Life on the Ranch

This picture is an important one. Great Grandpa Ward is at the left. I am guessing that the picture was from 1949 or 1950. My dad looks to be at least a junior.

There is not a time when I don't see a picture of Great Grandpa Ward that I do not regret not knowing him. I have one picture where he holds me as young child of one or maybe less. I can tell the way he holds me that he cares about me. The stories my dad told me about him are fascinating. He truly was an original.

Uncle Merle and his daughter are next in the photograph. I always enjoyed being around him. He, like dad's cousin Jess Ward, were story tellers. They had a way of telling a story that made it easy to relive.

Aunt Janice sits on the hood of the truck. I think it was an International. Great Grandpa Ward had to pull some strings to get it during the war.

Grandpa Cles and Grandma Liza were standing next.

My dad is at the right. He was 5'11" throughout his life. He told me once that Grandpa Cles was close to six feet tall, but after seeing his driver's license, it shows him at 5'10" or so.

I also was about 5'10" until I begin shrinking as I grew older.

As I remember, this picture is from the early 40's. It is the same International truck shown in the picture above, but this shows it when it was new. My grandpa and grandma look really young in this picture.

Grandpa was also able to get a John Deere pull-type combine. It was anything but an easy machine to use. There were large metal wheels, and to adjust the cutter bar, there were no hydraulics. There was only a large wheel that grandpa would turn to make adjustments.

My dad drove the Caterpillar tractor that pulled it. They always had a hired man. My dad resented the fact that the hired man slept in the truck while dad was on that tractor. The hours were very long, but dad also told me that Grandpa Cles didn't trust anyone else on the tractor.

During afternoons when it gets hot, it is easy to doze while at the controls of a tractor. Dad told me that grandpa would throw a handful of grain at him. The work that this type of machine required was incredibly difficult. It makes me appreciate the self-propelled combines we ran on the farm.