Blodgett - Pierce Family --- Family Stories
Memoirs of life growing up on a farm in Chautauqua County
by Barbara (Blodgett) Vannier
Trips before the Harvest
On grape farms there was a little lull in the work in the vineyards before the harvest.
My parents often used that lull to take trips around the country. For several years
Uncle Clyde, whose wife had died, invited my father and mother and another uncle
and aunt (not always the same uncle and aunt - it depended upon who could leave)
to go with him on a trip to different parts of the country.
Uncle Clyde had a big, comfortable car and he also had a wonderful camera, which
he loved to use and he did it very well. He and the four people he invited to go with
him traveled mostly to national parks. They spent about two weeks, staying in motels,
making their own breakfasts and lunches and eating dinner in restaurants. They worked
out a way to share expenses and work loads. I never heard of any squabbling about
anything. It seems that everyone in my family is anxious to do his share and more
of everything. That makes life very pleasant.
Those trips were very important occasions. They were a welcome respite from life on the
farm and they provided a wonderful opportunity to see what a beautiful country this is.
Aunt Abbie thought they were important enough to make a commemorative ceramic plate
tracing the routes of several of those trips on a map of the country.
I realize now that a trip around the country in a car in the 1930's, when those trips took
place, must have been quite an adventure. There were no super highways at that time,
but the national parks, which were just being developed, were a strong draw for the
more adventurous.
When Mother and Dad went on those trips, they had someone come to take care of the
animals and farm duties and someone else to be responsible for my two brothers and me.
Sometimes we had Aunt Pearl, my great aunt, with us. Once this arrangement caused us
to have a hilarious time.
Aunt Pearl was a big, fat lady who became very much disturbed when a mouse was
discovered in the house. Somehow she got up on a chair and directed operations in
a high-pitched, excited voice:
"There it is!"
"Get the broom!"
"Shoo it that way!"
"You shoo it over there!"
"Open the door!"
"Now sweep it out!"
Ruby and Blanche stayed with us several times. They were spinster sisters, also related
to us, but I don't know how. Ruby was a teacher and a wonderful story-teller. She and
Blanche read to us, too. We got along fine with them.
One time, when I was of high school age, and my parents went on one of those trips,
Esther, a cousin about my age, came to stay with me. The boys went somewhere else to stay.
Esther and I were hired by my mother to can peaches. Neither of us had ever done that before
by ourselves, but we had helped, so we had an idea of how it was done. Mother had written
explicit directions and we followed them. Everything turned out perfectly and we were
very proud of ourselves. Our parents were proud of us, too.