It’s always good to read about John using his other senses to register the prairie sky, the fields, the houses, and the long, dusty country lanes. If he is not seeing or smelling, then I am going to guess touch or sound or taste.
Yes, it is a smell that you can become used to and even nostalgic for. Too bad that building housing tracts near dairy farms brings in people who have no sense of that value.
I always found it a somewhat pleasant smell, provided it was from a good distance and combined with the smell of cut hay and fresh air. Up close not so much.
Even living in L.A. County, I get an occasional whiff of dairy or turkey farm. But it didn’t prepare me for visiting my parents in rural Illinois and the olfactory assault of the neighboring hog farm. Whew!
For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Years ago, I had a cabin up in the mountains in Colorado. One time a good friend of mine from New York City came out to visit for a couple of weeks but only lasted a few days because he couldn’t sleep. He claimed the night noises kept him awake!
I grew up for a number of years in northern Missouri and after we moved visited it annually. Where my grandparents’ lived it is just like that, not flat, but beautiful, serene, some of the best sunsets you could ever experience. Don’t know about a cow mooing at night necessarily but I get why it was included. Hog smell is worse.
Still surprising that John’s father seems totally unaware that John and Elly had another kid. There is no strip so far where John’s father has interacted with April, let alone introduce himself as her paternal grandfather.
I remember my Grandfather and Grandmother’s farm, especially the barn. That earthy aroma, the smells of the drying tobacco in the rafters, the hayloft, the cattle in their stalls, and the work horses. Yes, he kept a team of ‘retired’ work horses that pulled the old horse-drawn equipment. Much of that ancient farm equipment was still parked in an open area just outside the barn. Wonderful memories of playing around the barn and that old equipment as a young boy.
This story is a little bit of a retcon from prior stories about John, where he was raised in a mining town on the Canadian Shield, just like his real-life avatar Rod Johnston.
MichaelAxelFleming 3 months ago
That’s BS.
snsurone76 3 months ago
Time to start singing “Kumbaya”.
howtheduck 3 months ago
It’s always good to read about John using his other senses to register the prairie sky, the fields, the houses, and the long, dusty country lanes. If he is not seeing or smelling, then I am going to guess touch or sound or taste.
Last Rose Of Summer Premium Member 3 months ago
Ah yes, the “other” sense….smell or stink.
Farside99 3 months ago
Yes, it is a smell that you can become used to and even nostalgic for. Too bad that building housing tracts near dairy farms brings in people who have no sense of that value.
CrzyDyeman 3 months ago
Nothing beats the fresh country air.
ctolson 3 months ago
Yep, that clean fresh (?) country air does wonders to relax a person. Just like the smell of fresh pine when you’re in a mountain forest.
More Coffee Please! Premium Member 3 months ago
I always found it a somewhat pleasant smell, provided it was from a good distance and combined with the smell of cut hay and fresh air. Up close not so much.
rhpii 3 months ago
The smell of money, or so my rancher son-in-law says.
rasputin's horoscope 3 months ago
Even living in L.A. County, I get an occasional whiff of dairy or turkey farm. But it didn’t prepare me for visiting my parents in rural Illinois and the olfactory assault of the neighboring hog farm. Whew!
rshive 3 months ago
We used to live in a small rural town. Beautiful night sky. Now we’re in the (outer) suburbs. Beautiful view of the porch lights.
jango 3 months ago
Cow chips anyone?
MontanaPhil50 3 months ago
In college (UC Davis) my dorm was right next to the dairy barns. When the wind was from the west…whoooeee. But pig farms are far worse.
jconnors3954 3 months ago
Time for milking?
win.45mag 3 months ago
For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Aladar30 Premium Member 3 months ago
How to destroy poetry and make it become a fantastic joke. That smell… That Smell!!!
Norris66 3 months ago
“There was something in the air that night Fernando” Swedish Countryside.
ladykat 3 months ago
Manure.
Linguist 3 months ago
Years ago, I had a cabin up in the mountains in Colorado. One time a good friend of mine from New York City came out to visit for a couple of weeks but only lasted a few days because he couldn’t sleep. He claimed the night noises kept him awake!
