Winner, Outstanding Essay, First-Year Writing Category, 2005

Karen Pernell
Dr. Jean Timberlake
ENG 101-04
February 13, 2005

Old Farm

Down in North Carolina just outside of a town called Greenville, there is a little farm. It sits off of Cox Road about 50 feet. From the road you can see a little blue house with three big oaks across the front. As you come down the short gravel drive you see two run-down trailers to your right; they have seen 10 years since their last human inhabitants. In the back you can see a pond surrounded by cattails and overgrown grass. On a little island in the middle of the pond sits a goose on her nest. Peeking out from under her left wing is a white egg nearly ready to hatch. As you turn to your right there sits a man in a green iron rocking chair, rusted from years of weathering.

This man sits staring into the wide-open space in front of him. He is a skinny man about 6 feet 6 inches tall with faded gray hair. His face is wrinkled from the years that have seemingly flown by. His skin is dark from constantly being in the sun. Slowly you see him get up as the sun comes over the fields; it’s time to start the day. The crunching sound of his bones fills the air as you see the old man get ready to start his routine. First, he walks over to the second trailer. He tugs on the door and with a loud creak the door slowly opens. You follow him into the dark dusty trailer. It has been a long time since the lights have worked and yet the man finds exactly what he is searching for. He pulls a large brown sack from the far side of the entrance. The man is very skinny and seemingly frail but hurls the bag over his shoulder like it’s nothing. He turns and descends the three rickety wooden steps back onto the dew-covered grass. It is a mystery as to what the bag contains until you are completely surrounded by chickens, roosters, and various other birds. He reaches into his bag and pulls a handful of corn and other various vegetables. He spreads it out in a half circle in front of him, making sure there is enough for each of them.

You then see him retreat to the old trailer to place the sack against the wall where he found it. Next, he walks across the path he has walked so many times before. He checks to see if there are any eggs to be taken from the hens’ nests. He lifts up each little wooden door and peeks in. He pulls several white pearly eggs from one nest and places them softly in his right hand. He rushes the eggs towards a short stout woman waiting on the back porch. Without saying a word she takes the eggs and goes back into the little blue house. The old man pauses on the porch for a second; you see him take a long deep breath. The smell of the cool spring morning is so refreshing.

Back to work he goes; it seems like he never rests. You see him walk over to the trailer where he got the bird food. He reaches in the dark and pulls out one bucket and then another. A trailer that once seemed empty and lifeless is now coming to life as, what seems like thousands of cats crawl out from hiding. It once started with just two cats and the population grew from years of incestuous reproduction. Now there are dozens coming from all directions. Little ones, big ones, and leader of the pack, the one all the others look up to, mama cat. You can tell her from the rest because none dare cross her path. She walks with a strut and is always the first to be fed; she wouldn’t have it any other way. The man reaches into the bucket and grabs an old laundry detergent scoop. He takes scoop after scoop of cat food and dumps them on the ground. The cats, as if they were starving, pounce all over the food and scarf it up as fast as they can move their little mouths. He places the buckets back as he did with the sack of bird food, then lifts up the broken skirting underneath the trailer. He crawls two-thirds of the way under the trailer as if looking for something. When he comes out he holds a tiny kitten in his hand. It is no more than a day old and hasn’t even opened its eyes for the first time yet. It has become a necessity to check for new kittens as the population has grown so much. The mother comes purring in between the man’s legs back and forth as he returns the kitten to its brothers and sisters.

The skirting is placed back over the opening and the man turns to his next task, breakfast. “Eggs are ready, dear,” comes a voice from the blue house and the man enters to the smell of eggs, bacon, and toast.

When the man emerges from the house he walks over to the second trailer again. He emerges with yet another bucket. This time he walks over to the pond. As you near the pond, a horrific stench comes over you. The smell of fish, algae, and pond scum is practically sickening. But the man seems immune to it as he keeps walking onto the little wooden dock without even flinching. He reaches into the bucket and spreads the fish flakes over the bright green water. Fish of all sizes begin to surface as the flakes touch down gently on the surface of the water. After several handfuls the man returns the bucket to its rightful place in the far corner of the dark dusty trailer.

As the man once again emerges from the trailer he takes a right-hand turn and heads to the first trailer. This trailer seems a lot newer than the dark dusty one. As you walk inside the man pulls a chain and on comes the light. You take a look around and immediately know this is the tool shed. On the far wall hang a couple shovels and various other larger tools. To the right are a table saw and a deep freezer. The man opens the freezer and pulls out some corn and beans from last fall’s harvest. He walks them into the blue house and gives them to the wife for dinner.

Later, as dinner is set on the table, you see four people gather around and take their places at the table. The old man sits at one end of a long brown table, with six plates set; one on each end and two on each side. The old woman sits on the other end and two children on one side. A girl of about 18 and a boy of about 16 sit down to their plates. The girl is about 5 foot 9 inches tall with short blonde hair down to her shoulders. She has on a pair of old ragged jeans and an old t-shirt. The boy next to her stands about 6 foot 2 inches tall. He is wearing baggy black jeans and an Orange County Choppers shirt.

I'm the girl, Karen Pernell, and the boy next to me is my brother, Randall. We are sitting down to a nice dinner with my grandparents. As we sit down, the front door opens. My parents step inside after a long day in town shopping. The six of us sit down and begin to eat.

Grandma sets a large bowl of green beans on the table. Green beans and corn are the most popular among vegetables at their house because it is what Grandpa grows the most of. Next comes bowl with six ears of corn in it. A bowl full of meat and gravy follows, and after that a bowl nearly overflowing with mashed potatoes. To start the conversation Grandpa asks the famous phrase, “So how was your day, Angie.” Mom explains that they didn’t find anything they wanted in the stores. As we finish dinner Mom grabs each of our plates and clears the table. She proceeds to wash the dishes. When she finishes Dad gathers us up and herds us to the door. We say our good-byes and leave, for in the morning we have a long drive back to Kentucky.

As we leave, my Grandpa, standing on the porch, takes a look to his right, where we can now see a fairly large field with a variety of crops in it. The plants are just now starting to sprout and all he can do is hope this season is a good one. But for right now he just sits back and watches from his rusty green iron chair. “Come on Snoopy, come here,” he mutters as a dog no bigger than the incestuous cats jumps on his lap. He just stares into the beautiful blue sky and waits for the next day, so he can start his routine over again.