Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Across the Fence #576


There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about building fences and walls. Is a fence or wall between neighbors good or bad? I guess the first thing we need to ask is, “Why do we need the fence or wall?”

“Mending Wall” is one of Robert Frosts’ most quoted poems. He says, “Before I built a wall I’d ask to know, what I was walling in or walling out…”

When I think of the title of this column, “Across the Fence,” I think of fences in a positive way. It was where neighbors on both sides of the fence met and talked. The main reason for fences on the farm was not to fence your neighbor out, just his cows, and to keep your cows from straying onto his land. There’s nothing like a herd of cows, trampling and eating their way through a cornfield, to add a bit of tension between neighbors! Heaven forbid if they got in your tobacco field. If you think feral cats are at risk of being shot, a herd of dairy cows trampling my father’s tobacco field would have brought out the heavy artillery! Good fences do make good neighbors, and keep stray critters from being harmed too.
  
When we lived in Madison there were also fences. Most fences and walls in cities are to keep dogs or kids from getting into traffic or wandering off! That type of fence is also used for containment, it’s just not cows that are being contained. 

It helps to keep your cows from straying onto his land.. There’s nothing like a herd of cows, trampling and eating their way through a cornfield, to add a bit of tension between neighbors! Heaven forbid if they got in your tobacco field. If you think feral cats are at risk of being shot, a herd of dairy cows trampling my father’s tobacco field would have brought out the heavy artillery! Good fences do make good neighbors, and keep stray critters from being harmed too. 

Our neighbors on one side had a wire fence. It was used to keep their dog in their yard. The dog was long gone, but the fence was still there. Now It was just used to stand next to and talk across when we met in the back yard. Just like old times… minus the tractors! Although if I’d have had a riding lawn mower, a John Deere mower of course, I’d have felt right at home.  

Other people put up fences and walls to keep people out and off their property. This is my space and you’re not entering unless I invite you! No Trespassing! The neighbors who lived behind us had that type of fence. They had a lot of parties and company in their back yard, where they had a basketball hoop and a hot tub. We weren’t invited! But that’s OK, I’m not much of a party animal, and climbing into a hot tub with other people is not high on my list of “things to do!”

We had a lot of trees, brush, and vines along the back of our yard, and I let them grow thick in the summer. I guess letting nature take its course is my own way of walling out or walling in. It gave us a little backyard privacy in the middle of a city. It also gave a little protection and hiding places for all my wildlife critter friends! I think most of my neighbors would have liked to fence them out. Even I have to admit, they were be a nuisance and destructive at times. 

At one time the area where we lived was an apple orchard on the southwest edge of Madison. This was country and the critters and birds had free reign over the area. Today the city stretches miles beyond where our neighborhood was and the busy, crowded Beltline was only a couple blocks from us. That apple orchard is now full of houses, and much of the land that was home to the critters is now cemented over with highways and sidewalks. They were there first and people invaded their homes and confiscated their land. Is it any wonder the critters were a little ticked off about it and liked to make a meal of the gardens and flowers!? Who can blame them?

Larger animals, like deer, that used to call the area home, are now gone… forced out by fences, walls, and people. I don’t think that’s what Robert Frost had in mind when he said, “Good fences make good neighbors.”

I’m not advocating tearing down all fences! Some fences are needed.

G. K. Chesterton wrote, “Before you take down the fences, ask why they were put up in the first place.”

If you don’t want the neighbor’s cows in your cornfield, you better not tear down the line fence. If you don’t want the neighbors joining you in your hot tub, you better keep that fence up too.

I like to think of a fence as a barrier you can still see through or over. Most are user friendly. A wall is more imposing and blocks the view and the interaction between people.

There’s another kind of fence or wall that we don’t talk about. I once heard a quote that “Fear is the highest fence.” Politicians build a lot of those fences to scare us into following their lead. I think a lot of “fear fences” have been built lately. Now there’s talk about building a wall around the United States to keep people out. I would ask, “Are we keeping others out, or imprisoning and isolating ourselves within?” 

As Robert Frost said, “good fences make good neighbors,” but I think the type of fence you erect and the reason for erecting it, will determine how your neighbors look at you.  There’s a place and purpose for fences and walls, but always be aware of why you’re building it. 

One last thing, if there were no fences, I wouldn’t have a name for this column.

