Daily Chatter

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Cove Creek Farm ~ Memories

This post has little to do with running but everything to do with the person I am.


Memories are like fingerprints. Tiny bits of information that are so unique no two people actually share ones that are perfectly the same. While some may enjoy a cinematic ability to stroll through their lives and revisit the days in their past, others struggle to bring into focus the aged Polaroid-like snapshots hiding in our minds. Unfortunately my memories are the latter but the the memories I can bring into focus often contain moments of growing up on my grandfather's farm.


With the help of photographs I can find those memories that have become blurry in my mind.  I can clearly see the hay elevator sitting in front of the haymow doors.  I can hear the hum of the tractors as they bring in wagons of hay.  I can remember the smells in the air.  I can see my grandfather as sweat drips from his forehead.

As I look at photos I can remember days spent in the barn hiding away from chores.  Sitting in the grain stores painting with water colors stolen from my older sister.  I can remember hushed conversations with girl friends and stolen kisses with boyfriends.  I can remember my grandparent's voices as I remember my grandmother calling me in for lunch and my grandfather scolding me when he caught me building another fort in the barn.
But most importantly I can envision things that I never got to see. I can imagine how my great-grandfather worked along side my grandfather in this barn. The thought that their very hands touched the same doors as I did. Knowing that although I never knew my mother as a child, I have shared the same playground with her in growing up in this barn makes me feel as though I am somehow closer to her. Thinking that she might have stolen kisses in this barn from my father when they were dating makes me grieve even more for the loss of this place and the moments that it held

Even in the loss of a piece of my history, I am beyond grateful for every moment I was blessed to live within it.  I remind myself that it is only in the looking back that we can clearly see how to move forward.  So I will share my fleeting memories with my family and friends to help a small piece of my past to live on in each of them.  Then soon there will be so many people holding those fragmented bits of family history that it will never be forgotten. 



Cove Creek Farm
Doris June Barrack Diehl and Max Robert Diehl

6 comments:

  1. What a treasured piece of your family history. It must be sad to see the farm go, but thank goodness for memories and photos to keep it alive in your heart.

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  2. It is so awesome you have these pictures and the stories to share. That is truly what makes some memories continue to live on. If only I had pictures of my grandparents' place.

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  3. You just brought back memories of my Grandparents' farm in a flood to my heart. Oh how I miss that place.

    Thank you!

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    1. Thanks for sharing a "piece" of you. Farms are special places. You have incredible memories.

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  4. What a beautifully written dedication to this farm, the memories and love shared there. It's clear to me that you'll hold these memories close in your mind and heart.

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  5. Beautifully written! And, what wonderful memories to be able to share. I have a terrible memory, and sometimes the past seems like it happened to someone else. I will have a hard time recalling it to share with my kids. Maybe I need to start organizing the photos I have in envelopes and boxes. It might help with that. Thanks for the inspiration!

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