20 A Bridge To The Past

It is good that this picture has been preserved in this poem because it is a picture that has almost faded from living memory. But there are other memories, not yet extinct, memories of our parents and grandparents who kept alive the same spirit of industry and contentment and the same love for the natural and ordinary things of life.

These men and women can hardly claim the status of the pioneer, but in their lifetime they withstood many of the trials and challenges that the

early settler had to face—the building of newer and larger homes and barns, and the sudden deaths of youthful members of their families from illness that today would be quickly cured with the use of modern medicine.

While it is true that their hundred acres brought lots of hard work, yet in their toil there was contentment and even as they “tore the stubborn stump from earth” they planned the sowing of new varieties of seed to increase the yield of their farms.

Our ancestors lived through the day of the scythe and the sickle, the grain stooks and the coils of hay, the plowed-out row of Blue potatoes and the long hours of mussel mud digging. The never ending, back—breaking toil was accepted and even when progress brought improvements they were carefully considered before an investment was made.

When the motor car appeared on the scene the people of the day argued against it at first but soon realized that the auto would be a conve- nience and a time saver, especially when parts or repairs were needed for

I.. (o R, ( o/in St‘hurmun. [:‘wen Clark, Robyn Agnew. Three olrl friends enjoy u i'hu/ while (ll/ending Ihc 84Ih hirlhlluy par/y for I/lt’lf

neighbor, John i-l. Burrows.