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Year Twelve Begins

Across the Fence #575


Happy Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks for all that we’ve been blessed with. This Across the Fence column certainly falls into that category for me.

  

Thanksgiving week is the anniversary of Across the Fence. This week begins the twelfth year. I’m thankful for everyone who reads it each week. My thanks also to the newspapers that run my column. Thanks to the publishers and editors who have provided the opportunity for us to visit across the fence each week. I’m very grateful. If you like reading “Across the Fence” be sure to thank those publishers and editors for including it in their papers.  I feel that providing local columns in hometown papers is very important. I love reading the columns in the papers I receive each week.

Across the Fence deals mainly with taking you back in time to a world so many of you grew up in. I know that’s what you expect to find in my writings, but once in a while I like to throw in something about the future, or where we are today. We can’t just live in the past, although it’s always fun to take a trip back and remember. I also like to bring in observations about nature and the universe we live in. My friend, Steve says he likes my column because it’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you may get.

It’s been harder to come up with ideas lately because my mobility is restricted. I haven’t been able to wander around the woods and fields because of my balance.  I use a cane, and I’m not allowed to drive, so Linda has to chauffeur me around. My life has really changed since May, but I’m hanging in here and doing great under the circumstances. I have much to be thankful for. 

I’m always thankful for readers who prime my pump by giving me ideas and subjects to write about. Sometimes the idea well gets pretty dry. For those of you who have never had to prime a pump, that’s when you tried to pump water from a well or cistern and nothing would come out unless you poured some water into the top of the pump first.

I’m thankful for all the things we take for granted. As I sit in our sunroom, writing, I can catch the sunrise in the morning and the gorgeous sunsets in the evening. Every one is different and inspiring. The same is true of the many cloud formations. The changing colors of the clouds as the sun reflects off them is always something to see.

During the wonderful fall evenings we’ve enjoyed lately, I’ve sat on our back deck and marveled at the sky filled with stars. I watched as meteors streaked across the sky. The darkness of the country really makes the night sky stand out. The billions of stars in the Milky Way gives me an appreciation of the beauty and size of the universe. Observations of the world around us are simple pleasures we can all enjoy. I urge everyone to take the time.

Thanksgiving - 2011.

Tim carves the Turkey.

 Thanksgiving - 2012 -Amy feeds Sean.

This is the time of year when we can sit down to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. I can smell and taste the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, spinach pinwheels, cranberries, and all the trimmings, and don't forget the pie. I love to eat, so this is a special time of year. The nice part is all the leftovers can be enjoyed for days afterwards too. We’ll be enjoying a visit and the meal at Tim and Amy's. Unlike the days when I was young, we all went to Grandpa and Grandma Hanson's for Thanksgiving. Now we are the grandparents and will go to our kids for the meal. Hopefully the weather will be great for travel. We won't be going over the river and through the woods in an open sleigh. We’ll ride in the comfort of a heated car.

As we celebrate and enjoy Thanksgiving, I'll take time to remember those Thanksgiving gatherings from my past and all the people who were a part of it. Most of them are gone now, but not forgotten.

One place you won’t find me, is out shopping on Black Friday. I will avoid the crowds and let others fight over the deals. After the big meal, I’ll probably be kicking back in a lazy boy in a turkey coma, as I wait to start round two on the leftovers. 

Erik in a Turkey Coma!

Most important of all, I’m thankful for Linda and our family; Erik, Amy, Tim, and Sean. And we can’t forget our granddog, Sweeney. They have been wonderful in all they do for me and I haven’t been very good at letting them know how much I appreciate them. I’ve really been blessed. 

When a person faces a life-altering experience, you realize what’s important. Every day is precious and you don’t want to waste any time. 

I continue to be thankful for having grown up on a farm, and now for the opportunity to live on a corner of that farm. There’s a lot  to be said for rural, small town living. 

I wish all of you a wonderful, family-oriented Thanksgiving.
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The Cap

Across the Fence #574


As I prepared to leave the barn, I saw it hanging there, just inside the door. It was covered with cobwebs and dust… Dad’s old Pioneer seed corn cap. It hung there as if waiting for him to step back into the barn and put it on again. He had been gone for almost eight years at the time, and it had to be several years before he died in 2000 when he hung that hat on the nail where it had rested all those years. 

