On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other
hazards) j
Joyce Bupp
Sometimes you can spot trouble
a mile away.
This wasn't quite a mile, but the
trouble ahead was obvious.
There on the steps of a local
bank was a familiar face. As 1 got
closer, a second familiar face
came into view. Uncle Donnie.
And Lindy, whose family are spe
cial friends. There would be some
sort of grief from these two, and it
came the moment I rounded the
comer.
“Hey, look at the size of that
handbag,” they harassed, know
ing I was headed up the steps to
the door and insinuating that it
was stuffed with a bunch of depo
sit potential. Yeah. Right.
“Well, it’s certainly not full of
checks," I laughed in defense,'
“though I wish. No way. It’s full
0f...0f...uh, pens and cosmetics
and stuff.”
Fact is, the handbag is full of
“stuff." But, for a split second
there, I couldn’t for the life of me
recall what all the stuff was caus
ing my worn purse to look like it
was going to have puppies.
This was a wake-up call.
Because, parked on a closet shelf
back home was a brand new hand
bag, one I had purchased just a
few weeks ago. The intent was to
replace the worn, aging one, with
its fraying sides and threadbare
strap attachments, with one of
more respectable appearance. At
least for a little while, I might not
look as though I was hauling
around something that might have
passed as a well-used saddlebag
lingering from the Pony Express
era. Stuffed with...good question.
But the replacement had
remained parked on the shelf for at
least three weeks. I’d forgotten
about it, to be honest. Maybe
because I hate to switch handbags.
A handbag is your life. A hand
bag is your identity. A handbag is
essentially you. Let a
woman browse through another
woman’s handbag for three
BUILDING THE FAMILY FARM FOR GENERATIONS
We watch over every step in the manufacture, assembly and
construction of your building. Morton operates five manufacturing
facilities, strategically located to serve you efficiently.
Our high-volume buying power enables us to purchase the finest raw
materials at the lowest possible price. Components for your structure
are manufactured, fabricated and assembled under the watchful eyes
of quality control experts.
We maintain a fleet of company-owned and operated trucks,
enabling our drivers to unload your building materials quickly and
safely.
From that point, a crew of company-trained, company-employed,
and company-insured construction professionals takes over. They are
trained to follow the most efficient and safe construction methods A AM M A “ir —• «
possible, and are supplied with state-of-the-art equipment and quality ni/l/ a 44- Wino,s ***
materials to make your facility something to be proud of for years to 1-600-42MMa
come. ..
minutes and she can probably
piece together a life stoiy. And we
all have our own personal filing
systems in our heads for using the
various compartments provided
by the most useful of well
designed handbags.
Men who often make fun of
our handbags delight in having
fishing, hunting, tool, etc, vests
sporting about 23 pockets, each
filled with some vital necessity.
Like squirmy, squishy Jello
consistency colored artificial
worms or bugs. Or real, live bul
lels neatly arranged, for goodness’
sake. And they laugh at what we
carry around?
Debating that gender gap
nudged me to get the handbag
retirement and transfer process
under way. Or maybe it was cur
iosity? What all was in there? I
lugged the new purse down from
upstairs and embarked on this
adventure.
Relocated to a new home in a
black, faux-leather, four-sectioned
shoulder bag were the usual: wal
let, dalebook, checkbook, sunglas
ses, comb and brush, notebook of
phone numbers and addresses,
contact lens solutions, emergency
glasses in case I lose a contact
lens, and cosmetic case bulging
with miscellaneous makeup and
one rubberband. Source of rubber
battd, -undetermined.
Tucked into another section
was my “sundries” department, a
small plastic case stuffed with tiny
scissors, mini-sewing kit, ban
dages, emory boards and miscella
neous pain-reliever sample packs,
which I rarely ever use but fre
quently lend to fellow meeting
attendees. Found at the bottom of
that section was a retracting tape
measure periodically used while
shopping to measure potential
household purchases. Also bor
rowed by. a male stranger in a dis
count department store a few
months ago because he had for
gotten his.
Tractor Com
ROPS, Seat
ITASCA, HI. In an unprece
dented joint effort, North Ameri
ca’s five leading tractor com
panies are working together to en
courage tractor owners to have
their older machines equipped
with rollover protective structures
(ROPS) and seat belts in an effort
to help reduce deaths and injuries
associated with rollovers and run
overs.
As an incentive to owners,
AGCO Corporation, Case Cor
poration, Deere & Company, Ku
bota Tractor Corporation, and
New Holland North America,
Incorporated are making it possi
ble to purchase ROPS and seat
belts at the companies’ cost.
This joint effort is aimed at re
ducing the two leading causes of
death and injury to tractor opera
tors. Statistics compiled by the
National Safety Council show 55
percent of all tractor-related
deaths in 1995 were associated
with rollovers and 26 percent in
volved people who were run over
by tractors. Approximately one
half of the people run over were
operators who were thrown from
tractors.
