Blodgett - Pierce Family --- Family Stories
Memoirs of life growing up on a farm in Chautauqua County
by Barbara (Blodgett) Vannier
Pasture and Woods
The pasture gave pleasure not only to cows, but to children. My brothers and their friends
spent many happy hours building dams and all sorts of structures in and around the creek.
Even I spent some time there. At one place there was a bridge across the creek made of
a wide plank. This was where a cousin who frequently visited us always seemed to run at
much too high a speed and often missed his footing and fell into the creek. On one occasion
he even broke an arm in the fall, but that didn't slow him down at all.
The hills, which sloped to the creek, had horizontal paths at different levels made by the
animals. We called these high roads and low roads. They were good for adventures of all kinds.
These hills were also good for skiing and sledding. Once Luther, my younger brother, was dared
by my older brother, Jim, to go over a real cliff at the top of one of the hills on skis.
Luther landed on the top of his head and broke a front tooth. That hindered his trumpet
playing for a while, but his head and all his other parts were all right.
There was a spot in the pasture where it was rumored there was quicksand, but I never heard of
any person or animal getting into trouble there, so I guess it really was just a rumor.
The woods, where all the paths led, was not really ours. It was on my grandfather's property,
which was next to ours, so we were allowed to play there. I didn't do much there except walk
the paths and pick violets in the spring. I do remember, though, that that was where I lost
a ring that a boy in school had given me. It slipped off into the creek and I never did find it.
The boys, however, had great fun in the woods swinging on the vines like Tarzan. Once in a while,
of course, they landed in the creek.
When the weather was suitable, Luther sometimes went to the woods to practice on his trumpet.
In winter and in inclement weather he often entertained the cows and horses by practicing in
the barn - sometimes lying the haymow. He could just let it rip there.