Description: Golden Days and Close Calls by Alex R. Weddon If you have ever been kicked, bitten, punched or scared in the night, then many of these stories of country living will be familiar. Close Calls on the Farm is a humorous look at the excitement and dangers of farm and school life -back in the day- before leaded gas and digital music. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description If you have ever been kicked, bitten, punched or scared in the night, then many of these stories of country living will be familiar. Close Calls on the Farm is a humorous look at the excitement and dangers of farm and school life "back in the day" before leaded gas and digital music. Excerpt from Book Panther in the Hayloft Doing barn chores in the early darkness of winter nights, it was easy to see odd shapes and frightful movement in the hayloft. The imagination of a farm kid can run a little more wild during encounters with darkness and farm animals, the worldly calm a mirage away from high anxiety. My schools mascot was a black panther, so of all the meat-eaters that were waiting in ambush, it was first in line when my imagination conjured an animal attack. If a panther was going to get me, it would be when it was my week to feed the animals, my thirteen-year-old mind determined. By the time I could legally drive, I had a seasoned preparedness that had fostered a small degree of confidence. The barnyard light thirty yards behind me created a most tempting silhouette when I slid the barn door open. The light switch was located a couple steps away, so I would have to walk in the shadows of darkness to turn on the fear-rebuking lights. After hundreds of these high alert episodes I developed a set of exacting procedures to deal with this most vulnerable moment. Knowing my eyes had not adjusted to the dark, I shifted the focus of my sensory input to my ears as my left hand secured the handle of the sliding wooden door. The rusty rollers screeched along the track hung above the door. My ears clenched in retreat from the unnaturally disrupted quiet. I only opened the door enough to allow my skinny torso in and paused briefly, keeping my grip on the outside handle in case I needed extra purchase to extract myself from an enveloping feline assault of claw and fang. I habitually visualized being driven backwards by a big cats initial contact, and planned on sliding the heavy door closed, pinching a barrier between my vital organs and the murderous predator. I often wished my dear twin was with me, because with some encouragement, flavored with the occasional dare, Amy would fearlessly go into the barn first. She usually completed her assigned chores as scheduled and rightly refused my entreaties to help me with my procrastinated ration of required child labor. I released my safety grip and stepped in. My sense of security evaporated as I traversed from well-lighted exterior into the maw of darkness. The light-giving switch was to the left and at eye-level, eight feet away. A design flaw responsible for the disappearance of countless farm boys, I reasoned. As a right-hander, I offered my left arm, extending it into the darkness and reached for the receptacle box, my right hand up, palm out, to protect my throat. With my back to the barn siding I sidestepped, being careful to avoid the exposed nails partially driven into the wooden frame of the pole barn that were used as hooks for twine, gloves and sheep shears. Getting snagged on one or more of those could seriously impede my defensive maneuvers. With a practiced motion, I swept my sacrificial arm up and down, hoping to flick the incredibly small nubbin of a switch, suspended somewhere in the blackness. A miss meant precious moments of exposure and a mental sprint from composure to jagged panic as I urgently repeated an adjusted attempt. Following contact and a muted thwick, relief replaced fright when the single row of naked light bulbs hanging fifteen feet over the center of the barn floor changed the murkiness to light. The animals, standing in bucolic repose, looked at me in anticipation. Their disposition a stark contrast to the bloody rodeo that my imagination had brain cast only moments earlier. Within a minute I was in the loft, throwing hay and evaluating the animals to make sure they were all there and not suffering from claw or fang wounds. Once they were occupied with munching last summers alfalfa and timothy, I jumped from the stacked bales onto the barn floor and walked over to the heated, self-filling water trough to make sure it wasnt frozen over and the float that triggered the water supply moved easily. Following one successful evening thwarting maulings and ingestion, I returned to the living room as the family was watching a TV show about African lions. During a segment filmed at night around a Kenyan water hole, I felt compelled to ask Amy if she was ever concerned about going into the dark and dangerous barn to do the chores at night. After years of avoiding a panther gnawing me to bite-sized pieces, my dear twin catalyzed an epiphany with her casual retort. Why would I be? she declared between handfuls of salted and unbuttered popcorn. I take a flashlight. Details ISBN1512767484 Author Alex R. Weddon Pages 230 Language English ISBN-10 1512767484 ISBN-13 9781512767483 Media Book Format Paperback Year 2017 Publication Date 2017-02-07 Subtitle Seasons of Adventures on a Farm Country of Publication United States Illustrations Illustrations, black and white Short Title Golden Days and Close Calls UK Release Date 2017-02-07 Place of Publication Nashville, TN AU Release Date 2017-02-07 NZ Release Date 2017-02-07 US Release Date 2017-02-07 Imprint WestBow Press Publisher WestBow Press Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:101762955;
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ISBN-13: 9781512767483
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Publication Name: NA
Book Title: Golden Days and Close Calls: Seasons of Adventures on a Farm
Item Height: 216mm
Item Width: 140mm
Author: Alex R Weddon
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Topic: Memorials
Publisher: Westbow Press
Publication Year: 2017
Item Weight: 295g
Number of Pages: 230 Pages