Sunday, May 18, 2014

When I walked the quarterdeck of a sailing ship

No, I really didn't except in my imagination.  I don't know how others survived a boring job where you had only mules for company but I carried on exciting lives in my imagination.

One of my jobs in spring was to guide the mules as they pulled a harrow across newly plowed ground. The harrow was composed of three big timbers with huge spikes driven through them to break up clods and smooth the ground.  I would stand on the rear timber, which swayed with action  similar to a ship riding the waves.  At times I was captain of a war ship; other times I captained a pirate ship. I ignored  the danger; if I had fallen and the harrow ran over me, I would not be here today.

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