Tuesday, July 21, 2009
This is a bag of “Quality Mash” from the grain elevators my great-grandparents ran. It’s old and faded, but the cotton used to make it still feels fairly strong. I know my great-grandmother used some of these feed sacks to make quilts and other clothing. It’s an easy thing to imagine, especially when one sees a need to save every last thing for potential use. My grandfather wrote several books for the family about growing up on the farm and life as the surgeon he later became. I enjoy reading them when I miss him, which is pretty much every day. He would think what we’re doing here is nuts, but he would appreciate the work that goes into it. He would also find great joy in my wife and children and the stories we’re accumulating raising them the way we are. He was always up for a good story, especially something funny. It’s in a way comforting to know ones history as I do. It’s also interesting to see how the need for family and “quality mash” is no different now then it was 100 years ago.