"It Seems Like Yesterday"

I can’t believe how fast time flies. When I was first preparing for this, I had put together a good long lecture about leaders and followers. After having some time to think about it, I changed my mind and figured it might need some more work. Instead, I thought I would just tell a few small stories from my memory to hopefully get everyone to realize how precious every moment is. Maybe you will even find them at least mildly entertaining

It seems like yesterday......when, as a member of the high school photo club, I was allowed to take home the telephoto lens for the weekend. I actually have a good collection of pics from that weekend, but this is one of my favourites. I think this was David’s bike as I would not have been riding a banana seat in high school. Peter was up to the farm for the Sunday afternoon with Peter jr. Mom and a few others were lounging on the front yard enjoying the afternoon sun. Later on, I climbed the tower with the camera and got some more great shots from a quite unique point of view.

It seems like yesterday....My brother Larry and I had a shit throwing fight while we were supposed to be milking the cows. I can’t say for sure how it started, and Larry can correct me if I am wrong, but I think it went like this. He and I had already started the milking and I was just returning from the milk house with an empty pail. At the time that I set the pail down, Larry was down beside one of the cows putting the milker on or taking it off. There must have been a small puddle of sloppy manure on the walk, because when I set the paid down, Larry said “don’t throw shit on me”. I am not sure how it escalated from there, but I do remember very clearly reaching into the gutter with my bare hand and scooping out a handful of fresh shit to throw at him. After I nailed him good, I ran and he took up the chase with a handful of shit himself. I ran out the back door of the barn and all the way round to come back in the front door. This is where dad caught up to me and said “what’s going on here” with steam coming out his ears. I don’t remember being punished except for a few stern words at the time, and Larry and I finished doing the milking together.

It seems like yesterday.....I was able to witness the miracle of birth on a regular basis, and it was just another day. I remember lots of these occasions, but one in particular sticks in my mind. It was a hot humid summer day, and one of the cows had her newborn calf out in the field a few hundred meters from the back of the barn. Dad wanted her and the calf in the barn, so he and I hooked a hay wagon up to the tractor to go fetch the calf. We got out to where they were and we loaded the calf up onto the wagon. The calf could already stand, so after we got it on the wagon, I was to sit beside it and keep it from trying to get up and fall off the wagon. Just as we started back home, the sky opened up and it poured rain. The rain was wonderfully warm and I remember feeling as if it was washing all the slime from the calf off of me. By the time we got to the barn, we were both soaked to the bone. To this day, I quite enjoy being caught out in a thunderstorm, as it brings these memories rushing back.

It seems like yesterday.....We all knew it was going to be the last day of haying for the season with just a few loads left to be brought in. In the morning, mom promised us something special as a reward for a job well done. We were given no specifics, just “something special”. After we returned to the house from finishing the last load, we were all given our own bottle of “pop shoppe” pop to drink. What a huge treat this was! I think there was enough that we were even allowed seconds. I can’t help but compare this experience to that of my own children. How disappointed they would be if a bottle of pop was considered “something special”

It seems like yesterday.....I had finished doing the morning milking with dad. I think he was still in the milkhouse washing up the equipment. I was tired and hungry and looking forward to having some breakfast. As I stepped out of the barn door, I was greeted by a huge orange sun just starting to peek out over the horizon. Even though I was only 15 or 16 at the time, I remember thinking how fortunate I was to have already finished an hours worth of chores prior to being able to watch this beautiful sun rise. Again, I can’t help but compare this experience to my own children’s. They have no idea what hard work is let alone rising at 5:45 to start. I always tell them they wouldn’t last 5 minutes picking rocks.

That’s all I got for now. Give all your loved ones a hug, because either you or they might not be around tomorrow. I will leave you with this line from a Pink Floyd song I quite enjoy. It could be construed as a bit depressing, but I choose to think of it as a way to motivate myself to not “miss the starting gun”

“No one told you when to run

You missed the starting gun

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking

Racing around to come up behind you again

The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.”--- Roger Waters

Love

Old John
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I don't remember that bike at all regardless of whether it was David's or John's. The funny thing is I'm pretty sure I remember those shorts, and I even remember liking them. The other thing I don't remember is ever looking that young!

And since John started the depressing song lyrics how about this? I also really like the song.

"There are so many songs in me, that won't be sung,

I feel the bitter taste, of tears upon my tongue,

The time has come for me to pay,

For yesterday, when I was young"---Charles Aznavour

love

peter