Message from Pete

back in the late 40's we had a 40 of land with a haybarn next to bill kero's place on the gas plant road. it was about two miles from home. we kept a couple cows which we milked in the summer months in a stable made of poles and a thatched roof. we didn't have much water on the land so we carried what we needed from home for washing utters and for the cows to drink. our first cow was kukka. in the winter i remember taking the manure sled down the unplowed gas plant road, through the hard packed snow drifts loaded with manure from our home barn on pewabic street where i grew up. the barn was in the backyard. then after spreading the small load of manure on the field we would either put loose hay on the sled or then quite huge bales of hay made with a hand baler. the horse would run all the way home. i can still hear the squeak of the runners on the cold snow and the squeak of the harness.