Life of Ed Murphy Part 6

We sometimes had very sad experiences with our workhorses that were usually used for pulling the farm equipment. How I disliked working with the teams of horses with which I had several run-away experience. On one occasion I was raking hay with a dump rake when the horses started to run away. I was unable to hold the in check. After a few fast yards of hard riding on the rake I fell off in front of the rake “tines”. I remember being rolled over and over and no hope of getting out. Fortunately the horses ran through a ditch and the pin came out of the “double trees”. The rake stopped while the horses kept running and I was able to escape. Another time they ran away with the hay mowing machine. I was standing in front of the cutting bar when they bolted. I ran and fell just barely getting out of the way.
I did enjoy operating the various tractors we used, except when it was very cold and windy. One tractor, which had heavy iron wheels, was very difficult for me to operate because I was so small and it was so hard to steer and to shift gears. I would have to brace myself against the front of the steering wheel and exert all of my strength in order to push the clutch in. The three wheeled tractors with rubber tires were easier to handle and more enjoyable for me.
I would always look forward for school to start in the fall. The summers were hard as we worked long hours each day. We usually did our milking at night after it was dark. Sunday was always just another working day. Two or three times a year Charles and I would get to town for a movie or a taste of candy or ice cream. I remember on several occasions we would walk to Myton ( 5 miles away) and buy nickels or dimes worth of candy. Our evening meal was bread and milk, supplemented by onions or radishes. High School offered a little more excitement for me. Occasionally we would go to a basketball game or a dance. During my High School days money was more available. Quite often we would walk down town and buy a malt (15c) for lunch or buy a wiener (5c) and eat it without any additional food. I never participated in any sports, as I felt very incompetent. The highlight of my High School experience was being able to go to Logan on two different occasions with selected students from the Agriculture class.