[Unnamed Reader - bddb15] 3 months ago
My first year of college I lived in a dorm that was situated between the horse barn, the dairy barn, the pig stye and the cafeteria.
pheets 3 months ago
My fresh country air comes from my ‘neigh’ bours.
Robert Williams @ Williams Web Solutions 3 months ago
I grew up for a number of years in northern Missouri and after we moved visited it annually. Where my grandparents’ lived it is just like that, not flat, but beautiful, serene, some of the best sunsets you could ever experience. Don’t know about a cow mooing at night necessarily but I get why it was included. Hog smell is worse.
markkahler52 3 months ago
The delicate smell of cow chips….
kathleenhicks62 3 months ago
Sometimes horses and chickens also.
USN1977 3 months ago
Still surprising that John’s father seems totally unaware that John and Elly had another kid. There is no strip so far where John’s father has interacted with April, let alone introduce himself as her paternal grandfather.
g04922 3 months ago
I remember my Grandfather and Grandmother’s farm, especially the barn. That earthy aroma, the smells of the drying tobacco in the rafters, the hayloft, the cattle in their stalls, and the work horses. Yes, he kept a team of ‘retired’ work horses that pulled the old horse-drawn equipment. Much of that ancient farm equipment was still parked in an open area just outside the barn. Wonderful memories of playing around the barn and that old equipment as a young boy.
Daltongang Premium Member 3 months ago
Well, life on the farm is kinda laid back
Ain’t much an old country boy like me can’t hack
It’s early to rise, early in the sack
Thank God I’m a country boy
Well, a simple kind of life never did me no harm
A-raisin’ me a family and workin’ on the farm
My days are all filled with an easy country charm
Thank God I’m a country boy
Well, I got me a fine wife, I got me old fiddle
When the sun’s comin’ up, I got cakes on the griddle
Life ain’t nothin’ but a funny, funny riddle
Thank God I’m a country boy
When the work’s all done and the sun’s settin’ low
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow
Kids are asleep so I keep it kinda low
And thank God I’m a country boy
I’d play “Sally Goodin” all day if I could
But the Lord and my wife wouldn’t take it very good
So I fiddle when I can, work when I should
Thank God I’m a country boy
Well, I got me a fine wife, I got me old fiddle
When the sun’s comin’ up, I got cakes on the griddle
Life ain’t nothin’ but a funny, funny riddle
Thank God I’m a country boy, woohoo!
Well, I wouldn’t trade my life for diamonds or jewels
I never was one of them money-hungry fools
I’d rather have my fiddle and my farmin’ tools
Thank God I’m a country boy
Yeah, city folk drivin’ in a black limousine
A lotta sad people thinkin’ that’s mighty keen
Son, let me tell you now exactly what I mean
Thank God I’m a country boy
Well, I got me a fine wife, I got me old fiddle
When the sun’s comin’ up, I got cakes on the griddle
Life ain’t nothin’ but a funny, funny riddle
Thank God I’m a country boy, yes sir!
Well, my fiddle was my daddy’s ’til the day he died
And he took me by the hand, held me close to his side
Said, "Live a good life, play the fiddle with pride
And thank God you’re a country boy"
My daddy taught me young how to hunt and how to whittle
Taught me how to work
Draway 3 months ago
Fresh dairy air!
lanainutahdesert 3 months ago
Ha! Ha! Like the old fields behind my house in the 1950s in Maine (plus chickens, goats, and the odd wild animal).
crazeekatlady 3 months ago
Smelling the smell of cow poo. Sorry Simon and Garfunkel.
Brent Rosenthal Premium Member 3 months ago
Do cows moo after dark?
cracker65 3 months ago
When we lived in Wisconsin, we knew when we were getting close to the line coming back from vacations down south. The smell was unmistakable.
Strawberry King 3 months ago
I hear it mooing in the air tonight! Oh, Lord!
howtheduck 3 months ago
This story is a little bit of a retcon from prior stories about John, where he was raised in a mining town on the Canadian Shield, just like his real-life avatar Rod Johnston.
lindz.coop Premium Member 3 months ago
We moved out to the country for the “fresh country air” and all we got was smoke from people burning their trash.
[Unnamed Reader - 14b4ce] 3 months ago
God, I love the smell of raw milk in t he morning!