That old barn, that was once the hub of activity on the farm, stood empty. Its end was near. That’s why I was in the barn that day. I had decided to take some photos and document what had once been an active barn before it was gone. When I came across Dad’s old cap, I took several photos of it hanging near the ceiling on a large nail protruding from a faded, whitewashed timber. Then I left the barn and bolted the door behind me.

There’s something special about caps. Each cap tells a story and is a walking advertisement. They tell a lot about the person wearing it.

I’ve always been a cap person. I had quite a collection of caps before we moved back to Westby. I’d acquired them from numerous sources. Most had some special significance. People even gave me caps they thought I’d like. Our daughter brought me a cap from Graceland when she visited there. I was a big Elvis fan when I was young. I had long sideburns and my hair slicked back into a ducktail. That’s back when I still had hair.

I’ve got John Deere caps, of course. Is there any other kind of tractor? There were also Wisconsin caps, Norwegian caps, farm products caps, a Harley-Davidson cap, and an assortment of Vietnam vet caps.

In an attempt to simplify when we moved, I gave many of my caps away to Good Will and St. Vincent de Paul. I kept some of the special ones, and wouldn’t be surprised if my cap collection started multiplying again. I told “Pioneer Bob,” the Pioneer seed corn dealer in Westby, that I needed a green Pioneer cap like the one Dad left hanging in the barn. He gave me one.

Have you ever noticed that when you see someone without a cap, that always wears one, they look very different?

I had a friend, Dennis, a big, bear of a man, who always wore a cap. I asked him one day if he took it off when he went to bed. He said he did. I don’t care what he said, I still think he slept with his cap on and one eye open. He died of lung cancer several years ago and was cremated with his MIA/POW cap on. I felt better when I heard that. It wouldn’t have been right to send him off to the Spirit World without his cap!

For you non-cap people, caps are important. They make a statement to others about who we are. They aren’t just to provide shade for our balding heads, although that’s important too.

I wear my cap with the bill straight ahead and curved down on the sides. Some people keep the bill completely flat and straight across. Today, many young people wear their cap brim to the rear. You can’t tell if they’re coming or going. Gang members wear their cap with the brim to the left or right to designate their gang affiliation. When I see photos of young people from my father’s generation, I see a lot of caps cocked to the side. My father always wore his that way. There’s a photo of him in his baseball uniform with his cap cocked so far to the side, I don’t know how he kept it from falling off. Talk about attitude and making a statement.

Caps also seem to categorize us. When I lived in Madison, one of the businesses I did advertising for was Sub-Zero Freezer Company. One day when I arrived, there was a new, young woman at the reception desk. I was just about to tell her I was there for a meeting with Paul, the Marketing Manager, when she grabbed a package off her desk and handed it to me. I looked at it and saw it was a package for Badger Cab to pick up and deliver. She thought I was the cab driver. If I had walked in with a suit and tie on instead of casual clothes and a cap, I know she’d have treated me differently.

Yes, caps are important, especially those with a history. As I was driving away after taking those photos in the barn, I started thinking about Dad’s old Pioneer seed corn cap hanging there. Should I leave it behind and let it be destroyed with the barn? It would be a fitting epitaph for his old cap to be buried with the barn, just like my friend Dennis, going out with his cap on. After thinking about it for a while, I turned around and went back. I couldn’t leave it behind. I took the cap down from the nail, dusted some of the cobwebs off, and put it in the car. It now hangs on a nail in our garage. I think he’d like that…

knowing his old farmer cap still hangs on a corner of the land he worked and loved for all those years.

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Veteran's Day-My Band of Brothers

Across the Fence #573


I’d like to recognize some veteran friends of mine this Veteran’s Day. We are truly a Band of Brothers. They’ve been here for me in various ways since they found out I have brain cancer.

Vernon County boys Leaving La Crosse airport  in June 1966 for Ft. Lewis, Washington, and then on to Vietnam. L-R: Ray Slaback, Howard Sherpe, Harlan Springborn, and Larry Skolos.

First of all, I’d like to recognize a bunch of friends that I served with. We were drafted at the same time in December 1965 and went through basic training together. After our advanced individual training we all came back together in the same unit with the 4th Infantry Division. We went To Vietnam on the same troop ship and ashore in the same landing craft. We were on many operations and ambush patrols together. In November 1966, we all survived the largest mortar attack of the war, up until that point, at our forward firebase. We fought to protect each other during the ground attacks that followed. Those kinds of experiences forge friendships that will last a lifetime.

