history

Watching something on the history channel and it brought a piece of my history to mind I hadn't thought of in ages. In the 70's I worked for a mixed veterinary practice in upstate NY. The bulk of the practice was preventative medicine for the area dairy herds but they also saw horses, goats, sheep and pet animals. One of the veterinarians informed me that a lady from a farm in his "territory" would be coming in for medicine and told me what to get ready for her. When I asked how I'd recognize her he said "she's about 5' by 5' and will be wearing layers of rags." It was a fairly accurate description aside from the rags. They weren't really rags but very well worn clothes, in layers, a dress with one or two shirts, a sweater, topped off with an old fashioned apron. She was a sweet lady and worked just as hard as her husband on their dairy back in the hills. When all farmers were required to put in bulk milk tanks to continue to ship milk they hauled their milk, still in cans to the cheese factory because they would still take milk in cans. Eventually both her and her husband were unable to continue working the farm due to their age and sold off their cattle. There are so few small family farms left in that area or any area for that matter.