KADDISHEL
A Life Reborn
Harvest time in July and August was the most active period. The farmers did not have telephones to schedule appointments for their turns at the mill, so they just came with their oxen and wagons, hoping that they would not have to wait longer than two weeks in line. When they arrived, they would get a number and would wait their turn, with their entire harvest in sacks on their wagons. Rain soaked the farmers, wagons, oxen, and grain, and the hot sun broiled them, so my father built a big structure with a metal roof to provide free shelter from the weather. The structure accommodated up to twenty wagons with their horses and oxen, and the farmers would sleep on their wagons until their number was called. They brought their own food and we supplied water. The farmers used to sing beautiful songs accompanied by a concertina or guitar, especially at night. My father would hear them singing when he worked late. I still remember many of the Ukrainian songs they used to sing. Though I dislike the Ukrainians for what they did to the Jews, their music is a part of my heritage. I still like to hear the music and watch the fantastic Polish and Ukrainian dancers in their colorful costumes and red boots. The “wagon hotel” provided us another source of income. By the time the season was over, a huge amount of valuable manure had accumulated. The metal roof was approximately fifteen feet off the ground at the perimeter and twenty feet at the center posts. Towards the end of the season, the last farmers to arrive had to climb up a hill of manure inside, until they practically touched the roof! We used to sell the manure back to farmers, who paid a good price to haul it away. Farmers fed their cows with the straw left over after wheat threshing. Poor farmers would use hatchets to chop it up by hand, but those who could afford to would bring their straw to the mill and have it chopped by our machines; they would go home with huge bags of chopped straw.
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