I took this photo of my blind father milking cows when I was 16. My job was to go out in the bush or pasture and bring them in. I could locate them in the bush by the bell one wore. We had all of three milk cows at the time. The chickens would sit up on the stanchions, and sleep there at night. In the photo, Dad is milking the little Jersey, whose milk was about half cream. The Holstein behind it produced a lot more milk, but less cream, and the Hereford less of each, but more meat to eat. The pail hanging from the hook has a lot of dents in it. Those were from the cow kicking forward when Dad was milking and happened to hurt the teat a bit. The rope tied to the leg in the bottom of the photo prevents that. The bucket is probably full of milk and it is hanging because Dad was blind and if he were to just set it on the ground he would kick it himself.
After the milking, I would separate the cream from the milk in a centrifugal separator in the basement. I always enjoyed that heavy whirl of it. It was an amazing piece of technology that demonstrated to me, a simple farm kid, the power of reason to solve problems, and so planted the seed in my mind of a future totally changed by science and technology. Soon science fiction supplanted the separator, and then science supplanted science fiction.
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After the milking, I would separate the cream from the milk in a centrifugal separator in the basement. I always enjoyed that heavy whirl of it. It was an amazing piece of technology that demonstrated to me, a simple farm kid, the power of reason to solve problems, and so planted the seed in my mind of a future totally changed by science and technology. Soon science fiction supplanted the separator, and then science supplanted science fiction.
Comments copied to here from my Facebook page:
23 Likes, 16 Comments
Mary Theresa Kelly, Lynn Tait, Alana P. Cook and 20 others like this.
Larry Burfield Remember those days well!
Like · Reply · August 26 at 12:40pm
Stan Burfield Since your comment, I got the blurb up with the photo (after I posted the photo, I got a call from a 7th Day Adventist, which was distracting and time-consuming, and which, like the cows, also reminded me of the old days: they're STILL doing that.)
Like · Reply · 1 · August 26 at 1:28pm · Edited
Dusty Ferguson I remember these days as well. There was something peaceful about being in the barn in the evening listening to the swish of the milk in the pail and the quiet chewing of the cows. And there were always a few cats lined up to receive the occasional shot of milk too. Remember that Larry?
Like · Reply · 1 · August 26 at 1:28pm
Larry Burfield Remember that well too!
Like · August 26 at 1:57pm
Mick Cocos good ol days
Like · August 26 at 9:13pm
Stan Burfield ha ha. The occasional swish also of the cows' tails.
Like · Reply · August 26 at 1:30pm
Stan Burfield I remember noticing that the sound of the squirts of milk in the pail rose in pitch continually until the pail was full.
Like · Reply · August 26 at 1:32pm · Edited
Larry Burfield I remember one evening going out to milk and a rooster was giving me a hard time going thru the chicken yard. I picked up a rock and threw it at him and nailed him on the head. He dropped like he was dead. After milking he was up and going, but he neve bothered me again!
Like · Reply · 1 · August 26 at 2:00pm
Stan Burfield Ha ha. Very funny, Larry. That's a typical little episode of farm life. More people to deal with unexpectedly than just people!!
Like · Reply · 1 · August 26 at 5:53pm
Stan Burfield Looking at the photo again, there's more to the story than first meets the eye: The pail hanging from the hook has a lot of dents in it. Those were from the cow kicking forward when Dad was milking and happened to hurt the teat a bit. The rope tied to the leg in the bottom of the photo prevents that. The bucket is probably full of milk and it is hanging because Dad was blind and if he were to just set it on the ground he would kick it himself. smile emoticon
Like · Reply · August 26 at 10:44pm
Larry Burfield Your Dad managed so well for being blind. Sometimes I feel he saw more than us with good eyes. Everthing anyone said he pictured in his mind. When my Dad and Uncle Robin were looking at pictures they took, your Dad was always in the conversation as if he was seeing the pictures too. The first time my boys saw your Dad when he was visiting at Dad's farm, they had a difficult time realizing he was blind because when walking around the farm with Uncle Robin's guidance he par took in all the conversation as if he was seeing what everyone was talking about. We went to his home in Calgary and he showed us his garden which seemed so remarkable for a blind man to have, He was dfinetly an inspiration to us that took being able to see for granted.
Like · Reply · August 26 at 11:11pm
Stan Burfield Thanks for telling me this, Larry. He definitely had a very high practical intelligence. He could solve any practical problem very quickly, and I expect that helped him operate inside the practical world while he was blind. He must have had a very detailed idea/image in his mind of it.
Like · Reply · 1 · August 26 at 11:39pm
Steven McCabe At first it was interesting (very) to read the comments about farm life, an unknown experience to me. Then to discover your father doing what he did while blind was an amazement. A very (very) powerful story.
Like · Reply · August 27 at 8:08am
Stan Burfield Thanks, Steven. Yes, even though I grew up with him, (probably because I grew up with him), I didn't realize then how remarkable it was. He didn't talk much, and so to a small boy he was mostly part of the background. For instance, I only heard him swear once in my life. I happened to be standing beside him as he was pounding a U-shaped nail into a fencepost to hold a fence wire. They're hard to hold straight, over a wire, at an odd angle. When he struck at it, he hit his thumb instead. He said, just loud enough that I could hear it, "Damn." Then carried on and finished the post. And then that fence. He did every aspect of the fence-building except driving the truck filled with posts there, and determining where the holes should be, my mother's jobs.
Like · Reply · 3 · August 27 at 11:59am
Larry Burfield Those U shaped nails were called staples and difficult pound when you can see. Also I heard my Dad swear only a couple times.
Like · Reply · August 27 at 2:31pm
Stan Burfield Right, staples. Yeah, a very practical, determined, focussed family.
Like · Reply · August 27 at 2:35pm
Larry Burfield Yes, Uncle Robin , your Dad and my Dad could always figure out any challage that was given them. I guess homesteading twice, helped bring out these qualities.
Like · Reply · August 27 at 2:43pm
Stan Burfield Right
Like · Reply · August 27 at 2:48pm
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