the street at the neighbor’s dairy there were six boys. We had a great time on the weekends playing whatever sport was in season. We had some great games and some great fights too.
My cousin John and I are the same age so we would often pair up after a game and do boy things. We played with the Tonka fleet, clime trees and hay stacks. One hot summer day we decided to go play in the big concrete water trough at the end of the hay lane. The water was cool and the gold fish were brilliant orange. We would always start with a big drink and then a splash fight. That day we got into the trough with all our clothes on. Our splash fight soon turned into a moss fight. The slimy green moss that settled on the bottom of the trough could be brought up by the handful. We were literally green from head to toe.
It was a lot of fun, but it didn’t stop there. The fight went from the trough moss to the gooey green manure from inside pen 1. Now not only were we green from head to toe but the smell stayed with us the whole weekend. Aunt Edna was not pleased…
