My Old Kentucky Home

The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,

Tis summer, the people are gay;

The corn-top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom

While the birds make music all the day.

October 14, 2018

Hi Blog!

We are heading south as fast as we can. After leaving Illinois, we made a quick stop near Indianapolis, Indiana to get the first of our vaccinations for our Christmas trip to Myanmar. With business taken care of, it was time to head down into Kentucky to visit Kathy's cousins.

For those new to the blog, Kathy's Aunt Dot (her father's sister) married a Navy man from Rineyville, Kentucky. At the end of World War II, they settled back on his family's farm. Kathy has fond memories of summer vacations spent on the farm with her cousins, Bobby, Eddie and Billy. The Cochran Stock Farm has grown over the years. Cousin Bill and his wife Rosie, along with their two boys, Mark and Michael, carry on the family farming tradition. Their son, Philip, lives and works in Louisville, along with his wife and two kids.  Here, Billy, Rosie and Kathy share big hugs in front of Billy's and Rosie's house:

The timing of our visit couldn't have been better since cousin Bobby was also visiting the farm with his new bride, Judy. They divide their time between Ohio and Florida with stops at the farm along the way. We were happy to have a chance to congratulation them in person (note to the observant:  we did not add the butterflies or sparkles; this is a photo of them on their wedding day):

Baxter enjoyed his morning walks. The local kitten population followed him around. He didn't stray too far from the rig because the dogs on the farm were very curious about him. However, Baxter preferred to keep his distance. The oldest dog, Stanley, was the only one that didn't get bopped on the nose for getting too close.  Here are the kittens; Stanley's photo was blurry.

After Baxter's walk, Bill took us out to the hog faring houses to see all the changes in the last six years. It is amazing to see how the operation has grown. Gone are the days of slopping the hogs. Everything is analyzed, computerized and automated. It's all about economies of scale.

Part of the fun of being on the farm is getting to poke about. As generations live and work in the same place, history has a way of building up. There are stories everywhere you look.  Bill told us that he acquired the Army Surplus trucks one at a time.  It appears they also died one at a time.

The fall harvest is underway. The fields not being used by cattle or hay were planted with corn this year. We got up close and personal with the combine as it worked its way around the fields. Just in case you didn't know, it's all about math. How many rows, how many plants, how many bushels, how much fertilizer, etc. It all comes back to economies of scale.

Once the machines get started, they don't miss much.  But we did find a few places where the corn kernels spilled out with the cobs:

It's hard to believe it has been six years since our last visit. Bill and Rosie's god-daughter, Molly, is now 16 years old. We have fond memories of her driving us all over the farm in a golf cart when she was a 10-year-old. At the time, Rosie, Molly, and Molly's mom, Sue, were taking riding lessons. They had just acquired a couple riding horses. Today, the herd has grown with "donations" from owners who no longer wanted their horses and ponies.  Luckily, owners of abandoned dogs and horses knew that the Cochran Farm would take in the orphans.

We picked up some treats from the barn and headed out to the pasture to pay the horses a visit.

The horses were nervous at first until they realized we had treats. Once they realized we did, they began galloping full speed right at us. Now, if you ever stood in the middle of a field and had six horses run straight at you, then you know the meaning of "Oh shit!" They came to a screeching halt just in front of us, although it is true that they threw a few hip checks at David, who was holding most of the treats.

It was such a feeding frenzy, we didn't have time to get a photo, because, as soon as the treats were gone, so were the horses! The next time we brought treats to the horses, we made sure to stay on the correct side of the fence!

On Saturday, we joined Mark and his wife, Judy, at their son Toby's soccer match. We were amazed at how well the little five year-olds played. They really seemed to get the game. It brought back so many memories of watching Katie and Matt at their soccer matches.

Did you notice the winter coats? The cold weather caught up to us again.

After the soccer match, Sue and Molly, along with three of Molly's girlfriend/teammates joined us for lunch. We had a blast catching up with everyone. Before we knew it, it was time to say our goodbyes.

Just before we pulled out, the cousins came by for one more hug.  If you look closely, you might see Bill and Bob tickling Kathy just as the shutter clicked.  But if you can't see it, you sure can tell that Kathy felt it:

Our visit is now just a memory, but we didn't go without some reminders. We now have homemade pork sausage, pecans from the pecan tree, and chocolate chip cookies! Not to mention some amazing Kentucky bourbon which will keep us warm on those cold Arizona nights!

As we pulled away from the farm, more verses of the song came to mind:

Weep no more my lady.

Oh! Weep no more today!

We will sing one song 

For my old Kentucky home

For the old Kentucky home, far away.