On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) Joyce Bupp So many distractions. So little time. Inside the house, at the office jpfjif, Boss Computer’s screen saver weaves geometric shapes of changing color over the monitor. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting for me to return, plop into the worn swivel chair and get busy at keyboard. Deadlines loom. And, as we all know, time waits for no man. Nor for a woman whose mind says, “Get at it!” but whose emotions whine back: “But it’s SOOO nice outside!” Lovely April days tease the inner kid that sdll lurks inside many of us. We want to be the last lO WantToAct like Lumberjacks, NotWnk LikeTkem. If you know a little about the tim ber business, you know that Stinl chain saws have been used by profes sional wooacutters for over sixty years. So maybe you think Stihl equip ment is “too good” fora suburbanite or farmer or anyone else who needs to cut wood on an oc casional basis. Well, we’re hap py to tell you that Stihl makes a whole series of chain saws with your needs in mind. But don’t confuse (bribe Rut Oflbulbat RranisedlbuH Neter Compromise. STIHL Number One Worldwide Available at these servicing dealers Alrvllle WOODBINE MOWER & SAW CO. 1298 WOODBINE RD. 717-882*3271 TRI-BORO CONCRETE, INC 435 LocuM St. 717-246-3095 1-800-632-9018 East Earl GOODS LAWN & GARDEN CENTER Route 23 717-354-4026 Ext. 34 Elizabethtown MESSICK FARM EQUIPMENT, INC. Rheemt Exit-Rt. 2t3 Elizabethtown, PA 717-367-1319, 717-653-8867 Eohrata WES STAUFFER ENGINES & EQUIPMENT 23 Plaaeant Valley Rd. 717-738-4215 one in from the playground when the bell signals the end of recess. We want to daydream out the win dow when we’re supposed to be finishing our math problems (or farm accounting records). We want to linger outside as a deliciously-warm dusk falls, listen to the last songs of the day from a high-perched robin and watch the stars begin to twinkle. We want to plead, “Just one more minute?” to a mother calling us to come in and get to our homework. This computerized taskmaster with its impatient curser line is not a mother waiting, waiting, waiting. It won’t ground me from a social BOLLINGER’S LAWN & GARDEN EQUIP. Ephrata, Pa. 717-731-1131 717-656-2710 Harahay, PA 717-533-4060 Gao GAP POWER EQUIPMENT Corner of Rl. 30 8 Rt. M 7 717-442-8970 SHARTLESVILLE FARM SERVICE RO 1.80X1302 610-488-1025 HUMMEL’S TEXACO Rl. 11 815 717-743-745* Jonestown BLUE MOUNTAIN ENTERPRISES, INC. Rl. 72 South 717-865-2994 BOMBERGER’S LAWN & GARDEN Lltltz; 717-626-3301 Lebanon: 717-272-4155 | The Stihl 021 Superb power-lo weight ratio, isolated carburetor, electronic ignition GUTSHALL’S INC Loytvllla, PA - Carlld* 717-769-4343 717-249-2313 Mverstown EBLING LAWN & GARDEN SERVICE •**E. Lincoln Ava. 717-866-6720 Oxford ENFIELD EQUIPMENT 6600 Llmeeloneßd. 610-932-8858 HERR’S REPAIR SHOP RD 2, Box 115 A 717-838-1549 Palmyra WEAVER’S LAWN & GARDEN 740 W. Main St 717-838-5999 Reamstown EAGLE RENTAL CENTER Rl 272, Rcanulown Traffic Light 717-336-3945 life or withhold my dessert until I finish this chore. Will it? (No, please, not dessert!) So, reverting to this spring induced, juvenile behaviour, I excuse myself from Boss Compu ter, with the reasoning that a load of wet laundry needs line-drying in the fresh air. When the last soggy sock is tacked to the line with a clothespin, I escape to the veget able garden, where the season’s most precious delicacy is just pok ing out of its bed. Asparagus. Three years ago, I planted the small patch and have kept it mulched with manure enriched straw bedding from the calf pens. Those tender, fat, pink ish tips, pushing up through the crumbly soil of the garden, will be plentiful reward for the digging, forking, mulching and weeding. From there, it’s just a few steps back to the perennial border, where mums transplanted by clumps from last year’s location look wilted and bedraggled. A thorough, steady, soaking couple inches of rain would do wonders to perk them up. In fact, a good, soak ing, couple of inches of rain would perk up farmers, too as well as them with discount store chain saws All Slihl saws arc designed for perfor mance, ease of han dling and starting, and durability Now, about the 026 shown at the bottom: well admit we sell this saw to professional wood cutters. But itfc also bought by people who simply put a lot of hours on a saw every year. And by the way, when were you ever unhappy be cause you bought a product that was too good? A & B SALES & SERVICE 370 Newport Road 2 Mllaa South of Rt. 23 Along 772 Thru Monttray MARTIN HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT CO. Rt. 50111/2 Mllm South of SchauMcrttown, PA 717-949-8817 LEINBACH FARM EQUIP. 1120RllntrHwy. 717-532-5511 Tamaaua CHARLES s. SNYDER, INC, RD 3 717-386-5945 HANCOCK BLOCK TRUE VALUE 220 Fulton St. 301-678-7242 ENFIELD EQUIPMENT INC. 720 WhMlor School Rd. 301-879-5090 firefighters who risk their lives battling brush and forest fires. Several clumps of herbs have wintered well at the next stop, their comer of a raised bed. Perennial oregano sprawled from a single, three-inch flower pot size to a thick ground cover more than a foot square in size. Gaps between neighboring stalks of thyme, rosemary and parsley can be filled with the seedlings of purple basil started in the greenhouse. Joining me in my backyard wan dering is Monk the cat, also fleeing her responsibility to keep the bean bag chair warm. She rolls on her back in the clump of tender leaved, catnip mint, a lode of pure ecstasy on her furry face. A scruffy, unplanted comer of ground at the springhouse pleads for some attractive addition to t Plain Communities Bi Exchu ✓ Plain Way of Doin' Business by Peter Gail, Geauga County Ohio is a well written, informative column featuring different plain businesses each month. / Tax Talk important tax information especially for Plain Businesses - written by Certified Public Accountant, Ronald C. Allison. / life in the Workplace funny adventures told by Jingles the Shop Dog! / Nature at it's Best is a lovely, poetic column written by Aunt Sara. / Noble County Ada shares stories about the Life of a Shop Owner's Wife in her monthly column. / Gideon Fisher writes about leather and leather products in Harness Shop Editorial. ✓ Find out Whats Happening in Plain communities everywhere. / Plus interesting old stories about trains, hunting, logging adventures, history and much much more. / More than 100 display & classifieds ads in every issue, advertising all kinds Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 15, 1995*83 MILK. U DOES A BODY good; replace the weed volunteers. Hav ing pondered over an ideal plant for this hot, dry spot for some time, inspiration suddenly strikes. The stately yucca Mom shared with me a few years ago is sending out baby plants. One will find a new home here. Winds pick up as the sun slips behind a grayish cloud; Monk grumbles that she’s chilly. Boss Computer is still there, waiting, waiting, waiting, weaving impa tient geometries. When the kids were small and enjoyed wandering off on similar jaunts, I kept tabs on their where abouts with a small cow bell, slipped onto a soft belt tied around their waists. If Boss Computer threatens me with a bell, I’ll yank its software.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers