[email protected]

In a message dated 2/16/03 2:44:20 AM Central Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

<< And I assured my husband that we would never, as long as I
am breathing, ever have corn fields. They're just creepy!!! Even without
aliens in them!!! >>

And I always found corn fields sorta magical!!
I love the swishy sounds when the wind blows and walking down a row where the
plants are quite a bit taller than you is like being a kid again in a magical
hidey place.
And about the combines...
And I have very fond memories of going to the wheat fields on combine day
with my Grandad, who was a farmer.
After the truck got really full of wheat, he'd let my aunt and I climb up on
top of the mound while they finished. The wheat would pour through the spout
into the truck and we'd hold our hands under it as the wheat spilled over us.
(and a few crickets and what not!)
And I loved the taste of the raw wheat, freshly gathered. Nothing like it.
I don't suppose many kids get to experience stuff like that now, what with
everything being so commercialized.
We got to eat strawberries fresh from the field next to their house, climb
trees full of cherries, apples and plums and wander her garden (yes, lots of
rows of corn :)
picking all sorts of fresh vegetables. We chased the cows and oohed and aahed
over the babies. There is a huge amount of acreage behind their house that
is full of huge trees and mossy beds with streams bubbling through.
I spent a lot of time hiking and dreaming there.
They still have a huge vegetable garden and the fruit trees even though they
don't farm anymore. It was such an idyllic place to spend parts of my
childhood, I still long for those days again and get a wonderful feeling when
I visit their "farm".. (somehow we can't quit calling it the farm after all
these years)


Ren
"The sun is shining--the sun is shining. That is the magic. The flowers are
growing--the roots are stirring. That is the magic. Being alive is the
magic--being strong is the magic The magic is in me--the magic is in
me....It's in every one of us."

----Frances Hodgson Burnett

[email protected]

Because they were popular other places, there is now a corn maze in
Albuquerque every year. They just plant corn broadcast instead of rows, and
then when it grows up they chop the maze out of it, and charge people $4 or
something to go through it. My kids love it.

What amuses me greatly is this:

In Nebraska or Indiana or Kansas, corn mazes must really be something cool!

In Albuquerque, the corn's likely to be kinda stunted (we're having drought
years) AND even if the corn's healthy, you can see the mountains!! So you
can't get really turned around, since the Sandias are to the east, and there
they are. <bwg> Maybe kids don't always think of that.

I can only imagine a really, really lush corn maze on truly flat land with a
usually-overcast sky so you can't even tell by shadows where you are. Must
be nice!

Sandra

Joylyn

SandraDodd@... wrote:

> In Albuquerque, the corn's likely to be kinda stunted (we're having
> drought
> years) AND even if the corn's healthy, you can see the mountains!!
> So you
> can't get really turned around, since the Sandias are to the east, and
> there
> they are. <bwg> Maybe kids don't always think of that.


Oh but I do. I HATE it out here. People are always saying Go West on
freeway such and such or go East on freeway such and such and there are
NO friggen mountains, so I have no idea where east or west is and I
can't even rely upon the ocean because there are areas where that damn
ocean is to the south and to the north, not just to the west, and even
one or two places where the ocean is to the EAST! Amazing. I miss my
sandia mountains, oh I do.

Joylyn

Dawn Falbe

I remember summers when I was about 8-11 growing up in England. My
mother used to ship my brother and I off to my Grandma and Grandfather's
house in Derbyshire (a very rural part of England at the time) for the
entire 6 week summer holiday. The houses were at least 1/2 mile apart
and there was nothing but fields and farms in the village. It was one
of the happiest times of my life as my brother and I spent the time
riding bikes along all the very windy roads and watching the combine
harvesters in the fields. We got to go and stay with cousins who owned
farms and get up early and help milk cows and feed the chickens. We ate
enormous meals in between to keep our strength up. My grandmother lived
on about 20 acres and kept pigs, chickens and goats and grew tomatoes in
her greenhouse. I remember helping her feed the animals and picking the
fresh tomatoes. She also grew runner beans, peas, carrots, potatoes and
I remember sitting in her kitchen opening peas up while her friends
visited and talked about things I had no idea what they were talking
about. There was an enormous table in the kitchen, bigger than I've
ever seen in America where there was always plenty of food laid out on
it. My uncle Joseph worked for one of the farms in the village and he
would pop in and out all day to eat and have a cup of tea..... yes very
good memories for a child that was brought up in the city and really
disliked the city.


