Some Observations from the Hill

By HH (Hub) Brown of Owego

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to a graduation party at the home of John and Dolores Mauriello. Their daughter Adrienne graduated from the Owego high school and evidently she had made up her mind that everything was going to look perfect at her party! New flower beds had been made and I swear it looked as though every blade of grass on the two-acre lawn had been cut to the exact same length. Adrienne had seen to this in person. As my wife, Ag, and I sat under the awning eating and drinking the refreshments that John kept passing out, I couldn't keep from remembering how different things had looked when we lived in the little stone house next door many years ago.

Back then there was a lone Baldwin apple tree where Mauriello's house now stands and there was a hedge of plum trees on the border between the two properties. In the shade in the middle of this hedge I had found what looked like miniature rhubarb plants. I transplanted these out in front of the house where Ag's grandmother used to have her flower garden and in two years' time the plants had huge stalks of what used to be known as "pie plant."

Mr. Welch had told us we could have the hay on a three-acre field right beyond what is now a sloping, carefully manicured lawn along the hedge that separates the two properties. Ag had gone to an auction and bought an old Adriance mowing machine. By now the old '28 Model A had been converted into a truck by removing most of the body and fastening a couple of white oak poles for bed pieces for a short frame that we cold haul hay on. We had cut the tongue of the mower short enough so we could pull it with the Ford. Ag had also bought an old dump rake so we were all set to go haying.

By now our orphan ewe lamb that we had bought as a pet for our four kids had multiplied into 16 or 18 sheep. We had put up a sizeable hay stack in almost the spot where we were enjoying the party now. I had learned that sheep don't need or like to be in a shelter except from a nasty cold rain. So our flock spent that winter in the lee of our hay stack. I cut the stack down the middle with a hay knife so I could feed off the lower half and the high part still provided some shelter. One morning, when I was feeding hay, the sheep were all huddled in the shelter of the stack, except one. The line was a little longer than the width of the stack so that one ewe was partially exposed to the northwest wind. It was quite a stiff breeze and the temperature was just under -20 degrees. That was the first time I ever saw a sheep shiver.

A few years later after we bought this farm from Mr. Welch, put a foundation under the barn, and added 20 feet to the south side for a stable, Ag decided we should make some changes to the house as well. The eastern half of the house was lower than the other half. There were still some old big chestnut trees in the woods and a few red pines. We cut these and hauled the logs over to Merle Saddlemire's mill to be sawn into 2 bys and boards. Someone told Ag that Belknap Bros. in Campville had some speciality material for sale and warned her not to try to do business with them on a Saturday as they were Seventh Day Adventist. I'll never forget that meeting. Here were two little old men, in bed, the beds facing each other. Each man wore a long night cap that came to a point at the top. Turned out that the only things we could use were some long cypress boards meant to be used as ridge caps. Ag had hired a little old man as a carpenter and he had to have his buddy as helper. He was 75 and his helper was 85. One morning, when she went to take the school kids to town, Ag warned her carpenters to be sure and save those cypress boards for ridge caps. But when she got back they had already cut them up for window trim.

I forgot to mention the music at the party. A small group of boys, each amplified, made some nice sounds, I guess. I'm no authority. I just miss the chance to visit quietly.