I breathe the air in deep content
My brown eyes raised my body bent
As I carry water to my cow
I look at the field I have to plow
I stop to rest my aching back
As I hear my Dad’s ax hit with a whack
As I stop to open the gate
I see the hay fall flake after flake
My brown eyes raised my body bent
I breathe the air in deep content.
By Jonathan Ford at 11 years old
“Ford-itude” : Jon's take on life.
Jon's daughters and I found this poem as we were searching through one of my "memory boxes" to make Jon a book for his birthday. I had forgotten the poem until then, but we included it in our book.
The result of our labors that week was The Book of Dad, a compilation of photos and documents that included the card put on his bassinet at the hospital when he was born (Ford, Male, 7 lb 10oz, 9:31 pm 9/04/1970), a letter he wrote to me from Korea and this poem. The photos followed the timeline of his life from a little boy to adult. We scanned things into the computer, printed them out, made a cover and spiralbound the whole thing. Jon loved it.
Now the book is a treasure for his daughters. I've tried to open the files on my computer but for some reason can't open files with the .albm extension. So next trip to Virginia, I'll be making a copy of the Book of Dad for my own.
I like the idea of The Book of Dad. I see he took after his mom with his poetry writing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful poem, and how lucky you are that you had such a great collection of memories.
ReplyDeletethat's a wonderful poem!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely poem, I think in years to come that The Book of Dad will bring you and your family great comfort and many happy memories. You are in my thoughts every day Granny Sue.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea and one that will surely bring a little comfort to your family.
ReplyDeleteHey Granny Sue!
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet poem!
I'll ask my husband when he gets home if he knows how you could open that file. He is a computer geek and if there is a way to do it I'm sure he will know how to do it.
Hugs,
Angela
Such power in the poem-and written by an 11 yr old. I'm sure he inherited your talent for writing. Wish I knew how to get your files to open. Maybe ask on Yahoo answers seems they always know the answer to computer questions.
ReplyDeleteA friend emailed me a possible solution, so I'll try that to see if the files will open. If not, I can just scan the book and have it that way.
ReplyDeleteJon loved country life when he was a boy. He built his own horse shed at age 11, felling trees with a chain saw for the posts; he bought his first pony when he was about 8 and learned to drive the tractor pretty young too. We worked hard in those days and the boys were right there beside us. After he left for the Army, Jon's life went in a different direction and for a long time he did not want to live in the country or have much to do with it.
As he aged, however, he wanted to move back to a place with land where he could have space; he loved coming home and relaxing here in the quiet by the fire or on the porch, and he loved getting out on the tractor and getting some work done too.
His dream to move back to the country was not to be, although over the years he looked at many places for sale that had land. The timing was never right for his family or other responsibilities, so this one dream was never realized. At least he had good, full years of it when he was a child.
Love that poem!
ReplyDeleteGreat job, especially for an 11 yr. old.
Hey Granny Sue!
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm late. My husband said that you would need the HP PhotoPrinting Software cd. Hope this helps!
Hugs,
Angela
Thanks, Angela. I think I have that CD--unless I tossed it in the cleanout the other day...
ReplyDelete