Back at former suburbia home our new large school district described their athletic workout room and it was posh.
I told my husband that the football team of older times (70’s and earlier) were mostly boys from the country. Many arose at 5pm each day to milk cattle and had to get home to do homework and milk again. Others hauled hay during the summer months to “beef up”! Hard work, resting on Sundays after church, a little time Saturday nights to dance or sleep over in town with friends....life was hard but good. Most did so well in school they went to college or in tech positions and moved to run businesses in the cities.
When many parents (we have no children) talk about their kids and grandchildren living at home in their 20’s and working for fast food or not working, it’s sad they don’t have places like these boys grew up to go to for a year and know what real work is like!
A couple years ago, a friend down the road with horses was bringing in hay. It had been some time since I’d done it, and I wasn’t quite eligible for medicare yet, so no spring chicken. But, I decided to pitch in. They were doing the old square bales and it reminded me of days long gone by.
So I was pitching the bales when they come out the back of the baler or I was stacking them. It was hotter than blazes, so we had water bottles with us the whole time. We took regular water breaks, and if we felt the need, we could pull on one of those bottles at any time.
Not doing so would have been ignorant. Your body lets you know when it’s time to drink.
I didn’t die that day....but I did for the next week. I kept Bayer Aspirin in business for 2014.