Century Farm

Century Farm

 

The old stone farm house we rented on Lexington Rd in Waterloo, after moving from St. Catharines, was designated as part of a century farm by the province, by definition it had been in operation for 100 consecutive years by the same family.  The week we moved in it stopped being a century farm by that definition as the last owner, Fred Synder, still lived on Lexington Rd only about a mile further along and in a new house.   In one move we became part of history and changed history.

It was also memorable because it was that summer Israel attacked and destroyed both the Egyptian and Syrian air forces during the Six Day War.  Israel, as a result, was left in charge of the Gaza strip and West Bank, Jerusalem and the Sinai Peninsula.  I only mention this in passing because what could go wrong? 

But most importantly the farmhouse we moved into had been divided into a duplex.  Several University of Waterloo professors lived in the other half and were highly pro-Israel and I think the interchanges with their political opinions got me interested in world politics.  I think that is a natural consequence of living on a Century farm and only 57 years after our move Israel has just about destroyed the Gaza strip along with 35 000 citizens.  We don’t really learn much from history.

 

As for the Century farm itself it was torn down to allow the construction of a sprawling Canadian Tire store in 1987. Once the store was built, as far as I could determine, the location of my bedroom had likely been situated beneath where aisle 6 now runs…

 

 

Lived in Aisle 6

 

Aisle 6

paint and supplies

as near as I can figure

there stood my bedroom window.

Hardware

or

was it in automotive parts?

 just where the kitchen starts.

 

RIP

A farm’s demise

a retro crypt

Canadian Tire now stands

Over my

childhood

home.

 

Three horses-

a Bay, a Palomino

and a Stallion

With a small herd of Holsteins,

including my pet heifer

(Hugh Hefner)

grazed where the parking lot now

sprawls.

I park my deep purple Subaru

my old man legs walk the 

distance over dark asphalt memories.

Outback

behind the giant box store

about 60 years into my past

where stands an:

an apple orchard,

a barn and a

pond.

 

Rowing gently,

lazily

one very hot July

across the silent stagnant green water

my dog, Shadow, sees a frog

and like some demented canine

superhero leaps from the creaky

old boat.

We soon discover, to my shame,

he cannot swim or even

float.

his stroke too vertical,

too frantic.

He begins to sink.

I yank his collar and pull him in.

 

We hunted ground hogs through farmers’ fields.

Shot squirrels

armed with a crossbow made from sturdy car springs

and a bolt action 22.

Our juvenile arsenal was really swell

but not exactly from Matel.

We shot a barn cat once!

Spectacular…

In mid-air, as it leapt across the bailing pit.

Some silo pigeons too I think

Likely, they were cooing too loud.

We were kids.

There was 

no season

rhyme or

reason.

 

I got a pellet

Between my eyes

And wonder still how I survived it all.

 

I see now that 

The barn is gone.

The pond is dry and the

Orchards have been cleared.

All a residential pit with names like

Lakeshore 

And 

Forest Lawn

Even though there is no lake

And the forests are all gone.

 

“If only dogs could swim and

 

I was young again in aisle 6.”