The old barn doors hang precariously off the tracks. It's been many years since the lower level has been used as a milking room. The cows were milked twice a day, once very early in the morning and once at night.
Today, as you drive the back roads in the early evening, you can watch the cows in a sinuous line, walking single file back to the barn. It's somewhat of an inside joke in the farming communities that dairy farmers can never take a vacation!
I remember many years ago that friends of ours who were dairy farmers made plans to attend a wedding in another county. They did the morning milking and arranged to have their sons take care of the evening chores, returning late that night. Everything went fairly well, except the cows were upset at the change in their routine, and since the farmer had been absent, replaced by his sons, they gave 1/2 the normal milk.
I've often wondered how dairy farmers fair in retirement, since they've worked the dawn to dusk schedule for many, many years.
1 comment:
Is this a different barn than that being "recycled"? Grandpa wasn't a dairy farmer but until I was 12 he did have a few cows which gave milk for local consumption. Nothing was better than the cream skimmed off the top, whipped lightly with added sugar and served on biscuit like shortbread smothered in strawberries. OK, now I'm hungry.
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