Tag: Original Artwork

Square Dancers

My childhood friend, Diane, called me a couple weeks ago, to wish me a happy birthday. We have exchanged the same birthday card since 1979. It has become a treasure. Diane called to say I would be getting the birthday card late this year, because she was “snow birding” in Florida and forgot to bring the card along to send to me from there.

It was fun to chat with her awhile, and catch up on our kids. She told me this story.

In 1953, my father built this house that I grew up in.

When Diane’s mother passed away, several years after her father died, Diane’s son bought his grandparent’s house. So, he now lives in the house where Diane grew up, and across the street from the house where I grew up, in Northeast Minneapolis. It’s wonderful to know the house is still in her family. Her parents built their house in the early 1950’s, as did mine.

A special wall painting discovered under the paneling.

Diane told me her son has done a lot of updating and remodeling of the McKinley Street house, and currently he’s working in the basement. He began tearing the old paneling off the walls. Underneath he found the typical cement blocks, but also a surprise. 

Taking care to preserve this special painting.

Back in the late 50’s, Diane’s father painted two life-size square dancers on the cement block wall. I had forgotten about them, but remembered them as soon as Diane mentioned it. A few years later, when her dad finished off their basement, he covered up the square dancers with paneling. Diane recalls that when her dad covered up the painting with paneling…he said, “it will be interesting for someone to discover these dancers someday.”

A moisture control was brushed over the wall painting, to help persevere the painting.

As Diane’s son was tearing down the paneling, lo and behold, he exposed the painting of the square dancers.

Little did Diane’s father know at the time, it would be his own grandson who would discover his special treasure on the wall, under the paneling!

Dairy Farming

Last week we were in Pennsylvania. Gary, my husband, is from Lancaster County and we flew there to attend a family reunion. He’s is from the scenic part of the state, Amish Country in southeastern Pennsylvania. There are rolling hills dotted with small farms, with cattle and corn and hay fields.

This original painting of the farm where Gary grew up hangs in our hallway. I had it painted for him, as a surprise, about 1980 or so, by one of the ministers at the church he attended with his parents.

Gary grew up on a dairy farm, helping his family milk cows the traditional way, by attaching a milking machine individually to each cow. They milked about 45 cows, twice a day. 

The family farm was sold in 1986 to a young family who continues to milk cows. However, the herd has grown and the operation has changed. The new owners tore down the original barn in the 1990’s and built a state-of-the-art milking parlor in which ten cows were milked at one time, in modern facilities with computer-controlled machines that tracked what each cow produced. 

The welcome sign and a layout of the farming facility Gary visited in PA.

Like everything, farming continues to change. This year when we were in Pennsylvania, Gary went to an open house for a 2023 state-of-the-art milking parlor and I asked him to describe it here:

Rohrer Dairy Farms near Mountville, PA began as a small farm with 20 cows in 1956. Fast forward to 2023 and the second and third generation Rohrer Dairy Farm families now have a 60 cow rotary milking parlor to milk their 1,780 cows. This highly automated system is attended by only three employees. The cows enter from holding lanes unto a slot on the carousel as the carousel continuously rotates. Each slot has a milking machine and a control module with a digital screen. 

The first worker preps the cows (washes the udder) and the second worker attaches the milkers. The milking machine automatically disconnects when the milking is complete. When the cow reaches the exit point, a water spray at her head encourages her to back off the carousel. Unless there is a hiccup, the carousel does not stop. It rotates very slowly and each cow’s ride on the carousel is about ten minutes. 

It is an amazing sight. There is an upper level gallery with office, conference room, meeting room and viewing area where one can watch the whole operation behind large windows.

They milk three times a day and each milking takes 5 ½ hours, thus there is more milking parlor time available to expand the herd.

This is a partial view of the Rohrer Dairy farm.

In addition to the 1,780 milking cows, they have about 1,500 heifers and calves. The large cow barns have automated feed systems, slotted floors with manure pits underneath, and a fire sprinkler system. 

Both of Gary’s sisters are dairy farmers. We did visit both farms, and here I am feeding a calf at one of them.

It is hard to comprehend. The small family farm is indeed rapidly disappearing, but I believe they both can co-exist. I am hopeful because my sister’s son and his wife, both of whom are college graduates, are taking over their parent’s dairy farm. They milk less than 100 cows in a traditional milking barn. Good for them!