84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 22, 2003
On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other hazard
Joyce Bupp
Hey. You, there.
Yeah, you. I can read your
mind, and let me tell you, I don’t
like what I see. I see plans. Big
plans. Plans that scare me.
What plans of yours do 1 see?
Well, I see a big table, with lots of
people sitting around it. There
are plenty of smiles and people
talking and having a good time.
The table is piled lull of, let’s see,
things like bowls of white mashed
potatoes and orange yams and
red cranberry sauce and brown
gravy and green beans and ... oh
no.
I was afraid of that.
Right there in the middle. The
one on the big platter, all stuffed
and steaming and kind of golden
brown. He’s an old friend of
mine. I’d recognize him any
where, even without his feathers.
Looks like he finally made it
big.
He always did like to be the
center of attention, even when we
were just fluffy little balls snug
gling under the lights at the
hatchery. He always bragged
about pecking his way out of his
eggshell, ahead of all the rest of
us.
I lost track of him after we got
sent out in different shipments.
But I’ve heard tales about how he
gobbled along endlessly to the
hens about how much plumper
he was, puffing out his breast and
fluffing those tail feathers. And
how he didn’t have to work for a
living, just laze around all day
and get fat.
Looks like it worked.
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Envy? Nah, I didn’t envy him.
Hey, look at me. I’m of native
wild turkey blood. We’re not
couch potatoes. We’re famed for
our keen eyesight, our caginess,
and our street smarts. We’re also
much prettier than those plain,
boring, white birds. Our feathers
are a beautiful blend of brown
and black and shimmer with
green and gold luminescence in
the sunshine.
When I landed on this farm, I
wasn’t sure what to expect. But
after I got acquainted with those
two hens they penned me with, I
sort of forgot about all my guy
buddies back at the turkey breed
ing farm. And I haven’t thought
about old pudgy, there on the
table, for a long time.
These girls are my family now.
We spend most of our time to
gether, along with those two
goofy guinea birds. Every day we
all hang out together, checking
the bam floors for grain, picking
bugs and weed seeds out of the
garden, making our rounds of the
meadow, bullying those pesky
kittens out of our way. And we
always
scratch
around a
little under
the bird
feeder as
we’re pass
ing by, for a
fast
little
food sun
flower
seeds.
Our humans here, they
thought maybe we would take to
the woods, establish a little flock.
Hey, there are predators out
there. I spotted that fox that runs
the fields after dark the very first
night I was here. She made it a
regular habit to stalk around our
pen, even though we had a high
roosting perch in the trees. Pretty
unnerving. That fox has her eye
on us, that’s for sure. Good thing
she can’t fly since we found the
rafters in the old bank bam.
Guess she’ll have to settle for
catching mice.
Anyway, we like sleeping with
a barn roof over our head now.
Waking up with wet feathers in
the morning is nasty.
I do keep watch for those
chicken hawks while we’re out
roaming the meadow. You can’t
be too careful, you know. Maybe
they are better fliers than I am,
but could flog the feathers off any
of them if they ever get too close.
Well, I can see you aren’t
going to change your plans about
having dinner with my old friend.
Remember to count your bless
ings and all that food you have
piled there on the table in your
plans.
Let me tell you, the hens and I
are thankful, too. We’re thankful
that you people have tons of fro
zen turkeys to pick from at the
markets.
We’re even more thankful that
they have one of them here in the
farm refrigerator and won’t be
thinking about a native turkey
for dinner.
And give some thought to hav
ing a ham or roast beef for your
next feast.
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Members Gather For
65th Annual Convention
Of Cumberland County
Society Of Farm Women
MECHANICSBURG (Cum
berland Co.) The members of
the Cumberland County Society
of Farm Women gathered for
their annual convention Satur
day, Nov. 8 at the Mechanicsburg
Church of the Brethren.
The convention theme was
“Farm Women Take the Cake,
They Always Mesure Up.” Ap
proximately 160 women were in
attendance with 21 groups repre
sented.
Cumberland County Dairy
Ambassador, Megan Kutz, gave a
presentation on dairying and
promotion of the industry. Spe
cial music, skits, and group sing
ing were the highlights of the'
day.
Paul Garrett of the Cumber
land County Cooperative Exten
sion accepted proceeds from the
bazaar table on behalf of the
Cumberland County 4-H.
Becky Swallow, Society of
Farm Women state president,
gave a report from the other
mniAi
IS A GREAT TIME TO INCREASE YOUR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.
• Dress Shoes
• School Shoes
counties and the upcoming state
convention.
Five 80 year old members were
presented with special pins, and
pins were accepted on behalf of
one 95 year old, one 100 year old
and one 100+ year old member
by representatives of their
groups.
There were 252 Cumberland
County farm women in 2003.
They contributed a total of
$8,400 to local charities in 2003.
Scholarships are available to
any qualifying child or grand
child of the Society of Farm
Women of Pennsylvania.
County officers elected for
2004/05 follow: president
Gayle Fry; first vice-president
Sandy Myers; second vice-presi
dent JoAnn Paulus; recording
secretary Carol Williams; corre
sponding secretary Barb De
itch; and treasurer Deb Yor
lets.