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Sunday, August 12, 2007

ELMER & THE TOWEL

When my dad was farming this homestead, he contracted with Elmer Bell to harvest our wheat. Elmer would come with his state-of-the art self-leveling combine which seemed huge against ours, which Daddy pulled with his D2 Caterpillar. Elmer's wife, Myrtle, hauled the grain by means of a dump truck to Nezperce. While they worked in our field, we would provide a noon meal (dinner) for them. My mother either cooked it at the old wood range in the kitchen or prepared it at home in Orofino and carried it to the farm. Anyway, I remember an occasion when Elmer came in from the field covered with dust. Mother gave him a pan of water and a towel so that he could wash his face and hands before dinner. He never said much to me, but this time he looked at me with a wink and said, "If I get half of it off with the water, the other half will come off with the towel." Without my missing a beat, Mother rejoined from the kitchen, "Kathy believes it!" I thought of this incident recently when my washcloth turned brown with the use of a liquid bath soap. I then saw the value in purchasing the recommended bath poof. KW

5 comments:

  1. Hi Guys,

    I'm on my third try to send you this message--apparently I'm not signing in correctly for Google...
    Anyway, I'm enjoying your blog--what a great way for you to stay in touch and comment on life. I'll check in often.

    Love,
    Chris

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  2. Hi, This is really interesting. Where did the name Frog Farm originate? I had always wanted to write a column for the newspaper when I lived on the farm, but had so many other duties I couldn't find time. It would be "From the West 40". Hope this goes through because I don't want a Google account.

    Harriet

    ReplyDelete
  3. O.K. It appears my comment went through and from now on I will be known as "anonymous"

    harriet

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kathy and Mike,
    I don't know when you posted your website as I just discovered it in my mailbox tonight. What a great idea! Now your friends won't be wondering what you are doing out on the farm. Enjoyed reading your vignettes of daily life.

    Rosemary

    ReplyDelete
  5. Without looking how can you tell the white collar workers from blue collar workers in the rest room.

    The blue collar workers have to wash their hands before doing their bussiness and seldom bother to afterward, the white collar workers wash up afterward.

    tee-hee and it's true too
    -MVW

    ReplyDelete