A recent study of 76 tractor roll
over fatalities by lowa State Uni
versity and the University of lowa
Center for Agricultural Safety and
More interesting were the flot
sam and jetsam; one name tag,
three daiiy-related lapel pins, a
scrawled drawing on a pink piece
of paper gifted me by a five-year
old church friend, seven ball point
pens, eight One-line marker pens,
one pink highlighter, two paper
clips, two safety pins, three pieces
of wrapped chocolate, four pieces
of assorted hard candy, one
restaurant courtesy breath mint,
and two slightly misshapen pieces
of chewing gum. I struck paydirt
on die the very bottom: one dime,
two nickels, and six pennies.
Know what? I transferred most
of it Except for a handful of
crumpled tissues and a few scrap
groceiy lists. And the chocolate,
which promptly disappeared.
Alas, the new handbag now
looks like it’s going to have pup
pies. But, guys, I did find some
thing I can deposit in the bank
Twenty-six cents.
MORTON
W BUILDINGS
717/624-3331
3368 York Rd.
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 13, 1997-B3
parties Unite To Promote
Belts On Older Machines
Health (I-CASH) showed all 76
victims were operating tractors
without ROPS and seat belts.
“If a tractor rolls over and it
doesn’t have a ROPS. there’s a 75
percent chance of dying,” said I
CASH Director Dr. Kelley Don
ham. “If you put a ROPS and seat
belt on the tractor, and wear the
seat belt, you have a 95 percent or
greater chance of walking away
from the situation.”
Donham stresses that wearing a
seat belt is important, because it
ensures the operator remains in
the protection zone of the ROPS.
ROPS and seat belts were
adopted as standard equipment by
all major tractor manufacturers in
1985. However, according to a
1994 survey by the USDA’s Na
tional Agricultural Statistics Ser
vice, more than 2.9 million, or 62
percent, of the estimated 4.7 mil
lion tractors in use on farms were
not equipped with ROPS and seat
belts.
To encourage owners to have
ROPS and seatbelts installed on
their older tractors and to reduce
the effect that price may have on
the decision, AGCO, Case, John
Deere, Kubota, and New Holland
are offering kits at cost to their
dealers and asking them to sell
these kits without markup. For
tractor owners concerned about
low overhead clearance, such as
Rice Is Just
A Click Away
HOUSTON, Texas Rice is
just a click away. Welcome to the
’SOs-lhemed Have a Rice Day
Cafe , a new, interactive web site
where rice eaters around the world
can congregate to learn the latest
news on the rice industry, pick up
some tips for cooking the perfect
pot of rice, download recipes with
the click of a button, check out
festivals and events happening in
the rice growing areas, and a
whole lot more.
The site, sponsored by the USA
Rice Federation, features black
and-white rice industry photos
from the ’SOs along with a menu
which includes more than 100 rice
recipes (photos and nutrition con
tent included), a bibliography of
908/454-7900
P.O. Box 126,
Phillipsburg, NJ 08665
bam doors, folding ROPS kits are
also available for some tractors.
Depending on the tractor model,
most ROPS kits cost less than
$6OO plus freight and in
stallation. Kits are available for
most tractors manufacturcrcd in
the mid/late 1960 s up to 1985
(when ROPS and seat bells be
came standard).
In addition to the price incen
tive, the companies plan to place
co-sponsored announcements in
various farm media, including
company-produced communica
tions, to promote ROPS and seat
belts on older tractors. At the same
time, each company will continue
its individual educational and pro
motional programs to encourage
owners to have their older tractors
equipped with ROPS and scat
bells.
Tractor owners should contact
their local dealer for more infor
mation and to set up an appoint-
ment to have HOPS and scat belts
installed on their older tractors.
The National Safety Council
encourages all farmers and ranch
ers to take the first step and put an
emphasis on safety during Nation
al Farm Safety and Health week
and throughout the year. It will
take a team effort to prevent trac
tor rollover deaths and other farm
and ranch injuries.
rice cookbooks, trivia, and an in
teractive forum where guests can
play games, ask questions of the
rice experts, submit favorite rice
recipes, or search for recipes that
contain a particular ingredient.
In addition to fun graphics,
the site (located at http://www.
usarice.com) is designed to entice
guests to visit again and again.
“We’re updating the site weekly
to feature a seasonal recipc-of-the
week and include the latest news
about the rice industry. It will con
tinue to expand and evolve, keep
ing visitors of the Cafe enter
tained and informed,” said Kim
berly Park, manager of national
consumer education programs for
USA Rice.
Jars & Uds^
All shapes and sizes!
Factory direct pricing!
Distributor inquiries welcomed!
Fillmore Container Inc.
2316-B Norman Rd., Lancaster, PA 17601
Ph.(717)397-4131 ,
Fax (717) 397-0941
CLOSED SUNDAYS, NEW YEAH,
Jt EASTER MONDAY,ASCENSION DAY,
WHIT MONDAY, OCT. 11, THANKSGIVING,
, fIfIHTVII CHRISTMAS A DECEMBER 26TH
FISHER’S FURNITURE, INC.
NEW AND USED FURMITMM
USED COAL t MfV HEATERS
CMMMUM WWWMURE A ANTIQUES
"IDS. HRS. BOX $7
MON.-THURS. 1-5 1129 GEORGETOWN RD
FRI, l-l, BAT. 1-12 BART, RA 17501