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I think I enjoyed helping with the haying the most. Earl or Mike would first cut the field with the mowing machine and then rake the hay into long windrows to dry, using the big, horse-drawn rake. When the hay had dried, we'd fork the windrows into cocks preparatory to loading and taking to the barn. I would work hard at this cocking job and while I naturally couldn't hold my own with Earl and Mike, I know I made an appreciable contribution. Although I think they allowed me to ride on the hayrack during the loading operation, I don't think I did much in the way of arranging the hay as it was thrown aboard. At the barn, the hay was unloaded by a horse-operated hoist that stowed it away in the mow. There was nothing I could do on this operation but watch, with one man on the rack handling the big grab-fork, and the other in the mow stowing the hay away after it was dropped; also, someone had to drive the horse who provided the lifting power but I can't remember how that was handled -- maybe they mowed it away afterward. Besides helping with the haying, I weeded the vegetable garden, picked vegetables and berries, and mowed the front lawn as well as what side lawns there were. One thing that impressed me about the haying was the deadliness of the mowing machine, which had a big, sidebar cutter about six feet long which was capable of slicing through anything up to a small tree trunk. It was particularly lethal to the cats who'd crouch down in the hay to one side of the horses, only to be caught by the cutter bar and cut to pieces. Sometimes they'd use the hayloader to pick up the hay in the fields direct from the windrows, thus avoiding the cocking operation but I don't know what determined which method they used.

The farm was also a pleasant place to loaf. The porches were supplied with swings and hammocks and comfortable old chairs in which to lounge while reading or just relaxing. The vast stores of old magazines supplied virtually endless material for reading or browsing. There were hundreds of copies of old issues of Cosmopolita, Everybody's, Munsey's, Mc Clure's, Inland Printer, Motion Picture, Photoplay, Country Gentleman, Rural New Yorker, and many more. We'd make occasional trips to Elmwood to attend the small movie theater where the price was 5¢. I'd always try to get permission to ride into town whenever a trip was made to deliver corn downtown, get supplies, or whatever and they'd allow me to drive the horse or horses untl we got into traffic. We'd usually go in the democrat wagon and what fun it was to rattle along behind the jogging horse and enjoy the horsey odors and the smell of harness leather and listen to the clop-clop of the horse's hooves, and especially to enjoy the feeling of holding the reins and controlling the horse. Once in a while, a cow would be taken up the road to Ochsners farm but I never understood the purpose of such trips, nor was I invited to go along. In due course, the cow would be escorted back to the farm and put back in the pasture. Once in a while, there would be a calf around.