excerpt
…we kids were into the food as soon as the crew finished and
that, too, added to the enjoyment of the threshing season.
After the harvest, as the days shortened, it was time to take
stock of the farm and do the autumn chores to be ready for winter.
The stubble was turned over, fences were repaired, straw was
hauled beside the barn for bedding and grain was hand-loaded
into a wagon and hauled to the elevator at Hubbard by the reliable
team of horses named Cholly and Manga. Barns were
caulked where required with a mud-straw caulking and the base
of the house was insulated with straw. Gardens were also readied
for winter, with the potato tops and other dried vegetation burnt,
and the garden ploughed under or cultivated.
Usually we were ready for winter and were either clearing
brush or picking rocks when the first snows arrived. Sometimes,
however, the snows surprised my parents and some of the needed
chores would be finished after the earth was blanketed with its’
first covering. I recall those first snows, the sky a leaden gray, the
air still and the temperature just below the freezing mark.
Manolis Aligizakis 