Dawn F.
Tucson, AZ (dreaming of a simpler time and life)

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/16/2003 8:34:20 PM Central Standard Time,
joylyn@... writes:

> Oh but I do. I HATE it out here. People are always saying Go West on
> freeway such and such or go East on freeway such and such and there are
> NO friggen mountains, so I have no idea where east or west is and I
> can't even rely upon the ocean because there are areas where that damn
> ocean is to the south and to the north, not just to the west, and even
> one or two places where the ocean is to the EAST! Amazing. I miss my
> sandia mountains, oh I do.
>
> Joylyn
>

But you don't have the Sun?

I used to chat with someone who lived in Hawaii. The directions they use
there (and I used to remember the Hawaiian names) are "ocean" and "mountain"
(and two more that I can't remember, either--also Hawaiian). I thought that
was odd because there is OCEAN all around Hawaii.

I get disoriented sometimes when I'm in Florida because the beaches are on
both sides! Here in Memphis I orient to the Mississippi, but it's not my
main method. I use the sun and the time of day.

Tuck



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Kate Green

Sounds like parts of my childhood in the Yorkshire Dales. My grandmother
used to do relief teaching at the one-room schools and we travelled around
(like for maternity leave cases). It was great as I loved the farm life.
Schools were interesting as well. I remember having 15 to 20 kids ages 5 to
16 all in our class. In one we used to have a fireplace which we argued
over sitting closest to. That was also the place I remember the farmer
coming in and saying the dinner would have to be thrown away because they'd
used water out of the stream (as always) but there was a dead sheep in the
stream just further up. One kid always used to come to school with 2
ferrets which he kept in his trousers. His afternoon job was rabbiting for
farmers. Lots of the kids rode horses to school and we had to cancel
classes to go and help out with harvesting at various times.

Hey did you ever go to the caves/mines in Derbyshire? I once went there on
a school trip and remember some kind of blue stone mines. There were cool
but obviously not very "educational" as I can't remember the stones which
is bugging my geologist husband:) Interesting that the dead sheep story
stands out though!

Kate



At 07:59 AM 2/17/03 -0700, you wrote:
> My
> mother used to ship my brother and I off to my Grandma and Grandfather's
> house in Derbyshire (a very rural part of England at the time) for the
> The houses were at least 1/2 mile apart
> It was one
> of the happiest times of my life as my brother and I spent the time
> riding bikes along all the very windy roads and watching the combine
> We got to go and stay with cousins who owned
> We ate
> My grandmother lived
> on about 20 acres and kept pigs, chickens and goats and grew tomatoes in
> I remember helping her feed the animals and picking the
> She also grew runner beans, peas, carrots, potatoes and
> I remember sitting in her kitchen opening peas up while her friends
> visited and talked about things I had no idea what they were talking
> There was an enormous table in the kitchen, bigger than I've
> ever seen in America where there was always plenty of food laid out on
> My uncle Joseph worked for one of the farms in the village and he
> would pop in and out all day to eat and have a cup of tea..... yes very
> good memories for a child that was brought up in the city and really
> disliked the city.
>
>
>
> Tucson, AZ (dreaming of a simpler time and life)
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

Kate Green

>I used to chat with someone who lived in Hawaii. The directions they use
there (and I used to remember the Hawaiian names) are "ocean" and "mountain"
(and two more that I can't remember, either--also Hawaiian). I thought that
was odd because there is OCEAN all around Hawaii.


