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I was born a dairy farmers daughter,
raised on the 240 by Halfrock Holler,
we were raised the old fashioned way,
if you can't say something nice, then you better not say,
now apologize and hug and kiss your sister.
My Mom and Dad raised 4 kids in the country air
when your gumboots sprung a leak,
you sure wished for a brand new pair
summers were hot, winters were cold,
you were expected to do what you were told,
growing up a dairy farmers daughter.
Mom & Dad had their daughters 1, 2, 3
then along came baby brother when I was 15,
Mom milked the cows that morn,
drove herself to the hospital and he was born,
was she tough? Damn, she had to be!
We were always late everywhere we had to go,
'cause the cows were out or the milker quit or some such woe
Dad would say go on ahead,
he'd tend to the homestead,
and Mom put her makeup on driving down the road.
Growing up we didn't have the world wide web,
but we had neighbors like Buck, Billy Gene, and Red
they always had your back,
you never had to ask.
and no favor could ever be too big.
Our whole neighborhood was on a party line
when a neighbor thought it was their turn you'd hear some sighin'
or throat clearing or clicks or raps
you didn't tell any secrets on that rotary dial phone
'cause then every one else would be a knowin'.
When the wind blew just right we got one channel on tv
KTVO Kirksville, Channel 3
we watched Hee Haw, Bonanza, and The Six Million Dollar Man,
Barney Miller,The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, and ........
cartoons were just on Saturday morning.
In the wintertime we'd ice skate on the pond
in the summer we'd pitch tents down by the old barn.
A Bonnie & Clyde car in the ditch
playing Little House on the Prairie,
then to Charlie's Angels we'd switch
or take a book and find a tree to climb.
We wore makeup out to chore in every day
in case a cute neighbor boy stopped by to say hey
there were no cell phones, but The Halfrock Pollock had CBs.
one in the truck and a homebase in the diningroom where he talked with ease.
Chatting with Tadpole and his buddies at the end of the day.
Mom was the worlds best at making do,
she turned leftovers from the fridge into something brand new.
from the table you were excused
to not try a bite of everything was being rude
just the memories of a dairy farmers daughter.
Dad would go stand out on the back porch and whistle
the cows would appear in line, single file
some day's he'd call 'S Cow,
or crack the whip kapow
if he was gone we'd have to walk the whole damn farm.
Mom & Dad lived at work and worked all day
no holidays, no overtime pay
on crutches or with the flu,
not much you can do,
those cows needed milked twice a day.
Oh, Lord, the cows are out there in the corn,
and they were out in the new alfalfa just the other morn.
Dad's building fence like it's a race
can't keep those heifers any place
the school bus would pull into the lane
there's a cow in the front yard again
eating pears underneath the tree.
Each cow had a name and history
some were named after Dynasty on t.v.
I remember Alexis, Skyhook, and Vee
Princess, Star, and Molly.
just the memories of this dairy farmer's daughter.
We'd come home from school and find a list of chores
and some homemade cookies to eat before we went back outdoors
Mom and Dad had gone to town
for a part for something that had broke down
and they relied upon their dairy farmer daughters.
Now the old milk barn doesn't stand there anymore
no more Axsom's with five gallon buckets out doing chores
or climbing up on the well to ride old King
our retired star of the barrel racing ring
while Wart Hog the dog hid in the jimson weeds.
When I was a kid I couldn't understand
my parents fierce attachment to this land
and why they chose such a hard way of life
for a husband and a wife
just why did they become dairy farmers?
Lots of folks had dairies way back then,
but I haven't seen a Mid-Am truck rumblin' down a blacktop since I don't know when.
The milk truck driver David made me swoon,
he looked like the Shaun Cassidy poster in my room,
on milk truck days I was glad to be a dairy farmers daughter!
My dad was color blind and couldn't tell red from green
so the day lil' sister got bucked off a calf he thought mom was mean
how could she laugh when baby daughter was covered in blood?
(turned out to be cow manure and mud)
never a dull moment when you're a dairy farmers daughter!
My mom sang along with 61 Country on the radio
and played piano at church the mornings she got done milkin' early 'nuff to go
when she had a free moment she'd read a book curled up in a chair
twisting a lock of hair
and take a break from being a dairy farmer.
There were hot summer nights at the county fair
and moonlit drives down dirt roads goin' no where
I married the boy I loved back then
we have Koren, KJ, & Katie and our grandson Ian
I was a lucky dairy farmer's daughter.
Sometimes I wonder what our children will remember from their youth,
if in the lessons we tried to teach they'll find some truth,
we were young and made it up as we went along,
but they still turned out smart and strong,
the children of this dairy farmer's daughter.
I've been at the hog farm 19 years come May,
still walking 'round in gumboots most every day.
some mornings getting out of bed is rough,
but I was raised to be tough.
The stuff that makes a dairy farmer's daughter.
I didn't appreciate those lessons way back when,
now I'd give anything to see Dad leanin' on the barn yard gate talking to Donnie again
Him and Mom got fifty years
lots of laughter and lots of tears
raising their dairy farm son and daughters.