Reunion at Veterans Day program at Westby H. S.  in 2010. L-R: Don Hanson, Howard Sherpe, Ray Slayback, Larry Skolos, and Harlan Springborn.

When they found out I had cancer, word quickly spread among the network of old 4th Division vet friends. They began calling to see if there was anything they could do for me.

Harlan Springborn from Westby showed up at the hospital the day of my brain surgery. He sat with Linda in the waiting room from 8:00 am until I was brought back to my room at 4:30 pm. He told Linda he wasn’t leaving until he saw the whites of my eyes! He’s visited me many times to see how I’m doing and even brings baked goods.

Larry Skolos from Viroqua is also in this 4th Division Brotherhood. He and his wife, Cathy, have visited and brought strawberries that they grow on their farm. She also brought bars she had made.

Ray Slayback called from Monroe. He lived in Readstown in Vernon County when we were drafted.

                                             Ray Slayback on a road clearing operation.

Don Hanson, who now lives in De Pere,Wisconsin, has called and e-mailed. Don is also fighting cancer and undergoing chemo treatments.

Howard Sherpe- left, Don Hanson-standing next to Howard- ready to leave on an ambush patrol.

The two men kneeling are gone.

Ken “Big Lee,” lives in California. He calls and e-mails. We spent a lot of time together on operations. Below, Ken "Big Lee" manning the M-50 on a road security operation. I rode shotgun behind him, watching his back.

Elmer Wischmeier from Sedalia, Missouri, calls and writes.

Harlan Springborn and Elmer Wischmeier

Harlan Springborn-sitting, and Elmer Wischmeier- in front, on an ambush  patrol.

That’s our band of 4th Division Brothers who spent some intense times together in Vietnam. They are still there, wanting to do whatever they can to help me. 

David Sherpe with his M-60 machine gun.

David Sherpe -2015.

I’ve got to thank my brother, David for coming from Cross Plains almost every week to mow our lawn and take me to clinic appointments. David was with the 9th Infantry in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. When David couldn’t come, my other brother, Arden, mowed it.  My sister, Janet, was also there to help wherever needed. I thank them all. I couldn’t ask for any better brothers and sister. 

There are other veterans I want to recognize, who weren’t in our 4th Division Brotherhood.  I met them later and we became good friends. 

Lou Wagner

Also, Lou Wagner, my cousin-in-law from Colorado, stopped to visit on his trip to Kansas to see his kids and grandkids. Lou was with the 1st Cav in Vietnam.

Bob McCurdy from Door County was with the Riverine Forces in Vietnam. Bob and I have become good friends over the years. We share a love for wood craving and writing. Bob carved a bird and sent me. It's to watch over  and protect me as I battle this cancer. Bob has become a special friend and Vietnam brother.

                                                 Bob McCurdy and his buddies.

John Cotter

John Cotter, from Middleton, who was with the 9th Infantry, has become a friend and has sent me messages and story ideas. 

                                    

Tom Olson from Viroqua was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Like so many of us who ended up in the Vietnam vet Brotherhood, John was a Wisconsin farm boy too. Tom has had his own health problems lately. 
Above: Tom Olson flying his helicopter in Vietnam.



Tom Olson-at a reunion- in a helicopter he flew in Vietnam.






My veteran friends from the Madison area have been great.

Tom Deits

There’s Tom Deits who was with the 1st Infantry. Tom talked me into joining a vet’s writing group he had organized. He knew I liked to write. That group became known as The Deadly Writer’s Patrol. Tom has become a close friend, who has visited me and sent many cards letting me know he’s thinking of me.

                                                           Tom Deits

Steve Piotrowsi

Steve Piotrowski

Steve Piotrowski, who was with the 173rd Airborne in the Central Highlands, was also a member of the Deadly Writer’s Patrol. Steve and I were on the Highground Veteran’s Memorial Park board at Neillsville, Wisconsin for many years. 

Ted Fetting from Milwaukee, who served with the 9th Infantry, was also on the Highground board. 