They use windward and leeward kinds of terms. I never knew where I was
going when we lived there and often used to ask things like "would the
water be on my left or right" so that I could actually get going in the
right direction at least:)

And for some reason I can not get oriented here in the UAE and am always
wanting to say go north for this or that. I think it's because on all the
separate UAE maps they turn it which makes it seem like saudi is up (thus
north) when in reality it's south west. This doesn't make sense but it's
this visual thing I have based on the maps that are produced here (of
course even the maps are a bit wobbly as the dividing lines between Oman
and Saudi are still being argued over and so change depending on where you
buy the map and various islands are claimed by both the UAE and Iran so
these also change).

I was in a meeting today as we are making historic videos of the UAE and
they were talking about how this area was mapped out during the 50s.
Basically a group of British consuls and guides set out with Bedus and rode
on horseback and camels around the Gulf to identify what areas were under
which tribes rule. Then they clustered these into tribal areas which
eventually were organized into the 7 emirates by the current Sheikh Zayed.
It was all very hit and miss though and there are still nomadic tribes that
don't recognize any boundaries or claim residency in one specific country.
These are pretty wild groups of people who are fascinating to study.

Kate


I get disoriented sometimes when I'm in Florida because the beaches are on
both sides! Here in Memphis I orient to the Mississippi, but it's not my
main method. I use the sun and the time of day.

> Tuck
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/17/03 8:00:12 AM, astrologerdawn@... writes:

<< My grandmother lived
on about 20 acres and kept pigs, chickens and goats and grew tomatoes in
her greenhouse. I remember helping her feed the animals and picking the
fresh tomatoes. She also grew runner beans, peas, carrots, potatoes and
I remember sitting in her kitchen opening peas up while her friends
visited and talked about things I had no idea what they were talking
about. >>

I liked reading all that, Dawn.

My mom's parents never settled in one place until about the time I was born.
They had moved every few months or a year through my mom's childhood, it
seems, picking cotton or doing some other very menial labor around west Texas
and SE New Mexico.

When I was little, though, they had a couple of acres walking distance from
us. And even when we moved to New Mexico, I would go and visit. The last
visit, I took a boyfriend from India. That was pretty exotic for him, crazed
old Texans with a tractor and crawdads and other bizarre stuff.

The garden always had tomatoes and okra and green beans. Other things
varied, but those were constant. By the swamp cooler where the water leaked,
there were grapes growing over a kind of veranda/shade made of scrap metal
and old bedsprings, and that was a shady place to sit. They had chickens.
Every single morning granny made biscuits from scratch, and it seemed only to
take her about five minutes to go from flour (she already had the baking soda
and salt in it, in a bin on the counter) to cutting them with an old metal
orange juice can to having them in the oven.

Sandra

[email protected]

On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:06:17 EST SandraDodd@... writes:
> In Albuquerque, the corn's likely to be kinda stunted (we're having
drought
> years) AND even if the corn's healthy, you can see the mountains!!
So you
> can't get really turned around, since the Sandias are to the east,
> and there they are. <bwg> Maybe kids don't always think of that.
>
>
I thought most people did corn mazes at night? Everyone we know does,
anyway. Kind of like a haunted house...

Dar

Pam Hartley

We did the corn maze near us in broad daylight. :) It's a complicated one,
we're wimps, and the girls are young.

Pam

--
"You wouldn't worry so much about what people thought about you if you
realized how seldom they do." -- Dr. Phil's Dad

----------
>From: freeform@...
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] corn fields
>Date: Mon, Feb 17, 2003, 11:19 PM
>

>
> On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:06:17 EST SandraDodd@... writes:
>> In Albuquerque, the corn's likely to be kinda stunted (we're having
> drought
>> years) AND even if the corn's healthy, you can see the mountains!!
> So you
>> can't get really turned around, since the Sandias are to the east,
>> and there they are. <bwg> Maybe kids don't always think of that.
>>
>>
> I thought most people did corn mazes at night? Everyone we know does,
> anyway. Kind of like a haunted house...
>
> Dar
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

