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By: Jim Fitzpatrick |
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Email: jim@nunica.com |
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Local Farmer in Polkton Township writes for the Coopersville Observer. |
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Along Brandy Creek By Jim Fitzpatrick
The Coopersville Observer April 27, 2009- - No. 102 |
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Frank and Gloria live on State Road , the paved portion that parallels the interstate between Dennison and Coopersville. Years ago they had an old chicken coop out back of their house that hadn't seen a chicken in years. More than anything it had been used for storage and a collection of stuff that wasn't worth keeping anymore. A farmer over along Brandy Creek, whose place is on the dirt portion of State Road , had recently married and his new wife expressed an interest in raising chickens. She grew up in the suburbs of a far off city, wanted to get into life on the farm as much as possible, the sooner the better.
And so, as the way of things sometimes, it happened that Frank and the farmer were chatting one day about the goings-on in the area. The conversation evolved into a discussion on many topics, including chickens and wives and chicken houses, in particular the coop out behind Frank’s garage. He said that it was time to get rid of the thing so that he could put the back yard in better order; he told the farmer that he could take it home to the farm when it was convenient.
A few days later the farmer came down the road with his green tractor pulling a flatbed wagon. On the bed of that hay wagon were wooden blocks and jacks, chains and ropes, shovels and pry bars, a “come along,” and other lifting and levering and dismantling devises. He pulled into Frank and Gloria’s drive ready to load and haul away that antique hen house. Frank was there with his work cloths on, ready to go to work. A couple of hours later the two men had the job done. Frank even left a few of the long-stored items inside to go along with the deal. When the farmer pulled out of the yard and onto the road west, you could see a slight smile on his face. It was as good a guess as any; he certainly expected his new spouse would be more than pleased with him, this time for sure.
A whole lot of years have passed since that hen-house-moving-smiling-tractor-driver-day occurred along the paved section of State Road. Frank and Gloria still live there with a nice neat and tidy chicken-coopless back yard. You can see a little bit of a bump there in the grass where it used to be. Over on the farm Cindy has been raising chickens and eggs every year since. She and the farmer have a son and daughter who these days are in charge of the now-famous structure, along with what goes on out there and in the fenced area surrounding it. Mom does however, as usual, keep a keen eye on things in the chicken and egg-laying department. It is time to invite Frank and Gloria over for a visit to see if they can still recognize the old thing. |