Ted Fetting by helicopter at the Highground

    

David Giffey

David Giffey, from Arena, Wisconsin was with the 1st Infantry. David was also involved with The Highground and designed the peace dove effigy mound. The four of us spent many trips together from Madison to Neillsville and had many deep discussions about life and war. We served in different units in different parts of the country, but we had the shared experiences of operating with infantry units, and we were all Wisconsin farm boys. Even though we didn’t serve together in Vietnam, we are part of that Vietnam vet Brotherhood and have a close friendship. They’ve been there for me with messages, visits, and wondering what they can do for me. I tell them, “Your friendship is all I need.” When I was going through radiation and chemo treatments every day, I received a “Warrior Bracelet” from Steve. He made it with colored beads to represent the Vietnam service ribbon, and then attached items that represented my Vietnam service. There was a 4th Infantry Division logo, a combat medic badge, and a peace symbol. The clasps were shaped like the prows of a Viking ship, to represent my Viking warrior ancestry. Steve said I should wear it as I fought this new enemy I found myself up against.

That’s quite a group of Vietnam vet brothers. This Veteran’s Day, I wanted to recognize them and thank them for their friendship. 

I hope everyone will take time to reach out to veterans you know and thank them for their service.
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Aprons, Pumpkins, Cell Phones, and Petting Zoos

Across the Fence #572


This column will be a conglomeration of several ideas.

Grandma Julia in apron.

Recently I wrote a column about grandma’s apron. Since I wrote that column I had some other ideas on what aprons would be today if every grandmother and mother had an apron. One thing I thought about was that things have changed a lot since those days. Everybody's carrying a cell phone now. I think the first thing we have to do with that apron is to install a small pocket that could hold grandma’s cell phone. Then instead of waving the apron when it was time to come and eat, she would just get out her cell phone and call whoever was out in the field and tell them it was time to come and eat. It’s not as primitive as waving an apron or towel and trying to get someone’s attention. I still prefer the old way of waving an apron. It just seems more personal. Not only that, but it means that if you ‘re out in the field doing something, you don’t have to carry your cell phone with you and anybody can get in touch with you anytime they want to. I thought it was nice to be out in the field alone, either driving on the tractor doing something like cultivating corn or tobacco. I loved operating the tractor on a field far from the farm buildings. It was about the only time you could be alone with your thoughts. I didn’t want to be interrupted by phone calls, and we didn’t have to worry about that out in the field where there were no phones. Although I don’t know who would have called me. I was never overburdened with phone calls from girls, or even my friends. We didn’t do a lot of phone calling, and if we did, we had to stand by the wall phone in the kitchen. Thinking back to those days, cell phones would have made it easier to have private conversations. Maybe we would have used a cell phone to call somebody then.

Sean looking for a pumpkin.

Another subject that I’d like to touch on at the end of this Halloween season. A lot of pumpkins are sitting around the countryside still waiting for someone to come along and choose them. Pumpkins of every size wait patiently for someone to come along and transform them into Halloween jack-o-lanterns. Carving pumpkins has been a tradition in our family since the kids were young. We always had four pumpkins of varying sizes… larger ones for Linda and me, and smaller ones for our children, Erik and Amy. Later, I had to carve one for our dog, Toby, too. Erik and Amy would help with deciding what kind of face they wanted carved on their pumpkins. They also helped pull the brains (insides) out of the pumpkins. It’s OK, Halloween is supposed to be a little scary and gross. A pumpkin is just a pumpkin until you carve a face into it. Then it takes on a personality of its own, depending on the type of face you carve, friendly and inviting, or scary and menacing. But, a pumpkin doesn’t really come alive until you put a candle inside and let the light shine from within. It’s the same with stained glass windows, and people too.

I imagine most of the candy has been consumed by now, although some kids get enough to last until next season.

Petting the animals.

During the Halloween and Thanksgiving season many of the farm produce places decorate their farms with all kinds of things for young children to have fun on. We've gone with Amy, Tim, and our grandson, Sean, to Peck’s Farm Market near Spring Green. They have everything you can imagine There’s a petting zoo with all kinds of animals to feed. There are old tractors to climb up and sit on. I think Sean sat on every tractor in the place. It’s a great place for kids to enjoy the outdoors and get acquainted with animals.

I know Sean is also looking forward to their Halloween party at Day Care. They get to dress up, have a party, and have a parade around the block. Hopefully it will be a nice day. That evening they have Trick or Treat time. The prediction is rain and cold. Pretty much the same weather we often had for Halloween when Erik and Amy were young. Whatever the weather, they are making memories that they can write and tell about in the future.

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