[email protected]

Well, last year Rain went with her girl scout troop, and apparently she
and a couple other girls went back in without their leaders and got lost,
so they just sort of made their own path..:)

Dar.
On Mon, 17 Feb 2003 23:42:56 -0800 Pam Hartley
<pamhartley@...> writes:
> We did the corn maze near us in broad daylight. :) It's a complicated
> one,
> we're wimps, and the girls are young.
>
> Pam
>
> --
> "You wouldn't worry so much about what people thought about you if
> you
> realized how seldom they do." -- Dr. Phil's Dad
>
> ----------
> >From: freeform@...
> >To: [email protected]
> >Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] corn fields
> >Date: Mon, Feb 17, 2003, 11:19 PM
> >
>
> >
> > On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:06:17 EST SandraDodd@... writes:
> >> In Albuquerque, the corn's likely to be kinda stunted (we're
> having
> > drought
> >> years) AND even if the corn's healthy, you can see the
> mountains!!
> > So you
> >> can't get really turned around, since the Sandias are to the
> east,
> >> and there they are. <bwg> Maybe kids don't always think of
> that.
> >>
> >>
> > I thought most people did corn mazes at night? Everyone we know
> does,
> > anyway. Kind of like a haunted house...
> >
> > Dar
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > [email protected]
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/18/03 12:21:26 AM, freeform@... writes:

<< I thought most people did corn mazes at night? Everyone we know does,
anyway. Kind of like a haunted house... >>

I don't know if it's open at night. I'll check this year.

Sandra

Dawn Falbe

No I don't remember ever going to any mines but I do also remember going
to the Yorkshire Dales and climbing up these big steep hills. I used to
think that it was higher than Mount Everest until I learned a bit more
about hills and mountains.

Dawn F.
Tucson, AZ

Hey did you ever go to the caves/mines in Derbyshire? I once went there
on a school trip and remember some kind of blue stone mines. There were
cool but obviously not very "educational" as I can't remember the stones
which is bugging my geologist husband:) Interesting that the dead sheep
story stands out though!
Kate Green

[email protected]

We were watching Men In Black II, and in the "television re-enactment" of
space aliens having come to earth in 1977 (or whenever it was) and their
meeting with the Men In Black, they had them in front of a corn field, and
behind the cornfield there were palm trees.

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/25/03 8:52:48 PM, unolist@... writes:

<< >>Men In Black, they had them in front of a corn field, and
>>behind the cornfield there were palm trees.

>>Sandra

The internet movie database is great for goofs like this. You can even
register and report goofs that haven't been discovered yet. >>

It wasn't a goof.
There was discussion here about scary alien and ghost stuff always being in
corn fields, and it must be true, because when they set up a cheesy alien
encounter they put in a corn field! <g>

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/26/03 2:21:08 AM Central Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

<< >>Men In Black, they had them in front of a corn field, and
>>behind the cornfield there were palm trees. >>

Aren't there corn fields in Southern Cali?

Ren
"The sun is shining--the sun is shining. That is the magic. The flowers are
growing--the roots are stirring. That is the magic. Being alive is the
magic--being strong is the magic The magic is in me--the magic is in
me....It's in every one of us."

----Frances Hodgson Burnett

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/26/03 8:00:43 AM, starsuncloud@... writes:

<< << >>Men In Black, they had them in front of a corn field, and
>>behind the cornfield there were palm trees. >>

Aren't there corn fields in Southern Cali? >>

Might be. I just thought it was cool cinemagraphically and "folklorically,"
if aliens needed corn-field.

Sandra

Pamela Sorooshian

On Wednesday, February 26, 2003, at 08:02 AM, SandraDodd@... wrote:

> Aren't there corn fields in Southern Cali? >>
>
> Might be. I just thought it was cool cinemagraphically and
> "folklorically,"
> if aliens needed corn-field.

There are corn fields here. People in Iowa or Nebraska would probably
call them "corn patches" though <G>.

-pam