Sit for a spell, long story!
In 2002 my quest for a cream separator began. I was looking for a cream separator and somehow over my postings and musing about owning one, a fellah farm gal from DG sent me an email. She said that she goes to farm estate sales often and she would keep an eye out on one for me. Overjoyed, I told her how much I would be willing to spend for one.
Searching for a cream separator became her mission. It seemed I would get an email from her every monday telling me of her journeys. One day an email came in with pictures! She found one stashed away in a barn, miles away from town. The price was right so I bought it. I sent her the money and a little bit extra for her time and trouble.
Now the problem. She lives in South Dakota, I live in South Louisiana. How on earth would we get this thing here?
I searched high and low. I knew cowboys down here who would occasionally rodeo up that way. None were going that way anytime soon.
I had another connection. My uncle married a gal from South Dakota. My aunt and uncle would travel that way once a year, surely they could tote it back...my uncle took sick right after my purchase and died. My aunt suffers from Alzheimer's and can't travel. That cut off that connection....it seemed my separator would never make it home...
Weeks, months, years went by.
I knew my separator would get to me one day and I knew it was in good hands. Last December I got an email from my farm buddy. It seemed she found our "missing link."
A relative of hers had an in law that lived near Jackson, Mississippi. She would be sending the thing down with him. Jackson, Mississippi, humm, now that was doable.
So the machine was loaded and brought down in December of '03 to a small town called West, Mississippi (actually 11 miles east of West) .It sat there for 6 months.
A six hour trek for us, we tried numerous times to make the journey, each time something got in our way.
This weekend we finally made the journey.
We had hoped that Horseshoe and his family could meet up with us somewhere, but our schedules didn't work out. (That part of MS was the halfway mark between his house and ours...)
It rained the whole weekend. There were lots of 'misadventures' on our trip. Including an emergency "potty stop" with a six year old on the side of the interstate complete with flashing lights from a MS. State Trooper that said we'd be safer with lights..oh, the thoughts that were going through my head...
There was also a camp ground we were supposed to stay at that boasted "breath taking veiws". The only thing breath taking was the complete 'yuck' of the campground. We didn't stay there, we left, on a quest for another campground. This quest turned into a 3 hour ride and "are we almost there yet?" questions from 2 very tired little girls (we borrowed a friends DD to take along with us).
We got lost in the backwoods so many times I lost count. A couple of times I thought I heard the them from "Deliverance" playing. We got looks and glares from folks who knew we were lost (why else would a van pulling a pop up be there???)
On the good side of the trip, we got to meet a super nice farmer. The man holding my machine was a corn/soy farmer. The girls had a great lesson on farming and farm machines. Mr. Stahl(the farmer) was the perfect host, giving us a complete tour. The girls and myself got to see inside a grain silo, something we don't have down here. I got a lesson in corn farming. Very interesting machines (I love to see how different parts of the country use machinery).
Our journey ended a day earlier than we'd planned. We all had enough of rain. The last campground we were going to stay at was booked up, no room. The girls pouted. I promised them a camp out in the living room, complete with tent when we got home. That made them happy.
My cream separator now sits in my living room. It weighs a ton, it is a beautiful piece of milking history and Americana, I think it dates back to 1925. It has a story behind it that I am sure no other can match. I wonder how many different hands have cranked this machine. I wonder where it has been....I wonder how many farm children grumbled at turning the handle to make cream.....
Thank you Ruth from South Dakota. I will never forget what you did for me. I would have never known you if it weren't for this world wide web. The kindness of DG'ers is something that never ceases to amaze me. God bless you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
