wanted:

Wanted (so very bad):

A week staying in a little farm house surrounded by pastures full of cows and horses. Everyday of that week we will get up at five in the morning to go round up seventy plus cows with the four wheeler and herd them to the milk barn. The cold air was biting our faces as we shot through the field in the dark on the four wheeler, clinging to the bars on the back with gloved hands. Once they are all gathered together we will then hook them up seven at a time to the milking machines. I miss helping out by cleaning off the cows udders. It was humidly warm in the milk barn while being bitterly cold outside. This made the windows of the milk barn fog up incredibly. So while waiting on the cows we will play hang man on the windows together.
Please let me feed the baby calves their bottles when the milking is finished! Seeing their big chocolate eyes and feeling their impatient tugs on the bottle will make my day. I miss this.

After breakfast we will go do more tough farm work, bring it on because I am ready. We will be hauling feed to the cows, watering the horses, and picking a ton of rocks out of the garden plot. Then perhaps we could go saddle up the horses for a good ride together, singing silly songs as we bounce along. When the trail ride is done we can take a breather and hang out on the trampoline with the rope swing above it. I recall the time when we sat on the trampoline and played a memory game for hours. We were rolling in laughter by the time it was through. In the evening we would play tag on top of the rows upon rows of hay bales for hours at a time. I miss that.

Then it will be time for milking once more before a big dinner. Afterward we would play hide and seek in the dark or rope each other for practice. We would head off to bed early so that we would wake up refreshed the next morning, ready to do it all over again. We will be feeling exhausted but wonderful after a productive day of work and fun together. I miss that feeling.

Staying with this family, at this farm, is all just a memory in my head now. The few times we stayed with them were some of the most enjoyable times in my life. We became close friends and had fun together in abundance. I loved the work always needing to be done on their huge farm. The first paragraph was from the week in winter when we stayed with them. The second and third were from a week of summertime at their place. I just miss them and the fun we had together.

-Ashley Trask
-September 27, 2016