Days On the Farm

How times were different so long ago, when pure survival dominated life. No extra frills to fill long hours- bestow enjoyment- mostly work to ease our strife. We girls, mid-afternoon, when school was done, might go to fields to gather wheat for bread- not going to a park and having fun like city girls, who walk with friends instead. We'd go back home- arms holding chaffs of wheat- begin the process- thresh, winnow, and grind; roll out and bake before we'd earn to eat- unlike in towns where bread for sale you'd find. But, happiness was ours in modest ways; survival of the family- the goal. Fulfillment and achievement ruled those days- not happiness for self, but for the whole.