The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

It's Hot-but Fun's to be Found

by Dessa Rodeffer - Quill Publisher/Owner

Well, this week, to say it's "hot!" just doesn't quite describe it adequately, especially for those of us who are city folk and spoiled by air conditioning at home, work, and in our vehicles.

The thermometer is reading nearly 100 degrees with the heat index soaring way above, and those farm boys and girls just don't seem to notice it or you don't hear them complaining.

A good crowd filled the bleachers at the fair to watch Sunday's 3-hour pageant from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and though I am sure some did not attend due to the heat advisory, the ones who did said it cooled down later in the evening and didn't seem that hot for them.

Sunday afternoon, I found that the slides at the park were too hot to sit on and the shade of the Cypress tree there was a welcome relief to play with my grandkids. Drinking bottled water helped them from dehydrating. Of course, four of my granddaughters found a kind neighbor who let them swim at their pool, which is a good way to spend a very hot afternoon.

I still wonder how farmers manage to bale hay and do their chores on such hot days. Watering the flowers is one of the easier jobs as the mist from the hose helps in relieving one from the heat, but I am hoping all have extra water with them on these hot days, because I know if it takes twice the water as usual to keep my plants alive, our bodies will need at least twice the water that it usually needs, too.

My granddaughter Emalee Andrews of Des Moines, IA, came to visit me this week and experienced her first horse show at the Lomax Saddle Club Friday evening. It was a little long for her until Mason Butler saddled up his horse and let Emalee ride. She loved it and was so excited, and Mason was so kind to take her around the grounds on his horse, making sure she was safe.

Saturday, Emalee and four more of my grandchildren - Hannah, Halee, Hattie and Hayden Wood of Carthage, had the most fun cooling off at a farm pond Saturday with Nicholas, Isabel, Nathan, and Ella Defenbaugh as their baby, Noah slept in his seat under protective netting. Watching them play took me back to the great times I had at my grandparents' pond where I learned to swim and row a boat. My brothers had thrown me out of the boat and it was either "sink or swim". I learned the swim stroke faster than I thought I would, and was NOT too happy with them.

My grandkids, however, all know how to swim, but, for the most part, they wore lifejackets at the pond. Nathan Defenbaugh, 13, and who is the oldest, seems to know how to do about everything.

He was showing my grandkids how to row a boat, then got their golf cart and brought a motor over and put it on the boat and was taking them for a ride. He even pulled them around the pond in a large tube that had a bottom in it you could sit in. He taught Emalee how to drive the boat and she had them all laughing. Then they were in a competition running down the dock and jumping into the pond seeing who could do the highest jump yelling "Cannonball!" at the top of their lungs. Ella was the best.

It was so much fun to watch them swim and cool off for over three hours. Isabel, Hayden, and Hattie enjoyed riding in the boat, and playing in the sand. Defenbaughs had hauled three semi-loads of sand to make a really nice beach so the kids could avoid walking into mud and young ones could have a place to build their own small pond in the sand and play there. It's a good place to pull the boat in and the jet skis, too. Farm life has many perks, you never find a kid being bored, and it's even fun on a hot day.

Nick and Ella help Nathan launch the boat.

Hayden squirts water at Emalee and Ella and Hannah.

Hannah with a painted turtle.

Ella splashes the photograper.