The tree house sits atop the large willow tree in the backyard. When the tree was full grown and healthy, its branches would hang to the ground and cover a vast area in the southwest corner of my large backyard. Once the tree house was built, it slowly started to weaken the vibrant tree. Soon thereafter, the tree house depreciated as the tree lost its strength. This tree house was one memorable aspect of my childhood, a place to have fun away from everyone else – a secret place.
My childhood consisted of much more than the secret place. It was filled with many adventures, which took place on the family farm in rural Iowa. I loved the farm life. I helped my Dad with chores, I enjoyed the freedom the farm offered, I enjoyed the activities played with my brother and sisters and I enjoyed the opportunity to learn from the outdoors – not in front of the television. I spent a majority of my childhood in the large green space in my backyard. I would consider this space my power spot. This power spot was a special place where everyone would gather to play sports and have a good time.
The large backyard provided expansive recreation area. Each side of the ‘playing field’ consisted of giant ash trees. These trees lined the field and took on the role of out of bounds lines if the game required them. Most of the time, my large backyard was used for games of football, softball or baseball. More frequently, softball and baseball were played. My sisters and I spent hours on the field working on our games: fielding, base-running, pitching and batting. We helped each other become better ball players and continue to love the game today. I recognize the large backyard as the power spot, but it was also my favorite place. Without the many pick-up baseball and softball games or the competitive touch football matches on crisp, autumn days, this place would not be my favorite. A favorite place is considered the enjoyable and stress relieving location – my huge backyard was that location.
The hog buildings on the farm offered a different perspective of farm life. Often times, I helped my Dad with farm chores. My duties consisted of feeding the sows in the gestation buildings, looking for new baby piglets and helping Dad with the breeding process. While it sounds like mundane work, it was never a dull moment and was always something different every day. The best part about being a farmer with my Dad was that he let me work alongside him. He knows farming is hard-work and he taught me the importance of it at a young age. Ever since my days on the farm, I have always fostered the idea of hard-work in anything that I am involved in, from schoolwork to sports to music. With the hard-work that depicted the hog buildings, there was also danger and this was considered the danger spot on the farm. Being around large animals and working close to manure pits was dangerous. My Dad kept a close eye on me while I helped him outside and never let me be in a building by myself until I was older. Regardless of the depiction as the danger spot on the farm, the hog buildings also symbolize the successfulness of the farm. When every integral part of the hog building is running smoothly, then the farm is successful.
Lastly, my farm had a place where something happened. This location was the machine shed. Year round farm machinery is used for a variety of tasks. During planting season, the tractors and implements are used to plant the crop and apply fertilizer to the fields. At harvest time, the combine collects the grain then the truck hauls the grain to the grain elevator or the holding bins. Regularly, the machine shed was used to repair or maintenance equipment. Throughout the year, my Dad spent a great deal of time in the machine shed repairing anything from cars to tractors. He also did a lot of welding and woodworking projects in the machine shed. I consider this location to be the place where something happened because it is an accurate illustration. I, also, spent many hours in the machine shed working on random projects or helping my father. I see the machine shed as the epitome of hard-work. A hard-working individual toils in the machine shed to make sure all of the equipment used on the farm is in proper working order.
When a person reflects on a personal experience or special location in their life, it easily becomes a topic of many words. When I reminisced about my family farm in a personal narrative, I found it very nostalgic as I thought of the many things I did on my farm and what each place meant to me. Without the large green space in my backyard, the tree house, the hog buildings or the machine shed, my farm life would not be the same. These locations helped shape my childhood as each place had a different impact on my life. I vividly recall the ‘secret’ tree house in the corner of my backyard. It provided a place to have fun away from everyone else. Although the structure remained standing for a short while, the memories of the tree house and the other places on the farm will remain standing for a lifetime.
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