Reflections


playmates growing up were my brother and my cousins. I will begin by telling a story about one of the many pranks my brother played on me when we were young. During the winter, it


riences on our family farm in Tennessee and my work at the Univer- sity of Missouri and Mississippi State Uni- versity. This


T reflection is


about the importance of preserving family rela- tionships. My closest


DR. GENE STEVENS PORTAGEVILLE, MO.


his article is the third in a series on my childhood expe-


was dark when Dad and my uncle finished milking in the evening. It


took about three


hours to milk all 135 cows. My brother, Johnny, and I had chores, but we did not stay until the milking was finished on school nights. Johnny was four years older than me and had more re- sponsibilities than I had. When I was little, my first job was to feed milk to the baby calves. I measured cups of powdered milk for each


calf and mixed it with water. Then, I poured the milk into big bottles for the calves to drink. As I grew older, I helped with the milking and cleaned the barn. To get from the dairy


barn to our house at night, Johnny and I had to walk by Granny’s house, cross a road, then go down a path beside a field. Granny had several big trees in her yard. The only lights to see where to walk were the stars and the moon. One night after I fed


the calves, I told Dad, “I need to leave now to eat supper and do my homework.”


Johnny


said that he had more work to do and would come home later. I had never made the long walk home from the barn in the dark by myself. I was really scared! The part that I


dreaded most was walking


through


Granny’s yard. The crooked post oak trees blocked the moon light and the branches like


long


looked arms


reaching out to get me. I was almost through Granny’s yard and was get- ting ready to cross the road. Then I heard a


voice from the other side of Granny’s yard. boy,


“Hey,


here.” I froze in my tracks.


come over It was a


quiet night with no wind. I thought, “Did I


Boogey man hiding behind tree in Granny’s yard.


really hear a voice or was it just my imagination?”


I


slowly turned my head, looking in all directions. Then the voice


said again, “Hey, little boy, come over here.” I saw some- one in the shadow of a tree but did not know who it was. I said, “Who are


you?!” Then the voice “I am the


said, Running on the path in the dark to our house. 6• MidAmerica Farmer Grower www.mafg.net / November 20, 2020


boogey man and I am going to get you.” My heart was beating out of my chest. I turned and ran in the dark as hard as I could for home. I was lucky that I did not trip and fall. When I reached our house,


little


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