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 about 1 month ago
That’s BS.
snsurone76 about 1 month ago
Time to start singing “Kumbaya”.
howtheduck about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
Ah yes, the “other” sense….smell or stink.
Farside99 about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
Nothing beats the fresh country air.
ctolson about 1 month 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 about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
The smell of money, or so my rancher son-in-law says.
rasputin's horoscope about 1 month 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 about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
Cow chips anyone?
MontanaPhil50 about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
Time for milking?
win.45mag about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
How to destroy poetry and make it become a fantastic joke. That smell… That Smell!!!
Norris66 about 1 month ago
“There was something in the air that night Fernando” Swedish Countryside.
ladykat about 1 month ago
Manure.
Linguist about 1 month 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] about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
My fresh country air comes from my ‘neigh’ bours.
Robert Williams @ Williams Web Solutions about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
The delicate smell of cow chips….
kathleenhicks62 about 1 month ago
Sometimes horses and chickens also.
USN1977 about 1 month 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 about 1 month 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 about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
Fresh dairy air!
lanainutahdesert about 1 month ago
Ha! Ha! Like the old fields behind my house in the 1950s in Maine (plus chickens, goats, and the odd wild animal).
crazeekatlady about 1 month ago
Smelling the smell of cow poo. Sorry Simon and Garfunkel.
Brent Rosenthal Premium Member about 1 month ago
Do cows moo after dark?
cracker65 about 1 month 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 about 1 month ago
I hear it mooing in the air tonight! Oh, Lord!
howtheduck about 1 month 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 about 1 month 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] about 1 month ago
God, I love the smell of raw milk in t he morning!