Vanishing America

Ol Eli

Here I sit after a long and useful life. Along time ago when life was simple I came to live with Joshua and Sara McAllister. They were a young couple ready to set the world a blaze. They worked side by side making the farm productive. The days were long and summers endless. After my second harvest on the farm, Sara worked less and less. She tired faster but that only seemed to make Joshua work harder. Early in the spring, Sara had a boy. They named him Jacob. Jacob changed our family little by little. The long days would get interrupted for trips to the swimmin' hole and more trips around the barn for no apparent reason at all. Some days we would load the wagon to my hitch and go way off into the meadow and have supper under the stars. Life was so grand back in those days!

The summer of Jacob's 13th birthday, Joshua was shoeing the horse when tragedy happened. Joshua stumbled and frightened Big Red and that's when he was struck in the head by a hove. Poor Joshua never knew what hit him! It was such a sad day when they laid him to rest. The sky was overcast and the wind blew. I didn't come out of the barn until the next planting season. Young Jacob took right over where his father left off. He was still a boy but he worked hard to fill his father's shoes. He would work way after sundown and get up early to get the chores done. There were no more picnics, or trips to the swimming hole, or even fun trips around the barn. Work, work, work, Jacob knew it was up to him. The farm was never quite the same.

The years past and it was plain to see that Jacob was growing restless. The farm was surviving but the passion was gone. He would work day in and day out and never complain but something was missing. You could sense that the boy wanted something more. Even though he desired for more, he never let his mother know. After all he loved his mother more than anything and they were all each other had in this world. She would still dote on him. She made sure his lunches were prepared and that he always had clean clothes. Yes, he loved his mother and he knew his place was there.

Jacob was called to the war shortly after his 19th birthday. His momma was strong. Worried and wary, she kissed her son and wished him a safe return. The first two years of Jacob's absence, we hired the Johnson boy. He was a good enough worker but he popped my clutch and ran me way too fast. His family had a farm and he was doing double duty. So he wasn't the most attentive person to have work for us. The harvests were lean and paying wages stretched us thin. We sold that stupid horse and three years into the war Sara was back driving me. We couldn't afford the hired help, so it was just us. She was more gentle and the work may have slowed but we weren't spring chickens anymore. We got by. When Jacob got back we would be in top shape again!

I still remember that late fall day. We were just finishing up in the cornfield, when a big black car came creeping in the drive. A tall man in a green suit came and handed Sara an envelope. What came next will forever be in my memory. Sara wept like I have never heard, she fell to ground and the men had to help her into the house. I never saw Sara again. They say she died from a broken heart. Jacob never returned home. The Johnson's bought the farm and moved their equipment into the barn. I developed a sputter and was replaced. I was moved out by the potato field and in the fall they sit a scarecrow on me. Here I sit, forgotten and left to rust season after season.

It was such a simple time filled with endless summers of swimmin' holes and laughter. Oh, to go back there again.......