Last night I was going through some pictures on my phone and came across the one above. It is one of me on my cousin Matt's antique Allis-Chalmers tractor mowing some grass. The location I was mowing was where we called the "Farm".
The Farm is about 13 acres of land that my aunt and uncle once lived on and owned. They have passed on and now one of my other cousins owns the property and Matt and I used to take care of it for our use of it.
The Farm was my Happy Place not only as an adult, but as a kid growing up. As a kid I would spend the occasional weekend with my aunt and uncle. There place was a poor kids fun park. My uncle ran a scrap yard off the property. Junk cars, tractors and mechanical widgets of all sorts cluttered the 13 acres. It was a little boys playground. My cousins and I would spend daylight to dark playing amongst the junk.
After retiring from military service, we moved back to our hometown. My cousin Matt, also retired from military service, and eventually did the same. We talked with our other cousin who owned our aunt and uncles property and he agreed to let us use it if we took care of it.
We used the old quonset hut made from an oil tanker as a garage, which was its original use to begin with. We tinkered around with stuff to fix them up there. My cousin had some old tractors he stored there as well. Those are what we used to maintain the property.
We kept grass trimmed down, limbs cut from the trails and from around the small pond. We made a shooting range and shot hundreds of rounds on it. We hunted the property, but never got anything. Although there was plenty of wildlife to be seen when we weren't looking for it.
Sometimes I just liked going to the Farm because it was a Happy Place that allowed me to relax and clear my head. I could just sit in the quietness of the countryside, listen to the birds, or the howl of a coyote at night. It was special.
Sadly, a little under four years ago we moved from my hometown to where we are now. It is now a 2 hour drive to visit my cousin Matt and the Happy Place with him. So I don't get to it but maybe once a year on average now.
Matt still takes care of the property and uses it for fixing things and shooting occasionally. However he does miss our time out there together and I do as well.
There is something special about this place. I smile from ear to ear when I am there and enjoy ever second. The childhood memories, the countryside scenary and noise, the present experiences, it all combines to make it...
...MY HAPPY PLACE
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Note: Image is my own. Camera unknown
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